Washington Times

More than 1 million veterans rely on the Lifeline program connecting low-income households to essential services like health care, job opportunities and public safety. Unfortunately, proposed changes from the Federal Communications Commission threaten to undermine this vital program and hurt those who depend on it most. About 40 million people are eligible for Lifeline and roughly 10 million of those have enrolled. Of the enrollees, around 1.3 million (or more than 10 percent) are veterans or disabled veterans living near or below the poverty line.

[Commentary] Some have tried to whip Americans into a frenzy by making outlandish claims. Feeding the hysteria are silly accusations that my Restoring Interernet Freedom plan will “end the internet as we know it” or threaten American democracy itself. These claims obscure a pretty mundane truth: This plan would simply restore the successful, light-touch regulatory framework that governed the internet from 1996 to 2015.

[Commentary] It’s often the regulation you’ve never heard of that costs you real money. One such rule increases Americans’ cable and energy bills. This regulation from the Federal Communications Commission is known by the unwieldy name of the “integration ban.”

We believe that it’s time to repeal this outdated technological mandate. As of 2014, the nation’s largest cable companies have supplied 45 million of their own CableCARD-enabled set-top boxes to their customers. How many CableCARDs have been deployed for use in third-party retail devices? Only 606,000. That means that less than 1.4 percent of customers are choosing to purchase their set-top boxes through the retail market. Like so many other regulations, the integration ban has quickly become outdated.

Today, there are myriad avenues for consumers to access video content without using a set-top box supplied by a cable company or a CableCARD. Roku, Google, Amazon and Apple all offer streaming set-top boxes.

Consumers can now access cable programming through mobile applications, personal computers and tablets, and gaming consoles. The growing ubiquity of broadband can directly connect creators and consumers (think YouTube channels) without the need for any video distributor at all. In a market with so many options for video delivery, and so many unique market players, there is simply no need for an integration ban.

Competition has developed in the video market organically in ways that regulators did not envision. The CableCARD didn’t spur any of this progress. If anything, the FCC’s rigid technological mandate has inhibited innovation in this space.

[Rep Bob Latta, Ohio Republican, is vice chairman of the House Commerce communications and technology subcommittee]

[Commentary] The regulatory and legal battles that broadcasters face will remain an unfortunate fact of life in our business. But there is one thing I know: Broadcasting is a remarkably resilient business that remains an essential news and entertainment platform for America. The broadcast television industry is led by great companies that are disparate in parts but collaborative in vision. We have strong leaders, great advocates, game-changing visionaries and experienced winners who are vigorously committed to preserving and improving our business for the long haul. [McCoy is founder, president & CEO of Bayou City Broadcasting]