House Communications Democrats Likely to Criticize Pai, Examine Spectrum at FCC Hearing

Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., offered few clues about what issues he would focus on, but told us he has “a bunch of things I want to look at.” Doyle and full Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said soon after the election that they intended to conduct more critical oversight hearings on the agency (see 1811140055). Pai already has testified before House and Senate appropriators this Congress about the FCC's FY 2020 budget request (see 1904030082).

House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., anticipates “at least a little discussion” on net neutrality given House Commerce's focus in recent months on advancing the now-passed Save the Internet Act. “It would have been nice to have [the commissioners] up before” consideration of HR-1644, he told us. Walden argued amid House Commerce's debate on HR-1644 that lawmakers needed to get FCC feedback on the bill, which would add a new title to the Communications Act that says the order rescinding 2015 rules “shall have no force or effect” (see 1903120078).

Walden said he's aiming to focus on 5G rollout issues. He noted the letter he, Doyle and Pallone sent to Pai last week urging him to use the newly rechartered Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council to closely examine 5G security (see 1905090039). That issue was subject of Capitol Hill interest earlier this year and focus of a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing (see 1905140079). “Clearly, we want to talk about where we stand” in competing against China and other countries to lead on 5G “and if we're going to have deployments in all the right places at all the right times,” Walden said.

Hill aides and lobbyists expect any 5G talk at the hearing to inevitably lead to questions about FCC spectrum policy, particularly plans for making the C-band and other mid-band frequencies available for additional commercial use. Lawmakers may zero in on the C-band because of competing plans for reallocating spectrum in the band proposed by the C-Band Alliance and others, lobbyists said. Hill aides believe it likely some Democratic lawmakers will hit Pai and other FCC Republicans for their actions on a range of media ownership issues in light of ongoing proceedings examining a kidvid rules revamp (see 1905140059) and the 2018 broadcast ownership quadrennial review NPRM (see 1904030031).

Aides expect significant criticism of FCC broadband coverage data collection practices given the agency's ongoing investigation into whether top wireless carriers submitted incorrect coverage maps in violation of Mobility Fund Phase II rules (see 1812070048). Broadband mapping issues have repeatedly drawn the ire of lawmakers, most recently during a Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing last week on the FCC and FTC FY 2020 budget requests (see 1905070072).

FCC Testimony

Written testimony was released Tuesday.

Pai highlighted FCC work on broadband and spectrum issues, highlighting plans for December auctions of the upper 37, 39 and 47 GHz bands (see 1904150066). He cites FCC plans to proceed toward a rulemaking to create its proposed $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1904160057). Pai notes work on “attacking unwanted and illegal” robocalls, including its call for “carriers to implement a robust call authentication system to combat illegal caller ID spoofing. Call authentication is the best way to ensure that consumers can answer their phones with confidence.” House Communications is evaluating how to advance a set of anti-robocall bills (see 1904300212).

Commissioner Brendan Carr focuses his testimony partly on telehealth (see 1905140018) work, including via a proposed $100 million “connected care” pilot program and the USF Rural Health Care Program (see 1809110039). Carr anticipates “moving to the next stage of the [connected care pilot] proceeding in the coming months.” The pilot “has the potential to make a real difference for low-income individuals that might lack access to quality health care today,” he says.

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly highlights his push to end states' 911 fee diversion. House Communications last year considered but didn't advance the 911 Fee Integrity Act, which would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money (see 1809260062). Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., refiled the bill (HR-2165) last month with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., as the lead Democratic co-sponsor. O'Rielly says “new legislation is needed, in addition to that already introduced” to address fee diversion and “it will take a more forceful approach to end diversion once and for all.”

Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel criticizes GOP commissioners for choosing to act “at the behest of the corporate forces that surround it, shortchanging the American people.” She cites “failure to fix robocalls, in our inability to bring broadband to underserved communities, in the mess we made with our roll back of net neutrality, and in our failure to offer anything but silence in response to revelations that our privacy has been violated with the sale of wireless location data on our phones.”

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks also cites privacy issues and believes the FCC's investigation into phone companies selling location data is “languishing.” The FCC has been looking into the claims “for over a year and we still don't have any resolution,” Starks says. “Take our statutory responsibility seriously and get to work to ensure that all our communications have the best possible” security protections. “The situation could not be more urgent -- 5G networks will connect our utilities, our financial system, our transportation system, our health care system, and much more,” he says. “A security breach could be catastrophic.”