The Senate Finance Committee voted 17-4 to provide $400 million in tax credit bonds for projects that would include rural broadband. The package could be added to the farm bill (S-2419), said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “As the Senate edges closer to considering its version of the farm bill, this funding comes at an opportune time and gives us some important assistance” in investments that are needed, Harkin said in a written statement.
The telecom and high-tech industries support a four-year extension of the Internet tax moratorium offered in a bill (HR-3678) by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. “While we prefer a permanent extension, we believe that HR-3678 is a step forward and thus a bill we can support,” said a letter to Conyers’ office from Don’t Tax Our Web coalition leader Broderick Johnson. A permanent extension would be the first choice, but given the political situation the industry prefers an extension to nothing being done, industry and Hill sources said.
The telecom industry argued vehemently against modifying special access rules in a House Telecom Subcommittee hearing Tuesday, as Democratic leaders pushed for new pricing policies. Democratic leaders also condemned the FCC’s forbearance petition policies as lacking transparency, preventing Congress from exercising “appropriate” oversight. “Unacceptable,” House Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D- Mich., said in a back-and-forth discussion with Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke.
USTelecom President Walter McCormick Monday praised a broadband mapping bill (HR-3627) that would provide grants to public-private partnerships that would identify regions that don’t have service. Introduced by Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, the bill calls for spending $40 million 2008 to 2012 on projects to identify gaps in broadband coverage and develop business plans for improving technology use. “This goal is essential to the economic, security and quality of living aspects of our nation,” McCormick said in a speech to the Ohio Telecom Association. The mapping project, based on an often-praised project in Kentucky that helped increase broadband usage, has won bipartisan support in Congress. House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., also has been working on a mapping bill, but it hasn’t been introduced. Space, who isn’t on the committee, has been active through his post on the Agriculture Committee in promoting rural broadband use. The telecom industry has been leery about mapping projects for fear that competitive data could be revealed, but Kentucky’s effort was a compromise that the industry endorsed. Space’s bill would attempt to replicate Kentucky’s efforts across the country. “If industries and companies are to have the ability to compete in the modern economy online, they must first have the access necessary to get there,” Space said. His bill would map resources and build demand through education efforts.
The FCC may not vote in October on whether to let high-technology companies use the so-called white spaces between TV channels for portable broadband devices (CD Sept 14 p1), said Chairman Kevin Martin. Martin would like action next month, but the vote’s timing depends on whether the agency conducts more device tests, he said. A vote could occur on circulation outside the October FCC meeting, he told reporters after speaking at a DTV education workshop. Martin spoke with reporters Tuesday after appearing at a DTV education workshop.
Carriers of various sizes told the FCC they back a bid by Windstream to convert to price cap regulation (CD Aug 8 p9) -- but for different reasons. Big companies like Verizon saw Windstream’s regulatory shift as raising a prospect of savings in access charges and Universal Service Fund contributions. Midsized rural companies saw a chance to follow Windstream’s lead and gain flexibility themselves.
Public safety groups and industry officials said they support an E-911 bill (HR-3403), with the exception of USTelecom, which couldn’t commit to full endorsement of the measure, they told the House Telecom Subcommittee Wednesday. The bipartisan bill, which has been in the works for more than two years, would facilitate deployment of IP-enabled 911 and E-911 services. While there is still squabbling over details, the hearing paved the way for a markup and final passage, lawmakers said.
Defending a franchising order, the FCC said several parts of the Communications Act give it oversight of most aspects of cable TV service and limit cities’ power to award or deny franchises. The filing said the FCC acted under congressional authority to limit how long municipalities can take to review franchise applications and the types of fees they can charge. FCC limits on public access channel support, data network fees and requirements for video system build-outs will make future franchise talks easier, the agency said in a brief to 6th U.S. Appeals Court, Cincinnati. The filing in Alliance for Community Media v. FCC couldn’t tout a similar order giving cable operators franchise deregulation because the FCC missed its self-imposed Sept. 5 deadline to issue it (CD Sept 13 p2). The order is still circulating on the eighth floor, FCC officials said.
The House Commerce Telecom Subcommittee announced the witness list for its Sept. 19 hearing on a 911 bill, HR-3403: National Emergency Number Association President Jason Barbour, Comcast Senior Vice President Catherine Avgiris, USTelecom Vice President for Industry Affairs Robert Mayer, EarthLink Executive Vice President Christopher Putala and Intrado Senior Vice President Craig Donaldson.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin made last-minute changes to a controversial DTV order approved late Tuesday (CD Special Bulletin Sept 11 p1) after all other commissioners voiced concern, agency sources said. The move also headed off at least one possible cable lawsuit. Colleagues’ resistance persuaded Martin to yank from his draft a requirement that cable operators carry all program data from stations, agency officials said. They said Martin agreed to let small systems seek waivers from a requirement that cable operators give analog customers must-carry stations after the DTV transition because commissioners expressed concern.