Speech

As far as the US perspective, our priorities generally seek to create a regulatory environment that provides our telecommunications industries the opportunity to innovate, obtain investment and ensure continued growth for years to come. We also seek to promote the interests of our citizens, especially those who are unserved and in need of modern and robust connectivity in order to participate in the new digital economy.

Reducing burdens on broadcasters is a natural segue to my next topic: our across-the-board review of our media rules. Back in May, the Federal Communications Commission launched a comprehensive review of our media regulations. Our goal is simple: let’s modernize our rules to match the realities of today’s marketplace. This better promotes the public interest and allows for more competition, innovation, and investment in the media sector. We asked for your thoughts on which rules should be modified or repealed as part of this review, and why. And we received plenty of feedback.

When we came up with the idea for this proceeding, we thought of it as a way for us to clean out the regulatory underbrush. And as is the case with many ranches right here in Texas, there’s plenty of underbrush to be cleared among the 1,000 or so pages of FCC media rules. It’s time for us to get to work. For the foreseeable future, I will therefore be sharing with my fellow Commissioners each and every month at least one Notice of Proposed Rulemaking teeing up outdated or unnecessary media regulations that should be eliminated or modified. And even though the deadline for public input only passed a few weeks ago, our September Commission meeting will feature the first action item to come out of this effort.

What I want to talk about today: the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to harness the power of communications technology to improve the lives of the American people and boost economic growth and US competitiveness. I’d like to focus on three specific priorities. Think of them as the three "I's": Inclusion, Investment, Innovation.

Shortly before the inauguration, I outlined four general areas where actions could be taken to reinvigorate investment: one, undoing harmful policies; two, clearing regulatory underbrush; three, developing and executing a strong pro-innovation agenda; and, four, overhauling the Commission’s arcane processes and its organization. I’m pleased to say that we’ve seen significant progress on each front....The Internet is arguably the greatest man-made technology of my lifetime and a testament to free-market principles embodying the American Dream. The government must remain steadfast that this platform should be unfettered by regulation. Doing so is the way to ensure that the economic revolution and expansion of opportunity, unsurpassed in modern history, will continue for future generations and empower their American Dreams.

At our meeting on Aug 3, the Commission will vote on a mid-band spectrum Notice of Inquiry. While it provides a great opportunity to point out any frequencies, between 3.7 and 24 GHz, that you think may facilitate wireless broadband services, the main focus is the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band. Recently, an ad-hoc coalition of equipment manufacturers, wireless providers, and unlicensed users have been discussing ideas on how to open the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band for licensed mobile services, while protecting or accommodating incumbents. This will provide an excellent opportunity because it is so close to the 3.5 GHz PALs.

The Federal Communications Commission is determined to be Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing’s (TDI) partner and meet this moment. I’d like to walk through the Commission’s multi-part strategy for improving the lives of Americans with disabilities through communications technology. The first part of this strategy is pretty straightforward: to uphold our legal obligations to promote accessibility and to advance new rules when appropriate. Part two of our accessibility strategy is encouraging the private sector to make accessibility a priority, rather than an afterthought. A third way that the FCC aims to promote accessibility is to lead by example. We are seeing real success with our direct video calling program—also called DVC. Bottom line: When it comes to accessibility, the FCC is practicing what we preach. The fourth and final piece of our accessibility agenda might not strike you at first as relevant to accessibility. But our work to bridge the digital divide is critically important to Americans with disabilities. We are aiming to connect every American with digital opportunity regardless of who they are or where they live.

Today’s topic – Next Generation 5G Wireless Networks: Seizing the Opportunities and Overcoming the Obstacles – is one of great importance. Countries across the globe are vying to shape the next generation of mobile technologies and grab their slice of the economic bounty. There is no time to sit on the sidelines when everyone, including the standard bodies, have expedited their work to enable deployments as early as 2019. So, how do we “seize the opportunity” that future wireless technologies provide and remain the global leader in wireless, while overcoming the many obstacles – or challenges – that lie in the way?

We live in an age of innovation and disruption, of opportunity and cost, of benefit and risk. As communications technologies continue to evolve, I believe digital equity is within reach, but to achieve it we must continue to bridge gaps – in both access and understanding – and to work together for the communities we all serve. For our part, AT&T looks forward to continuing to support and develop a diverse workforce, to support minority-owned vendors and suppliers, to creating jobs for diverse communities, and to investing in technology and networks that will transition us to a 5G future, which will further bridge the digital divide, creating economic opportunities for communities that need them most.

[I]t is particularly important that the United States and Caribbean nations collaborate. Our countries share many common interests and significant cultural and economic ties. The U.S. is the leading trading partner for the Caribbean, and we have benefitted greatly from the contributions of the Caribbean diaspora community in the United States. Unlike baseball, this is not a game where there is only one winner. When we expand opportunity and enhance security in one nation, the benefits can flow throughout the region. Recognizing these benefits, Congress last year made it the official policy of the United States to increase engagement with government leaders, the private sector, and civil society groups in the Caribbean region. I am proud to be here in the spirit of this law and want you to know that Chairman Pai is committed to enhancing the FCC’s engagement with the Caribbean region.

If you care about robust broadband, if you care about being able to use the internet without your service provider compromising your privacy, picking winners and losers online, if you want infrastructure built in your communities, then you cannot remain on the sidelines. File comments in our open internet proceeding, let your federal Reps or Sens hear about what you think and what you need. Make your voice heard. I, for one, welcome hearing from you, consider your voices and opinions significant and view what you file as substantial. We are not doing our jobs as regulators, if we aren’t listening to you, we are not representing your interests if we fail to understand or consider what you are facing or what concerns you.

I am here tonight in Marietta (OH) because I am using my two ears and will now limit what else I say with my one mouth. My unwavering promise to you this evening, is that I will take what you say back to Washington (DC), and ensure that your stories are told and that they are part of our public policy debate.