Press Release

The Trump administration, the Federal Communications Commission, Congress and greedy companies are attacking people’s rights to connect and communicate so relentlessly that staying on top of everything that’s happening can feel like an impossible task. That’s why we’ve put together this handy list of five of the biggest threats people are facing:

1) The FCC’s scheme to kill Net Neutrality
2) Anti-Net Neutrality legislation
3) Mega media mergers
4) Local news crisis
5) Lies, lies and more lies: The proliferation of fake news — which Trump embraces — is making it hard to get the truth out about these attacks on our rights to connect and communicate, what’s at stake and what we can do about it.

Once again we will read headlines trumpeting faults in the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program that do not match the realities of the day. Despite significant reforms made under the previous administration and no new evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse, the Lifeline program continues to be under attack while our nation’s most vulnerable remain on the wrong side of the digital and opportunities divide. I am especially disappointed by the current FCC majority and those who repeatedly reject real reform efforts. This administration refuses to allow new broadband providers into the Lifeline program, which will deepen and cement the digital divide while omitting the fact that the Lifeline program has one of the lowest improper payment rates of all government subsidy programs.

Continuing to vilify our nation’s only means-tested universal service program and remaining on the sidelines while communities and their residents do without connectivity, is a dereliction of the oath we were sworn to uphold. I, for one, remain committed to working with those who wish to improve the only FCC program that directly tackles the challenge of affordability in communications. Going forward, it is my sincere hope that those who are empowered to help those in need, will offer solutions, not attacks, so that we may enable all of our citizens to participate in a 21st century digital economy.

The Government Accountability Office was asked to review Federal Communications Commission’s management of its enforcement program. In this report, GAO addresses: (1) actions FCC has taken in the last 5 years to update its enforcement program, (2) FCC’s enforcement performance goals and measures, and (3) selected stakeholders’ views on FCC’s enforcement program and external communications.

GAO reviewed FCC’s enforcement policies and procedures; analyzed FCC’s performance measures and spoke with officials of similarly sized independent agencies with enforcement missions; and interviewed FCC officials and 22 stakeholders from public and private organizations who were knowledgeable of the Enforcement Bureau and the communications industry. The GAO Recommends: FCC should establish and publish: (1) quantifiable performance goals and related measures for its enforcement program; and (2) a communications strategy outlining its enforcement program for external stakeholders. FCC concurred with the recommendations.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has named Michael Carowitz as Special Counsel. Carowitz joins the Office of the Chairman following Nick Degani’s departure to serve as Acting General Counsel.

As Special Counsel, Carowitz will advise Chairman Pai on a wide range of issues. Before joining the Office of the Chairman, Carowitz was Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau, where he previously served as Acting Bureau Chief for five months. For two decades, Carowitz has held positions within the communications law field, including an association with a leading Washington (DC) law firm and service as in-house legal counsel for a start-up provider of broadband and other telecommunications services. While at the FCC, from 2013 until January 2017, Carowitz was Deputy Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Prior to that, he served for seven years (2005-2012) as Associate Chief/ Chief of Staff of the Commission's Enforcement Bureau. He received his J.D., cum laude, and his B.A, from the University of Michigan.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is awarding $3.3 million to five regional journalism collaborations to promote local news coverage and newsgathering efficiency. The grants will help a total of 23 public media stations coordinate news services as well as produce more community-based, multiplatform coverage of local and regional issues. The collaborations will increase local news coverage at a time when the full-time newspaper jobs that drive local reporting have dramatically declined, as documented by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics (OES). In addition to news from underreported rural areas, small towns and urban centers, public media stations play a vital role serving as the backbone of the Emergency Alert System.

The collaboration grants include:

