Senate Appropriators Focus on Robocalls, Spectrum at FCC/FTC Hearing

House Appropriations Financial Services Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and subcommittee ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., were among several lawmakers who pressed the FCC and FTC on their anti-robocall work. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and several lawmakers pointed to the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151), which would in part increase FCC authority to act against robocalls violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 1901170039). Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., is pushing to pass the measure by unanimous consent but it would still pass under regular order, as 69 other senators are currently co-sponsors (see 1904110066).

FTC Chairman Joe Simons called for Congress to grant the agency authority to “go after” common carriers who aid foreign-based robocall operations, saying the additional authority would have a “material impact” on the number of illegal robocalls in the U.S. The FTC repeatedly has asked Congress to eliminate the common carrier exemption, including under past Democratic Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Republican acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen (see 1503050051 and 1701230043). Simons also called for Congress to grant his agency civil penalty authority and “targeted” Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking authority to aid work on robocalls and other issues.

Kennedy and Coons focused on Simons' testimony about U.S. carriers aiding foreign robocallers. “There are carriers that cater to that type of traffic,” Simons said. Kennedy asked the FTC to provide him with a “list” identifying the bad actors. “We ought to tell people who” those companies are, he said. “Let's go after the carriers” aiding illegal robocallers because they must be “violating some rule.”

Pai highlighted FCC actions to combat robocalls. He mentioned its "One Ring" calls advisory last week warning consumers not to call back. The scam often results in per-minute toll charges, perhaps using a country code for Mauritania (see 1905030010).

C Band

Coons and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., dug in on 5G and spectrum, including questions about FCC plans for making the C-band and other mid-band frequencies available for commercial use.

Coons noted competing C-band plans proposed by the C-Band Alliance and others. The C-band proceeding in docket 18-122 “teed up” different options and the agency is seeking targeted input on “some of the more thorny questions,” such as the Friday call by the International and Wireless bureaus for additional comment (see 1905030033), Pai said.

Pai responded ahead of the hearing to Kennedy's concerns about FCC plans for the C-band and other mid-band spectrum. “The complex interests in the C-band explain why the FCC is exploring a wide range of options, including” the CBA proposal, Pai said in a letter released Monday. “We want to consider all possibilities in order to maximize the C-band's public benefits.” CBA members' CEOs disagree whether the public notice is the agency sending a signal to them (see 1905070018).

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., used the 5G discussion to raise concerns about Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei and the threat its widespread deployment of 5G components threatens the security of U.S. networks. “It doesn't appear that we are winning” the battle to convince other countries of Huawei's threat to 5G security, Van Hollen said. Pai cited the FCC's proposal to bar use of USF money to make purchases from companies that “pose a national security threat” to U.S. communications networks or the communications supply chain and its pending Thursday vote on an order rejecting China Mobile’s application to provide telecom services in the U.S. as examples of recent action (see 1904170049).

Broadband

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., were among those who again noted their ire over current broadband coverage data collection practices. Senate Commerce members raised concerns about broadband mapping at a hearing last month (see 1904100064). Moran said he and the rest of Kansas' congressional delegation just sent Pai a letter raising concerns about the effectiveness of the FCC's current Form 477 data process. The agency released a revised Telecom Act Section 706 2017 broadband deployment report last week that aimed to correct inaccuracies in an earlier draft (see 1905010205).

The broadband maps “have been wrong from day one,” Manchin said. He also criticized the FCC's timeline for responding to his concerns. He noted his hold last year on Senate reconfirmation of Commissioner Brendan Carr over the FCC’s decision to suspend the window for responding to Mobility Fund Phase II challenges while the agency investigates whether top wireless carriers submitted incorrect broadband coverage maps in violation of MF-II rules (see 1812140047).

Kennedy bookended the hearing with commentary on his views about net neutrality legislation. Kennedy was one of three Senate Republicans who last year voted for the Congressional Review Act resolution aimed at undoing FCC rescission of 2015 net neutrality rules, allowing the measure to pass there 52-47 (see 1805160064). “We need to pick a course” on net neutrality “and stick to it,” Kennedy said.

The debate since the CRA has revealed “flaws” in reclassification of broadband as a Title II service could in part “unnecessarily stifle” 5G deployments and “undermine” broadband investments, Kennedy said. Now it's time for the Senate to “come up” with a compromise measure, he said. Kennedy didn't directly reference the House-passed Save the Internet Act (HR-1644), which would add a new title to the Communications Act that reverses the FCC's rescission and restores Title II reclassification (see 1904100062), or a net neutrality legislative working group led by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.

The FTC's ongoing Facebook probe barely got any mention during the hearing, with only Coons obliquely referencing it. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote the FTC Monday, urging the agency to implement long-term structural remedies for Facebook, including limits on consumer data collection and advertising practices, data deletion requirements and stiff penalties for executives (see 1905060056).

Coons said he is involved in a Senate Judiciary Committee working group on privacy legislation, one of several efforts to draft a bill. Moran, meanwhile, referenced the Senate Commerce Committee's privacy legislative work and said he is “optimistic” about prospects for a solution. Wicker made similar comments last week about the committee's chances of reaching a consensus (see 1905010198). Simons specifically called for Congress to give the FTC the resources to drastically increase the size of its privacy-centric staff, which currently numbers 40. More than 500 people work within the U.K.'s government to enforce the EU’s general data protection regulation, while Ireland has 140 staff to do the same, Simons said.