FCC Aims to Unleash Broadband Investment

The Federal Communications Commission today released its preliminary plan for looking at existing regulations to see if they should be changed.

FCC Commissioner Julius Genachowski said the goal of this effort is to remove burdens on the communications industry and unleash investment in the broadband economy. This sector has been a “bright spot in our otherwise struggling economy,” he noted.

Genachowski’s agency has eliminated 190 obsolete regulations and plans to drop 25 data collection requirements that no longer serve a useful purpose.

This regulatory update, which was requested by President Barack Obama, is the agency’s response to changes in technology, particularly the growth of mobile telecommunications. The U.S. now has more active cell phones than people, Genachowski said today during a speech at Georgetown University. Most new phones being activated are smartphones. The tablet market is also booming. Mobile broadband is growing faster than any other communications platform in history, he said.

This technological explosion, however, relies on public airwaves spectrum, and the demand for spectrum is “rapidly outstripping the supply,” Genachowski said.

The FCC has responded to this challenge by initiating a rule-making process that would reallocate some of the television spectrum band for mobile broadband use. Much of the TV band is unused, and less than 10 percent of Americans watch TV through over-the-air signals, Genachowski said.

This new rule will pave the way for auctioning off part of the TV spectrum band for more valuable uses. To make this happen, however, Congress needs to pass legislation.

“I’m hopeful it will become law this year,” he said.

The FCC also recently reformed it universal service fund, which was created to bring landline telephone service to isolated areas, to reflect the move toward mobile broadband service. The fund will now focus on bringing broadband to the 18 million Americans who live in areas without access to it.

The agency also has focused on reducing its backlog of satellite and broadcast license applications. And now publishes the text of most of its proposed rules before they are voted on.

These efforts, however, aren’t enough for many Republicans.

Republican Representative Greg Walden, of Oregon, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, introduced legislation last week that would overhaul the FCC’s regulatory process. Before it proposes any economically significant rule, the agency would have to identify what specific market failure, consumer harm, or barrier to investment that it addresses. The FCC would also have to show that the benefit of the regulation outweighs its cost.

In addition, the agency would have to publish all proposed rules and allow time for the public's review prior to voting.

“The technology and communications sector is the most innovative in our country—it deserves the most innovative and open government agency,” Walden said.

The bill’s Senate sponsor, Republican Dean Heller, of Nevada, said the goal of the bill was to keep the FCC from “stifling the technology sector with onerous regulations.”

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are pushing for a vote this week on a resolution that would overturn the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which are scheduled to go into effect November 20. The rules would prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or slowing down certain websites or services. Republicans contend the FCC exceeded its authority, and they argue the rules would unfairly burden Internet service providers. The House has already passed a resolution overturning the FCC rule, but if it passes the Senate, the rule would likely be vetoed by Obama.

Further complicating matters, the FCC is also having problems organizing a full set of commissioners. Obama nominated two commissioners last week, but Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, said he will object to their confirmation until the FCC releases documents related to a waiver it issued to LightSquared so the company can move forward with its plans for a wholesale wireless broadband service. LightSquared’s service is controversial because tests showed it could interfere with global positioning system devices.

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Kent Hoover is the Washington bureau chief for bizjournals.