FCC Aides Seek Industry Engagement on Reclassification
LOS ANGELES -- Industry engagement, not rhetoric, was sought by FCC aides in proceedings including those on new video devices and Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to reclassify broadband transport under parts of Title II. They said on an NCTA convention panel Wednesday that sustained industry dialogue would improve the outcome of the proceedings. Back in Washington on Tuesday, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn had sought to dispel what she called myths of reclassification (CD May 12 p3) OR (WID May 12 p2).
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Aides to the commissioners differed along party lines on a panel about the merits of reclassification. But they agreed that industry engagement would offer the best course. Some said the NCTA and its member companies have taken that route regarding the plan and the FCC’s effort to enable consumers to use a universal device for access to video from any pay-TV operator. Jennifer Schneider, an aide to Commissioner Michael Copps, said about reclassification that “we really hope to work together.” She pointed to remarks earlier at the show by Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt as an example of what’s sought.
"Our ask of all of you is to engage us in that discussion” after the item on reclassification is released, which will happen soon, said Genachowski aide Sherrese Smith. In Q-and-A on the gateway inquiry, she said, “We've also recognized that there may be better ideas out there” and “we encourage you to weigh in.” Cable did that, Smith said. Genachowski’s office has shown “a willingness to engage,” said Clyburn aide Rick Kaplan.
"We have five commissioners who are all very reasonable people and it’s not maybe the commission of commissions past,” Kaplan said in Q-and-A. “People are really willing to engage.” He added, “When people are engaging and sort of putting the rhetoric aside, we have made good moves.” There’s a lot of “misinformation” about Genachowski’s reclassification plan, Kaplan said. “When it’s based on rhetoric and things that are clearly untrue, that’s not all that helpful to us,” he said. “The folks in the cable community have seemed to take a much more reasonable approach and to engage with the commission” and he hopes others will, too.
Since the government isn’t always “talented at predicting where things will go,” the FCC is “definitely interested in having various providers come in and talk to us right now” about gateway devices, said Rosemary Harold, an aide to Commissioner Robert McDowell. On reclassification, “rhetoric doesn’t get you nearly as far” as debates based on facts and held “in a dispassionate way,” she said. Harold wondered aloud whether people outside Washington understand that the FCC’s many blog posts, often by staffers, don’t represent the commission’s positions.
For Title I to “really get a fair shot” by keeping broadband an information service, “all of you in the room” need to explain how it could work, Brad Gillen, aide to Commissioner Meredith Baker, told the audience of representatives from cable operators, broadcasters and other communications companies. As for video devices, “you are the ones who live it every day,” he said. “Give us the opportunity to learn from you” with “all the facts and all the experience that you bring.”