1. Monthly archive
  2. February 2017

February 2017

Chairmen Chaffetz, Goodlatte ask government watchdog to investigate leaks

Two top House Republicans asked the Inspector General to investigate leaks surrounding the ouster of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The request came in a letter from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). "We request that your office begin an immediate investigation into whether classified information was mishandled here," the letter to the Inspector General read. Trump's administration has been beset by damaging leaks over its first month, including reports of Flynn's contact with the Russian ambassador to the US in December that ultimately led to his downfall. President Trump himself has decried such leaks as the "real scandal." Chairman Chaffetz has so far declined to investigate President Donald Trump's potential conflicts of interest or potential ties to Russia between himself or his aides.

Network neutrality could be GOP's next repeal-and-replace target

Leading Republicans want to get rid of the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules — and substitute them with less-stringent legislation. And they’re hoping the threat of an FCC repeal of the Obama-era regulations will coax congressional Democrats to the negotiating table.

It’s a scenario reminiscent of many Republicans’ approach to Obamacare, which they want to tear down without being accused of stripping health care coverage from millions of Americans. So far, Democrats aren’t taking the bait. Rather than cozy up to the majority to strike a deal, liberal lawmakers previewed a scorched-earth strategy to stop the FCC from repealing the rules in the first place. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said repeal would bring a “political firestorm” upon Republicans. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) likened the coming fight to the tech industry's 2012 uprising against the Stop Online Piracy Act.

More House Members Push Pai On Lifeline Authorizations

Over a dozen Democratic members of the House Commerce Committee have asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to reverse his reversal of nine Lifeline broadband subsidy authorizations granted in the waning weeks of his predecessor, Chairman Tom Wheeler.

In a letter to Chairman Pai, they said his halting of the expansion of the program, which provides subsides for basic communications services to lower income residents, unnecessarily pulls the tools to connect out of the hands of the poor in the case of one provider, which is already providing service, and the potential for the other eight--which are not yet providing service--to supply those tools. "The order does not explain how its actions will accomplish those goals," they said. "Furthermore, since the Order raised many novel policy questions regarding the Commission’s current efforts to safeguard the integrity of the Lifeline program, we find it troubling that the Chairman would insist on pursuing the same course he has so often criticized his predecessors for: an improper exercise of the FCC’s delegated authority and a refusal to permit the full Commission from voting on an item that poses new questions of law and policy." They said they were all for making the program more efficient and accountable, but said that need not come at the expense of the consumers who benefit from the Lifeline subsidies.

A Measured Lifeline Reboot

[Commentary] It is disappointing that a recent order from the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Bureau to reconsider the eligibility for participation of just nine of the more than 900 companies currently participating in the Lifeline program has sparked such a maelstrom of misinformation and motive-questioning.

Notably, the FCC did not cut funding for the Lifeline program, nor did it attempt to unwind the more than 30-year commitment to ensuring American consumers have access to baseline communications. The FCC simply announced it was putting on hold the eligibility of less than 1 percent of the companies currently participating in the program while it takes steps to ensure the program’s integrity. Ensuring digital opportunity for everyone includes affordable broadband options for low-income consumers. But companies that game the system threaten its effectiveness and, ultimately, its existence. Bottom line? Closing the digital divide and maintaining the integrity of the Lifeline program are hardly objectives that should be at odds. It is imperative that our government leaders take clear and firm action to protect low-income Americans who need financial help to get and stay connected — and weed out entities that are siphoning resources away from those who need broadband’s many opportunities most.

[Diane Smith is a board advisor to Mobile Future]

RWA: Mobility Fund Phase II Could Leave Some Areas Without Service

Some rural areas could be left without wireless service if the Federal Communications Commission approves the latest proposal for the Connect America Mobility Fund Phase II, cautions the Rural Wireless Association.

Some wireless carriers in high-cost rural areas currently receive funding through the traditional high-cost universal service fund, which also covers landline carriers, but moving forward the plan is to create separate funds for mobile and fixed service. RWA’s concerns come as the FCC gets set to vote soon on the mobility fund. The term “Phase II” has been applied to that fund to differentiate it from a previous one-time program that awarded funding to a relatively small number of wireless carriers through a reverse auction process to test the concept of using that type of auction to award funding. Mobility Fund Phase II is expected to direct Universal Service dollars to high-cost rural areas where no unsubsidized competitor offers service at speeds of at least 5 Mbps downstream/ 1 Mbps upstream, the RWA notes. Qualifying areas are expected to be included in a reverse auction that will award funding to the network operator that agrees to bring service at speeds of at least 10/1 Mbps for the lowest amount of support. One of RWA’s concerns is that it could take winning bidders a few years to build the new network and if the winner does not currently provide some type of service in the area, there is a danger that all current carriers could pull out before the new network is available.

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