WASHINGTON—Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, went to the Senate Floor Monday afternoon to announce he was introducing “the Communications Act of 2006.”
The 135-page bill combines many previously introduced proposals. The bill supports municipal broadband network deployments as well as the use of digital TV white spaces for unlicensed wireless—as long as the receiving devices don’t cause interference to broadcast TV operations.
However, Stevens said the most important part of the bill was the universal-service section.
Under Stevens’ universal-service plan, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin would be directed to enlarge the base of contributors to the universal-service fund. However, it does provide some exemptions for low-volume users and family plans.
“We commend Sen. Stevens for his willingness to address many of the challenging issues on the telecom landscape—including his emphasis on ensuring a stable universal-service fund,” said Michael Brunner, chief executive officer of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. “We look forward to continuing our work with the chairman and the entire Senate Commerce Committee to ensure that our nation’s community-based communications providers are able to continue to provide comparable, affordable communications service to their consumers in rural America.”
On the distribution side, the bill appears to put more onerous restrictions on wireless than are currently in place, but the bill is not as harmful to wireless as other proposals. This might be the reason CTIA, the wireless trade association, did not immediately blast the bill.
“We’re in the process of reviewing the chairman’s draft proposal and look forward to continue working with him and his staff on telecommunications legislation,” said John Walls, CTIA vice president of public affairs.
The bill also creates specific grants for public-safety interoperability.
Additionally, the bill includes many of the proposals Stevens wanted as part of the DTV transition. Specifically, the bill authorizes the FCC to implement a broadcast flag to protect over-the-air DTV from indiscriminate copying. A federal appeals court said Congress had not given the FCC the authority to implement a broadcast flag. The broadcast-flag issue is expected to be discussed by the House consumer-protection subcommittee Wednesday afternoon.
On the thorny issue of network neutrality, the bill instructs the FCC to study the issue for five years and then seek rule-making authority if it sees a problem. This does not appear to be strong enough for Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee.
“We cannot ignore concerns about the potential for discrimination by network operators, but the draft appears to do just that by failing to create enforceable protections that will ensure network neutrality,” said Inouye, noting his co-sponsorship of the bill was done in the spirit of bipartisanship and not because he agreed with everything in it.
Paying for special treatment is at the heart of a debate over network neutrality, a provision that would force transport providers to offer everyone equal access on the Internet. Pipe owners have said they would like to prioritize packets so they can manage their networks effectively. Network-neutrality proponents warn that this would create two Internets: one with premium content paid for by both consumers and content providers, and another more similar to the current Internet.
The House bill gives the FCC authority to adjudicate complaints that the FCC’s broadband policy has been violated, but does not allow the commission to turn that policy into a regulation.
Unlike the bill that emerged from the House Commerce Committee last week, the Stevens bill will not create a national video franchise. Instead, it will streamline the current process.
“Sens. Stevens and Inouye have crafted legislation that will bring real video choice, put consumers in charge of the dynamic communications market and address the future of the nation’s universal-service system. The bill’s introduction is a significant step toward meaningful reform and we look forward to working with both the Senate and House to enact legislation this year,” said Walter McCormick Jr., president and chief executive officer of trade group USTelecom.
The House bill is expected to be considered on the House Floor Thursday. The Senate Commerce Committee is not expected to consider the bill until summer.
“With the House debating only a narrow video-franchise bill, and less than 70 days remaining in the legislative year, this more ambitious 135-page legislative initiative is unlikely to pass the Senate much less be reconciled with any legislation in the House in 2006,” said George Reed-Dellinger of Washington Analysis which does policy research for Wall Street.
