Speech

Today, we find ourselves nearing another possible hinge moment. We’ve seen remarkable progress, but it feels like we’re still waiting for another huge breakthrough. Well, 5G could well be what we’re waiting for.

Going from 2G to 3G was the mobile equivalent of switching from dial-up to broadband. Similarly, the transition from 4G to 5G promises to be more than just incremental change— we could see dramatic improvements in network speed, capacity, and responsiveness that will make the impossible possible. One analysis by CTIA suggests that 5G could create three million jobs and over $500 billion in additional GDP growth over seven years in the United States.

Here at the Federal Communications Commission, the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks reminds us that we must do all that we can to improve emergency communications. As it happens, September is also National Preparedness Month. So there’s no better time to recognize that effective communications can be the difference between life and death—whether emergency personnel are responding to a terrorist attack, hurricane, earthquake, flood, or tornado....

But despite the value of social media in times of disaster, our experience with Hurricane Harvey also underscores the importance of not confusing social media as a substitute for calling 911. During the disaster, for example, some public safety entities warned that social media was not the best means of communicating emergency rescue requests. All of this points to the need for best practices about how to communicate effectively both about 911 outages and during 911 outages.

I believe what we need now is a Federal Communications Commission report on these storms. We need to know what worked, what didn’t, and where we can improve our communications infrastructure. Once we know the facts, we need a full plan for fixing the communications vulnerabilities we are finding, including what you are discussing today—how to deal with the impact on 911. This report also will need to include a framework for rebuilding so that the communities with damaged communications facilities are not permanently relegated to the wrong side of the digital divide. Because one thing is for sure—Mother Nature’s wrath is sure to visit us again. It is incumbent on us to learn from these disasters to improve emergency response and infrastructure recovery.

Benton believes we need to have a robust debate about what “in the public interest” means in the Digital Age. We’re proud to support the Charles Benton Junior Scholar Award so we can encourage new voices and views in telecommunications debates. Our goal is not to promote one perspective, but to highlight unique perspectives that together can help more people understand their stake in communications policy. TPRC is an excellent partner in this endeavor as this community’s interdisciplinary thinking serves not just researchers, but policymakers, members of the private sector, and civil society, students and practitioners. This year, the Charles Benton Junior Scholar award goes to Mirjam R. J. Lange, a doctoral student at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. She is also a Researcher at Goethe-University in Frankfurt. She received her undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Bonn, Germany in 2011 and earned her Master’s degree in Economics from Heinrich–Heine University in Düsseldorf in 2013. Mirjam’s main research focuses on telecommunications and competition, particularly price-discrimination in broadband markets. She also works experimentally on behavioral economics, such as salience theory. She has published in Telecommunications Policy. The title of Mirjam’s research paper, which the panel selected for the award, is: “Tariff Diversity and Competition Policy - Drivers for Broadband Adoption in the European Union.”

By most accounts, the U.S. broadcast incentive auction was a success. Does that mean it was perfect? No. This was a very complex undertaking. Were lessons learned? Absolutely, and I will discuss that a bit later. But all things considered, the mechanisms designed and put in place worked relatively well. Through the incentive auction, the U.S., on a completely voluntary basis, reallocated broadcast spectrum to mobile use, which will now be used by private commercial providers to offer 4G and 5G broadband networks. In fact, one U.S. winning bidder has already announced that it will initiate 5G in 600 MHz and has already turned on its first 600 MHz LTE system.

I’m going to talk about what the Federal Communications Commission is doing to promote innovation and investment across the Internet ecosystem. Along with security, people primarily look to government leaders to help create the conditions that make it easier for the private sector to deliver economic growth, jobs, and personal opportunity. And to grow our economy, create jobs, and expand opportunity in a world that’s gone digital, we need world-leading Internet infrastructure that serves as a platform for innovation and entrepreneurship.

[Commentary] What does gigabit civic engagement look like? The initial winners of the Charles Benton Next Generation Engagement Award demonstrate not just what “could be” but what “is”. Civic engagement is about working to make a positive difference in the life of our communities. It is about developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference. It means improving the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes. An engaged individual recognizes himself or herself as a member of the larger social fabric and, therefore, considers social problems to be at least partly his or her own. Such an individual is willing to see the community-wide dimensions of issues, to make and justify informed decisions, and to take action for the benefit of the community. My father spent a lifetime advocating for a holistic approach combining access to fast, fair, and open communications networks and the training to develop 21st century skills. He undoubtedly would have been extremely proud that his name is attached to this award and to the project winners in Louisville, Kentucky; Austin, Texas; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

As far as the US perspective, our priorities generally seek to create a regulatory environment that provides our telecommunications industries the opportunity to innovate, obtain investment and ensure continued growth for years to come. We also seek to promote the interests of our citizens, especially those who are unserved and in need of modern and robust connectivity in order to participate in the new digital economy.

Reducing burdens on broadcasters is a natural segue to my next topic: our across-the-board review of our media rules. Back in May, the Federal Communications Commission launched a comprehensive review of our media regulations. Our goal is simple: let’s modernize our rules to match the realities of today’s marketplace. This better promotes the public interest and allows for more competition, innovation, and investment in the media sector. We asked for your thoughts on which rules should be modified or repealed as part of this review, and why. And we received plenty of feedback.

When we came up with the idea for this proceeding, we thought of it as a way for us to clean out the regulatory underbrush. And as is the case with many ranches right here in Texas, there’s plenty of underbrush to be cleared among the 1,000 or so pages of FCC media rules. It’s time for us to get to work. For the foreseeable future, I will therefore be sharing with my fellow Commissioners each and every month at least one Notice of Proposed Rulemaking teeing up outdated or unnecessary media regulations that should be eliminated or modified. And even though the deadline for public input only passed a few weeks ago, our September Commission meeting will feature the first action item to come out of this effort.

What I want to talk about today: the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to harness the power of communications technology to improve the lives of the American people and boost economic growth and US competitiveness. I’d like to focus on three specific priorities. Think of them as the three "I's": Inclusion, Investment, Innovation.