[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CONNECTING AMERICA: OVERSIGHT OF THE FCC
=======================================================================
VIRTUAL HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATION AND
TECHNOLOGY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND
COMMERCE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MARCH 31, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-78
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Published for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce
govinfo.gov/committee/house-energy
energycommerce.house.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
60-331 PDF WASHINGTON : 2026
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
Chairman
BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
ANNA G. ESHOO, California Ranking Member
DIANA DeGETTE, Colorado FRED UPTON, Michigan
MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana
G. K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
DORIS O. MATSUI, California BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
KATHY CASTOR, Florida DAVID B. McKINLEY, West Virginia
JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
JERRY McNERNEY, California H. MORGAN GRIFFITH, Virginia
PETER WELCH, Vermont GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
PAUL TONKO, New York BILL JOHNSON, Ohio
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York BILLY LONG, Missouri
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
TONY CARDENAS, California MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
RAUL RUIZ, California RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
SCOTT H. PETERS, California TIM WALBERG, Michigan
DEBBIE DINGELL, Michigan EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire GARY J. PALMER, Alabama
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois, Vice NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
Chair JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah
NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGAN, California DEBBIE LESKO, Arizona
A. DONALD McEACHIN, Virginia GREG PENCE, Indiana
LISA BLUNT ROCHESTER, Delaware DAN CRENSHAW, Texas
DARREN SOTO, Florida JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
KIM SCHRIER, Washington
LORI TRAHAN, Massachusetts
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
------
Professional Staff
TIFFANY GUARASCIO, Staff Director
WAVERLY GORDON, Deputy Staff Director
NATE HODSON, Minority Staff Director
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania
Chairman
JERRY McNERNEY, California ROBERT E. LATTA, Ohio
YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York Ranking Member
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana
A. DONALD McEACHIN, Virginia BRETT GUTHRIE, Kentucky
DARREN SOTO, Florida ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
TOM O'HALLERAN, Arizona GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York BILL JOHNSON, Ohio
ANNA G. ESHOO, California BILLY LONG, Missouri
G. K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina
DORIS O. MATSUI, California, Vice MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
Chair TIM WALBERG, Michigan
PETER WELCH, Vermont EARL L. ``BUDDY'' CARTER, Georgia
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina
TONY CARDENAS, California JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah
ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, Washington
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota (ex officio)
LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey (ex
officio)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hon. Mike Doyle, a Representative in Congress from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, opening statement................ 2
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Hon. Robert E Latta, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Ohio, opening statement..................................... 7
Prepared statement........................................... 9
Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New Jersey, opening statement......................... 15
Prepared statement........................................... 17
Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Washington, opening statement..................... 19
Prepared statement........................................... 21
Witnesses
Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman, Federal Communications
Commission, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
Committee on Energy and Commerce............................... 26
Prepared statement........................................... 29
Answers to submitted questions............................... 132
Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission,
Connecting America: Oversight of the FCC....................... 33
Prepared statement........................................... 35
Answers to submitted questions............................... 160
Geoffrey Starks, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission,
Connecting America: Oversight of the FCC, Washington, DC....... 42
Prepared statement........................................... 44
Answers to submitted questions............................... 168
Nathan Simington, Commissioner, Federal Communications
Commission, Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission. 47
Prepared statement........................................... 50
Answers to submitted questions............................... 173
Submitted Material
Letter of March 29, 2022, from Wade Henderson Interim President
and CEO and Jesselyn McCurdy, Executive Vice President of
Government Affairs, the Leadership Conference on Civil and
Human Rights, to Mr. Pallone., et al., submitted by Mr. Doyle.. 104
Statement of March 23, 2022, by Michael O'Rielly, MPORielly
Consulting Inc., submitted by Mr. Doyle........................ 108
Article ``Broadcasters Can't Have It Both Ways on Compensation
for Creators,'' by Congressman Joe Crowley, submitted by Mr.
Doyle.......................................................... 111
Article ``Even OTA Radio Doesn't Buy Its Claims Against Fair Pay
for Music,'' by Neil Fried, submitted by Mr. Doyle............. 117
Letter of March 29, 2022, to Ms. Cantwell, et al., from 11
Organizations, submitted by Mr. Doyle.......................... 122
Letter of March 31, 2022, by Tom Quaadman, Executive Vice
President, Chamber Technology Engagement Center, U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, to Mr. Doyle and submitted by Mr. Doyle........... 124
Letter of May 28, 2010, from Mr. Pallone to Former FCC Chairman
Genachowski, submitted by Mr. Doyle............................ 127
Letter of August 6, 2021, from Members of Congress, to Secretary
Raimondo, submitted by Mr. Doyle............................... 129
CONNECTING AMERICA: OVERSIGHT OF THE FCC
----------
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Communications and Technology,
Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:31 a.m. in
the John D. Dingell Room, 2123 Rayburn House Office Building,
and remotely via Cisco Webex online video conferencing, Hon.
Michael F. Doyle, (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Members present: Representatives Doyle, McNerney, Clarke,
Veasey, Soto, O'Halleran, Rice, Eshoo, Butterfield, Matsui,
Welch, Schrader, Cardenas, Kelly, Craig, Fletcher, Pallone (ex
officio); Latta (subcommittee ranking member), Guthrie,
Kinzinger, Bilirakis, Johnson, Long, Mullin, Walberg, Carter,
Duncan, and Rodgers (ex officio).
Also present: Representatives Dingell, Trahan; Joyce, and
Pence.
Staff present: Parul Desai, FCC Detailee; Jennifer
Epperson, Senior Counsel; Waverly Gordon, Deputy Staff Director
and General Counsel; Tiffany Guarascio, Staff Director; Zach
Kahan, Deputy Director Outreach and Member Service; Hank
Kilgore, Policy Coordinator; Mackenzie Kuhl, Press Assistant;
Jerry Leverich, Chief Counsel, Communications and Technology;
Dan Miller, Professional Staff Member; Joe Orlando, Policy
Analyst; Chloe Rodriguez, Clerk; Johanna Thomas, Counsel;
Caroline Wood, Staff Assistant; Sarah Burke, Minority Deputy
Staff Director; Michael Cameron, Minority Policy Analyst,
Consumer Protection And Commerce, Energy, Environment; William
Clutterbuck, Minority Staff Assistant/Policy Analyst; Theresa
Gambo, Minority Financial and Office Administrator; Jack
Heretik, Minority Press Secretary; Nate Hodson, Minority Staff
Director; Sean Kelly, Minority Press Secretary; Peter Kielty,
Minority General Counsel; Emily King, Minority Member Services
Director; Bijan Koohmaraie, Minority Chief Counsel, Oversight
and Investigation Chief Counsel; Tim Kurth, Minority Chief
Counsel, Consumer Protection And Commerce; Clare Paoletta,
Minority Policy Analyst, Health; Olivia Shields, Minority
Communications Director; Michael Taggart, Minority Policy
Director; Everett Winnick, Minority Director of Information
Technology; Evan Viau, Minority Professional Staff Member,
Communications and Technology; and Kate O'Connor, Minority
Chief Counsel, Communications and Technology.
Mr. Doyle. The Subcommittee on Communications and
Technology will now come to order. Today the Subcommittee on
Communications and Technology is holding a hearing entitled,
``Connecting America: Oversight of the FCC.''
Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, members can
participate in today's hearing either in person or remotely,
via online video conferencing.
In accordance with the updated guidance issued by the
attending physician, members, staff, and members of the press
present in the hearing room are not required to wear a mask,
although you can do so if you want to.
For members participating remotely, your microphones will
be set on mute for the purpose of eliminating inadvertent
background noise. Members participating remotely will need to
unmute your microphone each time you wish to speak. Please note
that, once you unmute your microphone, anything that is said in
Webex will be heard over the loudspeakers in the committee
room, and subject to be heard by the livestream and C-SPAN.
Since members are participating from different locations at
today's hearing, all recognition of members, such as four
questions, will be in the order of subcommittee seniority.
Documents for the record can be sent to Joe Orlando at the
email address we have provided to staff. All documents will be
entered into the record at the conclusion of the hearing.
The Chair will now recognize himself for 5 minutes for an
opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE DOYLE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Well, welcome to today's hearing to provide oversight of
the Federal Communications Commission. I am glad to have
Chairwoman Rosenworcel and Commissioners Carr, Starks, and
Simington with us today.
It is great to have you all here, especially now that the
President finally took my advice and made Ms. Rosenworcel the
permanent chairwoman of the Commission. I am sure he had lots
of other advice besides mine. It is an incredible deserved--it
is an incredibly deserved honor, and I think the bipartisan
work of the Commission during this period is a testament to
that.
I hope soon the Senate will confirm Gigi Sohn also to bring
the Commission to full strength. Ms. Sohn's knowledge of
communications policy and dedication to consumer protection are
exemplary. The FCC and the American public will be well served
with her nomination.
And I also want to commend all four of you for your
outstanding bipartisan work to deliver for the American people
as you await your fifth colleague.
The FCC has a broad mission: regulating communications by
wire, radio, satellite, and cable with a mandate to promote
competition, investment, diversity, and security in our
Nation's communication networks. It is also the congressionally
designated body to regulate commercial spectrum and make
spectrum assignments. The FCC should be applauded for tackling
such a wide array of duties with the limited budget and staff
it is afforded.
Broadband is an essential, necessary service for Americans,
for their jobs, for schooling, for health care, and for civic
participation in our country. With this in mind, Congress made
historic investments through the CARES Act, the 2020 omnibus,
and the American Rescue Plan, and the Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act to connect our schools, students, low-income
households, tribal communities, and those in need of health
care services. This makes the FCC's position as the national
regulatory authority on broadband more important than ever.
Under the bipartisan work of this FCC, enormous strides
have been made in the adoption of the Affordable Connectivity
Program, as nearly 11 million households have signed up. The
Emergency Connectivity Fund has already put over $5 billion
toward connectivity for our Nation's schools, libraries, and
students. And I commend the Commission for getting this money
out quickly and efficiently.
And now that the FCC has successfully overcome a bid
protest, the Commission can finally move forward with more of
its broadband mapping activities, which will be crucial for the
NTIA to distribute the $42 billion for broadband access in its
BEAD program.
As with our Nation's other communication technologies, it
is critical that the FCC ensure that the core principles of the
Communication Act run throughout broadband policy: consumer
protection, competition, universal service, and public safety.
The FCC should use all of its tools to re-establish its
consumer protection authorities over broadband, including by
prohibiting unfair and unjust practices, and continuing to
fight against robocalls and robo texts.
It should promote competition in the broadband marketplace.
so consumers can benefit from choice and the expanded services
and lower costs the competition brings.
It should pursue universal service by ensuring that all
consumers have access to reliable, affordable broadband, and to
prohibit practices that hinder broadband deployment.
And it should continue its support of the public safety and
commitment to our first responders and law enforcement
officials. and secure our networks from untrustworthy
equipment.
Finally, I applaud your recent work with the NTIA on the
Spectrum Coordination Initiative. Congress designed the FCC as
the overseer of commercial spectrum and tasked it with
determining the highest and most efficient use of spectrum. It
has a long history of basing its decisions on the science and
engineering facts brought before it, and we need to bolster its
spectrum management processes that have made the United States
the global leader in technology.
To that end, I hope we can revisit the lower 3 gigahertz
band in a way to both protect the incumbent users and maximize
commercial use as envisioned in the Spectrum Innovation Act.
