Overhauling the Communications Act should be a key priority of the next Congress, The Washington Times said in an editorial Sunday about Capitol Hill priorities generally. “Beyond tax and regulatory reform, the outdated Telecom Act should be another top priority,” the conservative newspaper’s editorial board said. “The Act was written in 1934 and last updated in 1996 and cannot reflect the needs of modern technology. Republicans have a unique bipartisan opportunity to cast a wide net and revamp the laws governing one of the most promising economic sectors.” House Republicans announced a year ago that they wanted to overhaul the act, and Senate Republicans have said they also have an interest in doing so.
RFD-TV, a pay-TV network, “highlighted” a concern about rural focused programming in two acquisition proceedings, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. Program carriage is one of the issues raised in those proceedings, Wheeler said, referring to Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV. Those views of RFD-TV will be given “careful consideration,” Wheeler said in the letter, released Friday.
Chairman Tom Wheeler touted FCC efforts to curb call completion problems. “The false ring signaling rule is already in effect, while the record retention and call completion performance reporting requirements will need OMB [Office of Management and Budget] approval before going into effect,” Wheeler said in a letter, released Friday and dated Nov. 4, to senators including Commerce Committee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D. “Recently, I circulated an Order to my fellow Commissioners to address five petitions for reconsideration that were filed in response to the Rural Call Completion Order. Once that Order is adopted, we will promptly make the necessary submissions to OMB.” Wheeler sent a similar letter to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. Wheeler emphasized the enforcement actions that the agency has been taking on this front and said the commission has tackled call completion problems on “multiple fronts.”
The FCC soon will convene a working group to set up a successor standard in light of Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation which is to repeal the set-top box integration ban in a year. Both chambers of Congress passed STELA reauthorization last week (see 1411210036). "Recognizing the near-term enactment of STELAR [the STELA Reauthorization Act], I plan to direct the Commission staff to establish the Working Group as quickly as possible, consistent with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act," Wheeler told Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a letter Monday. "Once established, the Commission will provide assistance to the Working Group to promote as best we can a successful outcome of its collaboration and, upon receiving its report, will assess quickly the best path forward for implementing a new standard." The legislation included a provision telling the FCC to form such a working group. Wheeler praised Markey's "long-standing leadership" on the issue. Markey and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., had initially opposed STELA reauthorization that included the integration ban repeal. “We appreciate Chairman Wheeler’s commitment to moving as quickly as possible to put in place a new standard in light of the upcoming repeal of the existing integration ban rule," they said in a joint statement Monday. "We believe we need to protect competition and choice in the set top box marketplace. Consumers should not have to pay high monthly fees to lease cable boxes forever." The legislation is awaiting President Barack Obama's signature.
House Republicans touted progress in the FCC AWS-3 spectrum auction (see 1411200041). It's "been a remarkable success -- a boon for American taxpayers," said Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., in a statement Monday. "The auction has already raised enough money to cover the expenses to upgrade and relocate government spectrum users, pay for a nationwide first responder broadband network, and provide $20 billion to reduce the deficit." Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., agreed. “Our bipartisan work with the Pentagon, FCC, and NTIA helped identify solutions to free this valuable spectrum without harming the Defense Department’s ability to train the men and women that work every day to keep Americans safe,” Walden said. “With the first-of-their-kind incentive auctions up next, the FCC has an opportunity to continue America’s leadership in wireless.”
The bipartisan phone scam legislation (S-2956) that Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced last week (see 1411210026) is not an exact companion to the Anti-Spoofing Act (HR-3670) that the House passed earlier this year, a Nelson spokesman told us. The legislation is eight pages long and says its goal is preventing caller ID spoofing, according to a copy provided over the weekend. It was not available Friday. The Nelson legislation does what the House version does but also adds a “whitelist” provision to let consumers ask for 10 numbers that ring directly to the phone rather than voicemail, the spokesman said. “One key to stopping this fraud is providing a mechanism for consumers to know that a call is actually originating from the person or entity that shows up on the Caller ID screen,” a Nelson one-page description of the bill also said. “The Phone Scam Prevention Act of 2014 seeks to address this critical issue by directing the [FCC] to develop authentication standards within 5 years to ensure caller-ID information is accurate, or warn consumers when such information cannot be verified.” The bill “provides the impetus to speed that process up,” directed at the Secure Telephone Identity Revisited Working Group, the summary page said. Nelson is expected to lead Democrats on the Commerce Committee in the next Congress and currently chairs the Special Committee on Aging.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced legislation Thursday targeting phone scams that he says affect senior citizens. The bill is S-2956, listed as the Phone Scam Prevention Act. One of the bill’s three co-sponsors is Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., who referred to it in a news release as the Anti-Spoofing Act of 2014, the title of legislation that successfully passed the House earlier this year. “This bipartisan legislation would take steps to help protect seniors and all consumers from phone scams by giving people additional protection and closing existing loopholes,” Donnelly said. The other two co-sponsors are Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Nelson and Collins are the chairman and ranking member of the Special Committee on Aging, where Donnelly is also a member. Nelson is also a Commerce member expected to lead Commerce Democrats in the next Congress, and this bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee. The Aging Committee held a hearing Wednesday on phone scams to hear from debit card companies and retailers. The legislation is intended “to make it easier for seniors to actually know who is calling them, and give them tools to protect themselves from fraud,” Nelson said in his opening statement for that hearing.
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) would cost $20 million to implement, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Thursday. CISA’s (S-2588) annual implementation cost would be $4 million between 2015 and 2019, with part of the cost for additional staff “needed to administer the program and to manage the exchange of information between federal agencies and the private sector,” CBO said in its report. Industry lobbyists have said the Senate is unlikely to consider CISA during the lame-duck session, with its chances hinging on further action on the USA Freedom Act (see 1411070037). A Senate cloture vote on its version of the bill (S-2685) last week fell below the required 60-vote threshold, 58-42 (see 1411190044). Retiring House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., urged the Senate Thursday to pass CISA, saying during a House Intelligence hearing that the committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee are "so close to an agreement" on a compromise between CISA and its relative House-passed counterpart, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-624).
Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, wants to expand the federal Do Not Call restrictions. He introduced a bill (S-2957) Thursday to “allow individuals to opt out of receiving these sorts of pestering phone calls from Super PACs [political action committees] and similar groups,” Begich said in a statement. The Do Not Disturb Act of 2014 would, according to a Begich news release, prevent calls to those who don’t want such calls from super PACs as well as “so-called ‘social welfare’ political organizations.” It also “prohibits push polls and robo-calls to Americans who have listed their telephone numbers on the registry,” the release said. The legislation lists no co-sponsors currently and is referred to the Commerce Committee, where Begich is a member. He lost his re-election bid and will not be a member of the next Congress.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., last week lauded the progress in the FCC's AWS-3 spectrum auction, which had raised just shy of $30 billion by Thursday (see 1411200041). It has “achieved remarkable success,” earning “enough to fully fund FirstNet, the nationwide interoperability network for America’s first responders and public safety officials,” she said in a statement. “I am confident that as the spectrum [auction] continues, it will net billions more that will help pay down our national debt. In addition to generating needed revenue, this spectrum auction provides an opportunity for wireless carriers to build-out and enhance their networks, providing better coverage and faster speeds to their customers. This auction is clearly proving to be a major win for consumers, innovation, and public safety.” Matsui co-chairs the Congressional Spectrum Caucus and is a member of the Communications Subcommittee.