Capitol Hill
Rural telcos continued their Hill campaign against the Comcast-NBC Universal deal, echoing concerns by Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., about NBC’s Olympics coverage. In a letter Tuesday to Kohl, the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies condemned NBC for requiring visitors to its Olympics website to validate they have a pay-TV subscription. That practice “discriminates against consumers and reduces the value of their broadband connections, said President John Rose. “If the merger is approved, it could provide Comcast with additional ability and incentive to engage in more anti-consumer discrimination against video and broadband competitors."
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House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, asked the FCC, Commerce Department, Federal Trade Commission and six other agencies why so many of their staffers are making $100,000 or more annually. In a letter to the agencies, Barton said recent press reports show large increases in the number of federal employees earning more than $100,000, and the number reaching the highest level of government pay scales. The average federal worker’s pay is $71,206, compared to $40,331 in the private sector, Barton said. “This disparity between public and private-sector compensation for comparable work leads us to question the basis for these salaries and raises, especially during an economic recession when countless Americans have either lost their jobs or must accept sharp reductions in pay to keep their jobs.” Barton also asked if any stimulus money from the American Recover and Reinvestment Act “was used to augment already-high federal salaries rather than to stimulate the lagging private sector or to fund critical infrastructure.” The FTC received the letter today and is reviewing Barton’s request, an agency spokeswoman told us. The FCC refused to comment and NTIA didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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Senate Commerce Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, conceded the Republican gubernatorial primary in Texas to Gov. Rick Perry. Hutchison’s office wouldn’t say whether she would run for reelection to the Senate. The senator previously said she would resign after the March primary. If she steps down, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, would be the next most senior Republican on the committee, followed by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Neither is a lock for the chairmanship, because Snowe’s vote on healthcare angered some Republicans, and Ensign faced bad publicity after a recent scandal.
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The Senate Commerce Committee plans a hearing next Thursday on the Comcast-NBC Universal deal, Senate and industry officials said Wednesday. Senate Commerce will be the last Hill committee with jurisdiction over the deal to hold a hearing. The House Commerce and both chambers’ Judiciary committees held hearings in February (WID Feb 26 p3).