And Congress should re-authorize the FCC's authority to conduct
auctions, particularly in light of the upcoming 2.5 gigahertz
auction that is so important to 5G and the rural wireless
community.
This committee has entrusted the Commission with a great
deal of responsibility, and it is going to take all of us
working together to successfully connect all of our
communities, protect our constituents, and ensure the continued
leadership of the United States.
Thank you to the Commissioners for coming before us today.
I look forward to hearing your testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Doyle follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Mike Doyle
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. And now it gives me great pleasure to recognize
my good friend, Ranking Member Latta.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT E. LATTA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I really
appreciate this hearing today. And also, thanks to our
Commissioners for being with us today.
And, you know, this is the first FCC oversight hearing held
by the Communications and Technology Subcommittee this
Congress. And again, I want to congratulate you, Madam Chair,
for your confirmation; Commissioner Simington, for your first
visit here with us; and also, I want to thank Commissioner Carr
for coming out to the district again to see what is happening,
especially during COVID. So I really appreciate it.
Well, it has been a year-and-a-half since the Commission
last testified before us. Much has happened in the
communications industry, and we have many important topics to
cover today. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress
appropriated billions of dollars to the FCC to establish
programs to connect low-income Americans to the Internet for
distance learning and telehealth. We also appropriated tens of
billions of dollars across the Federal agencies to expand
broadband infrastructure across the United States.
While these programs were necessary at the time to help
Americans stay connected through the pandemic, it is
encouraging that broadband prices in the United States continue
to become more affordable, thanks to the private sector
offerings. Recent government and industry data confirm that,
when adjusted for inflation, the cost of broadband is
decreasing while speeds are increasing. In fact, the $30 per
month subsidy that will be available to Americans through the
Affordable Connectivity Program is higher than the cost of
plans being offered by certain broadband providers. That
doesn't quite seem to add up.
What is clear is why adoption continues to be a problem. If
cost is the primary driver of non-adoption, then,
theoretically, every American who has broadband services
offered in their community should have broadband. But that is
not the case. And we need to seriously consider what role, if
any, the government should play in encouraging adoption, given
the numerous private sector programs that are now in place.
We need to continue to focus on deploying broadband where
it doesn't exist. As agencies implement programs authorized in
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, it is imperative
that we do not pick winners and losers. And let me say it
again: We cannot pick winners and losers. And existing programs
like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund are not undermined.
With the investment landscape changing, it is essential for
Federal agencies to rely on the FCC's forthcoming broadband
maps to avoid overbuilding on federally subsidized duplicate
projects.
Given the incredible volume of work the FCC has completed
in establishing new programs in a short period of time, it is
critical that the FCC is transparent, responsible to this
committee in a timely manner. The amount of money that is
appropriated is ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse. Our diligent
oversight is absolutely essential to ensure that that does not
happen. We have already seen the FCC's Office of Inspector
General publicly raise instances of fraud, risk in the
emergency broadband benefit program. As the Affordable
Connectivity Program and other programs are implemented, we
will be following this work quite closely.
I appreciate this Commission has continued the work of the
previous Administration by increasing transparency, and has
already accomplished bipartisan work. I hope to see this
bipartisanship continue if and when the Commission gets its
fifth Commissioner.
Apart from COVID response, the FCC has many important
missions, from expanding rural broadband through the Universal
Service Fund, and leading broadband mapping efforts to managing
non-Federal spectrum, and combating unlawful robocalls. In
addition to these ongoing responsibilities, the FCC has several
immediate issues that it needs to address.
First, Congress enacted the Secure and Trusted
Communication Networks Act in 2020 to prevent USF funds from
being used for purchase of hardware or services for
communication networks that pose an unacceptable risk to
national security. It also established a reimbursement program
to assist small providers with removal and replacement of this
vulnerable equipment. Unfortunately, the demand for this--for
these reimbursements significantly outstripped the initial
estimates. And the FCC should keep Congress apprised of any
shortfall that remains once the applications are reviewed, as
well as how these funds are intended to be spent.
Second, Congress enacted the TRACED Act in 2019 to combat
the scourge of illegal robocalls. Congress, the FCC, and
private industry have made this a top priority, and several
advances have been made, both in the government's response and
in action by voice providers to stop calls before they even get
to your phone. Despite this progress, more must be done to
ensure that illegal robocalls don't slip through the cracks,
and that they are blocked so that legitimate calls are able to
get to the Americans who need them. As Congress looks to build
on the tools that the TRACED Act provided, I encourage the FCC
to work with my colleagues and me to ensure that the proper
tools are available to both regulators and private industry.
I look forward to discussing these important issues before
the Commission, and I want to thank the Commissioners and the
chairman for this hearing today. Thanks for being with us.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Latta follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Robert E. Latta
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mr. Pallone, chairman of the full committee, for 5 minutes for
his opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK PALLONE, Jr., A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Chairman Doyle. This is the first
oversight hearing of the SEC since Chairwoman Rosenworcel has
taken the agency's helm. And while it was my hope to have a
full five-member Commission with us today, we are glad to have
the four of you here.
And I want to begin by congratulating the chairwoman on
becoming chair of the FCC, the first woman to be named to the
position on a permanent basis, and it is much deserved. And the
work the Commission has accomplished under your leadership has
not gone unnoticed.
As the chief regulator of our communications networks, it
is more important than ever that the FCC prioritize protecting
consumers. Over the past two years, since the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic, broadband and connectivity has proven
essential to everyone's lives. And that is not going to change.
Whether it is telework, telehealth, commerce, or video calls
with friends and family, high-speed, reliable broadband service
is fundamental, not just to our daily connections, but also
economic opportunity and American global leadership.
Unfortunately, the pandemic has also highlighted the
massive disparities faced by individuals and families without
reliable home Internet access. It is an issue that we on this
committee, both Democrats and Republicans, have talked about
for a long time. And that is why I am proud that we stood
together to enact the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program,
which is now a long-term program known as the Affordable
Connectivity Program. And this new long-term program was
created thanks to passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law.
As of today, the Affordable Connectivity Program is helping
more than ten million households afford monthly internet
service. And working together, I believe we can push that
number even higher.
I am also proud that last year we invested in the
educational opportunities of students by enacting the Emergency
Connectivity Fund as part of the American Rescue Plan. In
today's classroom, a home internet connection is just as
essential as a textbook or a pencil, and we should no longer
accept that millions of students must sit in a parking lot to
access this fundamental educational tool.
If I could talk about my home State of New Jersey, over
$122 million in funding has distributed--has been distributed
to schools and libraries to ensure that students can connect to
the internet at home, allowing them to take advantage of online
learning and do their homework. And these funds are critical to
helping fulfill the promise of--our nation's students have a
quality education that can open the door to opportunity and
success.
And I have to say, Chairwoman, I think we put out, I don't
know, you know, out of the district office in New Jersey, I
think we put out, like, 10 or 12, you know, press things, or
social media every time a new school, a new library, or
whatever gets awarded, because people are just so into it, and
you know, they--it is so important to them.
Now, these broadband affordability programs have been
implemented by the FCC on a bipartisan basis, as have other
actions over the past year, actions that put the consumer
first.
The FCC is increasing pricing transparency by requiring the
so-called broadband nutrition label to allow consumers to
quickly and easily compare service plans.
It also recently adopted rules to help the millions of
Americans who live in apartments and condominium buildings by
promoting broadband provider competition in those buildings,
and opened an examination into how the outrageous practice of
digital discrimination could be prevented. And these are all
actions that will help consumers.
The FCC's work on behalf of the public also includes its
vigilance in securing our communications networks under the
Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act and the Secure
Equipment Act.
And we also charged the Commission with implementing the
Broadband Data Act, which will be critical to ensuring we have
accurate maps when it comes to distributing the more than $40
billion that Congress appropriated for broadband in the
bipartisan infrastructure law.
So, again, I want to congratulate the entire Commission for
your recent victory in the bid protest case that the GAO--that
put a hold on some progress with respect to these maps. And I
also want to note the agency's good work increasing
coordination and collaboration with the NTIA to ensure the
Federal Government is competently managing our spectrum, and
speaking with one voice on these important issues.
So the FCC has accomplished so much. I mean, I just--I know
there has been a lot, but when I listed it today I was just
even more impressed.
And of course, there is more to be done, and we do need the
fifth Commissioner. So I hope that seat is filled quickly, and
it is past time that FCC assume its place as the agency with
expertise to oversee broadband service providers, and with the
authority to adopt rules to protect consumers.
So that is what you are doing, and I just want to commend
you again, and thank the four Commissioners for being here
today.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Pallone follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Pallone. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mrs. Rodgers, the ranking member of the full committee, for 5
minutes for her opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, everyone.
I too want to congratulate the new Chairwoman Rosenworcel
for your appointment and chairmanship, and to Mr. Simington on
your first appearance as FCC Commissioner before the Energy and
Commerce Committee.
The COVID-19 pandemic put an unprecedented demand on our
communications network. Overnight, Americans' lives
translined--transitioned online for work, school, and to stay
connected to family and friends. Thanks to the great work and
private investment of U.S. communication providers, our
networks withstood this stress test.
Since 2017, broadband providers invested more than $300
billion into upgrading and expanding our networks. Since 2015,
broadband speeds for the most popular service tier have more
than doubled. And according to the most recent FCC data, the
digital divide closed by 14 percent between the end of 2016 and
the end of 2019. At the same time, the price of service
decreased. Companies continue to offer discounted plans for
low-income Americans at speeds fast enough to support streaming
and working from home. And when the cost of virtually
everything is skyrocketing because of inflation, the inflation-
adjusted cost of broadband service has decreased by 34 percent
since 2015.
On top of this private sector response, Congress acted to
help connect Americans. Congress provided the FCC $450 million
to expand networks and provide devices to enable telehealth
services, and established the $3.2 billion emergency broadband
benefit to keep low-income Americans struggling due to the
pandemic connected.
The infrastructure bill then extended the duration of this
program, known as the Affordable Connectivity Program, and
provided the FCC with an additional $14.2 billion to subsidize
broadband service.
Combined with the reduced offerings by the private sector,
broadband service is free for many low-income Americans. At a
time when people have lost their jobs and were stuck at home,
these bipartisan programs provided necessary relief to make
sure they could stay connected during the pandemic. Now we must
make sure these funds are not subject to waste, fraud, and
abuse, and get Americans back to work and off of these
temporary COVID-era government subsidy programs.
The success of our broadband performance, deployment, and
affordability is largely due to the actions taken by the Trump
Administration and Republican FCC to roll back regulations. In
2017, then-FCC Chairman Pai rescinded the strict net neutrality
regulations that were enacted during the Obama administration,
which promoted investment in our broadband networks. It allowed
our networks in the United States to withstand the COVID-19
stress test, while our allies in Europe struggled to keep up,
due to their burdensome net neutrality regulations, which some
Democrats continue to advocate for here.
Rather than expanding government command and control into
the broadband marketplace, let's learn from this pandemic, and
continue on the path of deregulation. We should not ignore the
success that private sector innovation yielded, and revert to
heavy handed regulations.
We have the opportunity to work together on ways to promote
innovation and U.S. leadership in technology. I am excited to
be working with Chairman Pallone on my legislative discussion
draft, the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act.
It updates and streamlines the FCC's satellite licensing rules
to encourage satellite investment in the United States.
Satellite technology is a viable solution to providing
connectivity in hard-to-reach areas with speeds Americans need.
