Rep. Clyburn to Renew $100B Broadband Push; House Commerce Eyes E-rate
House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina confirmed Wednesday he will again seek $100 billion in broadband funding as part of coming infrastructure legislation, as expected (see 2011200056). The House Commerce Committee, meanwhile, proposed $7.6 billion in E-rate remote learning funding as part of its portion of the coming COVID-19 budget reconciliation measure. It’s bringing the bill up for a committee markup Thursday, also as expected (see 2102090079). Commerce Democrats’ decision to fast-track consideration of the measure drew committee Republicans' ire.
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Clyburn intends to refile the $100 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act “within the next couple of weeks.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will again lead filing of the Senate companion measure, Clyburn said during an Incompas event. Democrats first proposed the spending last year via the Moving Forward Act infrastructure bill (see 2006220054). Clyburn said he's “talking to everybody I need to talk to,” including President Joe Biden, to ensure the legislation becomes an “integral part of any infrastructure bill” that makes it through Congress this year. He hoped Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., will support the plan.
The $100 billion is “money that would be well spent in making broadband accessible and affordable for all,” Clyburn said. The pandemic “revealed that we cannot have good healthcare without telehealth, we cannot have good education without online learning, and we cannot have a good economy unless we allow work to be done from home.” Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown and Granite Telecommunications President Rob Hale supported Clyburn’s plans.
House Commerce’s legislation would allocate the $7.6 billion through 2030 via an Emergency Connectivity Fund, as Democrats repeatedly proposed last year. The money would pay for broadband services, connected devices, Wi-Fi hot spots and routers for remote learning use. The measure would direct the FCC to establish rules within 60 days to allow for disbursal of the money and specifies it’s to be used for services in “locations other than the school” or library. Consumer Reports backed the legislation.
“I am disappointed” House Commerce Democrats “have chosen hyper-partisanship over building trust” by fast-tracking its markup of the COVID-19 bill, said ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.: “Many questions remain unanswered” about Democrats’ overall aid proposal, and the majority party “hasn’t given themselves much time to provide answers to the American people before proceeding to a partisan markup.” The Thursday virtual meeting begins at 11 a.m., House Commerce said.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told Incompas that improving broadband “connectivity, operability and availability is a high priority” for members of both parties. He stopped short of backing Clyburn’s proposal. Government “can be a partner” in improving connectivity, and industry must have “the tools necessary” to do the heavy lifting, Moran said. He noted interest in prioritizing oversight of USF and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and his backing for the Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act (see 2102020072).
Incompas Notebook
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction drew criticism during the Incompas event. Several officials questioned certain winning bidders’ ability to deliver broadband and the speeds they bid on (see 2101190069). One of the “biggest elephants in the room” has been whether fixed wireless providers can deliver the gigabit-tier service they bid on, IdeaTek Telecom Chief Innovation Officer Daniel Friesen said Tuesday: “We’re confused because we don’t see that the market has the type of scalable technology, especially in rural areas.” Friesen said it's surprising the full $16 billion from Phase I wasn't awarded. Even with potential market failures, the auction was an overall success, said Brian Regan, Starry vice president-legal, policy and strategy. There are “certainly issues” with FCC broadband data, and the money would have been better targeted if the maps were better, he said: “The FCC did the best it could with what it had.” It's important to see how broadband maps are used during Phase II of the auction, said Mammoth Networks CEO Brian Worthen. “What we don’t want to do is lock down a [census] block so that future funding in that area is not going to happen,” Worthen said. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks acknowledged earlier in the day that broadband mapping is a key part of ensuring unserved and underserved areas are covered. He expects quick action to complete new maps.
The FCC has taken several actions in recent years to curb Illegal robocalls, with a multipronged approach to stop bad actors, lawyers told Incompas Tuesday. They said providers should adopt a mitigation program that best suits their network and is reasonably expected to reduce robocalls. “It’s all about flexibility,” and any bump in the road needs to be addressed quickly, said Microsoft Assistant General Counsel Gunnar Halley. The FCC should consider taking a moment to pause and see how its efforts are panning out, said BT Americas Chief Regulatory Counsel Sheba Chacko.