Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2009 - The Universal Service Fund is in need of an overhaul to equalize costs among stakeholders and modernize programs to include broadband services, a group of industry representatives and regulators told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet during a Tuesday hearing.
The hearing examined a discussion draft of the Universal Service Reform Act of 2009, authored by subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb.
The Universal Service program, which existed for decades before being codified in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, is under "tremendous pressure" and requires a comprehensive effort to reform its operations, Boucher said during opening remarks.
Reform is needed because new technologies for long distance voice communications have reduced the available revenue that can be tapped to fund current programs, leading to soaring costs for consumers – a projected 14 percent of revenues in January of 2010, he said.
Such an increase and a maintenance of the status quo is simply "not sustainable," Boucher said. The Boucher-Terry bill would cap the high cost portion of the fund while requiring wireless carriers who participate to do so through a competitive bidding process. Such legislative...
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Saturday, October 31st, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, October 31, 2009 - This week Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., added to the growing number of network neutrality-related bills when she filed legislation that would ban the Federal Communications Commission from regulating internet access,
as proposed last week by Chairman Julius Genachowski.
Blackburn’s measure, H.R. 3924, is intended “to prohibit the FCC from further regulating the Internet.”
In a statement, she said FCC rules “ironically would make the Internet less neutral by allowing the FCC to regulate it in the same way it regulates radio and television broadcasts.”
She said is concerned that potential rules would decrease the Internet’s efficiency, interrupt the flow of free ideas and information, and hurt the ability of industry to protect intellectual property online. The
Blackburn bill currently has 19 co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Also, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had introduced legislation, S.1836 on October 22 that would prevent further FCC regulation of the Internet. In a statement, he said that the “government takeover of the Internet will stifle innovation, in turn slowing our economic turnaround and further depressing an already anemic job market.”
He said the wireless industry exploded...
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Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
By the Staff of BroadbandCensus.com
An agreement reached by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was praised Wednesday by Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., Chairman of the Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee.
“It will help insure that the Internet remains stable and secure for the people around the world who use it for work, study, entertainment, or to stay in touch with family and friends,” read the statement.
This new arrangement brings to an end the series of short-term agreements between the U.S. government and ICANN. With this agreement, ICANN will continue to manage the Internet’s global Domain Name System while agreeing to a series of review processes to help it assess and improve its mission and operations. The NTIA, an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will continue its relationship with ICANN.
The Affirmation ensures the global Internet stakeholder community of permanent accountability mechanisms hard-coded into ICANN's continued evolution as a private sector led organization, commented Michael Palage, adjunct fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and a former ICANN Board Member.
“The Affirmation of Commitments recognizes...
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Thursday, June 18th, 2009
By Tina Nguyen, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com
ARLINGTON, Va., June 18, 2009 - Broadband policies must adapt to ensure both competition and quality service for all consumers, a group of industry executives and policy experts said Thursday during at the Pike and Fischer Broadband Policy Summit.
Lack of universal access and market competition are two reasons the U.S. lags in broadband, whether one believes "the glass is half full or half empty," said Google Media and Telecommunications Counsel Richard Whitt.
"I think everybody agrees that the receptacle is not being used to its full capacity,” he quipped. But broadband deployment should not just be for the sake of building pipes, but to enable applications. Whitt cautioned: "Broadband is about online connectivity."
Consumers are increasingly viewing broadband as a component of infrastructure and a utility, or not just a commercial service, said Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott. The $7.25 billion appropriated for broadband in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was a charge from Congress to develop programs based on a "robust broadband infrastructure."
Scott noted prices for broadband service in some areas are 10 percent higher than others because of lack of competition. Solving this problem will require new telecommunications policies for a networked world based...
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Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2009 - Congress is unlikely to act on major broadband issues until after the August recess, aides to House and Senate committee chairs told attendees Tuesday at the American Cable Association summit here.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V. wants to work on "a host of pressing challenges" this year, said deputy chief of staff James Reid. Rockefeller and Sen. John Kerry, D-Ma., who chairs the newly constituted Telecommunications Subcommittee, are looking at a number of communications and media-related issues for consideration.
But Reid said Senate action is unlikely to go beyond hearings, with the exception of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension Reauthorization Act, which expires at year's end. He blamed the current pace of Senate debate for the pessimistic outlook, "You need bills that can be done [on the Senate floor] in one or two days," he said. But Reid added that the committee's fall schedule had not yet been mapped out, leaving the possibility for new developments open.
On the House side, Energy and Commerce Committee Senior Counsel Tim Powderly said Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., was "singularly focused" on climate change legislation, and along with health care reform, would likely dominate the...
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Sunday, April 5th, 2009
By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, April 5, 2009 - Proper oversight of the $7.2 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program can only take place if key terms are defined properly, a panel of agency officials and policy experts told a congressional committee on Thursday.
The broadband stimulus programs can succeed only if the eventual definition of "unserved areas" is "sensible," said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet.
Boucher is concerned that areas that have a "smattering" of broadband service might be excluded from the definition of "unserved" areas. Agencies must also exercise care when defining what constitutes an "underserved" area in order to maximize market competition, Boucher said.
“Uunderserved" should also encompass areas with low available speeds, Boucher said.
But Boucher cautioned that the stimulus program should not be confused with a national broadband strategy, which the Federal Communications Commission is tasked with designing. The FCC is scheduled to take up the task at its April 8 meeting.
Such a strategy could include expanding universal service fund support to include broadband, he said, and indicated his subcommittee would continue to be "actively involved in looking at ways to achieve universal broadband deployment."
Ranking member...
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Thursday, March 26th, 2009
News
By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, March 26, 2009 - The transition to digital television since the passage of the DTV Delay Act has been a “major accomplishment,” Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., said Thursday at a hearing on the state of the DTV transition.
Boucher, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Technology, Communications and the Internet, said that while he was pleased at seeing “clear results” and positive progress, “much remains to be done,” Boucher said.
Ranking member Cliff Stearns, R-Fal., agreed that "the glass is 95 percent full," on the country's readiness. But he lamented the amount of money set aside for coupons, and suggested significant savings could be had by confining the program to households without cable or satellite television.
“Shepherding the transition” has been “priority number 1” since taking over the FCC, Acting Chairman Michael Copps said.
Even before his elevation from the position of commissioner, Copps said he believed “it was clear the country was not ready…for the February 17 cutoff.” Besides “rampant consumer confusion,” Copps said a major problem had been a lack of coordination between public and private stakeholders .
Copps thanked Congress for the Delay Act, but was careful to warn members that “we are...
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