Let's encourage this and more innovation, and make sure our
policies and regulations keep pace.
The FCC is at the forefront of making sure all Americans
are connected. Congress tasked the FCC with updating its
broadband maps to accurately reflect where broadband exists in
the United States and where it does not. Without these maps,
and without removing regulatory and other barriers to
deployment, the $45 billion that Congress appropriated for the
broadband deployment may be wasted. We cannot let that happen.
It is crucial that the FCC complete the maps as soon as
possible, and share the data with agencies that were awarded
broadband funds. We need to make sure that the money gets to
where it is needed. We need to make sure recipients can deploy
quickly and efficiently. All agencies awarded broadband funding
should use these maps to get it right.
I look forward to today's discussion on these important
topics, and look forward to working together with the members
of this committee.
[The prepared statement of Mrs. Rodgers follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mrs. Rodgers. I yield back, thank you.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair would like
to remind members that, pursuant to committee rules, all
Members' written opening statements shall be made part of the
record.
So I would now like to introduce our witnesses for today's
hearing.
First we have Hon. Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the
Federal Communications Commission, joined by Commissioner
Brendan Carr--welcome--and Commissioner Simington. And joining
us virtually is the Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
At this time the Chair will recognize each witness for 5
minutes to provide their opening statement.
Before we begin, I would like to explain the lighting
system, since it has been a while since we have all been here
together. There is a series of lights. It will initially be
green. The light will turn yellow when you have a minute
remaining. After that we ask you to start to wrap up your
testimony. The light will turn red when your time expires. And
if you continue speaking, there are trap doors under your seats
that will take you down to the Rayburn subway, and whisk you
out of here.
So I would ask my colleagues also on the panel here to try
to observe the 5-minute rule, also.
So we have witnesses appearing virtually. So I need to ask
my colleagues in the hearing room to mute themselves whenever
they are not directly speaking during their question-and-answer
portion so we can clearly hear all the witnesses' response.
So, we will start with our chairwoman. You are now
recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF HON. JESSICA ROSENWORCEL, CHAIRWOMAN, FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION; HON. BRENDAN CARR, COMMISSIONER,
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION; HON. GEOFFREY STARKS,
COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION; AND HON.
NATHAN SIMINGTON, COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
STATEMENT OF JESSICA ROSENWORCEL
Ms. Rosenworcel. Good morning, Chairman Pallone, Ranking
Member Rodgers, Chairman Doyle, Ranking Member Latta, and
members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you today. And it is a treat to be here in
person.
While I have been at this table many times, this is my
first time as chairwoman of the FCC, and it is an honor to
serve in this role at a time when the connections that unite us
all, physical and digital, have never been more important.
I believe that there are four essential values in
communications: universal access, public safety, competition,
and consumer protection. Today I want to tell you what we have
done to advance these principles at the FCC.
First, universal access. The pandemic has proven with total
clarity that broadband is no longer just nice to have. It is
need to have for everyone everywhere. In response to this
crisis, and with the help of Congress, the FCC did something
historic. We set up the Nation's largest-ever broadband
affordability program. What is now known as the Affordable
Connectivity Program is helping 11 million households get
online and stay online.
We also made history addressing a problem I call the
homework gap, the especially cruel digital divide between
students who have access to the internet at home and those who
do not. You know who these children are, because you see them
lingering in the library parking lot to catch the free Wi-Fi
signal, and you see them sliding into the booths of fast food
restaurants to do their homework with a side of fries. During
the pandemic the homework gap became an educational chasm. But
with the help of Congress, we set up the Emergency Connectivity
Fund to get these kids services and devices. And so far it has
helped more than 12 million students.
In addition, with help from Congress, we have supported
universal access to telehealth technologies, expanding remote
diagnosing and monitoring of patients in every State across the
country.
Second, public safety. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida,
we proposed new rules for network resiliency. We recommitted to
spectrum for public safety in the 4.9 gigahertz band. And I
have also proposed, with the support of first responders, that
when Congress re-authorizes the agency spectrum auction
authority, it commit the funds raised from our public airwaves
to public safety, with a nationwide upgrade to next generation
911.
We also have made strides when it comes to national
security. We kicked off the Nation's first inquiry into Open
RAN systems. We launched a first-of-its-kind program to remove
insecure equipment from two Chinese vendors from our domestic
networks. We revoked the authorizations of four companies
because our national security agencies determined that they
could be subject to exploitation, influence, and control by a
foreign government.
We rechartered the Communications Security, Reliability,
and Interoperability Council, and gave it a 5G focus. And for
the first time, this group is being co-chaired by the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. And last week
we updated our covered list of communications equipment and
services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security
and may not be used in our universal service programs. And for
the first time, we included a Russian software company.
Third, competition. To advance competition in our wireless
economy we have moved aggressively to free up spectrum for new
5G services. Earlier this year we concluded a successful
auction of 100 prime mid-band span--mid-band spectrum in the
3.45 gigahertz band. And just last week I announced we are
going to hold another mid-band auction in the 2.5 gigahertz
band. We also identified spectrum for the first time to support
increased competition for commercial space launch in order to
support innovation in our new space age.
But I recognize that we are not going to be able to do all
this wireless work alone. We need a whole-of-government
approach. That is why, last month, the FCC and NTIA announced a
new and, frankly, much needed spectrum coordination initiative.
Fourth, consumer protection. We are creating a broadband
nutrition label that is going to make it easy for consumers to
compare and purchase services for themselves and their
families. We have updated our rules to support broadband
competition for the one-third of us that live in multi-tenant
units like apartment buildings. And we are putting an end to
exclusive sweetheart deals that are sometimes cut by landlords
that deny consumers their choice of broadband provider.
Finally, we have prioritized fundamental issues of
communications equity, and started an agency-wide proceeding to
address digital discrimination, aided by our Communications
Equity and Diversity Council.
So over the course of the year, we have made real progress.
The four of us have turned down the volume and ramped up the
work. Still, I know there is a lot left to do and a full
Commission of five is an important part of achieving those
results.
So thank you for the opportunity to appear before you
today. I look forward to any questions that you might have.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rosenworcel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. The chairwoman yields back. Thank you very much.
The Chair now recognizes Commissioner Carr for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF BRENDAN CARR
Mr. Carr. Thank you, Chairman Doyle, Ranking Member Latta,
Chairman Pallone, Republican Leader Rodgers, distinguished
members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the chance to
testify.
And I want to start by offering my congratulations, as
well, to the Chair on her first time to testify as Chair before
the committee.
Since we all last testified, my FCC colleagues and I have
been busy delivering on priorities that you and Congress have
identified. We have promoted competition in the broadband
market, including by giving Americans that live in apartments,
in public housing more choice for high speed service.
On spectrum we have worked together on a successful auction
of mid-band airwaves earlier this year, and have another one
set for this summer.
On telehealth, we have extended the lifesaving benefits of
this technology by awarding $550 million to telehealth/telecare
providers. We have taken bipartisan action, as well, to close
the affordability portion of the digital divide, standing up a
record setting $24 billion in new, low-income initiatives.
And we have come together to advance our national security,
as well. Over the last five months alone, we revoked the
operating authority of four different carriers that posed
threats.
Of course, there is more we can do to extend America's
leadership. That is why I included a series of ideas in my
testimony on spectrum, infrastructure, and national security
that are ripe for action.
Outside the FCC there are some emerging trends that concern
me. I will start with the effort by agencies to deviate from
the clear statutory process that Congress established for
regulating our Nation's airwaves. Congress long ago determined
that an independent expert agency, the FCC, makes the final
call on these rules. Yet on C-Band, executive branch agencies
turned Congress's decision aside, and broke from this tried-
and-true process at the last minute. They replaced the FCC's
rules with ones dictated behind closed doors.
It is no surprise, then, that this chaotic approach
resulted in 5G infrastructure laying fallow, and canceled
flights. And it is part of a dysfunctional trend, frankly,
among agencies that disagree with the process that Congress
established for reaching sound spectrum decisions.
As Chairman Doyle and Ranking Member Latta recently
indicated in an op ed, we should all stand up for the statutory
process. Otherwise, we are only inviting agencies to engage in
additional actions that can derail U.S. 5G leadership.
Turning from spectrum to the executive branch's
infrastructure efforts, I am concerned that Federal Government
is failing to put appropriate guardrails in place. By my count,
we now have over $800 billion that could be used for broadband
efforts, and those funds are spread across a range of different
agencies. I see several problems.
First, there is little coordination across agencies.
Second, there is an absence of adequate controls in place.
Indeed, one executive branch department told me that they
weren't even tracking how much money had gone toward broadband.
Third, many of the policies are poised to leave rural
communities behind. And this is because the Administration gave
the green light to overbuild existing high-speed networks in
communities that already have multiple broadband providers.
Fourth, I am concerned that we are going to see record-
setting levels of waste, fraud, and abuse. The FCC's inspector
general already issued a troubling report about one of our new
programs. And we can't waste resources here, particularly
because of the supply chain and workforce shortages that are
yet to be solved.
Finally, I want to commend the committee members that are
working to hold Big Tech accountable. Leader McMorris Rodgers
and her colleagues have a smart set of bills that would end Big
Tech's abusive practices, while promoting more speech on the
internet.
Reining in Big Tech is key, because we now have a handful
of corporations with state-like influence that shape everything
from the information we consume to the places we shop. These
corporate behemoths are not merely exercising market power;
they are abusing dominant positions. They are not simply
prevailing in the free market; they are taking advantage of a
landscape that has been skewed by the government to favor their
business models.
Indeed, it is hard to imagine another industry where a
greater gap exists between power and accountability. And that
is why Congress needs to act, from 230 reform to transparency
to non-discrimination rules, to empowering consumers to make
their own decisions about content moderation by letting them
choose their own content filters or none at all. These steps
will go a long way in bringing long-overdue accountability to
Big Tech.
So in closing, I want to thank you for the opportunity to
testify, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Carr follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair will now
recognize, virtually, Commissioner Starks.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF GEOFFREY STARKS
Mr. Starks. Thank you, Chairman Doyle, Ranking Member
Latta, Chairman Pallone, Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers, and
members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you here today.
Congratulations, as well, to Chairwoman Rosenworcel on your
first oversight hearing.
We stand, truly, at an inflection point in history: first,
the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we work, learn,
and connect with each other; second, the challenges of our day
make clear that network security has never been more important;
and finally, the consequences of climate change are becoming
alarmingly clear. The FCC has an indispensable role to play on
each of these fronts. And for my part, I am proud to say that
we are helping make America more equitable, more secure, and
more sustainable.
Our longstanding do to divide has morphed into a monstrous
COVID-19 divide. And like so many other aspects of the
pandemic, the lack of access to and adoption of home broadband
has reinforced existing inequities. In particular, low-income
and Americans of color remain, by a wide margin, less likely to
have a home broadband connection than their counterparts. The
14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program is changing that,
converting EBB to a pandemic-focused long-term part of the
FCC's work.
And the chairwoman, along with my colleagues, supported my
proposal to start work on an ACP pilot program to expand
participation by households that benefit from Federal public
housing assistance. That is more than five million households
that benefit from Federal rental assistance, and that includes
public housing and section 8, the Housing Choice Voucher
program. And I plan to focus my efforts here where there, I
believe, is a clear synergy between housing and connectivity.
If we are helping a family secure housing, we should be able to
help them secure an online connection in that home.
