Senate Committee Okays Broadband, Porting, Indecency Bills
The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously adopted an amended version of the broadband data bill (S-1492) in a pro forma Thursday markup. Members also approved the bipartisan number porting measure (S-1769) and an indecency bill opposed by broadcasters (S-1780) that would authorize the FCC to fine stations for “fleeting expletives” by airing a single word or image.
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A manager’s amendment to the broadband bill eased some concerns of phone companies by changing the way broadband data would be identified and collected, said telecom lobbyists familiar with negotiations. The bill had proposed to require data be collected in two tiers of speeds, with a second for advanced services. The amended bill would require the FCC to identify broadband service tiers using Form 477 data. Form 477 reporting requirements would be revised to identify actual numbers of broadband connections linked to subscribers, with the FCC allowed to choose whether to use 5- digit or 9-digit ZIP codes or census tract information as the gauge. Reporting exceptions would be granted if an entity could show that adherence would be “cost prohibitive.”
“We appreciate the committee’s dedication to developing more accurate broadband deployment data,” said USTelecom President Walter McCormick. The association backs parts of the bill, “particularly the Connected Nation provisions, which address deployment issues using a model proven to be successful at the state level,” he said. McCormick thanked the committee for changing the bill to reflect industry concerns. Verizon sees the bill’s inclusion of federal support for public-private partnerships on mapping as a “positive step,” according to Senior Vice President Peter Davidson.
The bill would strengthen safeguards on proprietary data by making it clear that trade secrets and privileged financial data will not be disclosed publicly unless the broadband provider submitting them agrees. The amended bill, closer to a discussion draft released Wednesday by House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., could be a means by which the measures gain momentum. But the Senate bill still lacks GOP support; Ranking Member Ted Stevens (R- Alaska) declined to co-sponsor despite some lobbyists’ speculation that he might join Chairman Daniel Inouye (D- Hawaii) in sponsoring the measure.
Stevens said he voted for the measure but remains concerned that “some in the industry view this mapping program as a way to marginalize the need to update universal service to support broadband in rural America.” That “appears” to be the direction taken by the “leading cable association as well as some of the larger wireline carriers,” Stevens said.
Public interest groups welcomed the approval, saying Congress is giving a much-needed push to the Commission, which for some time has had a proceeding underway on broadband data collection. FCC methods for collecting data on availability of high-speed Internet services are “woefully inaccurate and incomplete,” Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said. “This legislation will go a long way to taking the important step of giving policymakers accurate information that is needed if the United States is to raise its standing in the world rankings for the availability of broadband service,” Sohn said. Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott also welcomed the approval.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin tipped his hat to the indecency bill’s advance, saying it “affirmed the Commission’s ability to protect our children from indecent language and images on television and radio… We on the Commission and every parent” know that even a single word or image can be indecent. The American Civil Liberties Union and NAB said the bill will face constitutional challenges if enacted.
“This bill is a narrowly tailored approach that would allow the FCC to maintain its policy adopted in 2003 and hold broadcasters responsible for airing expletives and indecent material even if that material was only shown fleetingly,” said sponsor Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. He praised Martin for enforcing indecency rules ignored “for years” at the FCC. “The change was long overdue,” Rockefeller said. His bill is a “small but critical step” in cleaning up the airwaves, he said.
Broadcasters disagreed. The Parents Television Council “would have you believe” that broadcasters want to put “f” and “s” words on the air, an NAB spokesman, calling that assumption ridiculous. NAB opposes the bill, he said. ACLU Legislative Counsel Marvin Johnson said the bill will invite litigation since it would reverse a recent appeals court decision throwing out an FCC policy of fining TV stations for fleeting expletives (CD July 18 p8). There were no changes to the number porting bill, co-sponsored by Inouye and Stevens.