Regulation Costs Not Quantified, FCC Legal Advisors Say
FCC wireless legal advisors told a packed lunch Thursday that carriers and others in the industry too often complain about the costs of FCC rules, but rarely supply the commission with numbers laying out how much a proposed mandate will cost.
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Angela Giancarlo, advisor to Commissioner Robert McDowell, said her boss is concerned about the hidden costs of regulation. “That is definitely something we talk about and think about in our office, but at the same time what I would ask of everyone is if you can give us concrete examples I would love it,” Giancarlo told the Federal Communications Bar Association wireless committee lunch. “I would love to know how much it’s going to cost for a cellsite to do backup power.” Real world cost information would be “very compelling” but is almost never available, she said.
Bruce Gottlieb, advisor to Commissioner Michael Copps, reacted to audience complaints that competition means companies don’t often want to file data at the FCC. “You've talked about how it’s difficult in these proceedings to put forward the information maybe we ought to have,” he said. “When I hear that, that is obviously of great concern… Then obviously we need to do something so that we are making our decisions in light of a full record.”
Wayne Leighton, advisor to Commissioner Deborah Tate, said industry instead could offer broad engineering or economic studies that portray the costs of various initiatives - for example the average cost of providing backup power to a single celltower. Basic data combined with the “occasional” anecdote “can all go a long way to educate people like us,” he said.
The advisors cited the reauction of the 700 MHz D-block as their top concern. Copps believes “this is going to work if and only if the commission takes a real leadership role, rolls up its sleeves and gets into the details,” Gottlieb said. “The D-block is at or near the top of all our lists for something that has to get done,” Giancarlo said. “An over-arching” concern of Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein is broadband deployment, said Renee Crittendon, his wireless advisor. The aides also cited the future use of the TV white spaces as a key issue to be addressed this year. They mentioned, but had no more to say about, wireless early termination fees, an issue that may soon be before the agency.