January 2015

Two of the architects of the Republican network neutrality plan -- House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) -- received more money from cable-industry interests than almost any other members of Congress, campaign finance records show.

Chairman Upton received $44,500 from Comcast-related donors, including employees of the company and its political action committee. Meanwhile, records from the Federal Election Commission show that no fewer than 15 senior Comcast executives contributed $1,000 or more to Chairman Upton’s 2014 campaign. Of all 435 members of the US House of Representatives, Chairman Upton ranked No. 4 on the Comcast recipient list. No. 3 on the list was Chairman Walden, a coauthor of the draft legislation, who received $47,250 from Comcast-related donors during the most recent election cycle. And it isn’t just Comcast. Donors with an interest in Verizon and AT&T gave $35,200 and $20,000, respectively, to Chairman Upton’s most recent campaign. Both companies have voiced strong opposition to reclassifying broadband as a utility, which would impose stricter relations on providers.

Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai supports making FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's draft Open Internet order available to the public on the same day that it is circulated to the commissioners for their input and edits. Commissioner Pai also told C-SPAN that he would prefer the FCC hold off on the vote and allow a legislative effort, spearheaded by Republicans, time to play out, since its purpose is to give the FCC direction on its authority over Internet access.

Internet service providers led by Comcast are pushing to protect from federal regulations their ability to demand fees from high-volume data users such as Netflix.

Netflix and middlemen such as Level 3 Communications and Cogent Communications Holdings have asked regulators to prevent Internet providers from charging for connections. The Federal Communications Commission has heard arguments to prohibit interconnection payments from Netflix, Cogent and the Comptel trade group of communications providers that includes Google’s Fiber project. The agreements allow the companies to have a more direct connection into the Internet service provider’s network at a data center to improve the quality of content delivery. Internet service providers have used Web congestion for “leverage in demanding tolls for delivering video traffic to their subscribers,” the companies and trade group told FCC officials in a Jan 9 meeting. Netflix said its videos flowed faster to customers after it paid Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T and Verizon. Comcast said Netflix changed how traffic is carried in hopes of cutting out wholesalers, and to seek a more favorable arrangement.

[Commentary] In ways that we have not seen in the past, policy makers in Washington now seem to understand that we live in the age of the gigabit. And it increasingly appears that those policy makers understand that the engagement of local communities in our collective broadband future is essential in this gigabit era. Local leaders recognize, too, that there are no simple off-the-shelf solutions that will work everywhere -- that every community has its own particular resources, needs, and priorities, and that aggressive, proactive leadership is essential to getting the best solution for their constituents. In some communities, collaborating with willing incumbents may work well. In other communities, a public-private partnership with a new entrant may be preferable. In still others, the community may find that it has to develop a network of its own. Buoyed by the efforts of Google and approximately 100 rural towns and cities that have deployed gigabit networks, local governments -- particularly in rural areas -- are concluding that they must take charge of their own futures, and that with so much at stake, they can no longer wait for unwilling or incapable incumbents to get around to them. As we look toward the states’ legislative sessions, we are hopeful that our elected officials will recognize the value of enabling, rather than impairing, their localities -- and that local Internet choice can serve as the key to innovation and next-generation networking.

[Joanne Hovis and Jim Baller our co-founders of the Coalition for Local Internet Choice (CLIC). Hovis also serves on Benton Foundation's Board of Directors]