Eight House Democrats asked acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn not to adopt spectrum auction rules that exclude certain carriers from bidding in the forward auction. “We hope the commission will avoid any action that would serve as an impediment to the successful build out of FirstNet,” said the letter sent to Clyburn Tuesday. “We are concerned that the commission may take action which would have the effect of excluding entities in the forward auction authorized by the [Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation] Act. All carriers should have a meaningful opportunity to bid for spectrum.” The letter asked the FCC to avoid repeating the “mistake” it made in the commission’s prior effort to auction the upper 700 MHz D Block spectrum for public safety use. “Instead we hope the commission will adopt transparent and simple rules to encourage participation by the broadest possible group of broadcasters and wireless providers because doing so will contribute in great part to a successful auction that in turn will generate the revenues needed to fulfill our shared commitment to public safety and achieve the other goals in the Act,” said the letter. It was signed by Reps. John Dingell of Michigan; Eliot Engel, N.Y,; G.K. Butterfield, N.C.; Gene Green, Texas; Bruce Braley, Iowa; Jim Matheson, Utah; John Barrow, Ga.; and Paul Tonko, N.Y. The FCC did not comment. The House Communications Subcommittee plans an oversight hearing on the FCC’s spectrum incentive auction, as was expected (CD July 11 p20), on July 23 at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. Scheduled to testify are: NAB Executive Vice President-Strategic Planning Rick Kaplan; Gary Epstein, chairman of the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force; Preston Padden, executive director of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition; Kathleen Ham, T-Mobile, vice president-federal regulatory affairs; Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge; and Joan Marsh, AT&T vice president-federal regulatory affairs.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., urged FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn to “tread carefully” as she considers any expansion of USF, according to a letter made public on Monday (http://1.usa.gov/12QWF57). Walden said Clyburn should seek to cap the overall fund at current levels in order to “provide families some certainty and minimize fluctuations in their monthly bills,” according to the letter. Walden said any expansion proposals should be referred to the Federal-State Joint Board on “whether to adopt expansion proposals and, if so, how to implement them within the cap.”
The three-judge panel selected to hear Verizon’s appeal of the 2010 FCC net neutrality order (CD June 26 p1) could be a good panel from the agency’s perspective, but there are few certainties in appellate law, said attorneys following the case closely. While Republican-appointed judges outnumber by 9-5 those appointed by Democrats at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, two Democratic appointees, David Tatel and Judith Rogers, were selected for the panel, as was Laurence Silberman, widely viewed as the intellectual leader of the conservative appellant movement.
House Republicans and Democrats again delved into the acrimonious topic of FCC reform Thursday at a House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said there’s a real need to improve the transparency and accountability of the FCC and stumped for two draft bills similar to FCC reform legislation (HR-3310, HR-3309) that failed to advance last session (CD March 27/12 p1). Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., bemoaned the draft bills, which they said would slow FCC processes and subject the commission to special rules and more litigation.
Many draft proposals focus on changes to technology and address potential federal changes in light of that. One NARUC draft proposed an update on slamming rules. The FCC should “update the current rules and regulations on slamming by (1) requiring third-party verification to include mandatory recording of any contact in which customers are solicited for consent to changes in services or providers, (2) by applying slamming rules uniformly to all voice services including traditional wireline, interconnected and over-the-top VoIP, and wireless; and (3) by requiring the prominent notice of the number the customer may call for assistance of the FCC and/or State agency.” Wireline, VoIP and wireless companies should report billing complaint trends as well as “spikes driven by activity of specific third-party vendors” to both state and federal entities, according to the draft.
Prison calling reform has long been a top issue for acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, but Clyburn acknowledged Wednesday that taking action raises some tough questions for the agency. During a workshop at FCC headquarters in Washington, speakers weighed in from law enforcement, prison calling companies, the states and those representing the interests of prisoners and their families.
The latest draft of principles from the NARUC telecom task force still raised questions of overreach and appropriate balance regarding the role of states. Other stakeholders praised the draft and underscored the duties states should still have. The group, formed in late November and preparing a white paper for November 2013, released this draft last month (CD June 11 p13), to be discussed at NARUC’s Denver meeting in late July.
The House Commerce Committee named David Redl chief counsel of the House Communications Subcommittee. Redl previously was counsel to the subcommittee, and was CTIA director-regulatory affairs before then. Redl will replace outgoing subcommittee chief counsel Neil Fried, the committee said. Fried, whose name was previously floated as a possible candidate to replace former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell (CD April 10 p1), is planning to work for the MPAA, Capitol Hill and industry officials told us. The MPAA had no comment Tuesday. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said in a news release that Fried has been a “valuable member of our team for many years. From our efforts to free up spectrum to rooting out waste in government to reforming federal agencies, Neil has been there every step of the way.” The committee said Ray Baum, a senior adviser on the subcommittee, will “provide strategic counsel for the committee in an expanded role as senior policy advisor and chief strategist on state initiatives, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and technology.” Before his work on the committee, Baum was the majority leader of the Oregon state House of Representatives and is former chairman of the Oregon Public Utility Commission. The committee named Kelsey Guyselman subcommittee counsel. She was most recently a law clerk for regulatory affairs at CTIA. The committee hired Noelle Clemente to be a member of the committee’s communications office. She was previously a press secretary at the American Action Forum, a sister organization to the American Action Network, a policy group cofounded by former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.
The California Public Utilities Commission, despite its president’s urging, voted to oppose a major piece of telecom legislation moving through the Legislature. Commissioners voted 4-1 to oppose Assembly Bill 1407, without suggesting any amendments. The bill proposes to expand the California LifeLine program to wireless and alternative providers of interconnected VoIP. But several commissioners argued the bill would scrap extensive CPUC efforts as well as hurt the California subsidy program. CPUC staff, in a memo posted earlier last week, had advocated opposing the bill (CD June 26 p15)
FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn circulated an order Thursday approving the SoftBank/Sprint Nextel/Clearwire deal, an agency spokesman said. “Softbank, Sprint, and Clearwire requested that the Federal Communications Commission approve their applications for transfer of control,” Clyburn said in a written statement. “At my direction, earlier today, staff circulated a proposed Order to the full Commission for a vote.” FCC approval has been one of the remaining hurdles to completing the larger transaction.