Senators Seek More Broadband Bill Deal Changes

Provisions in the $65 billion broadband title in a developing infrastructure spending package weren't completely finalized Thursday, a day after the Senate cleared an initial test cloture vote 67-32 on proceeding to a shell bill (HR-3684). A bipartisan group of senators agreed Wednesday on the outlines of the package (see 2107280065). The Senate will vote Friday on the motion to proceed to HR-3684. Telecom-focused senators in both parties told us through Thursday that the thorniest broadband issue -- the extent of pricing transparency and digital redlining language -- remained in flux.

The House, meanwhile, voted 219-208 to pass an FY 2022 appropriations minibus (HR-4502) that includes $388 million for the FCC, almost $390 million for the FTC (see 2106300028), more than $907 million for Department of Agriculture rural broadband programs and $565 million for CPB in FY 2024. The House approved two broadband amendments (see 2107270071). One would expand eligibility for USDA’s ReConnect by setting the threshold for unserved rural areas at 25/3 Mbps. The other would increase FCC broadband data mapping funds by $1 million. The House had yet to vote on the FY 2022 appropriations bill (HR-4505) that would fund NTIA, other Commerce Department programs and the DOJ Antitrust division.

Democrats would “sure like” the bipartisan group developing the infrastructure package “to make more improvements” to the broadband title, though “it’s got some flexibility in it,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in an interview. “They need to do more on affordability” because the title focuses “on rural issues” via the proposed $40 billion NTIA-administered state-level connectivity grants and $2 billion for USDA. All 50 Senate Democratic caucus members voted to invoke cloture to proceed to HR-3684.

Cantwell said she and other Democrats want strong pricing transparency and anti-redlining language in the measure. Cantwell confirmed she wants the bipartisan group to “continue to look at” increasing the amount of money allocated to NTIA middle-mile funding, which the latest draft maintains at $500 million for FY 2022-26 (see 2107210063).

'Regulation' Concerns

Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota told us he thinks the package’s broadband title has “gotten better by a lot” in recent days, though he and other Republicans “still have some concerns.” He wants to “wait and see the final language to see if the things we thought were getting fixed got fixed and maybe if some of the things we were hoping to get fixed” changed. Thune, who’s also Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member, and Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi were among the 32 Republicans who voted against moving forward on the package. Seventeen Republicans voted yes, including Commerce members Roy Blunt of Missouri, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Todd Young of Indiana.

“The redlining issue and rate regulation issue are” in contention, though the bipartisan group has “done a good job” in minimizing potential rate regulation for the NTIA grants and an extended FCC emergency broadband benefit program, Thune told us. Republicans may seek to address those issues via amendments, aides said. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who’s spearheading the bipartisan group’s work on the broadband title, said she believes “we’ve made tremendous progress” on Republicans’ concerns about rate regulation and redlining.

A 68-page revised draft of the broadband title would, as expected, extend the EBB program beyond the pandemic. The renamed "affordable connectivity benefit" program would decrease the monthly subsidy to qualifying households to $30 from the current $50. It would require the FCC to sign a pact with Universal Service Administrative Co. to share data with the Education and Health and Human Services departments via the USF national verifier to verify consumer eligibility.

The measure would require the FCC to establish rules for the extended EBB that bar participating ISPs from engaging in “inappropriate upselling or downselling” of services and “inappropriate requirements that a consumer opt into an extended service contract.” It also wants the FCC to ban “inappropriate restrictions on the ability of a consumer to switch internet service offerings or otherwise apply support … to a different internet service offering” with other providers.

The proposal directs the FCC to “promulgate regulations to require the display of broadband consumer labels” like the ones released in 2016 under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1604040046) within one year of enactment “to disclose to consumers information” about service plans. The FCC jettisoned those labels during Ajit Pai’s chairmanship. President Joe Biden urged in an executive order earlier this month to resurrect them (see 2107090063).

Labels should say whether the offered price is an introductory rate and “the price the consumer will be required to pay following the introductory period,” the draft said. The FCC would have hearings to assess “how consumers evaluate” ISPs’ service plans and “whether disclosures to consumers of information” on those plans “are available, effective, and sufficient.” The draft would direct the FCC to issue rules within one year on “the annual collection by the Commission of data relating to the price and subscription rates.”

The anti-digital redlining language directs the FCC to issue rules within two years “to facilitate equal access” to broadband. The text would require the FCC and DOJ ensure federal policies “promote equal access to” broadband service by barring “deployment discrimination” based on “the income level of an area,” its “predominant” racial or ethnic makeup or “other factors” the commission identifies. It requires the FCC develop model state and local policies and best practices.

Connectivity Goals

“We’re all still working to ensure that we can maximize investment” with “fast, reliable, affordable” connectivity via the infrastructure bill, Senate Communications Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., told us. “My advocacy all along has been to reach 100% connectivity, to fund a robust affordability package” and “deploy technology to make that all happen.” The proposal has “strong language,” but can be improved, he said. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said he’s sorting through the draft’s broadband language and wants it to maximize ways to close the digital divide.

The plan still allocates $40 billion for NTIA-administered state-level grants. It directs GAO to evaluate “the process used by” the FCC on speed thresholds. The report should include recommendations to Congress on whether the commission should consider future “speed needs” in making those decisions. The draft would require state grant recipients to be able to provide 100/20 Mbps.

Incompas believes the current broadband language strikes the right balance between funding deployments and addressing affordability issues, CEO Chip Pickering told us. Ensuring both unserved and underserved parts of the country are eligible for NTIA grants “is the right framework and the right way to approach” broadband funding, he said. The proposed 100/20 Mbps speed definition “is acceptable,” given that “if you combine that with language that emphasizes and gives priority and preference for greater speeds up to” 1 Gbps “and future proofing ... it can scale up over time.”

Pickering is concerned that the funding “depends on the completion of the FCC’s revised connectivity data maps,” so the commission needs to ensure “fast completion of the maps.” The association “would support” Congress instituting a “date-certain deadline” to finalize those maps, in line with the commission’s current belief that “they can get this done by” Q2, he said.

Other entities praised broadband elements of the bipartisan infrastructure deal, including the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Information Technology Industry Council, NATE, National Association of Counties and Wireless Industry Association.