Industry Officials Urge Congressional Net Neutrality Fix; 'Ping-Pong' Worse Than Title II?

Cable and telco executives said Congress should resolve the net neutrality dispute and end policy flip-flops that, one suggested, threaten broadband investment more than heavy regulation. "It's time to put the rules in place and move on," said Comcast Senior Executive Vice President David Cohen at a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. But the executives expressed more hope than optimism, with some pessimistic about the near-term prospects. Recent revelations and concerns about the use of Facebook data could drive privacy legislation discussions, some said. Others focused on 5G wireless and fiber deployment efforts.

Comcast didn't oppose most of the FCC's 2015 open internet regulation, though it did object to the general conduct standard, which had "nothing to do with net neutrality" and was "made up out of whole cloth," Cohen said. He said the big concern was the "public utility" classification under Communications Act Title II, which the current FCC reversed along with net neutrality rules. The solution is bipartisan legislation to set "durable and enforceable" net neutrality rules and "take the issue off the table," he said. Regulatory "ping-pong," in which FCC policies shift with presidential elections, is "arguably" worse than Title II classification, he said, but "It's all about politics. This is all a game of political football and that's why nothing's happening." Verizon also supports a legislative solution, said Senior Vice President Kathleen Grillo.

But legislation looks unlikely this year, CTIA General Counsel Tom Power said. It's a question of political will, said NCTA Executive Vice President James Assey, who noted cable wants a resolution that promotes broadband investment. "It's like you're searching for a dance partner." Assey is hopeful for a congressional fix and said it's "often darkest before dawn." Legislation would help remove barriers to investment, said CenturyLink Senior Vice President John Jones. "We've gone around in circles," Cisco Vice President Jeff Campbell said. Congress needs to pass net neutrality legislation, Bookings Institution Fellow Nicole Turner-Lee said.

The only way to get past neutrality is to have net neutrality, said Public Knowledge Vice President Chris Lewis, whose panel was titled "Solutions for Getting Past Neutrality and Advancing the Gigabit and 5G Future." He said every time the FCC wrote net neutrality rules, ISPs challenged them, which is why the agency in 2015 adopted the Title II approach. The best path forward would be for lawmakers to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution to undo the "radical" net neutrality repeal of the current commission, he said.

Cohen again discussed the idea of generally banning paid prioritization with a "limited exemption" for specialized services that aren't anti-competitive and are pro-consumer (see 1803210006). He's hopeful parties can work out the legislative language. A draft proposal of House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., even contemplated a flat paid prioritization prohibition, Cohen said. Paid prioritization shouldn't be banned because prioritization is needed to manage real-time audio and video applications, Cisco's Campbell said. Grillo said Verizon didn't focus on paid prioritization but had broadband commitments to customers that it could support in legislation.

The Walden draft also severely limited FCC broadband authority, said PK's Lewis. He said HR-4682 of House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., which doesn't ban paid prioritization, is getting more attention this Congress. Lewis said the 2015 rules allowed "reasonable network management" to address real-time applications, but they didn't allow ISPs to degrade targeted traffic, and made the FCC "the cop on the beat." Interconnection needs to be revisited, said CenturyLink's Jones, backing a "limited regulatory backstop" to address disputes.

Lewis called it "dangerous" that Facebook user data is being compromised. The FTC opened an investigation (see 1803260039), but he noted the FTC can't write rules. Grillo said a uniform federal privacy framework is needed because sector-specific or state regulation is problematic. She said the recent revelations could help generate legislative focus. Cohen agreed with Grillo, saying he's hopeful the Facebook developments could bring Republicans and Democrats together. Lewis said there's a "uniform need" to protect privacy, but he backed sector-specific efforts by agencies, including the FCC's 2016 broadband privacy rules, which Congress repealed via a CRA resolution.

CTIA's Power said 5G will deliver much faster wireless speeds and lower latency. He welcomed federal efforts to streamline wireless infrastructure siting, which is needed to deploy vast numbers of small cells. "We need more uniformity" to eliminate local siting delays and excessive fees, he said, backing proposals by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Power also welcomed federal efforts to auction more spectrum, and said both licensed and unlicensed spectrum are important. "Looking around the room, either the Wi-Fi's pretty good or people are praying a lot," he quipped.

About 6 percent of the U.S. population doesn't have broadband available, said NCTA's Assey, who urged technologically neutral policies that push a "multiplicity" of platforms and focus on serving unserved areas, not "layering over" served areas. Comcast offers gigabit speeds to 80 percent of its customers and hopes to reach 100 percent soon, said Cohen, saying 8 percent of the U.S. population lacks broadband availability. But he said adoption is an even bigger problem as 27 percent don't subscribe to broadband. Brookings' Turner-Lee wants "digital inclusion" efforts to help low-income and other unconnected people, and criticized FCC Lifeline USF proposals as harmful.

Jones said companies are increasingly deploying "hybrid solutions" in the last mile, and said CenturyLink is interested in partnering with satellite and fixed-wireless providers, including on backhaul. CenturyLink also wants more forbearance relief from legacy telco regulations that are outdated, he said.