March 2017

The House Communications Subcommittee, chaired by Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), held a hearing examining barriers to broadband deployment throughout the country. In addition to receiving testimony from two panels of witnesses, the subcommittee looked at two discussion drafts aimed at alleviating the burden and eliminating the red tape when it comes to deploying broadband throughout the country.

1) Discussion Draft to facilitate the deployment of communications infrastructure, would: Create an inventory of federal assets that can be used to attach or install broadband infrastructure; Require all landholding agencies to use common templates when leasing space for wireless broadband attachments, and; Streamline processes for communications facilities locations applications at the Department Interior and Forest Service.
2) Discussion Draft Broadband Conduit Deployment Act of 2017, would: Mandate the inclusion of broadband conduit during the construction of certain highway projects that receive federal funding.

Joanne S. Hovis, President of CTC Technology and Energy, spoke to the importance of public-private partnerships when deploying broadband, stating, “By working cooperatively with state and local governments, the private sector stands to benefit in multiple ways – as partners, as users of the networks to market their goods and services in the rapidly emerging information-based global economy, and as contributors to the next generation of innovations.”

“We are all tired of hearing stories about parents driving their children to the local McDonald’s for Internet access in order to finish their homework assignments. We owe them better, period. The 5G revolution is upon us and we should modernize our laws to address issues such as tower siting and federal rights of ways, which are tying the hands of the private sector,” concluded Chairman Blackburn. “Unleashing broadband will create economic, educational and healthcare opportunities for millions of hardworking taxpayers.”

Petitions with more than 660,000 signatures to save the Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding will be presented to Congress March 21 after a rally for parents and kids near the Capitol. The event is sponsored by five advocacy organizations including the progressive hub MoveOn.org, media reformer Free Press and ParentsTogether Action, a family issues nonprofit. PBS is not a co-sponsor. The petitions urge members of Congress to reject President Donald Trump’s initial budget proposal, which calls for zeroing out of CPB funding.

Trump’s decision to end CPB support “was expected from a president who believes the media are enemies of the American people,” Free Press CEO Craig Aaron said. “But members of Congress should do themselves a favor by listening to the voices of their many constituents. These people believe in overwhelmingly numbers that support for NPR and PBS programming, including PBS Kids, is taxpayer money well spent.”

[Commentary] The cultural-political revolution of the Nixon era was neither televised nor sponsored. If you listen to the coolest protest anthem ever, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” by Gil Scott-Heron, you’ll hear that it was not “brought to you by Xerox,” did not “go better with Coke,” did not have stars like Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen or the entertainment value of “Green Acres.”

The Trump era’s #Resistance is flipping all of that on its head. It’s being televised, podcasted, hashtagged, Snapped, Facebooked, Twittered and Periscoped. It doesn’t yet go better with Coke. But it does go better with a good night’s sleep in Parachute sheets, a slick new web page designed with Squarespace and an affordable shave with Harry’s razors — bearded Bernie bros notwithstanding. Just go check out an episode of “Pod Save America,” one of the big breakout hits of the nascent resistance movement. Running twice weekly, it has all of the above-named brands and sponsors, stars several members of former President Barack Obama’s inner circle and seeks to entertain as much as it tries to inspire anti-Trump action.