Broadband Workshops Provide Broad Outline of Issues Facing FCC
August has been an unusually busy month at the FCC, at least for staff involved in the series of broadband workshops, which wrap up Sept. 15. One thing unclear after the first 13 workshops is how the FCC will use the huge amount of data gathered as it prepares its broadband plan. Field workshops get under way in September. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski indicated last week the full commission likely will be asked to approve the final plan (CD Aug 21 p1).
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One agency official said it’s unclear the extent to which the workshops and the field hearings will shape the final report. Commissioners and their staff have been watching periodically, though they've also been busy getting ready for Thursday’s meeting, commission officials said. Also, many on the eighth floor have taken some vacation time in August, a traditional slow month at the agency. “There will be some good ideas that come out of the workshops and there will be some information that’s not as helpful,” one commission official predicted. “We have a very short period of time to process a lot of ideas. It’s still very unclear what the final plan will look like in terms of how prescriptive it is.”
The workshops haven’t focused enough on what regulatory models work and don’t work, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. Conducting the workshops has been a “useful exercise” to involve more people and compile data, but many panels have focused too much what broadband can do, and not what regulatory philosophy can best further the country’s deployment and adoption goals, he said. There’s no “magical answer” in data alone, he said. One important question to ask is what went right and wrong with the largely free-market regulatory approach employed by the previous administration, he said.
A wireless industry source questioned how much will be learned: “You have the usual people saying the usual things.” “I think they've improved as the process has gone along,” said an attorney and former FCC official. “Some bureaus have put a lot of time and effort into some very thoughtful questions … I also think the more unusual topics, just raising some of these issues, often for the first time, may be helpful to see how they fit into the bigger picture.”
“The FCC has been very clear that this is just one piece of the data they're gathering,” said Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld. “If you think this is the whole thing you'll be surprised when a national broadband plan emerges.” Feld said he has been monitoring the workshops closely, especially the questions posed by FCC staff. “It gives you a sense of the level to which staff is trying to drill down and what they're looking for,” Feld said. “It sends a signal to everyone else … on the kind of things they're looking for.”
“We are pleased to see the FCC taking steps to gather information and new ideas in these workshops,” said Ben Scott, Free Press research director. “We hope that outreach will continue, both inside and outside the Beltway.”
“These workshops are an excellent starting point for sketching out the contours of the many aspects of broadband policy,” said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at an energy workshop Tuesday.”
“They're helpful in helping the FCC to frame overall issues, but you can’t get into all the specifics of network deployment or demand or anything else in an afternoon session,” said a former FCC official. “It really can’t reasonably go beyond issue identification and framing.” The sessions will prove helpful for staff, the attorney predicted. “You've got a bunch of new people who are transitioning into new roles at the commission. This helps them get a quick overview of the issues. It’s sort of like why Congress does hearings.”
The FCC had registered 4,882 persons for its workshops through Monday. Of those, 1,046 registered to come in person and 3,836 signed up to participate on WebEx, the Web conferencing program the FCC is using to stream workshops. The numbers are registrations only, including future workshops and don’t include people who watched the video stream using RealPlayer or Second Life.
The FCC’s Aug. 20 education workshop received the most registrations with 459 total, 73 in-person and 386 on WebEx. Until then, the Aug. 12 deployment workshops were most popular, with 360 total registrations for the wired panel and 356 for wireless. The wired deployment panel still has the most in-person registrations with 106. The Aug. 18 workshop on disadvantaged businesses had the fewest, with 181 total and only 21 in-person sign ups.