House Republicans Repeat ACP Concerns, Offer Few Clues at FCC Hearing

House Communications Subcommittee members made the future of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program a major focus of its Wednesday commission oversight hearing, as expected (see 2306200075), but the panel didn’t result in a clear sense of whether Commerce Committee GOP leaders will back additional funding for the initiative. Subpanel Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and others haven’t committed themselves as either for or against further ACP funding (see 2305100073). Democrats strongly defended the program and urged its extension.

House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., used the hearing to criticize the FCC’s review of the terminated Standard General/Tegna deal. House Communications members were more bipartisan on spectrum policy, emphasizing their push for resurrecting the FCC’s lapsed auction authority and related interest in using some future sales proceeds to give the FCC an additional $3.08 billion to fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. There was also bipartisan praise for the FCC’s revisions to its broadband coverage data maps.

Rodgers and Latta led GOP criticism of ACP Wednesday. The FCC’s Office of Inspector General “has released two advisories warning of fraud” in ACP, which “is especially concerning as Congress considers” the program’s future, Rodgers said. Waste, fraud and abuse of ACP funding “undermines confidence in the program and the FCC’s ability to administer it.”

Congress’ “significant investment in broadband,” including in ACP, “raises questions about the future" of USF, Latta said. "How should Congress address duplicative programs like ACP and Lifeline?” OIG found ACP and the predecessor emergency broadband benefit program “are rife with waste, fraud and abuse,” so “I hope” the FCC “takes these findings seriously and implements the right oversight and controls,” he said.

“Millions of American families have seen their internet bills reduced by $30 a month,” said House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “These are significant savings that are helping more than 18 million families afford the monthly costs associated with broadband service.”

ACP “is working,” said House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif. It “remains steadfastly bipartisan,” with Republican governors across the country” like Kay Ivey of Alabama and Joe Lombardo of Nevada going on record praising it. “This bipartisan support reflects ACP’s successes,” including keeping “families connected” and providing “new customers” for ISPs, Matsui said. She cited a Tuesday letter to President Joe Biden in which Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and three other Commerce Committee members said they firmly back extending ACP's life, with modifications.

The Biden administration should "repurpose a portion of unobligated" COVID-19 aid money "to ensure the continuity of funding" for ACP "while we explore alternative sustainable funding mechanisms and updated parameters," Wicker and the other GOP senators said in the letter. It's important the program "remains on solid financial footing." ACP operates "hand-in-glove" with NTIA's broadband equity, access and deployment program and the Treasury Department's Capital Projects Fund "to achieve the goal of universal broadband" and will "become even more important" as "expanded networks become operational," the senators said.

IIJA’s enactment means “we've got lots of funds to help with the deployment in largely rural areas, but we're also going to need funds and efforts to address affordability,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told House Communications. ACP “is the best program we have ever developed to do that, and we've got to make sure it continues.” Commissioner Brendan Carr suggested Congress re-evaluate all USF-related programs as they decide whether and how to revamp it.

Other Issues

Rodgers castigated the FCC for its Standard/Tegna actions, including the Media Bureau’s February hearing designation order, seen as a de facto denial of the transaction (see 2302240068). She and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, previously sought an OIG probe of the matter (see 2305160088). Designating the FCC’s review of the deal to an ALJ “effectively” killed the transaction, Rodgers said: “You all are confirmed by the Senate to take votes on these types of decisions.” Rosenworcel’s “decision to delegate this matter to career officials is a dereliction of her duties," Rodgers said.

The FCC "has lots of precedent for doing this at the bureau level" and "parties to this transaction took the agency to court not once but twice and alleged that we were not following the law," Rosenworcel said. The D.C Circuit Court of Appeals "in both cases found that the FCC's efforts to send this to an ALJ fully complied with" the Communications Act. "This would've created the largest minority-owned, female-led broadcasting group" in the U.S., Carr said. "I think we deserve to give these parties an up or down vote on the merits" and it's a "troubling signal to anybody looking to invest in local journalism ... that at any time a trap door could open up" that could prevent "a decision on the merits."

House Commerce leaders uniformly highlighted their May advancement of the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) in a bid to prod Senate leaders to act on resurrecting the FCC’s mandate (see 2305240069). “We’re continuing to work on advancing this legislation out of the House, through the Senate" and to the president for his signature, Rodgers said. The lapse “not only deprives the commission of a core agency function, but it impacts a massive sector of our economy and jeopardizes our global wireless leadership,” Pallone said. “We will not rest until we get that process back on track.”

Rosenworcel and the other three commissioners endorsed HR-3565’s approach. “We need to go to the” upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference “with full spectrum authority” so the U.S. can “lead that conference and lead the world on these matters,” Rosenworcel said. “It’s vital that we restore” the commission’s mandate and HR-3565 “will do that,” Carr said.

Latta and Matsui both emphasized HR-3565’s proposal to allocate $3.08 billion in future auction proceeds to pay back a loan that would close the rip-and-replace program’s funding gap. “Providers are required to begin removing this equipment by July 15, and they need the certainty they can get reimbursed for this effort,” Latta said: “Without these funds, small carriers could be forced to shut down their networks, leaving their customers without a connection. We cannot let this happen and need the full House and the Senate to act on this legislation immediately.”

“Until we pass” HR-3565, “economic and national security imperatives will remain in limbo,” Matsui said. “Congress didn’t mandate the removal of some of this gear; we mandated the removal of every last piece. We did that because it’s a clear and immediate national security threat.” Its enactment would also “remove any uncertainty about the FCC’s ability to grant 2.5 GHz licenses that are sitting unused,” she said: “Companies with service footprints across the country are eager to put this spectrum to use,” including top auction bidder T-Mobile (see 2303220077).

“We need to get this equipment out of our nation’s networks, and the small carriers that have it are going to face a tough choice,” Rosenworcel said. “They’re either going to file with us and request support to remove it, but only get paid about 40 cents on the dollar, or they will leave this equipment in their networks. That’s a really unacceptable choice and I think that we need to work with Congress to make sure that we fully fund this program.”

“There’s going to be very serious real-world consequences” if rip and replace isn't fully funded by mid-July, Carr said. “The insecure gear is going to come out, but the challenge is having the funding for these small providers to replace it.” In some “extreme” cases, those providers could “potentially go out of business” or “have holes in coverage, which itself is a public safety challenge.”