March 2017

INTERNET/BROADBAND

FCC HEAD DELIVERS ANOTHER BLOW TO AFFORDABLE INTERNET PROGRAM
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Ali Breland]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai put more pressure on the Lifeline affordable internet program, announcing that he would allow states to decide which companies are certified to participate. The announcement comes after Chairman Pai's decision earlier in 2017 to cut nine providers from the Lifeline program, which elicited criticism from groups that supported the measures. In his new statement, Chairman Pai said that he would not defend federal certification for the Lifeline program — which subsidizes internet access for low income households — out of respect for states' own legal jurisdictions. “But as we implement the Lifeline program — as with any program we administer — we must follow the law,” Chairman Pai’s statement read. "And the law here is clear: Congress gave state governments, not the FCC, the primary responsibility for approving which companies can participate in the Lifeline program under Section 214 of the Communications Act.” Twelve states are challenging the legality of FCC’s orders regarding Lifeline. Chairman Pai said that it would be a “waste of judicial and administrative resources to defend the FCC’s unlawful action in court,” noting the “FCC will soon begin a proceeding to eliminate the new federal designation process.” Chairman Pai also said that he believed that the FCC should not approve the pending Lifeline Broadband Provider applications for broadband companies seeking to be part of the Lifeline program.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-head-delivers-another-blow-affordable-internet-program | Hill, The | ars technica | B&C
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PAI'S LIFELINE STATEMENT IS ANTI-COMPETITION AND ANTI-CONSUMER
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Kevin Taglang]
In 2016, the Federal Communications Commission created a streamlined federal Lifeline Broadband Provider (LBP) designation process working within statutory limitations. The process allowed for broadband-only provision of service and flexibility in service areas to encourage new entrants into the Lifeline marketplace. A federal designation process encourages more companies to enter the field because it streamlines the application/designation process and reduces administrative costs for Lifeline broadband providers. This was an innovative way to help close the digital divide. Since his designation as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the Benton Foundation has noted Ajit Pai’s dichotomous nature: he’s the folksy, down-to-earth populist, but also a Washington insider; he’s for a light regulatory touch and closing the digital divide – just not when it comes to Lifeline. On one hand, Chairman Pai has proposed streamlining local rules for improving broadband infrastructure deployment, but, in today’s announcement, he seems fine with creating more hoops for potential Lifeline broadband providers to jump through. Here’s what today’s announcement means: less competition in the Lifeline marketplace and less choice for Lifeline consumers. The FCC is short two commissioners, so it seems the chairman is trying to occupy two chairs or, at the least, talk out of both sides of his mouth. But if you’re really listening, the message is clear: Ajit Pai is anti-competition and anti-consumer.
benton.org/headlines/pais-lifeline-statement-anti-competition-and-anti-consumer | Benton Foundation
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PAI GETS PUSHBACK ON LIFELINE ELIGIBILITY ROLLBACK
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai was already getting pushback from Capitol Hill, his fellow Democratic commissioner, and others soon after he announced the plan to roll back the FCC's Lifeline eligibility program in favor of letting states decide who should get to provide the subsidized broadband service to low income residents. “This is another effort by President Trump’s FCC to inflict death by a thousand cuts on the Lifeline program," said House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA) in a joint statement. "Through lawyerly maneuvering, the FCC is trying to disguise its efforts to eliminate a system designed to make it easier for anyone who needs access to broadband to get it—no matter where they live. We will continue to fight for this important program that keeps struggling families across the country connected.” “Chairman Pai's statement confirms that under this Administration low-income Americans will have less choice for Lifeline broadband, and potential providers who want to serve low-income Americans will face greater barriers to entry and regulatory uncertainty," said Democratic FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn. "While today's announcement is not surprising, it is nonetheless deeply disappointing.”
benton.org/headlines/fccs-pai-gets-pushback-lifeline-eligibility-rollback | Broadcasting&Cable
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E-RATE MODERNIZATION REPORT
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai]
On March 7, a dozen US senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai with “serious reservations” about his decision to “set aside, rescind, and retract” the FCC’s E-rate Modernization Progress Report. On March 22 Chairman Pai replied saying, “The report at issue was released in the last days of the previous Administration. Not only were Commissioners not given the traditional 48 hours to review it, but it was not shown at all to Commissioners before being released. This was unacceptable and an abuse of the FCC's processes. Reports like this should not be (and henceforth, will not be) issued without advance notice being provided to Commissioners. Revocation simply affirms that a report issued improperly has no legal or other effect going forward and does not necessarily reflect the views of a majority of Commissioners. With that said, the report will remain available on the agency's website for public review.”
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pais-response-senators-regarding-e-rate-modernization-progress-report | Federal Communications Commission
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NEXT UP, TITLE II?
[SOURCE: Politico, AUTHOR: Alex Byers, Ashley Gold, Margaret Harding McGill]
The White House has already said President Donald Trump plans to sign the resolution using the Congressional Review Act to rescind the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules. That leaves an open question of how the agency and Congress will choose to address the issue in the future. In his reaction to the House vote, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai seemed to suggest his next step would be to undo Title II, rather than create new rules that align with existing ones at the Federal Trade Commission. Title II classified broadband internet access service providers as common carriers and put them under the FCC's regulatory jurisdiction. It's the same policy that bolsters the network neutrality rules, meaning revoking Title II could be tied to rolling back net neutrality. House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) is in step with Chairman Pai on leaving privacy to the FTC. "I hope the FCC will take up and review what was done under the Wheeler regime on Title II," he said, referencing the previous FCC chairman. "Repealing Title II solves the whole problem. I think we gotta get this back to where we can legislate in this space, and take the bill we drafted a few years ago that would put into statute prohibitions on bad behavior, on throttling, and paid prioritization and blocking, there's bipartisan agreement on that. But when the Obama administration forced the FCC to go straight to Title II, that created all these problems."
benton.org/headlines/privacy-rules-overturned-next-title-ii | Politico
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RURAL BROADBAND
[SOURCE: American Enterprise Institute, AUTHOR: Mark Jamison]
[Commentary] Now that the White House, Congress, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are getting serious about rural broadband deployment — in contrast with the past eight years — it is time to develop strategies that actually make positive impacts. Policies for rural broadband have seemed random the past eight years: billions of stimulus dollars were thrown at unneeded and failed projects, the FCC expanded failing systems like Lifeline, the Obama White House and the FCC moved to limit the profitability of rural broadband, and the FCC chose an arbitrary definition for broadband. These failed policies wasted billions of dollars and did little to help rural communities gain broadband connectivity. It is time to let markets lead the way. Localities often have zoning, permitting, and other regulations that make broadband deployment costly, and procedures vary from location to location. This multiplies the complexity of planning and permitting and adds costs. There is a need to streamline permitting processes, promote nondiscriminatory access to conduits and poles, facilitate infrastructure sharing, and eliminate unnecessary post-construction cleanup requirements. Restrictions on how broadband providers can generate revenue constrain broadband expansion by limiting profitability. The FCC’s net neutrality restrictions are an example. Broadband service providers in targeted rural areas could also be allowed to charge content providers for access to customers, perhaps making it profitable to provide broadband access without a subsidy.
[Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida. He was also part of President Trump’s FCC Transition Team]
benton.org/headlines/rural-broadband-deployment-market-oriented-way | American Enterprise Institute
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TO JUMPSTART BROADBAND BUILDOUT, LET CONSUMERS DECIDE WHO GETS FCC SUBSIDIES
[SOURCE: Daily Yonder, AUTHOR: Jonathan Chambers]
[Commentary] Here’s a five-step system to create portable consumer subsidies for broadband:
1) Use the FCC’s data to identify all areas unserved by broadband.
2) Use the FCC’s Connect America cost model to determine the appropriate level of public funding for each location in each census block.
3) Make available such support to all internet service providers (ISPs) that are certified in states as eligible telecommunications carriers (ETC).
4) Every six months, when ISPs submit data to the FCC indicating geographic area, speed, technology and numbers of customers, each eligible telecommunications carrier that wishes to participate in the Connect America Fund would submit their data to the Universal Service Administrative Company.
5) Any ISP could win back a customer it loses, and thereby win back the subsidy amount.
[more at the URL below]
[Chambers is a partner at Conexon, LLC, a company dedicated to working with electric cooperatives interested in serving their members with broadband]
benton.org/headlines/jumpstart-broadband-buildout-let-consumers-decide-who-gets-fcc-subsidies | Daily Yonder
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OWNERSHIP

