AT&T Expected to Stick to Statement at Net Neutrality Hearing
AT&T accepted an invitation from Democrats to testify at Wednesday’s net neutrality hearing of the House Communications Subcommittee, said a spokeswoman for Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., of the parent Commerce Committee The carrier, the only large ISP planning to testify at the hearing, is expected to stick to previous statements supporting the FCC’s net neutrality order. The committee’s Republican majority said it will mark up a GOP joint resolution of disapproval of the order immediately after the hearing and Republicans are reserving their right under the Congressional Review Act to reject amendments.
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Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi plans to testify for AT&T. The carrier’s support for the FCC order, though lukewarm, was mentioned repeatedly by Democrats at a hearing by the subcommittee last month. Cicconi isn’t expected to diverge from January statements by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Stephenson said that although the company wasn’t completely pleased with the order, it will commit to 10- and 15-year investments under it.
AT&T will have to thread the needle, analysts said. “They obviously would prefer no net neutrality rules at all, but they also want to honor their deal with the FCC,” said MF Global analyst Paul Gallant. “So it will be somewhat of a balancing act for them at the hearing.” Medley Global Advisors analyst Jeff Silva expects the carrier “generally to hew closely to past statements on net neutrality,” but the company may be “a tad more forceful than in the recent past in how it delivers its message to lawmakers,” because of recent pressure from House Republicans. The hearing is a chance for AT&T “to express what it believes constitute the reach and limits of new neutrality rules,” an important subject as the FCC starts carrying out its order, Silva added.
The only other ISP executive testifying is RapidDSL President Tom DeReggi. Committee Republicans invited the executive. RapidDSL, a fixed wireless provider operating in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., supports the GOP effort to overturn the net neutrality order. Other witnesses announced by the committee are Buzzcar CEO Robin Chase, who was the founding CEO of ZipCar, Free Press Research Director Derek Turner, Northwestern University Professor Shane Mitchell and Strategic Choices Principle Anna-Maria Kovacs. Many large broadband providers, including companies that had misgivings about the FCC order, have been reluctant to support Hill Republicans’ Congressional Review Act effort (CD March 4 p1).
DeReggi said he will urge the subcommittee to approve the resolution of disapproval. RapidDSL doesn’t oppose net neutrality, but the FCC order was “not neutral,” because it gave the content industry “a free ride” and unfairly treated fixed wireless providers like RapidDSL the same as fiber companies, he said in an interview. DeReggi said his company worked hard for two years to express its views at the FCC and the commission’s final order felt like “a slap in the face."
Communications Subcommittee Democrats protested the ban on amendments to the joint resolution. The Congressional Review Act process doesn’t require debate or amendments. But in a letter Monday to Republican committee leaders, Democrats called prohibiting amendments “a major departure from the Committee’s tradition of transparency and an extraordinary silencing of its members.” The act may allow a ban on amendments, but “the fact that you have this power does not make using it right,” the Democrats said. They urged Republicans to drop the effort and offer an ordinary bill.
In the House, resolutions of disapproval are “not subject to amendment,” said a “fact check” released Monday by the committee majority. A staffer clarified that the committee will allow members to file amendments, but “once received, rulings regarding their germaneness will be made.” Democrats had five amendments ready to go last week, before the originally scheduled markup, but none were officially filed, a Democratic House staffer said.
The shot clock to pass the joint resolution of disapproval hasn’t started ticking, a committee majority memo said. Congress had to introduce the joint resolution within 60 session days of being officially notified. Another 60-day clock starts on “the later of: (1) the date that Congress receives the CRA-required report on the rules or (2) the date the rules are published in the Federal Register.” The FCC order hasn’t appeared in the Federal Register.