Industry Backs Broadband Mapping Bill—Some
Communications providers said Thurs. they support a national broadband census, but they disagreed with methodology in a draft bill the Telecom Subcommittee is circulating for consideration. The bill, by Subcommittee Chmn. Markey (D-Mass.), would amend the FCC’s definition of high-speed services, now 200 kbps, to 2 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. At a hearing Thurs., several witnesses said that would skew data collection.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
“Measuring ‘high speed’ broadband in kilobits is akin to assessing broadband using horse & buggy era metrics,” Markey said, calling a new definition part of a national broadband strategy. Rep. Capps (D-Cal.) complained that in recent hearings neither FCC Chmn. Martin nor NTIA Dir. John Kneuer gave “satisfactory” answers on broadband deployment: “We don’t know who has broadband and who doesn’t.”
“Focusing on a threshold definition simply mires the debate into muckraking,” said George Ford, Phoenix Center chief economist, referring to the bill’s proposal to change the FCC high-speed definition. It would help more to gather data using the 200 kbps benchmark, “if only to allow us to continue to use the historical data in a meaningful say,” Ford said. A single threshold would force researchers to conclude that areas not meeting the standard lack broadband, he added.
Congress should “encourage or mandate the FCC to periodically update its definition of broadband service,” not legislate an exact definition of high-speed service, said NCTA Pres. Kyle McSlarrow: “The definition could become outdated before the bill becomes law.” That’s so, said USTelecom Pres. Walter McCormick. The assessment shouldn’t be confined to a new definition, which would “reduce rather than increase visibility into the scope and nature of the challenge before us,” he said.
“We'd be much better off if we measured the problem we want to solve,” said Free Press Policy Dir. Ben Scott, who supports the bill’s proposed change in FCC’s definition of high-speed access. CTIA said that instead of changing the FCC definition, the bill should require a map logging data for ranges of broadband speeds above 200 kbps, said Pres. Steve Largent.
Panelists took issue with the bill’s proposed mapping of broadband data to 9-digit zip codes. Cellular serves places that don’t get mail, Largent said: “Zip codes don’t matter.” Zip+4 designations, constantly in flux, correspond to no commonly recognized geographic boundaries, McCormick said. Scott endorsed the 9-digit zip code concept but said the FCC should count the number of lines in each area that are broadband capable as well as the number of households that have subscribed.
Panelists and lawmakers eagerly endorsed a public- private partnership in Ky. that used a statewide mapping program to speed broadband deployment. Brian Mefford, CEO of the partnership, Connect Ky., told the subcommittee that since the program began in 2004 his state’s broadband “availability” has risen from 60% to 93%. Markey likes the idea, as does industry.
Markey’s bill would put at least $36 million of federal dollars into building a national broadband database (CD May 10 p1). That sum, not mentioned at the hearing, clouds the bill’s future, lobbyists said. House Majority Leader Pelosi (D-Cal.) favors a national broadband strategy, but a budget- conscious Congress may hesitate to fund a broadband census, said several lobbyists, who asked not to be named.