Matsui to Offer Revised Broadband Adoption Bill
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., plans Tuesday to reintroduce her broadband adoption legislation to create a USF Lifeline program subsidizing high-speed service for low-income Americans, a Matsui spokeswoman said. Matsui is a member of the House Communications Subcommittee. This year’s bill is largely the same as HR-3646 from the 111th Congress, but adds a provision to prevent duplication of subsidies. The bill may have to overcome concerns about government spending and balancing support to urban and rural areas.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
A new provision in the 2012 edition would require the FCC to adopt rules prohibiting more than one Lifeline award to a single household. “In establishing the program … the Commission shall adopt regulations to prevent duplicative broadband lifeline subsidies being awarded for an individual eligible household,” the bill said. The FCC would have to set up the new USF program within 270 days of the bill’s enactment. The bill claims to be technology neutral, and would direct the FCC to determine the definition of broadband.
Matsui believes her bill will help rural and urban areas alike, a Matsui spokeswoman said: “If a household is eligible for any lower-income programs, like the National School Lunch Program, then they are eligible for the benefits of this bill whether they live in Ulysses, Kan., or Sacramento, Calif.” Areas without any broadband access could also benefit, because making broadband more affordable would increase the number of households in those areas demanding broadband access, the Matsui spokeswoman said. That added demand could encourage companies to invest in those markets, she said.
Even so, some rural companies may voice concerns that the bill favors urban over rural areas, a telecom industry lobbyist said. The rural companies fear that poor neighborhoods in one big city could swallow most of the available money, the lobbyist said. But other rural companies support a broadband Lifeline program. OPASTCO supported Matsui’s bill last year, and likes this year’s addition of a non-duplication provision, OPASTCO Vice President Randy Tyree said. OPASTCO shares concerns about balancing urban and rural, but believes Lifeline is critical for rural areas, Tyree said. He cautioned, however, that Lifeline funding is “of no use to anybody” unless government also supports network buildout in high-cost areas.
Because the Matsui bill would expand USF, House Republicans could raise fiscal concerns about excessive government spending, two telecom industry lobbyists said. The bill doesn’t say how much money should back the broadband program, nor where the additional funds would come from, leaving both decisions to the FCC. No “pay for” language is required in the bill because money for USF does not come directly from taxpayers but rather industry contributions, a Matsui spokeswoman said.
The bill comes as the FCC considers changes to USF. An aide to Chairman Julius Genachowski said Friday that broadband adoption is Genachowski’s top priority after spectrum and general USF reform (CD June 13 p6). The FCC’s work has slowed Hill movement on USF, said Tyree. The House Commerce Committee signaled earlier this month that it’s waiting to see what the FCC can do (CD June 6 p1), while Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has said that public safety spectrum legislation is his top telecom priority.
The House Communications Subcommittee didn’t vote on the Matsui legislation last Congress. But that bill did win praise from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., who is now ranking member of the subcommittee. NCTA supports the Matsui legislation, said a spokesman for the cable association. USTelecom supports boosting broadband adoption among low-income consumers, the telephone association’s spokesman said. “We will be reviewing [Matsui’s] bill in conjunction with our participation in the FCC’s pending proceeding on this subject and hope to work with both the Commission and the Congress to advance the goal of ubiquitous broadband availability and adoption.” Verizon generally supports transitioning the low-income and high-cost USF programs to broadband, the carrier’s spokesman said.