Senate Commerce Committee Oversight Hearing of the Federal Communications Commission

The Senate Commerce Committee held an oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission. Some highlights:

• FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced at the hearing that he was circulating for a vote at the Aug open meeting a Report and Order that would provide more granular and accurate broadband data and maps. He said it would mean requiring broadband providers to report "where they actually offer service below the census block level." He said the FCC would also be looking to incorporate public feedback into that mapping efforts.
• Chairman Pai took shots at Silicon Valley tech giants suggesting that they are the ones controlling what consumers see online, not the internet service providers. “The greatest threat to a free and open internet has been the unregulated Silicon Valley tech giants that do, in fact, today decide what you see and what you don’t,” he said. “There’s no transparency. There’s no consumer protections and I think bipartisan members of both congressional chambers have now come to that realization.”
• Chairman Pai said he has had no contact with the White House over the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. 
• Chairman Pai said the FCC remains confident that its freeing up of 25 GHz spectrum in the recent auction will not threaten important weather data collection. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has suggested much higher interference protection is needed, while Chairman Pai said that the study NOAA is citing for that position is fundamentally flawed.