The Title II sections of the Communications Act the FCC would apply to broadband under Chairman Julius Genachowski’s reclassification plan could still burden operators with cumbersome rules and expose them to costly legal challenges, communications attorneys said Friday. Statements from Genachowski and FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick Thursday indicated Sections 201, 202, 208, 222, 254 and 255 would remain in place after a substantial forbearance from other Title II elements (CD May 7 p1). Sections 201 and 202 “are the key provisions of the Communications Act that have sort of kept behavior in check for almost 80 years,” said telecom lawyer Glenn Richards of Pillsbury Winthrop. “Anything that folks do, they're always thinking about it in terms of ‘Will it cause a 201 or 202 issue?'"

STANFORD, Calif. -- “A lot of back and forth, a lot of angst” resulted inside the FCC from dealing with the Comcast decision, said Sherrese Smith, aide to Chairman Julius Genachowski. Trying to keep regulating Internet access under Title I could create uncertainty for investors and consumers throughout long court fights, and “Congress probably did not intend for broadband to be under” a Title II common carrier framework, she said Friday. Genachowski’s “third way” calls for “reclassification under Title II” with forbearance on the “very onerous” obligations in the title, Smith said at the Legal Frontiers in Digital Media conference. Asked about coverage of wireless broadband, Smith said only, “I think we'll be working on that."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s “third way” on broadband isn’t a compromise at all, reclassification opponents said Thursday. Several predicted the Genachowski proposal faces the same legal challenges as would reclassification. It also faces strong opposition from FCC Republicans Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker, who released a joint statement. Genachowski has avoided questions in recent weeks on his stance on reclassification. A vote on a public notice is expected within the next few weeks, FCC officials said. It’s expected to be approved 3-2, likely with dissents from the two Republicans, they said.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress divided sharply on FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to cement the commission’s broadband authority. (See separate story in this issue.) Democrats stood by the FCC chairman, while Republicans accused him of partisanship. The GOP called reclassification -- even lightly applied -- a mistake. House and Senate Commerce Committee Chairmen Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., urged Genachowski on Wednesday to pursue “all viable options,” including reclassification (CD May 6 p1).

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski knows how to cement the commission’s authority over broadband without reclassifying it under Title II of the Communications Act, a senior commission official said late Wednesday in an e-mail sent to reporters by an agency spokeswoman. He won’t say what it is until Thursday, the spokeswoman told us. The e-mail came a few hours after Democratic Commerce Committee leaders urged the FCC to consider “all viable options,” including reclassifying broadband, in the wake of the Comcast decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The FCC restarted its 180-day clock on review of Comcast’s agreement to buy control of NBC Universal after the companies on Tuesday submitted economic studies requested by commission staff. In pausing the clock at 29 days elapsed last month (CD April 19 p1), the Media Bureau said it would restart after the studies, on the stated benefits of the deal and its impact on online video competition, were filed. A bureau public notice Wednesday afternoon set new deadlines for opposition to the deal and other comments.

The FCC asked the Federal State Joint Board on Universal Service to review commission rules regarding the Lifeline and Link-up programs, in an order released Tuesday, but adopted last week. The commission asks the joint board to recommend any changes to eligibility, verification and outreach rules, “given significant technological and marketplace changes since the current rules were adopted,” the FCC said. The commission’s choice to seek guidance from the joint board was prompted by “tremendous changes to telephone service since 2000,” the last time the FCC referred Lifeline and Link-up issues to the joint board. “The universe of carriers participating in the low-income programs has expanded greatly,” and low-income consumers have more options in communications services. “Because customers may have both a wireline and a wireless connection and could potentially seek Lifeline support for each, it has become more challenging to ensure compliance with the Commission’s one-per-household rule,” the order said. This issue of duplicate claims and other consumer eligibility issues like automatic enrollment and potentially applying the program to broadband use, will be reviewed by the joint board. The FCC requests a decision from the joint board by November.

The time has come for the FCC to formally seek comment on whether it should “reclassify” broadband as a Title II service, subject to common carrier regulation, Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said Tuesday in a debate sponsored by the New America Foundation. Hank Hultquist, vice president of federal regulatory affairs at AT&T, countered that the FCC has plenty of authority regardless of the recent Comcast decision, and reclassification would be a mistake.

HOT SPRINGS, Va. -- The National Broadband Plan’s proposal that 500 MHz of additional spectrum be reallocated for wireless broadband over the next five years is only a recommendation, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said at the FCBA annual meeting Saturday. The administration may reach another conclusion. Strickling said: “The administration continues to evaluate what is doable in this area and how to organize itself, conduct an evaluation. I don’t think there’s any question but that the administration understands the importance of looking for additional spectrum. In my own agency we're already starting to think about how we would do that on the federal side."

Technology trade group TechAmerica urged regulatory actions to help the high-tech industry get back on track, after its annual report found 245,600 high-tech jobs were cut in 2009. The recession-induced loss of high-tech jobs followed four years of steady growth in high-tech employment, said the report.