FCC's Baker concerned about unintended impact of online rules

Federal Communications Commission member Meredith Attwell Baker spends most of her time thinking about the Internet — debating questions about whether it should be regulated, how it should be expanded and where the FCC can find the necessary airwaves to do so. Internet companies, public interest groups and telecom carriers have lobbied Attwell heavily during her short tenure at the FCC on the network neutrality rules now under consideration. The rules would require broadband service providers to treat all Internet traffic equally. Commissioner Baker voted to move the rulemaking process forward, but made clear she is worried about the unintended consequences of any regulation. Baker has taken a keen interest in the spectrum shortage the FCC faces. As the former acting administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency within the Commerce Department that oversees the airwaves licensed to federal agencies, Baker thinks the government and companies need to use their spectrum resources more efficiently. Broadcasters may be the source of some of the spectrum necessary to build wireless networks fast enough to provide broadband service, she said. The FCC is also moving forward to make empty broadcast airwaves known as "white spaces" available for unlicensed use, a proposal broadcasters have opposed vehemently.