As we increase access to our broadband networks, we must
also ensure that those networks are secure. I am particularly
proud of the work we have done to remove untrustworthy
equipment from our networks, and deny or revoke telecom
operating authority for every carrier identified by Team
Telecom.
But our work is not complete. I have called for the
Commission to work with Congress and the Administration to
examine how to tackle network security threats like foreign-
owned data centers. In cooperation with the relevant executive
branch agencies, the Commission should commence an inquiry to
identify all U.S.-based data centers owned and operated by
companies subject to the laws and jurisdiction of adversary
states; identify on a confidential basis the services provided
by these data centers and their customers; third, ascertain
whether the data centers present a risk of interception,
tampering, or blocking of U.S. communications and information;
and last, identify any legal authority of the FCC or any other
regulatory body to protect the U.S. communications stored
within or transit these data centers.
For example, executive order 13873 delegates authority to
Commerce over transactions involving information in the ICT
that pose national security risks. The Commission itself also
might have oversight through its licensing authority for
undersea cable landing sites, given that data centers, as well
as those overseas, rely on such cables to transmit information
between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Finally, I have to address another issue that will define
our shared and collective future, and that is the environment,
and the important role that I see the telecommunications and
technology sector playing. Here there are at least, I think,
four ways that we can drive impact.
First, we continue to optimize the efficient use of
spectrum, a finite resource, while at the same time enabling
devices that draw less power. Spectral efficiency and saving
energy are a must have here, doing more while using less.
Second, 5G and the use cases we envision are in
manufacturing. Precision agriculture and energy could
contribute 20 percent toward U.S. emissions reductions by 2025.
Third, public-private partnerships are already hard at
work, including the infrastructure legislation's 500 million in
DoT awards to support the ongoing efforts by smart cities to
use wireless IoT sensors to reduce traffic congestion and
energy usage.
Fourth, industry-led initiatives will continue to play a
significant role, from reducing or eliminating carbon emissions
associated with their operations to increasing the use of
renewable energy and minimizing electronic waste.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Starks follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Starks. Thank you so much for inviting me today. I was
looking forward to joining the committee in person, but,
unfortunately, like many, I have a sick child here at home, and
so it necessitates that I join virtually. But thank you, and I
look forward to your questions.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you, Commissioner, and I hope your little
one is feeling better.
We will now recognize Commissioner Simington for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF NATHAN SIMINGTON
Mr. Simington. Thank you, Chairman Pallone, Ranking Member
Rodgers, Chairman Doyle, Ranking Member Latta, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee. It is a privilege to
appear before you today. I would like to join you and the rest
of my colleagues in congratulating the chairwoman in her first
appearance here as permanent chairwoman. And, of course, it is
a particular honor for me, because this is my first opportunity
to testify before the subcommittee at all, and I will watch out
for the Rayburn subway.
Serving on a divided Commission has been an education for
me in the fundamentally non-partisan nature of the work of an
expert agency. Working on fair allocation of regulatory fees or
construction of spectrum auction rules is simply outside of
partisan consideration. And while at the FCC I have tried to
base my own approach on the professionalism of our great agency
staff, today I am going to focus on three forward-looking
issues: efficient use of spectrum, device security, and the
space economy. The opportunities they present must be captured,
and their challenges must be met. And the FCC has a unique
mission and mandate for all three.
First, access to and efficient use of spectrum. The FCC and
NTIA must balance the interests of commercial spectrum users
and Federal spectrum incumbents. Generally, licensed commercial
users prefer and get the most value from full power, exclusive
use licenses. Generally, when coordinating with the commercial
sector, Federal incumbents prefer and feel best able to fulfill
their obligations with spectrum sharing, and look toward
dynamic spectrum allocation.
Both types of users, however, benefit from clearer rules
and certainty for their operations, and the FCC can improve
things for all spectrum users by creating a clearer protection
rights regime. The FCC should examine how and when receivers
are protected from interference, while specifically defining
what interference constitutes, so that safe harbors can be
created.
An interference limit policy would provide certainty to
radio systems operators and receiver manufacturers and,
therefore, benefit the end users, which today means every
American.
Increased signal strength from transmitters can provide
improved reception, but increasing power levels requires
receivers in adjacent bands to be able to reject unwanted
signals outside their frequencies. We can look for efficiencies
at the Commission in a band by band fashion, where spectrum is
densest, or where protection of high-value services is of
greatest importance. My office has been examining this issue
for over a year, and we want to sincerely thank Chairwoman
Rosenworcel for the forthcoming introduction of a notice of
inquiry.
We must boldly re-examine the status quo in interference
protection. Today we have dense co-location of wireless edge
devices, and it is getting denser fast. The 5G revolution isn't
just about an improved consumer experience on the cell phone.
To get technological advances that we want in public safety,
medicine, and industry, we need to put those services on 5G. We
are going to switch on billions of new wireless devices over
the next decade. Those devices are going to be operating in
dense spectrum neighborhoods. So the rules of the road on
interference protection have to be crystal clear.
But we also have to be clear about the security challenges
of using wireless devices at greater scale, which leads me to
my second issue: device security. The FCC is not a
cybersecurity agency, but our mission includes protecting the
availability of wireless spectrum, a scarce and fragile
resource, for the use of the government and the public.
Traditionally, we have fulfilled this role by requiring that
wireless transmitters pass a battery of FCC tests, and operate
within narrowly confined parameters.
Creating scientific standards for what constitutes harmful
interference will further protect users of spectrum from
harmful interference. But even if every transmitter and
receiver in America is designed to meet stringent performance
standards, another problem still remains: these devices are
increasingly not static circuits, which could be expected to
behave consistently for the life of the device.
As more and more static devices are retired, they are being
replaced or upgraded with software-controlled devices, often
running multiple operating systems from different providers.
These systems are inherently more vulnerable than a wired
system, or a single-purpose system to a cyber attack. And those
attacks can turn a device that performed perfectly well on our
workbench into a signal jammer.
I worry especially about the ability of any attacker to
hijack multiple wireless devices at once, thereby crafting a
remote denial of service attack by a mass signal jamming.
Addressing wireless security for the new wireless era will
protect Americans against domestic and foreign threats as we
use more and more wireless services.
Last, I would like to touch briefly on the space economy.
The FCC can help with the robust growth of the launch and
satellite service sectors by requiring thoroughgoing orbital
debris mitigation standards. As you all know, the FCC has an
open procedure--proceeding here. But I was pleased to see the
bipartisan legislation shared by Chairman Pallone and Ranking
Member Rodgers that clarifies the FCC's authority to craft and
implement such rules.
Because the FCC licenses and grants U.S. market access to
satellite operators, thus representing something like 50
percent of the present economic opportunity for the worldwide
space economy, we have a unique opportunity to lead the world
here at a time when other nations have not been carrying the
ball. We should capitalize on this to lead a new international
consensus, in my view, for safe commercial satellite operation
in space.
Chairman Doyle, Ranking Member Latta, Chairman Pallone,
Ranking Member Rodgers and members of the subcommittee, I want
to thank you again for holding this hearing, and for the
opportunity to testify, and I look forward very much to
answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Simington follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Doyle. Thank you very much. The gentleman yields back.
We have now concluded openings. We are going to move to
member questions. Each member will have 5 minutes to ask
questions of our witnesses. I would ask all my colleagues
that--let's do our best to adhere to that 5-minute rule. And I
will start by recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
Commissioner Rosenworcel, especially in this economy,
people are struggling to make ends meet. And I think it is
important that we have a strong advocate for consumers in the
FCC, which is why I am so glad that you are the Chair. As we
have heard from today's testimony, broadband connections are
essential, and it is also essential broadband consumers are
able to understand and receive the benefits that they are
paying for.
Chairwoman, I introduced an important bill that I sponsored
last Congress, the Television Viewer Protection Act, which,
among other things, requires more transparency around
consumers' TV, phone, and internet bills. Can you tell me how
the implementation is going, from your perspective? Are the
companies complying with the provisions related to equipment
surcharges? Is the FCC still getting complaints about these
issues?
Give us an update on where you see this.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you for your--the question, and your
work on the Television Viewer Protection Act.
When we went back and we looked on the record on this
subject, what we found is the agency had done a lot of work to
make sure that small providers of video services could develop
buying collectives to negotiate for the carriage of channels.
But we hadn't done a lot of work when it came to the consumer-
focused provisions you are describing about transparency, and
also making sure that, if you order a service, the company
shouldn't make you get some equipment you don't intend to use.
We have certainly seen press reports suggesting that is
still going on. So in December of this year, we sought comment
on these issues, because we want to develop an up-to-date
record. If that is happening, we want to fix it, and we want to
use the Television Viewer Protection Act to do so.
Mr. Doyle. Great, thank you.
Commissioner Starks, we have signed around 11 million
households for the--up for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
And I want to say I am very encouraged by the pilot program you
are standing up to help families in low-income housing receive
the benefits of the ACP. Can you tell us a little bit more
about your expectations for the program and its ability to
reduce the digital divide for these families?
Mr. Starks. Well, thank you so much for the question, Mr.
Chairman.
I have long said it is clear that we need to meet this--the
disconnected where they are. And there are a lot of great
things happening around the FCC on ACP, but I am glad to join
with you in highlighting the focus on beneficiaries of Federal
housing programs, including residents, as I mentioned, that are
in public housing on section 8.
You know, Congress made public housing beneficiaries
eligible, but we have seen a very small share of them enrolled.
And so there is a particular nexus between housing and
connectivity. I have seen it myself. I will never forget when I
met with a mother of three who lived in the George Washington
Carver Homes in Selma, Alabama. She told me how she was able to
complete an online degree program, keep her kids safe and off
the streets while they finish their homework. And so we need to
bring that transformative experience to millions of families.
And I am hopeful that we can focus some efforts here on the
five million families that are in public housing.
Mr. Doyle. Great, thank you very much. And I agree, we have
got to do more to get the word out. I hear that in Pittsburgh,
too, that a lot of people just simply don't know about the
program. So we have got to give some thought to how we can get
more information out.
You know, I was really glad to see the Spectrum
Coordination Initiative with NTIA Administrator Davidson in
your announcement yesterday regarding updating the 2003
memorandum of understanding. I think we have to do everything
we can to bring back normalcy to our spectrum management
processes, and avoid fights like we have been seeing.
So, Chairwoman, what are your expectations for the
initiative, and what other steps do you think need to be taken?
And what, if anything, do you need from Congress?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you for raising this issue. We have
got to do better when it comes to spectrum coordination. We
truly need a whole-of-government approach. So very shortly
after Alan Davidson was appointed to his role at the NTIA, I
reached out and we set up this initiative to make clear that we
have goals, and those goals include working closely together.
With respect to Congress, I want to make sure that you pay
attention to our work and if you see areas for improvement, you
let us know what they are. But I would also like you to
reinforce the NTIA Act. That is the law you passed to set up
NTIA, to make them the overseer and advisor of Federal spectrum
interests. I want NTIA to continue to be able to speak for
Federal spectrum interests, and not just the agencies
themselves. So elevating NTIA and its authority in the
discussion, just as Congress intended, is really important
going forward.
Mr. Doyle. Thank you very much. And to set a good example
for my colleagues, I am yielding back ten seconds.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Latta.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks again to
our witnesses for being with us today.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, according to the publicly available
data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation-adjusted
broadband prices have dropped approximately 15 percent since
2010. In fact, according to the FCC's own data from the Urban
Rates Survey, the inflation-adjusted change in the most popular
broadband tiers has decreased 34 percent since 2015. Our
Americans are getting more broadband for their buck.
