October 2015

Leaders of the House Commerce Committee and its Communications Subcommittee asked the Government Accountability Office to complete a review of the management of the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau. Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), along with Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Vice Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH), are seeking the report in conjunction with the subcommittee’s ongoing oversight of the FCC. The leaders asked the GAO:

Has the FCC implemented performance measures and performance goals consistent with GAO’s 2008 recommendations? If not, how does the FCC measure the effectiveness of the enforcement program?
In the intervening seven years, would GAO recommend additional or revised recommendations to the FCC in effectively tracking the effectiveness of the FCC enforcement program?
Is the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau meeting its mission of protecting the consumer, ensuring public safety, and encouraging competition? What changes should be made to improve performance to ensure that consumers are being protected and FCC leadership is accountable?
The FCC has invested millions of dollars in IT improvements in the Enforcement Bureau and the Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau since 2007. How much has the FCC spent on these improvements? Have these improvements lead to an improved enforcement program at the FCC to the benefit of consumers and other stakeholders?

[Commentary] To further entice broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission released the "final" opening bids it will make for TV stations' spectrum in a reverse auction in spring 2016. The numbers are enticing -- the opening bids add up to $341.7 billion. They range from $900 million for WCBS New York to $1.2 million for KXGN in tiny Glendive (MT), with an average of $155 million and a median of $125 million. The numbers are in line with the estimated opening bids the FCC released last February on a market-by-market basis. But these latest seem more real because they are on a station-by-station basis.

At the most, apparently, the FCC needs only 400 or 500 stations, not 2,198. And the reverse auction with its "descending clock format" is designed to uncover which broadcasters in each market will accept the least amount to sell and vacate their UHF channels. When all is said and done, the FCC will spend only a fraction of the opening bid total (again $341.7 billion) to acquire the necessary spectrum. How big a fraction? The FCC's so-called Greenhill report last October estimated it would be $45 billion. And that's on the high side of what some who have taken a hard look at the auction mechanics say.

The Federal Communications Commission is about to face another lawsuit, this time over a vote to cap the prices prisoners pay for phone calls. Inmate calling companies Global Tel*Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies, vowed to take the FCC to court over the decision. The FCC's decision "create[s] significant financial instability in the industry and will pose a threat to service at many of the nation’s smaller jails," GTL said. "Consequently, GTL is left with no choice but to seek judicial review of the FCC’s order."

GTL CEO Brian Oliver claimed that the FCC has "hurt inmates and their families -- the very people they set out to help. While they might see lower per-minute rates, they could be left with either the lowest quality of phone service or no phone service at all." Securus said the FCC's decision "will cause smaller and medium-sized prisons and jails to lose the ability for inmates to communicate with friends and family." The company said it will appeal the order and request a stay from the US Court of Appeals in Washington (DC). When asked if he's concerned about defending against an inmate calling lawsuit in addition to the others, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "Oh golly, I think the rule at the FCC is make a decision, go to court. Everybody sues us about everything."