House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., confirmed Wednesday his office is in talks with Reps. Susan Brooks of Indiana and Tim Walberg of Michigan to be the lead Republican co-sponsors of a to-be-refiled version of the Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act. The bill, filed during the last Congress, aims to identify spectrum for unlicensed use and free up mid-band spectrum for wireless industry purchase via an FCC auction (see 1802070054). Brooks and Walberg separately told us they haven't made a decision on co-sponsoring. Walberg already was believed to be a potential contender (see 1904230069). Then-House Communications Vice Chairman Leonard Lance of New Jersey was the bill's lead Republican sponsor last Congress but lost his bid for re-election in November. Refiling appears likely to be “pushed back a little bit,” behind other legislative priorities, Doyle said. The bill's timeline already had been delayed, though Doyle and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., insisted it's not on an indefinite hold (see 1903270071). Some have said the delay is due to a push for the wireless and cable industries to reach consensus on C-band language.
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
Telecom policy issues ultimately drew the most attention during a Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on the FCC and FTC FY 2020 budget requests, including work to combat illegal robocalls and reallocate spectrum to support 5G. Some subcommittee members also talked about what language the FTC and FCC believe should be in a final privacy legislative package, though that garnered far less focus than expected (see 1905020057). President Donald Trump’s administration proposed more than $335.6 million in combined FY 2020 funding for the FCC and its Office of Inspector General and $312.3 million for the FTC (see 1903180063).
House Commerce Committee leaders told us they're in the earliest stages of exploring a revisit of NTIA reauthorization legislation, which they believe could be one vehicle for moving on some broadband and spectrum policy issues. The then-majority GOP House Communications Subcommittee last year released a draft recertification bill, but lawmakers gave it mixed reviews at a hearing (see 1806260064). Other lawmakers are also working on broadband bills amid renewed attention on a possible infrastructure legislative package (see 1904300194).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and other commissioners could be facing a busy May schedule on Capitol Hill. Lobbyists expect at least two oversight hearings between now and Congress' planned weeklong Memorial Day recess. The Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC's budget, plans to hold a hearing with commissioners in the coming weeks to examine the agency's FY 2020 funding request, Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., told us Wednesday. President Donald Trump's administration in March proposed more than $335.6 million in combined FY 2020 funding for the FCC and its Office of Inspector General, of which $11 million would be allocated to OIG (see 1903180063). Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel testified to the House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee last month about the budget request (see 1904030082). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., confirmed to reporters he is seeking to hold the subpanel's first FCC oversight hearing of this Congress mid-month, as expected (see 1904230069). House Communications is most likely to hold that hearing May 15, lobbyists said. Doyle and House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said soon after the 2018 election they intend to conduct more critical oversight hearings on the agency after Democrats regained the majority in the House (see 1811140055). House Commerce Democrats saw those efforts initially stymied by the 35-day government shutdown that ended in January and leadership's decision to fast-track consideration on HR-1644 (see 1903270045). Some lobbyists believe a Senate Commerce Committee FCC hearing is also possible but pegged it as less likely than the other two panels. The FCC and Senate Commerce didn't comment.
President Donald Trump agreed at Tuesday's meeting with top Democrats to pursue $2 trillion in spending on broadband and other infrastructure projects. Democratic leaders later cautioned that any forward momentum will depend on further talks with the administration and congressional Republicans. Democratic leaders first announced plans to meet with Trump earlier this month in a bid to revive interest in enacting a comprehensive bill (see 1904110068). Trump sought in his February State of the Union for Congress to “unite for a great rebuilding of America's crumbling infrastructure” (see 1902060002). In 2018, he called for a bill “that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment” that relied heavily on public-private partnerships (see 1803290046).
House Communications Subcommittee members broadly agreed during a Tuesday hearing there is significant support for seven bills aimed at combating abusive robocalls, but it's less clear how they would package them for final passage. It's also unclear how they will reconcile those measures with the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act. HR-2015/S-151 is being targeted for fast-track Senate passage yet wasn't considered at the Tuesday House hearing (see 1904290166).
A Tuesday anti-robocalls hearing gives the House Communications Subcommittee an opportunity to make a public return to bipartisanship as members delve into a group of seven anti-robocalls bills, lobbyists told us. Stakeholders are monitoring the House Commerce Committee's telecom policy agenda for signs of a pivot in its trajectory. The committee's contentious debate over the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) culminated in the measure's passage earlier this month (see 1904230069). The hearing begins 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn (see 1904260068).
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist wrote members of Congress opposing the C-Band Alliance's plan for clearing more than 200 MHz of 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1811130055), saying it “misses the mark.” Stakeholders believe the FCC will need to find a compromise between CBA's proposal and rival plans from T-Mobile and others (see 1904250060). The top executive of an alliance member said separately that the transition will take work. The CBA's proposal “is unworkable because it lacks transparency and does not provide a mechanism to reimburse the taxpayers for the sale of this valuable asset,” Norquist said. “Should the CBA produce a new and credible proposal for a secondary market transaction it is worth consideration.” It's “fortunate that the incumbent satellite companies have shown a willingness to work with the FCC to find a win-win solution to re-organizing the band,” Norquist said. The band “is not only the most readily available mid-band spectrum, it is also globally harmonized, a rare valuable benefit that would enable wireless carriers to keep costs lower through economies of scale.” CBA said in a statement it's "appreciative of [ATR] acknowledging" the alliance's bid "to create a fast path to clearing spectrum" for 5G. "We are presently engaged with a number of stakeholders so that we can fully understand the concerns regarding a market-based approach," but it's "our intent to present an approach to the FCC which is fully transparent and responsive to the needs of market participants," CBA said. Relocating C-band customers will require "a significant amount of investment," SES CEO Steve Collar said in an earnings call Friday with analysts, according to a transcript. He said SES isn't focused on C-band clearing as "any potential financial opportunity," at least currently. He said the FCC seems motivated to move on a band-clearing plan "relatively quickly," with "some activity" by the agency in the second half of the year.
Federal officials and private sector stakeholders warned the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Thursday about the Chinese government's intense interest in becoming a leading space power. They recommended a change in federal strategy to protect against the corresponding threat to U.S. satellite interests. House Armed Services Committee member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., recently raised concerns via a Center for Strategic and International Studies report that China and other countries had surpassed the U.S. in deploying anti-satellite technologies (see 1904040007). There's widespread debate how the U.S. can eclipse China in the race for dominance over 5G (see 1904090075).
Government responses to the January 2018 false missile emergency alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054) resulted in fixes, but there's room for improvement, said emergency communications officials and lawyers in interviews. The false alarm drew scrutiny from the FCC, Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Hawaii agencies (see 1804110064). Some are pushing to bring back legislation filed last Congress to address some of the issues identified in reviews of the incident. Telecom-focused lawmakers said they're considering just that.