Tame FCC Oversight Hearing Focuses on COVID-19, Telehealth
A Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight teleconference was far tamer than the subpanel’s other examinations of commission business during this Congress (see 1912050043). Most subcommittee members focused on telecom-related COVID-19 legislative proposals. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai emphasized his requests for additional funding. Pai also got additional support from House Communications Republicans for the commission’s recent approval of Ligado’s L-band plan (see 2004200039).
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House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., focused on the importance of broadband funding provisions in the House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act. HR-6800, which the House cleared last week (see 2005130059), would authorize an $8.8 billion Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund and $5 billion for E-rate.
"The shortfalls and inequities of our nation’s broadband networks have been put in stark relief by this crisis," Doyle said. President Donald Trump's "administration, the FCC and Congress need to do more" to help ensure broadband connectivity for Americans amid the pandemic, including those unemployed because of quarantines. He urged Pai to “move quickly” to implement HR-6800’s proposed broadband funding if the measure is enacted.
Pallone pressed Pai on whether the FCC can “do more” to aid E-rate during COVID-19 without legislation. Pallone noted HR-6800's E-rate provision also would expand the program’s authorizing language, including to allow the FCC to fund the purchase of devices and for remote learning services. Pai said Congress needs to expand its E-rate mandate because the current statute “restricts” the FCC to use the funding for services delivered directly to classrooms and libraries.
Pai repeatedly noted the FCC’s desire for Congress to authorize funding to implement the unfunded Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act broadband mapping law (S-1822) and the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998). HR-4998 provides funding to help U.S. communications providers remove Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security (see 2003040056). HR-6800 allocates $24 million to the FCC to implement S-1822. The FCC has been seeking $2 billion to implement HR-4998 and $65 million for S-1822 work (see 2003230066).
Rep. Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., criticized the FCC for not moving “more quickly” to implement S-1822, citing a “terrible” lack of broadband connectivity on tribal lands within his district. House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, sought information on the FCC’s work to follow the law. The agency is “hard at work” to implement S-1822, despite lack of full funding, Pai said. He hopes to “circulate” a related NPRM “in the near term.”
Walden and Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, noted interest in the FCC’s recent telehealth work amid the pandemic, including the disbursal of $200 million in emergency telehealth funding Congress included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act (see 2003260063). Latta asked if there are more “gaps” in telehealth policy that Congress needs to address. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., later pressed Pai on “how long” it would take for the promised money to go to selected providers. She asked Pai to provide House Communications with at least monthly reports on those disbursals.
The FCC already awarded $33 million of the Cares Act telehealth funding to healthcare providers and expects to disburse the remainder in subsequent rounds, Pai said. The commission is expected to announce the next awards “in the next day or two.” The FCC moved quickly to begin setting up the disbursal program, but "our staff has spent considerable time working with applicants," he said. "We’re processing applications as quickly as we can, while still doing the necessary due diligence to protect against any possible waste, fraud and abuse." Pai acknowledged selected providers must submit an invoice and documentation before getting reimbursement, but the FCC has so far gotten “only one” certified invoice.
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., voiced his support for Ligado's approval, saying the commission “did a great job” creating a decision that effectively addresses GPS interference issues. He encouraged the House “not to follow” those in the Senate who are exploring legislative remedies to reverse the FCC (see 2005150061). The FCC "took a very careful look" at Ligado's application and had put "strict" conditions in place to safeguard against interference, Pai said. "I can assure you" the order's engineering is "very sound."
Shimkus, Walden, Latta and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., jointly backed the FCC on Ligado before the hearing. “After hearing from many stakeholders, the FCC made its decision to grant Ligado’s application,” which “has been tested, reviewed, revised, and tested again,” the Republicans said. “The FCC is required by law to determine if technology proposals are in the public interest, and we must trust that in making this decision, the FCC took every position into consideration.” Spectrum “decisions will only get more difficult as technologies develop, but we need to trust the expert agencies who make spectrum decisions,” the lawmakers said. Walden first backed the FCC's decision in late April (see 2004280071).
Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., was among those who lauded Pai for spearheading work on the Keep Americans Connected pledge and the push for telecom providers to extend their commitments through June 30 (see 2004300044). McNerney asked many complaints the FCC has received about providers “not honoring” their pledges. The FCC has received about 2,200 pandemic-related complaints, with 500 of those being "specifically" related to the commitment, Pai said: Carriers have responded to about 1,400 of those complaints.
Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, at raised concerns about the ongoing Rural Digital Opportunity Fund process, saying some census block challenges “might very well be bogus.” Pai said the FCC is still “carefully reviewing” comments and doesn’t want unserved areas “to be taken out” of the October Phase I auction “because of inaccurate challenges.”
Doyle and others appeared to still be adjusting to the House’s shift to all-remote committee proceedings during the pandemic. The chamber voted 217-189 Friday to allow virtual participation in committee business and proxy floor votes (see 2005180042). Doyle’s line into the teleconference abruptly cut out during his opening statement and he later said his call “got dropped.” Other participants at times grappled with crosstalk.