Chairwoman, do you agree with the FCC's data that consumers
are getting better broadband service offerings for comparably
lower and affordable prices?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Well, what I would like to do is take
advantage of the new legislation that you have offered us in
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which expressly
tasks us with doing a study on what prices are for the plans
that are being ordered by anyone who is on the Affordable
Connectivity Program. And I think that that is going to provide
an opportunity to provide updated data. I truly hope that it
reflects exactly the kind of data you just shared with me.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you. I would like to acknowledge and
also thank the industry for their efforts to provide broadband
service at affordable prices, while continuing to upgrade and
expand their service offerings prior to the Federal subsidies
being enacted.
I was disappointed to see a letter sent by my Democratic
colleagues on this committee to NTIA Assistant Secretary
Davidson urging him to expand the scope of the BEAD program,
impose burdensome requirements like open access, rather than
focusing on the task at hand, and incentivize private
investment to make sure all Americans are connected.
The FCC's broadband maps will be crucial for agencies
distributing broadband funds, especially with respect to the
$42.5 billion that the NTIA will be distributing to the states
through its BEAD program. The FCC is also actively awarding
funds for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
Chairwoman, in March 2020 you testified before the Senate
that the FCC could radically improve its broadband maps within
three to 6 months. Congress provided $98 million to the FCC to
implement its mapping activities in December 2020. And since
you have been leading the FCC, it has been about 2 years since
you have made the statement to the Senate, and yet we still,
unfortunately, don't have maps.
The FCC recently announced the deadline for providers to
submit mapping data to the FCC is September 1st. How long after
that date do you contemplate that we are going to have complete
maps? And, you know, do you commit to getting these maps done
before the end of the year?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Well, the answer to your final question is
absolutely yes. We will have maps in the fall.
I want to unpack a few of the other things that you
mentioned there. You mentioned comments that I made in March
of, oh, pre-pandemic days. That was a reference to the maps
that we used to inform our Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. As
you may know, we have had a lot of problems with the
preliminary awards in that program because the last
Administration awarded rural broadband funding to the Pentagon
parking lots, the parking lot at LA International Airport, and
a whole bunch of traffic medians.
The bottom line is that we have got to do better than that.
And so we have taken advantage of the law that this committee
worked on, the Broadband Data Act, which requires us to build
better maps. And I think you and I can agree the best time to
do that would have been 5 years ago. But the second best time
is right now, and my goal is to build the kind of maps that are
not just good for the moment we are in, but provide a framework
and a structure that people can use 5 to 10 years from now,
when they sit in this same seat.
So we are following that law to a tee. We are dotting every
I. We are making sure that we do everything that you requested.
We have brought in a broadband and data architect. We have
acquired systems for--to make sure we have the capacity to
manipulate this data. We have beta-tested those systems with
wireless broadband maps and new propagation models. And we also
acquired--we set up a contract for a broadband location fabric,
which is required under the law.
As Chairman Doyle mentioned, we got slowed up in that
process, because Federal contracting rules required us to put
our pencils down for 100 days. But we were victorious earlier
this month, and now it is all systems go. The broadband data
location fabric is being built. And in June of this year
carriers will start filing their data with us, and we will
convert that data into maps in the fall.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you very much.
Commissioner Carr, just real briefly, you know, as we look,
are there any other things that we could do to help in making
sure that we don't have an over--federally subsidized
overbuilding by our agencies?
I don't feel like we have had in the past--we don't want
that competition out there.
And I am sorry, I have got about 12 seconds.
Mr. Carr. I am concerned about it, because Treasury
recently laid out rules for hundreds of billion dollars of ARPA
funds that green light the use of them for overbuilding. We
still have too many communities in this country with zero
megabits per second, so we need to prioritize there. Some of
that can be corrected at the State level, when they receive the
funds, but I would also encourage Congress potentially to look
at passing legislation similar to the Infrastructure Act, which
included a prioritization scheme that is not present in the
ARPA funds.
Mr. Latta. Well, thank you very much.
Sorry about going over, Mr. Chairman. I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Pallone, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you, Chairman Doyle. I wanted to ask the
Chairwoman Rosenworcel.
I know you have been meeting with students and teachers
across the country as the FCC has implemented the Emergency
Connectivity Fund from the American Rescue Plan. But could you
just give us a little more description of how this program has
made a meaningful difference for students who previously lacked
home internet?
I know you have talked about it, but I would like to hear a
little more.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you. You know, in pre-pandemic days,
we called it the homework gap, because there were these kids
who had internet access at school, but they went home and they
couldn't do the schoolwork they had been assigned because they
had no broadband. And during the pandemic, that gap really
became a huge crisis, because we had students in every State
across the country locked out of the virtual classroom.
And so, with the help of Congress, we have committed to
fixing that. As a result of the Emergency Connectivity Fund, we
have made a meaningful dent in the homework gap. We have helped
more than 12 million students get devices and connections at
home. And we have been able to do that by supporting libraries
and schools in every State across the country.
I think, when we look back, we will look at that law and
this moment as the one where we decided that, just like every
student should be able to have paper and a pencil to do their
schoolwork, they also need internet access.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you. Let me ask Commissioner Stark.
We know that the cost of monthly internet services is too
much for a lot of people to afford. And that is why, again, on
a bipartisan basis, we created this emergency broadband
benefit, which was turned into a long-term Affordable
Connectivity Program in the bipartisan infrastructure.
So, Commissioner Stark, can you describe why it is so
important that economically vulnerable households can access
reliable internet service, and how this ACP helps with that, if
you would?
Mr. Starks. Yes. Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman.
You know, all the advanced infrastructure in the world
won't help if ordinary Americans cannot afford to buy broadband
service it supports. For tens of millions of Americans, we
know--the data shows--that the price is just too high. Almost
47 million Americans, 18 million households remain offline just
because they can't afford their internet connections. And
millions more have had to make a difficult sacrifice in order
to keep their broadband on.
And, you know, I have said no family should have to choose
between keeping the lights on and a broadband connection, but
we know that they do. The fact of the matter is that you have
so many folks, especially through the pandemic, who need their
kids educated, who have lost their jobs, are looking to get
job--additional job training. And making sure that they have
something that can power their household is absolutely
essential. And the once-in-a-generation investment that you all
have made is critical.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you. Let me just--I want to commend--I
guess all I am doing today is commending the FCC, which is kind
of unusual for--I don't always do that with all the agencies
that come in here.
But I wanted to commend you on the swift action it took to
address the instances of fraud by providers in the program that
was uncovered by the inspector general, and exactly how that
system is supposed to work. But I will go back to Chairwoman
Rosenworcel.
Can you say a few words about why the inspector general
alerting system and corresponding FCC action is important to
maintain program integrity in a program like the ACP?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. Congress gave us 60 days to set up
the Nation's largest-ever broadband affordability program, and
also asked the inspector general to take a close look. So this
is working exactly as intended.
The inspector general saw that we had set up a streamlined
process for community-eligible participation schools, which are
schools with very high percentages of students on the free and
reduced lunch program. And they suggested to us that the
process we had set up created a loophole, and that we were
seeing spikes in demand in those locations that looked out of
the ordinary.
And so, upon learning on that, we immediately shut that
portal down, required more documentation, referred any bad
actors to our enforcement unit, and we also reached out to
every single subscriber who had signed up for the program
through that portal to re-certify and re-verify them. And in
that process we have identified some companies and some agents
who have been problematic, and we will hold them to account.
Mr. Pallone. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair now
recognizes Mrs. Rodgers, the full committee ranking member, for
5 minutes to ask questions.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, I thank you for your support of the
draft legislation we are working on to modernize the satellite
communications licensing process.
In 2020, approximately two-thirds of the investment in
space startups took place in the United States, and we want to
encourage that innovation. What challenges is the FCC facing
with the current satellite licensing process, and how can
Congress help?
Ms. Rosenworcel. This is a really exciting time for space
technology. We had $10 billion of investment in the United
States in the space sector last year. We launched more than
1,700 satellites, which is more than we ever have in human
history.
Now, the challenge we face with all this activity is to
make sure our regulatory structures keep up. And I think, on
that score, we do have work to do, because they were built for
an era when satellites were sent up only occasionally. We
didn't have large systems with constellations, with thousands
of satellites. We just had a handful.
So what we are going to have to do is come up with more
people who can work in our agency on satellite policy, faster
turnaround times with shorter deadlines, and more thoughtful
approaches to some hard issues like orbital debris. And that is
certainly something that I hope that we can work together with
this committee on, and do some work on a bipartisan basis at
the agency.
Mrs. Rodgers. I look forward to it, too, also, thank you.
To all the Commissioners, starting with the Chair: at her
second confirmation hearing, FCC Commissioner nominee Gigi Sohn
responded to a question from Senator Moran stating, ``At the
last hearing I expressly disavowed any support for the FCC
implementing rate regulation,'' and then went on to say they,
the FCC, tried to do it in cable in the 1990's, it didn't work
out well.
I would like to ask, do you support rate regulation?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I support consumer protection, but don't
believe that that is the place that we should go in order to
manage the broadband industry on a going-forward basis.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you.
Mr. Carr?
Mr. Carr. No, I don't. I think here it is important, too,
to be clear that there is two forms of rate regulation. There
is rate regulation we call ex-post, meaning tariffing on the
front end, and then there is application of just and reasonable
standards on the back end. And I think, when we talk rate
regulation, we should be clear. I am against both forms of rate
regulation as to broadband internet access service.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you.
Mr. Simington?
Mr. Simington. I am--I would like to echo my colleagues'
sentiments. I am opposed to all forms of rate regulation.
And in particular, I would like to ask the question what
exactly it would even mean to tariff a broadband connection. I
don't think there is any analogy from telephone service.
Mrs. Rodgers. OK, Mr. Starks?
Mr. Starks. Yes, yes. For my part, going forward, I have
not envisioned rate regulation as part of our broadband
regulatory scheme.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you.
Commissioner Carr, you have been a vocal proponent of using
the FCC to advance the deployment of next gen technologies. One
of my biggest concerns with the FCC using title II of the
Communications Act to regulate is that it unnecessarily
restricts innovation.
In the past, Republicans on this committee have put forth a
menu of legislative options that protect consumers while
enabling innovation in network performance such as
virtualization, network slicing, or faster speeds. What would
the impact of title II regulations have on these emerging
technologies, and do they run the risk of ceding leadership to
China if we restrict innovation by over-regulating the
broadband market?
Mr. Carr. Yes, they do. I think it is important to
distinguish, on the one hand, consumer protection, net
neutrality rules, where there is a lot of common ground, and
title II as a legal framework.
We need to look no further, as you indicated in your
opening, to Europe. When COVID-19 hit, it was a global stress
test of our internet ecosystem. Traffic surged around the
world. In Europe, regulators there had to ask streamers like
Netflix to degrade the quality of the service because they
thought that the networks, the continent's networks, would
break.
We didn't see that here in the U.S., because we had the
right regulatory framework in place that incentivized
investments before, but also, to your point, actively. There
was node splitting going on. There was adding of capacity,
there was managing of the network to ensure that it worked.
And to your point, we need innovation in the network going
forward, so we don't want to put a straitjacket of title II in
that situation.
