Genachowski Criticized for Slow Movement on National Broadband Plan

Critics say that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is not moving fast enough on implementing recommendations included in the National Broadband Plan. The massive plan calls for action on a host of items before October, including a TV white spaces opinion and order, a public safety broadband order and rulemaking notices about broadcast spectrum, dynamic spectrum access, special access, and Lifeline flexibility. Much of the FCC's attention since release of the report has been on network neutrality and reclassify broadband transmission as a common carrier service under Title II of the Communications Act.

"The commission is moving apace on a few issues like spectrum policy, where it has clear authority," said Michael Calabrese, vice president at the New America Foundation. "However, the uncertainty surrounding the FCC's authority to regulate Internet access providers has created an enormous bottleneck that threatens progress on the National Broadband Plan overall. The chairman needs to remember he leads an independent regulatory agency and stop looking over his shoulder to Congress and the White House for permission to regulate."

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Media issues are among those behind schedule. The quadrennial media ownership review mandated by Congress for 2010 is set to wrap up early next year, when the review of Comcast's planned purchase of control of NBC Universal may be finished, and action on program carriage, station license renewals and other items is taking longer than hoped, commission and industry officials said. "We can't deal with these issues one-by-one until we have finished our Future of Media initiative," said Chairman Charles Benton of the Benton Foundation. "You can't shut down all the other media while things are being sorted out in broadband." Analyst Kevin Taglang of the foundation and Benton said the FCC has done a good job on preparing items for Universal Service Fund reform.