May 2015

Whenever Americans dial 911, they expect and deserve to reach emergency personnel who can assist them in their time of need. And over the course of the past year, we have seen tremendous progress in ensuring that dialing 91 always works. Facilities across the country have been configuring their multi-line telephone systems so that consumers do not need to dial a "9" or any other access code before dialing 911. We are pleased to announced that the FCC is joining the ranks of those leading on this issue.

Beginning in June 2015, the phone system at the FCC's headquarters will be configured so that anyone in the building can reach emergency services by dialing "911". We hope that others in the federal government as well as state and local governments will follow this example. In an emergency, government employees and members of the public that visit government buildings should not have to think about whether an access code is required -- dialing 911 should always work.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler thinks his agency is on firm ground with its new network neutrality rules -- and that Comcast was right to drop its attempts at buying competitor Time Warner Cable.

Chairman Wheeler has already said that letting Comcast merge with Time Warner Cable would have posed an "unacceptable risk" to competition, and he made it even clearer that the companies wouldn't have had an easy time getting past regulators. "I think it was a pretty responsible decision by [Comcast CEO] Brian Roberts" to drop the plan, says Chairman Wheeler. "When he said 'it’s time to move on,' I think [that] perfectly encapsulates the reality. Why go and fight this through the courts?" He added that "it would be a long drawn-out process to challenge our decision," especially because the Federal Trade Commission had its own concerns about the deal. The Comcast debate might be over, but the FCC's fight to protect its net neutrality rules is still going. Chairman Wheeler calls his policies, which were approved earlier this year, "the most stringent and expansive open internet rules in history." (For reference, open Internet rules have been around for roughly 10 years.) It's also, based on the record 3.7 million public comments, the most heavily scrutinized decision in history. "That’s why this decision was so damn important," he says, whether those comments were for or against the net neutrality rules. "I think that the bulk of the comments indicated how when you’re talking about the Internet, you’re talking about something very personal to people. And they then used that personal medium of theirs to express themselves. That was what was significant." As for the merits of the case itself, Chairman Wheeler says that the FCC has solved the classification problem that sunk its last rules. "That issue’s gone. That was the big issue last time," he says. "So I feel pretty confident on the outcome of the court cases." Does Chairman Wheeler have a strategy if the rules don't stand up? "Not to lose. That’s the short-term plan."

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg argued against an “extreme definition” of network neutrality while announcing the expansion of a program to bring basic Internet service to people around the world.

“Some may argue for an extreme definition of net neutrality that says that it’s somehow wrong to offer any more services to support the unconnected, but a reasonable definition of net neutrality is more inclusive,” Zuckerberg said in a video announcing the expansion. “Access equals opportunity. Net neutrality should not prevent access.” Pointing out that around 4 billion people are not connected, he added, “It’s not an equal Internet if the majority of people can’t participate.” Facebook points out that websites participating in the program do not pay to be included. “Are we a community that values people and improving people’s lives above all else, or are we a community that puts the intellectual purity of technology above people’s needs?” Zuckerberg asked. Facebook said it has always planned to expand the program. Firms wishing to participate must create features to encourage the exploration of the broader Internet, must remove video and high-resolution photos and meet other specifications.

Today, I want to talk to you about why the leadership at the Federal Communications Commission -- America's broadband agency -- is watching the CTgig Project closely and pulling for its success.

CTgig is a big deal because expanding broadband is about expanding opportunity. To seize the opportunities and fully realize the potential of broadband to improve the lives of the American people, broadband networks need to be fast, fair, and open. On those measures, we face significant challenges. That brings me to the main point I want to make today. No matter what the Commission does to spur broadband investment and deployment, there will be communities that are underserved, or even unserved, by the private market. Across America, communities have concluded that existing private sector broadband offerings are not meeting their needs and the only solution is to become directly involved in broadband deployment. Across the country, we see community after community stepping up to write their broadband future. But Connecticut has a unique opportunity to set the pace for the nation. Chairman Wheeler and I applaud your ambition and look forward to working with you to deliver the benefits of broadband to the American people.