Mrs. Rodgers. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter a letter you sent to
the FCC Chairman Genachowski, where you expressed concern with
the FCC using title II of the Communications Act to reclassify
broadband as a telecommunications service, saying that any
action that needs to be taken in this space ``is a job for
Congress.'' I would agree, and hope that we can work together
on that, going forward.
Mr. Doyle. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mrs. Rodgers. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
extended FCC auction authority for seven years for purposes of
auctioning spectrum in the lower 3 gigahertz band.
Notwithstanding the 2.5 and 3.45 auctions, what would the
impact to the FCC's ongoing operations be if this is not--it
expires?
And I think my time has actually expired, so hopefully
someone else will ask this question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
will yield back.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Doyle. I thank the ranking member. The Chair now
recognizes Mr. McNerney for 5 minutes.
Mr. McNerney. I thank the Chair, and I thank the Commission
for your work, and congratulate the chairwoman.
These past couple of years have highlighted why it is so
important to make sure that everyone who wants reliable
broadband access at home is able to get it.
However, for too many people in my district, the cost of
monthly service is really just too high. I am proud that
Congress has made our historic investment to help low-income
Americans afford broadband through the Affordable Connectivity
Fund, which is helping over 1.2 million Californians.
It is also very important for students to have reliable
broadband access in their homes. The Emergency Connectivity
Fund has brought over $10 million to schools and libraries in
my own district, and I commend the Commission for your efforts
on this program.
I also want to voice my support for a meaningful FCC
authority over broadband internet service providers. We need a
Federal agency to ensure that consumers are protected and
communities aren't left behind.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, in your testimony you discuss the
importance of Wi-Fi in closing the homework gap. As co-chair of
the Wi-Fi Caucus, along with Ranking Member Latta, I have long
advocated for spectrum to help such concerns. But spectrum is a
finite resource, and there is hardly any, if any, greenfield
spectrum bands left. Given that most spectrum bands have
existing users and operations, how can the Commission and
Congress make more spectrum available, including low band
spectrum for commercial use?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Well, thank you for the question. The
future of our wireless economy depends on a lot of people in
this room getting together and identifying spectrum bands that
we can commit to new commercial uses, both licensed and
unlicensed. That is going to create--that is going to take
creating incentives for Federal actors that have existing
allocations and need to be pushed to use less of their airwaves
than they do at present. And it is also going to take some
creative activity, thinking about hierarchies of spectrum
rights, as the agency did in the CBRS and 3.5 gigahertz band,
as well as new technologies that allow for real-time and
dynamic access.
These are really exciting things, but it is going to
require a lot of policy, regulatory, and legislative work to
make them happen.
Mr. McNerney. So how do you know so much stuff?
But Chairwoman Rosenworcel, the FCC's general auction
authority expires at the end of September. And I am going to
ask the question that the ranking member was asking. At our
recent hearing, all witnesses expressed how important it is for
Congress to extend its authority. I agree. What would be the
impact if Congress fails to extend FCC's general auction
authority in advance of the expiration date?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Well, over the course of our history, the
FCC has raised more than $233 billion from its spectrum
auctions. We have led the world when it comes to reallocating
airwaves and doing creative things with them. I want that to
continue.
I would recommend to this committee, however, that when you
re-authorize our spectrum authority, that you consider this:
you might take that spectrum authority and take the dollars
that are raised from the first set of auctions from those
public airwaves, and commit them to public safety so we could
have a nationwide program to upgrade 911 in every State in the
country. First responders support that. And I think you have an
opportunity to make a meaningful difference when it comes to
emergency calls.
Mr. McNerney. I thought you were going to say that.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes.
[Laughter.]
Mr. McNerney. Last month the Commission published the
notice of inquiry, as identified by Commissioner Simington,
seeking comments on securing the internet's global routing
system, known as the Border Gateway Protocol Against
Vulnerabilities.
More recently, the Commission took further action to secure
American networks from bad actors by including three additional
equipment and service providers to the list of untrusted
communication equipment services under the Secure Trusted
Communications Network Act. This has been discussed already a
few times this morning. This is an important development for
network security.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, do you anticipate further action
from the Commission in either of these areas? And is there a
bigger role for Congress to play here?
Ms. Rosenworcel. The answer is yes. I think that our
security threats are constantly evolving, so we will have to
stay on top of them. And to the extent that existing
legislation, which requires our coordination with national
security authorities, causes any problem, this will be the
committee we come to first to talk to about that.
Mr. McNerney. Thank you. In my remaining time I want to
discuss the Lifeline that has been so critical for my
constituents.
Commissioner Starks, can you talk about the importance of
the Lifeline Program, even with the Affordable Connectivity
Program, especially for vulnerable populations?
You only have about ten seconds before Chairman Doyle hits
the gavel.
Mr. Starks. Yes. Well, you and I see eye to eye. There are,
you know, over six-and-a-half million Americans on Lifeline
right now. It is a critical program to make sure that folks
stay in touch with family, with jobs, with health.
And the other thing that I would add is that Lifeline can
be in addition to an ACP benefit. So we can have somebody who
gets a Lifeline phone in addition to a, for example, a home ACP
connection.
Mr. McNerney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mr. Guthrie for 5 minutes.
Mr. Guthrie. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for that, and
thanks for everybody being here today, and Chair Rosenworcel,
for your first as chair of the committee--of the Commission.
Rip and replace--I want to ask you this question, Chair
Rosenworcel, on rip and replace. There is 181 applications for
5.6 billion. Congress estimated the need at 1.9 billion, and
appropriated that much. So a 3.7 billion shortfall. Is there a
review of--when will you complete your review, and know if that
is a real shortfall?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes, thank you for this question. It is
important that we have the funds necessary to take this
insecure equipment out of our networks and replace it with
secure equipment.
On June 15th, under the law, we will have an assessment of
those 181 applications that have been filed with us. So I can't
offer you preliminary information before then, but I can tell
you this. I have been studying why we have this shortfall.
Congress appropriated $1.9 billion. We have demand of $5.6
billion. And here is what I have learned. There are three
reasons.
The first reason is that the $1.9 billion program that
Congress set up was based on a voluntary data collection done
by my predecessor. And many of the companies that filed in that
voluntary data collection also sought funding. We got a lot of
other companies that sought funding who never filed with us
before.
Second, Congress expanded the universe of eligible
companies. The FCC was assuming only carriers with less than
two million subscribers. Congress expanded it to carriers with
10 million or less, and added educational institutions.
And finally, when we say we have a fund, and we suggest
that they should apply in order for us to support whatever
technologies or equipment they want, it is not uncommon for--to
have applicants ask for funding for things that the law does
not allow.
So those three reasons contributed to the $5.6 billion you
are referencing. And by June 15th, we will be able to speak
with authority on how much the demand truly is.
Mr. Guthrie. Good. Does the law allow recovery for, like,
legal fees, permitting processes? Is that part of the services
in the law?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I believe there is some of that, but it is
more limited, and I would like to go back and actually get back
to you on that so I am more precise.
Mr. Guthrie. Thanks. My understanding is some--and maybe
Commissioner Carr will also kind of move this around a little
bit--my understanding is that some of the permitting process
costs could have been part of the 5.6 billion. And thanks for
your answer, because that was helpful, Chair.
But also--so I have introduced the TRUSTED Broadband Act,
which would exempt carriers from the burdensome permitting
requirements of NEPA and NHPA solely for removing dangerous
equipment and replacing it. How would that be helpful? Would
that be helpful in this cause, in moving forward, Commissioner
Carr?
Mr. Carr. Very much so. Thank you, Congressman, for that
legislation.
I agree with the Chair that the first step has to be to
define how much fat is in that request. And then, once we do
that, we obviously need to make good on our commitment to
providers.
And to your point, if we can streamline the process of
regulations and other red tape that is unnecessarily driving up
the cost, we should do that. And so I commend you for that
legislation.
In fact, more broadly, when you look at all the money we
are spending on infrastructure right now, there is sort of an
absence of rationalizing NEPA and NHPA regulations. And if you
are doing that, you have basically stepped on the gas and the
brakes at the same time, if you are not streamlining the
infrastructure rules, and just putting money into the process.
Mr. Guthrie. Thanks. That--so, Chair Rosenworcel, back to
you.
I have--one of the biggest issues that I hear, actually, in
my district--maybe not the biggest in the Nation, but I hear--
is the robocalls. And I know we passed the robocall bill, and
one of my frequent persons who has brought this up to me says,
``Well, you said you passed a law, and I am still getting
robocalls.'' He just got elected to the State senate. So he is
going to have to answer some of these when he gets--when he
deals with some of this, as well. But, you know, it is a top
concern.
And so one of the requirements of the TRACED Act was for
the FCC and Department of Justice to establish a working group
to identify barriers to the enforcement of robocall violations.
However, the most recent FCC--annual FCC TRACED Act report
reported that the FCC lacks knowledge about the Justice
Department's collections beyond two major referrals by FCC.
So the question would be, how do you view the success of
the FCC and DoJ enforcing criminal violations on robocalls, and
kind of what would we expect in the future?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. Look, robocalls are annoying, and it
is a non-stop effort to try to prevent them, stop them, and
hold those who make them to account.
If I could point something out, I feel like this committee
did a lot of really great work on the TRACED Act, but it is
time for the next version of that law. And if I had some
requests, I would say there are two of them.
The first is that the Supreme Court recently reached a
decision on the definition of autodialer. And while it wasn't a
robocalling case, it had the effect of reducing the FCC's
authority over autodialers, generally, which reduces our
authority to go after robocallers.
The second thing--and this goes straight to what you
mentioned about the Department of Justice, and I noticed that
this was true with my predecessor, and it is true with me, as
well--we continue to enforce against bad actors, and you keep
on telling us to ratchet up the fines, which we do. In fact,
under my leadership we issued a $225 million fine against a
robocaller, the largest in our history. But then we take those
fines, and we hand them over to our colleagues at the
Department of Justice. And I think the best I can say is that
we hope and pray that they take them to court.
I think that, instead of just continuing this process,
which pre-dates my arrival, I think that this committee should
consider giving us the authority to take those bad actors to
court. I would like to hold them to account, and I bet that
every one of my colleagues would agree with the expansion of
our authority like that, and I think it would have meaningful
impact, were we able to do more of that, on the number of
robocalls consumers actually receive.
Mr. Guthrie. Well, thank you for that, and I am----
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time has expired. The Chair now
recognizes Ms. Clarke for 5 minutes.
Ms. Clarke. And thank you so very much, Chairman Doyle and
Ranking Member Latta, for holding this important oversight
hearing, and to our esteemed panel of witnesses for
participating.
Technology has revolutionized the way consumers view
television programing by enabling access to linear and on-
demand programing through multiple distribution platforms. This
transformation can be beneficial to small, independent
programmers attempting to break into the marketplace.
However, independent programmers contend that multi-channel
video programing distributors, or MVPDs, create barriers to
entry by imposing certain unconditional and unreasonable
contractual provisions that restrict competition and
innovation, which effectively reduces consumers' access to
diverse content. In 2016 the FCC proposed rulemaking that would
prohibit certain types of contract provisions, but that
proceeding was stalled under the previous Administration.
So my first question is for our chairwoman, and let me just
add my voice to all of those who have congratulated you on
assuming the Chair of the FCC.
