Boucher Says FCC Plan Will Require Legislation

House Democrats endorsed the FCC’s National Broadband Plan a day before its official release. House Republicans gave conditional praise, saying they're watching closely. In an interview, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said he believes legislation will be required to satisfy the plan’s recommendations to revamp the Universal Service Fund, build a public safety wireless network, and identify lightly used spectrum.

The FCC sent the full text of the plan Monday to House and Senate leadership and Commerce and Appropriations committees, said an FCC official. Boucher’s subcommittee plans a hearing on the plan March 25, and all five commissioners are invited to testify, said House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. The Senate Commerce Committee may have a hearing next Tuesday, said Senate and industry officials.

Overall, the FCC “has done an excellent job in fulfilling the directions” Congress gave in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, said Boucher. The plan provides a “thoughtful inventory of steps” to achieve universal broadband availability and Internet speeds sufficient to accommodate advanced applications like HD full motion video and health IT, he said. Waxman also applauded the plan, saying he looks forward to “exploring the recommendations in more detail and in the bipartisan manner we have traditionally addressed communications and technology issues."

House Commerce Ranking Member Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he’s “encouraged that parts of the plan” recommend focusing on expanding broadband to the five percent of the U.S. that lack broadband access “without changing the pro-investment environment that works so well for everyone else.” But the Republican “will be watching closely,” he said. “Too often Congress forgets all about the people who have what they like and like what they have, and I hope that doesn’t start to happen now with broadband,” he said.

The broadband plan confirms “that our existing free market, pro-investment policies are working,” agreed House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. “The FCC must remain focused on the five percent of households that otherwise may be uneconomic for the private sector to serve. I am concerned, however, that the plan may contain stalking horses for investment-killing ideas, such as so-called net neutrality mandates or a return to out-dated, monopoly-era regulation.” Stearns has led the Republican attack on the plan. In a letter to Genachowski last week (CD March 15 p10), he said the plan’s findings may not justify the amount of time and money spent.

Congress “will have to pass legislation” on USF, Boucher told us. Otherwise, it’s “very doubtful” the FCC will have enough authority to transition USF to supporting broadband from plain old telephone service, Boucher said. As written, the FCC’s plan doesn’t specifically call for USF overhaul legislation. But Boucher said the FCC’s goals are “completely consistent” with a bill he sponsored with Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., that would allow USF to fund broadband and require USF recipients to build broadband in their service area. Last week, Boucher said he was “very close” to completing the USF bill and hoped to take it to markup sometime this month (CD March 11 p16).

Boucher also supports the FCC’s recommendation that the government find $12-16 billion more to fund a nationwide interoperable public safety network, he said. Auctioning the D-Block will create revenue, but it won’t be enough, he said. Boucher expects to find bipartisan support for securing the additional money through an appropriations bill, he said. Meanwhile, Boucher said the FCC took the right approach to broadcaster spectrum in recommending that broadcasters voluntarily exchange spectrum for compensation. Passing spectrum inventory legislation, approved last week by the House Commerce Committee, is the key to identifying other underutilized spectrum, he said.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., backed the FCC’s recommendation that the USF Lifeline and Link-Up programs support broadband. Matsui has a bill (HR-3646) that would create a broadband subsidy for low-income people. “We have learned from a wide variety of studies that the high cost of broadband services is the number one reason why millions of Americans are not connecting to in-home broadband services,” Matsui said. “This central recommendation will ensure all Americans living in urban, suburban, and rural areas have access to affordable broadband services."

Senators said little Monday about the plan’s recommendations. The document “is a roadmap to an America with the most robust, accessible broadband infrastructure in the world and the jobs that come with it, and we should settle for nothing less,” said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass. “This plan, however, is not self-executing. It will require bipartisan support and long term commitment to implement.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he looked forward to reading the plan. Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, didn’t comment by our deadline.