FCC BROADCAST OWNERSHIP RULES
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: John McKinnon, Joe Flint]
Federal regulators plan to reverse an Obama-era rule that prevented major television-station owners from buying stations or readily selling themselves, a move that could touch off a wave of deals among media companies. The proposal, which would effectively loosen a national cap on audience share for station owners that the rule had tightened, is scheduled to be put before the Federal Communications Commission in late April, an agency official said. Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to announce the plan on March 30. The longstanding ownership cap limits TV groups to a 39 percent national audience share. But for years, the government said station owners didn’t have to fully count UHF stations in calculating their share because UHF was typically a less powerful signal. The Obama-era FCC eliminated the so-called UHF discount last September, contending that the distinction between UHF stations and VHF stations had effectively disappeared. The FCC under Chairman Pai is expected to revert to the previous rule in one of a series of actions he is taking as he plans to reverse several policies adopted under his predecessor, Tom Wheeler, who was FCC chairman for much of President Barack Obama’s second term.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-tees-rule-change-could-spur-wave-tv-industry-mergers | Wall Street Journal
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JOURNALISM

THE PLATFORM PRESS
[SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, AUTHOR: Emily Bell, Taylor Owen]
The influence of social media platforms and technology companies is having a greater effect on American journalism than even the shift from print to digital. There is a rapid takeover of traditional publishers’ roles by companies including Facebook, Snapchat, Google, and Twitter that shows no sign of slowing, and which raises serious questions over how the costs of journalism will be supported. These companies have evolved beyond their role as distribution channels, and now control what audiences see and who gets paid for their attention, and even what format and type of journalism flourishes. This report, part of an ongoing study by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, charts the convergence between journalism and platform companies. In the span of 20 years, journalism has experienced three significant changes in business and distribution models: the switch from analog to digital, the rise of the social web, and now the dominance of mobile. This last phase has seen large technology companies dominate the markets for attention and advertising and has forced news organizations to rethink their processes and structures.
benton.org/headlines/platform-press-how-silicon-valley-reengineered-journalism | Columbia Journalism Review
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Analysis

March 2017

Critical diversity checklist for newsroom managers

MPAA Report: African-Americans Hit Movie Theaters in Record Numbers in 2016

IAPP: How the DAA can help FCC, FTC reach a 'harmonized' approach to privacy

Wait, wait … don’t tell me Trump’s budget could kill my public broadcaster

Weekly Digest

Your Privacy is a Partisan Issue

March 30, 2017 (Lifeline; Media Ownership)

FCC Tees Up Rule Change That Could Spur Wave of TV Industry Mergers

US privacy vote is foretaste of net neutrality battle

Rural broadband deployment: The market-oriented way

Trump’s infrastructure plan could include broadband