A face-off between a Democratic-dominated U.S. Senate panel and the Republican-controlled FCC today (video) confirmed lingering tensions over the government’s role on issues like Net neutrality and media ownership rules, says C/Net, but it lacked the fireworks some had predicted, diffused with a bit of self-deprecating humor.
The Senate Commerce Committee heard statements from all five commissioners; Chairman Kevin J. Martin, Michael J. Copps, Jonathan Adelstein, Deborah Tate and Robert McDowell.
Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said
I am troubled that other countries are leapfrogging the United States in the deployment of broadband access. As policymakers, we must ask ourselves whether companies have the right incentives to invest in this technology, and what we can do to keep the United States competitive with the rest of the world.
Inouye focused on the FCC’s handling of the AT&T and BellSouth merger, reports C/Net. Inouye, who supports Net neutrality, said he had gotten the impression that Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and fellow Republican Commissioner Deborah Tate did “not intend to stand by the deal that was reached.”
Martin said he and Tate planned to enforce AT&T’s voluntary commitments. But, particularly with the Net neutrality area, he added, “that did not mean we were changing our policy and were going to enforce those sorts of Net neutrality requirements on others.”
Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) asked about white spaces. The FCC said its preference is for unlicensed use of television spectrum for data in the broadcast band. Martin said if the FCC had to issue licenses, it would first have to identify where the spaces were, delaying the process. Instead, he said, the preferable approach would be to insure against interference and then let the devices operate.
Unlicensed access points in the 700 MHz band will presumably utilize 802.22 standards. Martin said the FCC could decide the unlicensed/vs. licensed issue as early as this spring and the 700 MHz auction could happen late summer or early fall, this year. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) asked FCC commissioners how Congress could help them in providing rural broadband.
Feisty Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), one of the chief sponsors of a bill that would require network operators to follow nondiscrimination rules asked, “does that mean you favor discrimination?”
The commissioners may encounter more pointed questions from a House of Representatives panel in a few weeks. The Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing of its own for February 15 and asked all five commissioners to appear.
Related DailyWireless articles include; White Space Redux, McCain Wants Commercial 700 MHz for Police, Oregon’s $500 Million Statewide Wireless Network, Soma 700MHz in Wisconsin and White Space Act Up.
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