1. Kansas Regional Journalism Collaboration, $502,327. Lead station KCUR (Kansas City) will collaborate with KMUW (Wichita), Kansas Public Radio (Lawrence) and High Plains Public Radio (Garden City) on a statewide news service focusing on statehouse politics, health, education, natural resources, rural life, and agriculture.
2. Collaboration in the Mountain West, $475,000. Lead station Boise State Public Radio (Boise, Idaho) will collaborate with KUNC (Greeley, Colo.), Yellowstone Public Radio (Billings, Mont.), Wyoming Public Media (Laramie), KRCC (Colorado Springs) and KUER (Salt Lake City) on a news service focusing on land and water resource management, regional growth, issues in the rural West, and Western culture.
3. StateImpact Pennsylvania, $652,902. Lead station WITF (Harrisburg) will work with WHYY (Philadelphia), WESA (Pittsburgh) and the public radio program Allegheny Front on a statewide news service focusing on the energy industry, the economic and environmental impact of energy choices, and how energy production affects the health of citizens and communities.
4. California Counts, $994,909. Lead station Southern California Public Radio (KPCC) will work with KQED (San Francisco), KPBS (San Diego), Capital Public Radio (Sacramento) and the non-profit Sacramento-based newsroom CALmatters.org on a statewide, multi-platform news service focusing on statehouse issues, economic opportunity, safety and quality of life, and the next California Dream.
5. Sustainability Regional Journalism Collaboration, $699,847. Lead station Arizona PBS, at the Arizona State Cronkite School of Journalism, will collaborate with KJZZ (Phoenix), Rocky Mountain PBS, KPCC (Los Angeles) and PBS SoCal on a news service focusing on emerging solutions to water resources, renewable energy, climate change and urbanization.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement on the death of former US Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico: “I was saddened to learn of the death of Senator Pete Domenici. Senator Domenici left a lasting impact in so many areas of public policy and law. For example, as a key Senate Budget Committee expert, he saw the potential of spectrum auctions and helped engineer the compromise in the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which gave the FCC the authority to conduct such auctions. As Budget Committee Chairman in 1997, he drafted and shepherded the Balanced Budget Act, which greatly expanded the auctions program. Thereafter, he actively supported the Commission's work in this area. All this makes Senator Domenici's legacy in communications policy a rich one: he helped pave the way for the mobile revolution that continues to this day and enabled the FCC to deliver substantial funds to the Treasury for deficit reduction and other purposes. And not least, he was a kind and decent man, as I learned firsthand during my time as a Senate staffer. I would like to extend my sympathies to Senator Domenici’s family, and in particular, his daughter Helen, whom I had the privilege to work with when she served as Chief of the FCC’s International Bureau.”

The Federal Communications Commission announced that Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will be in Florida on September 18. They will jointly inspect the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, meet with those engaged in recovery operations, and receive updates about the ongoing efforts to restore communications services.

Is your city fiber-friendly? Having fiber could make or break your city’s economic future with key development projects — just ask Amazon. Amazon recently announced its intentions to build a second headquarters, Hq2, outside its home base of Seattle, piquing the interests of cities all across the country. The new headquarters will bring in up to 50,000 well-paying jobs to whichever lucky city manages to land this tremendous development.

Here at the Fiber Broadband Association, we applaud Amazon’s wise choice to make optimal fiber connectivity a requirement for siting its second headquarters. No matter where Amazon chooses to build, we are glad that its headquarters will be fiber-ready.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) announced two promotions and one new addition to the committee staff.

Crystal Tully has been promoted to policy director and counsel for communications and technology. She has worked on the Committee’s communications and technology policy team as counsel since March of 2017, and served previously in the offices of Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Sen John Sununu (R-NH). She has also worked in the private sector with key communications stakeholders, and held legal clerkships with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, agencies under the committee’s jurisdiction. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and the George Washington University Law School.

Cort Bush has been promoted from professional staff member to senior professional staff member on the communications and technology policy team. Prior to his service on the Commerce Committee, he worked in the offices of Sen Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rep Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep Mary Bono (R-CA), Sen Gordon Smith (R-OR), the US Department of the Treasury, and the private sector. He is a graduate of Washington State University.

Brianna Manzelli joined the Commerce Committee staff on July 24 as press secretary and digital director. She previously worked in the press office of the Republican National Committee as well as the private sector. She is a graduate of the Catholic University of America.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has named Dana Shaffer as deputy bureau chief and chief of staff of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Shaffer most recently served as the FCC’s Deputy Managing Director. Shaffer will work closely with Wireless Chief Donald Stockdale, with whom she served in her previous position as Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau.

She has served in numerous other leadership positions at the FCC, including Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau, Deputy Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and legal advisor to Commissioners Tate and McDowell. She joined the FCC in 2006 as Deputy Chief of the Wireline bureau after a decade as vice president and regulatory counsel for NextLink, LLC (XO Communications). During that time, she also served as President of both the Tennessee Telecommunications Association and the Southeastern Competitive Carriers Association. Dana graduated from the University of Arkansas and earned her J.D., Order of the Coif, from Vanderbilt University.