LA, San Francisco, Seattle Mayors Propose FCC Reclassification of Broadband
U.S. mayors may weigh in on the net neutrality debate and high-profile proposed telecom deals. The mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Tucson are proposing a resolution to be taken up at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting June 20-23 urging the White House and Congress to support reclassifying broadband as telecom service instead of an information one.
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The reclassification is needed “to give the FCC the ability to guarantee a free and open Internet, securing a commitment to transparency and the free flow of information over the internet, including no blocking of lawful websites and no unreasonable discrimination of lawful network traffic,” said the resolution posted Friday as Resolution 114 on the conference website (http://bit.ly/1tYVgqs). L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray were not available for comment.
"Net neutrality and an open Internet are absolutely necessary to support and nurture the innovative spirit that has made San Francisco the Innovation Capital of the World,” San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement. “Preserving a free and open Internet is necessary to allow our innovative entrepreneurs to grow, compete and succeed in the 21st Century economy."
Resolution 115 proposed by Madison, Wisconsin, Mayor Paul Soglin also seeks broadband-service reclassification, “establishing firm legal footing for common carriage regulations as the basis for Net Neutrality.” It also asked the FCC to pre-empt state laws making it harder to create municipal broadband networks. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he'd look into just that, though the agency is behind a May time frame in which it said it would issue something on the subject.
Five mayors proposed Resolution 116 calling for the Protection of Consumers and the Public Interest in Communications Mergers. If approved unconditionally, some deals “would result in significant and further consolidation of the communications marketplace, and a significant increase in the share of the broadband market either owned or controlled by fewer providers, which could have a significant adverse effect on consumers and communities,” the resolution said. It would urge the Department of Justice and the FCC “to make an independent analysis of whether the proposed transactions meet each of their legal standards,” and if so, to place a number of conditions on the deals. Those include safeguarding consumers from an increased ability to raise prices or reduce quality, and ensuring that the increased power of any combined company not allow it to control avenues of communication into the home in a way that favors the company or those who can purchase a fast lane into a business or residence. It also would call for safeguards like protecting public, educational and government (PEG) programming from being limited to lower-quality channels, or assessing charges for PEG programming and not objecting to the use of PEG funding for PEG purposes. It also backs assuring that competition for services is preserved. PEG has been an issue with Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV, two deals the resolution didn’t specifically mention.
The resolutions were proposed by Soglin, Laredo, Texas, Mayor Raul Salinas, Piscataway, New Jersey, Mayor Brian Wahler, Rockville, Maryland, Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton, and San Jacinto, California, Mayor Alonso Ledezma. A Comcast spokeswoman declined comment. AT&T and DirecTV did not respond to our inquiries.