Good morning, Chairwoman. Can you tell us, does the FCC
plan to continue with proceedings to remove marketplace
obstacles that could keep diverse and small independent
programmers from reaching consumers?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes. Well, thank you for that. We need to
find ways to get independent voices on the screen. And a lot of
independent creators have a difficult time getting carried on
our major video systems right now. And I know the FCC had a
proceeding on this in 2014.
And I think the thing we are going to have to do is start a
new proceeding so it is up to date and actually reflects the
way that people watch right now, because that has certainly
changed in the last few years, as we seek to find content on
any screen handy.
But we also need to find pathways for independent creators
to be able to reach us.
Ms. Clarke. Well, thank you, Chairwoman. I also thank the
entire Commission for its work establishing the Emergency
Connectivity Fund and the Affordable Connectivity Program,
critical programs that keep Americans connected. Your efforts
in this space have not gone unnoticed. Nearly 11 million
households, including over 730,000 New Yorkers, have enrolled
in the ACP, and in addition to help--getting help with their
monthly internet bills, also now have access to strengthened
consumer protections under the new program rules.
Additionally, the Comprehensive ACP Consumer Outreach
Toolkit has helped partners and local communities increase
awareness of the program to reach all eligible families. So,
Commissioner Sparks--Starks, can you expand on your testimony,
and share how the FCC plans to broaden its outreach efforts to
increase participation in the programs like the ACP and ECF, as
well as ensure funds continue to be available, especially for
those who remain unconnected?
Mr. Starks. Yes, thank you, Congresswoman. This has long
been a priority of mine.
In particular, one of my very first trips actually was to
visit public housing in New York. And I saw the myriad
challenges at the time, from the provider side to, of course,
the household side, as well. And so a lack of access to and
adoption of broadband has reinforced existing inequities.
We know that nearly 29 percent of Black households, 35
percent of Latinx households are disconnected. And, you know,
Congress, very clearly--one of my efforts is on the public
housing side. And Congress made clear that public housing folks
are eligible. The Commission said that innovative approaches
are needed here, including expanding awareness to
beneficiaries, offering assistance to digital navigators.
And so I am in contact with housing authorities there in
New York, and would love and, of course, always eager to
continue to work with you on public housing and connectivity
needs there in your district.
Ms. Clarke. Well, thank you so much, Commissioner. Well,
you know, it is so apparent that, particularly during this time
where everyone has had to get online, just the inequities that
exist. So it is important that we drill down and get this work
done.
I have introduced several bills that tackle the issue of
diversity in media, including H.R. 5836, the Enhancing
Diversity Data Act, and so that the FCC would once again
collect EEO workforce diversity data; as well as H.R. 5056,
legislation to establish tax credits to incentivize carriage of
diverse and independent programing.
Chairman Rosenworcel, can you provide any updates on the
FCC's EEO proceeding?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes. We have an obligation under the law,
under section 334 of the Communications Act, to collect
information about the diversity of broadcast companies
employment. And that is an obligation has been largely ignored
by the agency since 2004. But last year we started a proceeding
to get it going again. And I have been surveying the record and
talking about it with Commissioner Starks, and expect to talk
to my other colleagues about it soon.
I hope that we can correct the fact that for 15 years we
have not done anything on this matter, and we have a duty to do
so under the law.
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, I yield back----
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Ms. Clarke [continuing]. Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. The Chair now recognizes, virtually, Mr.
Kinzinger.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Kinzinger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And to the
Chairwoman and Commissioners, thanks for being with us today.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, I was pleased to see that last week
the FCC announced it would conduct an auction of 2.5 gigahertz
spectrum, critical mid-band spectrum that can be used to
provide much-needed broadband capacity, particularly in rural
areas, beginning on July 29th. The FCC's authority to conduct
auctions expires about two months after that.
So the question is, given the need for Congress to act
quickly to extend auction authority to provide certainty to the
FCC and to the potential bidders in the 2.5 gigahertz auction,
do you support a clean, short-term extension of the FCC's
spectrum authority--spectrum auction authority, so that the FCC
can complete its ongoing spectrum auction activities?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I support an extension, but would, under
all circumstances, prefer a long-term extension. I think that
is better for the wireless economy and our consistent ability
to be able to make these airwaves available for commercial
purposes.
Mr. Kinzinger. OK. Commissioner Carr, let me ask you. The
FCC has been working with NTIA and Federal partners for years
to make the lower 3 gigahertz spectrum available for commercial
use. What is the status of identifying spectrum within the 3
gigahertz band for commercial use, and what work remains?
Mr. Carr. Well, thank you, Congressman. The lower 3
gigahertz is really our next best slug of mid-band spectrum. I
think it is going to be a key boost to America's 5G leadership.
That is why a year ago I put that on my spectrum calendar as
one of the prime bands we should be looking to move on this
year and next year.
The challenge now is, with one of the infrastructure laws
that was passed, DoD has a provision that stops us from moving
forward on that until at least 2024. And then, after that, they
have maintained, effectively, a veto on our ability to do that.
So one thing we need to do is address that, so we can continue
to work toward freeing up the lower 3 gigahertz.
And while we are doing that, I think we need to sort of
continue to fill in with our spectrum pipeline, given the
challenges that may exist with lower 3. And that is why I have
identified a number of additional bands, from 3.5 to 6
gigahertz to UNII2c that we should be sticking in the pipeline
as, you know, backups or additions to lower 3.
Mr. Kinzinger. OK. Let me stick with you on another one.
As part of the RAY BAUM'S Act, Congress passed my Rural
Wireless Act, which directed the FCC to consider whether to
establish a process for carriers to disaggregate or partition
portions of their license that they may not use. The idea was
to consider the benefits of providing smaller carriers with an
opportunity to work with larger carriers to put that spectrum
to good use.
The FCC has proposed the Enhanced Competition Incentive
Program to achieve this, but it has not yet been implemented.
So how do you envision this program benefiting smaller
companies?
And more importantly, how do you see it benefiting rural
and tribal customers?
Mr. Carr. Yes, this is a frustrating issue. We license
spectrums over--spectrum over broad geographic areas, and we
expect carriers to build out. And sometimes they can meet their
buildout obligations by not reaching rural or less densely
populated parts. So any idea that would create incentives for
that spectrum to do something other than sit fallow, instead of
connect families, is a great idea. And I think that is part of
what your legislation goes to, which is how do we disaggregate
that spectrum and give another provider that is willing to
invest money and put it to use the chance to do so.
So I think that is a very good idea that we need to keep
pushing forward on.
Mr. Kinzinger. OK. And my last question, back to Chairwoman
Rosenworcel, the Alternative Connect America Model, or ACAM
Program, was established in a bipartisan basis in 2016. And
while there has been some significant program successes,
technological standards continue to increase. And therefore, we
have to ask ourselves if the policies are keeping up.
A petition was filed at the Commission in October 2020
requesting that the FCC re-evaluate the program standards, and
if a decision was made to make updates to then initiate a new
notice of proposed rulemaking.
What are your thoughts on the success of that program, and
what do you see as the future of the program?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you for the question. We need to
update it, we need to modernize it, and we need to develop a
rulemaking based on the petition you described.
And if I could go back for 1-second to what you were asking
Commissioner Carr, I just want to point out that in late
November we issued a rulemaking on the Enhanced Competition
Incentive Program, and received our final comments on it this
month. My hope is that we will be able to move ahead with that
effort to partition and disaggregate spectrum licenses to serve
more rural and tribal communities. So that is underway.
Mr. Kinzinger. OK, great. I thank everybody.
And, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back my 23 seconds.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mr. Veasey for 5 minutes.
Mr. Veasey. Mr. Chairman, thank you. And I am happy that we
are here talking about this today. I mean, it is something that
we honestly can't talk about enough, and glad that we have
Commissioners from the FCC here to talk about this important
program.
I think that all of us realize that, with COVID-19
especially, it made us understand just how much we needed to
make sure that all parts of America are connected, because
being connected is just, in reality, just a part of modern
life. Again, this is something that we really recognized in the
early stages of the pandemic.
I was happy to work on the Emergency Broadband Benefit
Program, which has now been renamed the Affordable Connectivity
Program under the bipartisan infrastructure law that was
passed, and I am glad that we were, again, just able to connect
so many people to our new digital economy that we all really
function in.
And I wanted to ask Chairwoman Rosenworcel. Today we have
over 10 million households enrolled in the ACP, and more than a
quarter of a million of those live in Texas. Schools and
libraries in the district that I represent have received over
half-a-million dollars through the Emergency Connectivity Fund.
And I have heard from constituents and even people from outside
of the district that live in other parts of Dallas and Fort
Worth that this is really making a difference in their lives.
And the one thing that I am worried about is, as we try to
bridge the digital divide, and try to bring more of these
services into people's home, that there was a GAO report last
year finding that the Lifeline-eligible consumers are often
discouraged when signing up because it can be a difficult and
challenging process.
How can we mitigate these challenges as we work to connect
the next 10 million Americans in the ACP?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you for the question. And more
importantly, thank you for the work that you did to develop
this program in its early days.
As you can see, there is huge demand. We now have 11
million households that are relying on it. The challenge for
the FCC is twofold right now.
First, we have to make it easy and simple for those who
need the support to sign up, while at the same time having
appropriate guardrails for waste, fraud, and abuse. And we are
going to be constantly iterative, trying to make sure that we
find the way to do this properly.
And the second thing that is really important is making
sure that we have outreach partners at the local level. We can
preach about this program at the agency or from Washington, but
what matters most is when people hear about it in their
communities from people they trust. So developing partnerships
with State and local actors and institutions is really, really
important.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you very much.
And Commissioner Starks, I know that one of your key
priorities is increasing participation in the ACP by households
that benefit from Federal public housing assistance, or FPHA.
We know that FPHA beneficiaries were eligible for the EBB, but
unfortunately, only a small fraction of those actually enrolled
in the program.
Can you talk a little bit about both the short-term and
long-term benefits of connecting FPA beneficiaries to
broadband?
Mr. Starks. Yes, sir. Thank you for the question,
Congressman.
You know, to your point, how are we going to get more folks
connected, how are we going to push past that 11 million
households that are already enrolled, I think the pilot--the
public housing pilot program that I am leading is essential. I
am working with the chairwoman and my colleagues who have all
endorsed this as a place for us to continue to look.
In particular, you know, I would offer up that we are
fortunate that HUD has a great leader in Secretary Fudge, who
understands the importance of these issues. I have partnered,
in particular, with Secretary Fudge back when she was a
Congresswoman. Our offices are working together even as we
speak.
And so we are fortunate that HUD also has an existing
programmatic effort to build on their Connect Home Program
there in HUD. It has provided a platform for public-private
partnerships to have access, and, you know, they are working
now with over 100 cities.
So I see a lot of great potential for collaboration. We are
working hard, and we do need to keep pushing to get more and
more households connected to this essential program.
Mr. Veasey. Thank you very much.
And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back my 20 seconds. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman, he yields back. The Chair
recognizes, oh, my suffering Pittsburgh Pirate buddy, Gus
Bilirakis.
You have 5 minutes.
Mr. Bilirakis. Help is on the way, Mr. Chairman, help is on
the way.
This question is for the Commissioner. I am not sure
exactly which one, but anyway, during the Trump Administration
the FCC began the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to provide
support for broadband in areas that were completely unserved,
and define unserved--lacking access to speeds less than 2.53
megabits per second.
I believe this is for Commissioner Carr. Since then, an
additional $50 billion has been appropriate several agencies
broadband deployment. So, Commissioner, again, however, not all
agencies are using the metrics. For example, the USDA Reconnect
Program provides Federal funds to serve areas lacking 100 up
and 20 down megabits per second.
