House Communications Hearing Expected to Mix FCC Criticisms, Praise on C-Band Plans

The House Communications Subcommittee's Thursday FCC oversight hearing is expected to include criticism of commission actions and a focus on telecom policy priorities like deciding how to allocate proceeds from a coming auction of the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band, said lawmakers and others in interviews. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the other four commissioners are to testify during the panel, which will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. The hearing will happen a day after the House easily passed another FCC-related policy priority, the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (Traced) Act (S-151).

The House voted 417-3 to pass the amended S-151 language filed in November (see 1911270058) by House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. The compromise text combines provisions from the original Senate-passed S-151 and the House-passed Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (HR-3375). The legislation would allow the FCC to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call when the Telephone Consumer Protection Act is intentionally violated.

The three lawmakers who voted against S-151 were House Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Reps. Justin Amash, I-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. They also voted against HR-3375 when that measure passed the House in July (see 1907240063). House Commerce leaders lauded the chamber's passage of S-151, as did Thune and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Communications sector stakeholders also praised progress, including CenturyLink, NTCA and USTelecom.

Thune told us beforehand he would “like to” pass the amended S-151 in the Senate by unanimous consent, though obstacles remain. S-151 is “in the hotline now” to gauge whether other senators will support clearing it by UC and “I'm hoping we can get it done if not this week then next week.” There are “a couple of dominoes that need to fall before that happens,” he said. There's uncertainty about whether Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the only senator who voted against S-151 in May (see 1905230048), will choose to “object and make a big deal” about clearing the amended bill now, Thune said. The bill is still certain to pass even if Paul objects and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it, lobbyists said. Paul's office didn't comment.

Expected Issues

House Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he's going to balance concerns about some FCC actions and support for others like Pai's decision to pursue a public auction of C-band spectrum (see 1911210056) at the hearing. “I think generally he's going to see that [House Commerce] is pleased with” the C-band decision, Doyle said. “We're going to want to hear a little more detail” about plans to move forward with the auction process, especially given interest in designating the proceeds to fund rural broadband deployments and other telecom priorities (see 1911210056).

House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us he wants to focus on “how we stay ahead of the curve internationally" on 5G and “probe a little bit on mid-band spectrum” given Pai's C-band auction decision. Pai “made the right decision” in pursuing a public C-band auction, Walden said. “I think we've got more work to do to help speed that along and that may require some legislation.”

Broadband deployment and FCC plans for using the additional authority S-151 would give the agency to combat robocalls will also likely come into focus, Walden said. Pai proposed Wednesday to use $9 billion in USF funds over the next 10 years for 5G, including at least $1 billion for precision agriculture (see 1912040027).

A House Commerce aide and lobbyists predict a focus at the hearing on the commission's long-running investigation into wireless carriers' location tracking practices, including the sale of customer location tracking data allegedly accessed by bounty hunters (see 1805240073). The location tracking probe was one of the FCC actions that drew Democrats' ire during a May hearing (see 1905150061).

The FCC attempted Tuesday to forestall at least some criticism. It wrote House Commerce in response to a November letter from Pallone, Doyle and others that sought an update (see 1911080051). A House Commerce aide and an FCC spokesperson confirmed the Tuesday letter but wouldn't detail its contents. The aide suggested it wasn't a “substantive” update. A House Commerce memo on the Thursday hearing complains the FCC “has taken no public action on the matter.”

A “lot of big-ticket items that the FCC has done since the [May House Communications] hearing” could draw discussion, said Public Knowledge Policy Director Philip Berenbroick. “This is the first oversight hearing since” the end of the FCC's “chaotic” review of T-Mobile buying Sprint (see 1911050055). It “wouldn't be surprising for that issue to arise,” especially given the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York trial in the state-level attorneys general challenge to T-Mobile/Sprint begins Monday (see 1912020053), he said.

It's also “the first oversight hearing” since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's Mozilla v. FCC ruling, which largely upheld FCC rescission of 2015 net neutrality rules but said the federal agency can’t pre-empt states (see 1912040015), Berenbroick said. Questions about the path forward could come up. Other lobbyists noted ongoing concerns about media policy decisions are a potential hotspot, especially in the aftermath of the full 3rd Circuit decision to reject en banc appeal of Prometheus IV (see 1911200063). The court's original ruling vacated and remanded the FCC's entire media ownership reconsideration order, reinstating attribution rules for joint sales agreements, the ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership, and the eight-voices test (see 1909230067).

Testimony

Pai touts his C-band decision and other spectrum actions in his written testimony.

The C-band and 3.5 GHz auctions and other spectrum offerings show the FCC is “moving aggressively to make spectrum available for the commercial marketplace,” Pai says. He also tees up items for commissioners' Dec. 12 meeting, including draft NPRMs on the 3.5-2.55 GHz and 5.9 GHz bands and the proposal for use of 988 for calling a suicide prevention hotline (see 1911210049).

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly focuses on spectrum issues. After speaking favorably of a private C-band auction (see 1910040008), now that Pai favors of a public, O'Rielly says “we must do all possible, within legal constraints and respecting current licensees, to meet” plans for a 2020 auction. “It is great to see the debate mature to one focused on the means to complete reallocation,” he says. Commissioner Brendan Carr highlights FCC spectrum priorities and telehealth progress.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel believes the FCC's “priorities are mixed up.” She cites the commission's 3-2 approval of T-Mobile/Sprint and the failure thus far “to auction a single megahertz of mid-band spectrum to support 5G service, despite overwhelming consensus that our early focus on holding high-band auction after high-band auction will cede leadership to our global peers.” She slams the FCC for not providing “the public with a single piece of information” about the wireless location tracking data probe.

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks discusses ways for 5G to help “drive solutions on issues that matter most in our world.” 5G-driven artificial intelligence and automation advances could ensure “unprecedented productivity and efficiency,” he says. “But that transformation could also displace millions of workers.” He wants government and industry "to work together to encourage programs that use 5G and other tools to prepare our young people and students for the jobs of the future.”