Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., opened the committee's Wednesday FTC confirmation hearing quipping the agency's nickname is the “Federal Technology Commission,” and much of the hearing focused on tech and telecom policy under the commission's purview. Some nominees voluntarily highlighted changes in technology as a major challenge for the agency and lawmakers sought answers on related topics, including net neutrality, data breaches and market power in the tech sector, as expected (see 1802130046). President Donald Trump nominated antitrust lawyer Joseph Simons, whom he plans to designate chairman; former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Rohit Chopra; Noah Phillips, aide to Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas; and from Delta Air Lines Christine Wilson (see 1801250055 and 1801250066).
A modified Lifeline draft NARUC resolution urging the FCC to continue allowing resellers to receive low-income USF subsidies cleared the telecom committee unanimously Tuesday. The panel added recommendations from a rival draft backing FCC proposals to eliminate stand-alone Lifeline broadband provider designations and reinstate state regulatory authority over eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designations. It also added language to support firming up a $2.25 billion FCC annual Lifeline budget, and it OK'd a nationwide number portability (NNP) draft resolution, but withdrew a draft pole-attachment overlashing draft. The cleared drafts are expected to be approved by NARUC's board Wednesday.
With a federal appellate court last year shooting down a petition seeking a review of the FCC 2015 order finding the cable industry is effectively competitive, a petition for reconsideration before the agency was dismissed, the Media Bureau said in a docket 15-53 order Monday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in July denied the NAB, NATOA and the Northern Dakota County Cable Communications Commission petition for reconsideration (see 1707070013). That makes the FCC petition moot, the bureau said.
President Donald Trump’s infrastructure legislative proposal included its expected focus on streamlining the federal environmental permitting process, including for small-cells deployments, along with state block grants and federal matching funds (see 1801220035, 1802090050 and 1802110001). Communications sector officials and lobbyists bemoaned lack of a dedicated broadband funding allocation in the proposal, released Monday. They told us they are in the beginning phase of negotiations with the White House and Capitol Hill. The White House also released its FY 2019 budget plan, which seeks to zero out public broadcaster federal funding. The FCC's budget would also fall (see 1802120037).
Minnesota said FCC net neutrality repeal doesn't back Charter Communications' case that the state Public Utilities Commission can't regulate fixed, interconnected VoIP like Charter Phone, despite the operator's assertions it does (see 1801110022). The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the FCC "have spoken clearly on this point, stating that 'an interconnected VoIP provider with a capability to track the jurisdictional confines of customer calls would no longer qualify for ... preemption ... and would be subject to state regulation,'" said a Minnesota attorney general filing (in Pacer) Thursday in Charter v. Nancy Lange, No. 17-2290. It was citing a 2008 8th Circuit ruling in MPUC v. FCC (Vonage III) that quoted a 2006 FCC USF contribution order; Lange is the MPUC chair. If the court reaches statutory classification, Minnesota said 1996 Telecom Act changes to the federal Communications Act would be dispositive on the VoIP issue, not the net neutrality order, "which simply reflects that the FCC changed its mind" on broadband classification from a Title II telecom service to a Title I information service. New York recently disputed similar Charter arguments on the FCC order's fallout (see 1801120009). Separately, the Vermont Public Utility Commission ruled VoIP service is a telecom service, but without deciding how it should be regulated. The VPUC remanded the proceeding to a hearing officer for further consideration, said an order Wednesday in docket 7316 (account registration required).
State regulators face competing Lifeline draft resolutions at NARUC's winter meeting on an FCC proposal to target low-income USF subsidies to facilities-based providers (see 1801300023 and 1801300023). A draft resolution to urge the FCC to continue allowing resellers to receive Lifeline funding appears to have more support than a draft that welcomed the proposed shift, some told us Friday, though compromise or postponement of consideration is always possible. Competing Lifeline draft resolutions were pulled from the last meeting (see 1711130035). At the winter meeting, which was to begin Sunday and run through Wednesday, NARUC is also to consider draft telecom resolutions on nationwide number portability and pole-attachment overlashing.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., bucked the FCC's order to rescind its 2015 net neutrality rules and congressional Democrats' planned Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval aimed at undoing the FCC action, saying at an Incompas event Wednesday his planned 21st Century Internet Act is aimed at reaching a bipartisan compromise. Coffman was one of the few congressional Republicans who urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to delay the commission's December vote on rescission of the 2015 rules (see 1712120037). Coffman began teasing his legislative plans soon after the December vote (see 1712140044). He told us Tuesday he's aiming to file the bill by late this month.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn slammed FCC competition policy but saw two "bright spots" ripe for a bipartisan approach: promoting competition in multiple-tenant environments (MTEs) and lowering pole-attachment barriers to infrastructure deployment. She spoke at an Incompas conference Wednesday where speakers cited pole attachments and the "make ready" process as inhibiting broadband expansion. Despite a "backlash" from incumbents and some policy setbacks, new competitors are driving market improvements and winning the battle for public opinion, including on net neutrality, said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering.
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said USF contributions won't target broadband while he's chairman of a federal-state joint board that advises the agency. Although open to other approaches to shoring up the eroding USF industry contribution base, O'Rielly said he's focused on bringing fiscal discipline to USF programs. The FCC "should set a topline budget and then ensure that spending increases are paired with offsets elsewhere," he said at a Hudson Institute event Tuesday. He also explained his libertarian-tinged conservativism, backed serious cost-benefit analysis in the new Office of Economics and Analytics, and voiced optimism Congress will remove a legal hurdle to new spectrum auctions.
The FCC Media Bureau circulated an NPRM Monday seeking comment on creating a new C4 class of FM stations, said Chairman Ajit Pai in his address to a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council event Tuesday. “This reform could allow hundreds of Class A FM stations to broadcast with increased power.” There was "a lot of talk during previous administrations about trying to take action to promote ownership diversity -- but there was little to nothing done,” Pai said. “I am determined that the FCC on my watch will take concrete steps to create a more diverse communications industry.”