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  2. February 2017

February 2017

It has been an early start for a strong farm bill

[Commentary] Expanding access to high-speed internet is one of the best investments we can make. With just a percentage point increase in new broadband distribution, employment expands by 300,000 jobs. Still, more than 50 percent of households in Minnesota townships lack broadband access.

In Marshall, we heard stories about Minnesotans being left to cope without a high-speed connection. Take Nathan Green, who recalled his hopes of moving with his wife, Laura, and daughter to their family farm. That dream ended when they realized there was no broadband access at the farm. Laura telecommutes for work, and their daughter’s education will depend on a high-speed connection — without broadband, the move was a nonstarter. That’s unacceptable. We can do right by our rural communities by seizing the opportunity to expand broadband access through the farm bill’s rural development title.

Rural Republican lawmakers propose boost in broadband funding

Rural Republican lawmakers are proposing millions more in funding to improve internet access in Wisconsin.

State Rep. Romaine Quinn (R-Rice Lake) and State Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) are circulating a bill in the Legislature that would add $15.5 million to the Rural Broadband Expansion Grant program, a fund administered by the Public Service Commission to reimburse companies for expenses of extending internet service in rural areas. Money for the grants would come from transferring $6 million from the Universal Service Fund, which offers help to low-income residents who live in parts of the state where phone and internet service rates are high. Another $5 million would come from federal money the state receives to fund technology at schools and libraries. The rest would come from other USF program surpluses, according to the bill draft.

Katy Prange, a spokeswoman for Marklein's office, said that the funding from USF will not result in any cuts to its other programs. All USF programs are fully funded, she said. The proposal expands on legislation enacted in 2016 that funneled $10 million into the grant program for broadband infrastructure.

Mount Washington, Massachusetts, municipal network shows can-do approach to community broadband

[Commentary] As the third smallest town in Massachusetts, Mount Washington is not an obvious fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) buildout target.

Today, Mount Washington has a grand total of about 146 residents, a number of whom only spend up to two weeks of the year in the town as a vacation spot. But with few broadband options other than Verizon, the local incumbent telco, or expensive satellite service, the town sought a partner to construct a municipally-owned FTTH network. Upon completion, the network will outfit each Mount Washington household with dedicated fiber strands originating from MassBroadband’s middle-mile backbone termination point at town hall. The town hall will actually house the optical line terminal (OLT) that will deliver signals to the home. Those who choose to subscribe to internet and telephone services will pay a monthly fee to a third-party service provider. Working in partnership with White Mountain Cable (a subsidiary of Dycom) and eX2 Technology, Mount Washington expects construction of its active Ethernet network to be completed in about nine months.

Although most of Mount Washington’s residents consist of vacationers getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life, they expect a similar broadband experience.

CBO Scores FCC Consolidated Reporting Act

The Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2017 (S.174) would require the Federal Communications Commission to prepare a biennial report for the Congress that assesses certain characteristics of the communications industry. The report would analyze the state of competition in the markets for voice, video, audio, and data services; the availability of advanced communications capabilities; and barriers to competitive entry or expansion in the communications marketplace. S. 174 also would relieve the FCC of requirements to prepare certain other reports on topics ranging from access to satellite services to prices for cable services. In all, the bill would eliminate more than 20 reports and notices, including some that remain in current law even though the deadlines for their completion have passed.

On the basis of an analysis of information from the FCC, CBO estimates that implementing the provisions of S. 174 would not have a significant effect on the agency’s costs. Any additional expenses the FCC would incur to prepare the new assessment of the communications industry would be offset by a reduction in costs that otherwise would have been incurred for reports that would be eliminated under the bill. Moreover, under current law, the FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset the costs of its regulatory activities each year; therefore, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC to implement S. 174 would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. Enacting S. 174 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 174 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028. S. 174 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.

FCC Chairman Pai: Activate Those FM Chips!

As of last fall, only about 44 percent of the top-selling smartphones in the United States have activated FM chips. By comparison, in Mexico that number is about 80 percent. It seems odd that every day we hear about a new smartphone app that lets you do something innovative, yet these modern-day mobile miracles don’t enable a key function offered by a 1982 Sony Walkman.

You could make a case for activating chips on public safety grounds alone. The former head of our Federal Emergency Management Administration has spoken out in support of this proposal. The FCC has an expert advisory panel on public safety issues that has also advocated enabling FM radio chips on smartphones. It pointed out that, “[h]aving access to terrestrial FM radio broadcasts, as opposed to streaming audio services, may enable smartphone users to receive broadcast-based EAS alerts and other vital information in emergency situations—particularly when the wireless network is down or overloaded.” Moreover, most consumers would love to access some of their favorite content over-the-air, while using one-sixth of the battery life and less data. As more and more Americans use activated FM chips in their smartphones, consumer demand for smartphones with activated FM chips should continue to increase. I’ll keep speaking out about the benefits of activating FM chips.

Having said that, as a believer in free markets and the rule of law, I cannot support a government mandate requiring activation of these chips. I don’t believe the FCC has the power to issue a mandate like that, and more generally I believe it’s best to sort this issue out in the marketplace. For despite the low numbers, we are seeing progress; in the last two years, the percentage of top-selling smartphones in the United States that have activated FM chips has risen from less than 25% to 44%.

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