Recap: House FCC Oversight Hearing

The House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing on July 10. The FCC’s five commissioner testified.

There was a lot of attention on regulatory reform. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski got praise from both Republicans and Democrats for his efforts so far, but Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), a former broadcaster, called them the "minimum" and suggested much more needs to be done and others suggested the FCC had not been sufficiently aggressive in taking a weed whacker to the regulatory underbrush. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said the FCC should consider changing its approach to rule reviews by sunsetting regulations unless it can be affirmatively shown they are still in the public interest.

Republican lawmakers accused FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski of hypocrisy for opposing international efforts to regulate the Internet but leaving his own agency the power to do so. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) pressed Genachowski on whether he will close the commission's docket to re-classify the Internet as a "telecommunications service" under Title II of the Communications Act. The FCC's docket on whether to re-classify the Internet has been open since 2009, but the agency has not taken any action. Chairman Genachowski said the commission is still accepting public comments and that it would be "unusual" to close the proceeding. Rep Shimkus said closing the Title II docket would provide certainty to businesses and Internet users. But classifying the Internet under Title II would put the FCC's network neutrality regulations on firmer legal ground. Chairman Genachowski disagreed with the Republicans that classifying the Internet under Title II would lead to government control of the Internet. "I believe very strongly in Internet freedom ... no gatekeepers of the Internet, public or private," Genachowski said. The two other Democratic FCC commissioners sided with Genachowski, saying that net neutrality protects consumer choice. But the two Republican commissioners said the commission should close its Title II docket.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) asked about the FCC’s pending incentive auctions of spectrum currently used by television broadcasters. Chairman Genachowski said that the FCC would make public all "actually helpful and relevant" information "that it can" about the commission's framework and technical parameters for TV station repacking. Chairman Walden urged the FCC to be as transparent as possible and said the committee was keenly interested in the allotment optimization model (AOM) the commission would use to repack TV stations following its reclamation of spectrum for wireless broadband, information he called critical.
Another issue that drew attention from the legislators was the FCC's proposed changes to the special access market in which incumbent telecom providers have to make their business service networks available to competitors. Under the Clinton administration, the price of those services was deregulated in areas where competition could be demonstrated, similar to the FCC's deregulation of basic cable rates in markets where there was demonstrable competition. Chairman Genachowski has proposed to freeze petitions for special access deregulation while the commission decides how to revamp the regulations for the digital age, saying the current deregulatory regime is malfunctioning. Republican legislators expressed their concern with that freeze on deregulatory petitions, while Democrats tended to agree that the freeze was OK and the Clinton-era deregulation was ripe for review.

Among the questions posed to the commissioners, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) asked whether they would support a privacy bill of rights for Internet users 15 and under. All the commissioners responded that they would support such a measure.

The commissioners took a beating from a number of lawmakers about its own poor communications. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle took aim at the FCC’s website, which was redesigned a year ago. Chairman Walden opened up the door when he asked the FCC to point out where on its website TV stations could find information about the new rule to put political files online in 22 days. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) did a search on the FCC site for another issue but didn't find what he was looking for. It isn’t only the GOP having trouble with FCC communications. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) told the FCC commissioners that the agency needs to do a better job with its many reports. “I don’t know who reads them or who understands them,” Rep Eshoo said.