Internet Concerns Overshadowing Old Telecom Battles, Powell Says

The growing importance of internet technology issues such as privacy and cybersecurity means traditional regulatory battlegrounds like retransmission consent matter less and less, said NCTA President Michael Powell Tuesday. He used a Media Institute luncheon to expand on his concerns about tech companies (see 1803060022). Consumers and lawmakers are worried about burgeoning tech issues while the telecom industry is “trapped” in outdated fights, Powell said. The issues that “dominate” the attention of lawmakers and the public “all emanate from the internet,” he said. He doesn't expect action from lawmakers or the FCC on retrans anytime soon.

The huge market power of tech companies such as Google and Facebook prevents ISPs from anticompetitive moves such as throttling or blocking, Powell said. If carriers tried to charge large tech companies for users accessing their web content, companies like Google and Facebook have the market power to demand the ISPs pay them, he said. “See retransmission consent disputes.” No one has “seriously evaluated” the lack of incentives for ISPs to act anti-competitively on the internet, he said.

Without federal legislation, net neutrality rules will continue “ping-ponging” depending on what party is in charge, Powell said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's deference to the previous FCC's Communications Act Title II-based rules and the partisan tack taken by that administration on the rules left net neutrality “permanently stuck” without any finality, he said.

Congressional action would also deter states from creating their own net neutrality rules, Powell said. State rules are “really bad policy,” he said. The internet is “an interstate service” and can't operate if the rules change across state lines, he said.

The previous FCC's move to change set-top box rules was a “decoy” to cover a plan to disaggregate MVPD content, Powell said. The proposed rules were “IP theft” that had been “dressed up” to look like new set-top rules, he said. If the proposed rule changes had taken effect, they would have “enshrined” set-tops rather than helping the industry to move away from them, he said.

Market forces won't prevent broadcasters from degrading their content or compelling MVPDs to carry ATSC 3.0 during the transition to the new standard, Powell said. For the new TV standard to “scale,” it must be widely carried by MVPDs, and broadcasters know that, Powell said. Since the rollout isn't being accompanied by as much structure as previous technology transitions, broadcasters should expect additional scrutiny to prevent costs from being passed to consumers, Powell said.