Again, for Commissioner Carr, what are the risks we have
with having different agencies making funding awards based off
different criteria?
Mr. Carr. Well, thank you, Congressman, for the question.
This is a challenge. This is like going to the scarecrow in The
Wizard of Oz and asking for directions, and it ends up pointing
in all sorts of directions. We have got various agencies with
divergent standards that they are applying, and it is a
problem.
One thing we can do is, obviously, complete the process of
the FCC's broadband maps. We can drive everybody, every funding
decision through an accurate, complete map that will help to
make sure we avoid at least subsidized overbuilding.
We need to make sure we have a prioritization scheme, so
that unserved areas go first. And where we have made a
commitment to people to build out pursuant to RDOF, we
shouldn't be having other funds come in over top and undermine
the business case for those RDOF-supported builds, again,
particularly where we have too many parts of the country that
still have zero megabits per second.
So there is a lot that we need to do right now to improve
coordination, I think.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. We are already hearing examples
of agencies awarding Federal funds for broadband deployment
projects in areas that have received RDOF funds, making it
uneconomical for companies that receive RDOF funds to build out
and serve that area.
Commissioner Carr, again, what is the FCC doing, or what
should it do to ensure that the RDOF auction is not overbuilt
by other sources of Federal funding?
Mr. Carr. Well, in my view, we should make it ineligible
for other providers with other Federal subsidies to come in
over the top of RDOF winners.
One thing we could do, though, is we could look at, for
instance, what I call top-off funds, which is if you are given
RDOF dollars to bring speeds of X to this community, if you
want to go get other dollars to bring speeds of X times two to
that same community, then the RDOF winner could be well
positioned to do that.
But again, fundamentally, we can't have subsidized
providers from other buckets of money coming in over top of
RDOF recipients.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. The next question is for
Chairwoman Rosenworcel.
The Industry Traceback Group was recognized under the
TRACED Act for leading private-sector efforts to crack down on
illegal robocalls. ITG has helped identify gateway providers
that bring illegal robocalls into the U.S. from abroad and get
a handle on these fraudsters.
However, has the ITG been to these efforts--how important
has it been?
I mean, this is a big problem, that breakup you mentioned
earlier. But this is--our constituents ask us questions all the
time. I know we have passed previous legislation with regard to
the robocalls, but they don't seem to think it has worked.
So if you could address that, and then I have a followup
for Commissioner Carr, please. Thank you.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. Working with the Industry Traceback
Group, we have been able to identify that more and more of
these calls are coming from overseas. We don't have clean data
on that yet, but it is enough to suggest to us that we have got
to make sure that gateway providers that take in junk calls
from overseas register in our robocall mitigation data base. We
are working on updating our rules to make that happen right
now, and that is a direct byproduct of us working with the
TRACED Act, which--and the Traceback Group that was created by
it.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yes, and I will tell you. I mean, I get them
all the time from overseas. So, in any case, it is a big
problem.
Commissioner Carr, do you have any recommendations on how
we can build on this momentum to find new ways to just for
robocalls?
Mr. Carr. I thank you. I want to reiterate what the Chair
said. I mean, one, we have accelerated the deadline with which
smaller providers need to comply with STIR/SHAKEN. We have
started a proceeding to look at the gateway providers because,
as we have talked about, a lot of these calls are coming from
overseas boiler rooms.
So there is more that we need to do after completing that
to get at those calls jurisdictionally. Then I am sure we will
be back to see what we can do.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thanks----
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Bilirakis [continuing]. Appreciate it very much. Thank
you.
Mr. Doyle. OK. The Chair recognizes Mr. O'Halleran for 5
minutes.
Mr. O'Halleran. Thank you, Chairman Doyle and Ranking
Member Latta, for holding this meeting today.
First of all, I want to thank the chairwoman, or--the
chairwoman for the hard work that she and the Commission and
the leadership put into two funds, the Emergency Connectivity
Fund--you know, in Arizona the schools and libraries have been
awarded $150 million, including more than $20 million in
Arizona's 1st congressional district to close that homework
gap. But also, it is the knowledge gap, the resources gap,
research, imagination gap. It is much more than just a homework
gap.
And second, the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which
recently transitioned into the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Arizona has nearly 240,000 households enrolled in the ACP. I
appreciate the outreach the FCC has done to tribal communities
on the program. Tribal communities have had some of the highest
uptake rates for EBB and ACP, and we should be doing all we can
to reach out to these households, who are among the most left
behind in broadband access in our entire country, and in the
adoption rate.
We have been talking about broadband maps for years. The
FCC and we have talked about it just recently. The FCC starting
[sic] proceedings on broadband maps five years ago, and we
still haven't had one yet. Chairman Rosenworcel, I know you
have made this a priority, and have worked hard to try to get
around some of the issues involved, and that the agency
recently got the green light to move forward after there was a
protest on the selection of a vendor to help create these maps.
We are all anxious for the maps to be completed, but we
need to ensure they are accurate. With that in mind, can you
give us an idea of the next steps the agency is taking to
deliver these maps quickly?
And can you describe how you are working with the NTIA, as
the maps will be critical to the implementation of the
broadband funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law, and
the fairness throughout the process?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Absolutely. As a result of the GAO giving
us the green light finally, we have a vendor that is building
our broadband location fabric, which is a geo-coded set of
every buildable location in the country. Once we get that
fabric, we are going to allow our carriers to beta-test it, get
used to it, to play around with it, because we are going to
need them to start filing data with us starting in June of this
year.
By the way, that is 2,500 carriers, nationwide. So we need
to make sure that they know how to use the system so we get
good information.
Once we collect all that data, we are going to build maps
in the fall, and then we are going to start a challenge process
to let states, localities, tribes, and consumers take a look at
our maps and tell us if--what they think we got wrong, and then
make the carriers respond to that. So there is crowdsourcing
that will figure into this effort, too.
And then, finally, I want you to know we are making every
effort to work with our colleagues across government. As you
know, we have more broadband programs than ever before, so we
got more coordination challenges than ever before. We have a
memorandum of understanding with our colleagues at the Rural
Utility Service. We have one with the Department of Commerce.
And I am working right now to see if we can also set one up
with the Department of Treasury, because I want everyone to
have all of the data and information that we are collecting,
because that will--I believe it will be the best in the Federal
Government.
Mr. O'Halleran. Chairwoman, I--and thank you, first of all.
Thank you.
You know, my frustration--and it was mentioned the other
day to you--about agencies in general, not your agency, but
agencies in general, and the--how the public can look at us and
say, ``Why isn't government working?'' Because it takes so long
for this stuff to get addressed. And we have to find a way to
get around that, and I know you are trying.
I also wanted to commend the work of the Commission on
robocall scams. And the TRACED Act of 2019 and--stop
unwarranted and illegal robocalls. But I am--I just want to get
this off--I am in full agreement with your thought process that
we need--you need the ability to collect these fines. I know
the Justice Department is a busy place, but they need to get
their job done, too, and they can't do it with their workload
that they have going on, also.
Chairwoman, what barriers are you seeing with enforcement
of the Act, and particularly considering the recent Supreme
Court ruling, and what--will the--how will that hinder you,
actually? You mentioned that earlier.
Ms. Rosenworcel. I appreciate that. Scam artists move
really fast. We are going to have to, as regulators and
legislators, find ways to keep up with them and their
robocalling ways. Two things we could use help on from this
committee.
First is making sure the definition of autodialer reflects
technology today. The Supreme Court decision was a decision
that resulted in them defining autodialer like it existed when
the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 was passed. We
have got to fix that.
Mr. O'Halleran. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield, and I
hope we work faster.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman. The Chair now recognizes
Mr. Johnson for 5 minutes.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Chairwoman Rosenworcel, congratulations on your new
role. I haven't talked to you since you became chairwoman.
Congratulations.
You know, we are we are seeing great progress with low
Earth orbit satellite systems helping to expand connectivity
across the Nation, as well as significant improvement,
innovation, and leadership by U.S. companies in this space.
There is a lot of interest in deploying new systems in addition
to those that are already deployed. Congress is focused on
updating the FCC's tools and authorities to streamline the
process for this innovation and investment to ensure robust
competition in that marketplace.
Does the FCC share our goal of supporting a streamlined
process for encouraging that needed robust competition and
innovation going forward?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes, we have to update our policies. I
agree.
Mr. Johnson. OK, great. What should the--for Commissioner
Simington, what should the law and the regulations regarding
space safety and spectrum coordination look like in order to
promote a competitive operating environment for these low Earth
orbit satellite systems?
Mr. Simington. This is a complicated question, because our
satellite spectrum allocation regime looks back to earlier
days, and is thus a sort of an unlicensed regime where there is
an incentive to get your proposals out there as early as
possible, and then to amend them repeatedly, which leads to a
process that can be very opaque to outsiders, and a little bit
unpredictable, and leads to extensive, extensive commentary on
the record.
So, for example, with the SpaceX third modification last
year, we had more than 200 ex-parte filings. Probably the Chair
could give you the exact number. The--just the list of filings
took up a whole page of the order.
So, as far as improving this, we need an improved system
for allocating spectrum to the satellite world. And I think it
is not just as simple as saying auction it, but we should
probably think about some sort of transferable rights regime,
or develop some sort of alternative to ensure that the space
spectrum is fully used.
As far as space safety, the United States is in a unique
position to use our dominant market size, as a gigantic
consumer of satellite services, to require that space safety
laws and compliance with American space safety ideas should be
mandatory for companies seeking to do business here, regardless
of where they launch and retrieve satellites. And that is a
unique opportunity for the FCC to step in and take a role
there.
One way to make this a contributor to the U.S. economy,
instead of just a regulatory drag, would be to determine where
the real costs lie and where the real risks of satellite lie.
So, for example, orbital debris is much more persistent and
dangerous at high altitudes with large satellites than with the
slow--I am sorry, with the low and small satellites that you
see in constellations operating in LEO. Likewise, the
possibilities for advanced coordination technologies to be used
to make LEO satellite constellations extremely safe remains
unexplored and regulatory incentivized.
So there are a number of things we could do along those
lines.
Mr. Johnson. OK. Well, thank you.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, with the tens of billions of
dollars now going forward toward broadband deployment, we must
make sure that regulatory barriers do not stand in the way of
closing the digital divide once and for all. We have already
heard concerns from some providers that access to existing
infrastructure, such as poles, may impact RDOF awardees seeking
to deploy in under-served and unserved areas.
What is the FCC doing to ensure that there are no barriers
to the success of the RDOF program?
What action has the FCC taken to address these barriers to
access?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. You know, we have soaring rhetoric
about connecting all. We are rarely talking about utility
poles, but they might be the most important part on the ground.
You need access to them if you want to deploy to unserved and
under-served areas. And we have learned from some of the
providers that the cost of securing that access can be as much
as one-third of their deployment costs. That just sounds too
high. A lot of that is in the bureaucracy of cooperating and
getting approvals.
So this month we started a proceeding to identify how we
can bring those costs down and have better policies when it
comes to pole attachment and pole replacement, and how those
costs will be shared among providers. So we are looking at that
closely right now.
Mr. Johnson. OK. I am also concerned with supply chain and
labor shortages, ma'am, that spans a--to coin a word, the
spectrum of industries in America, we got issues there.
From your discussions with the NTIA, do you believe the
states will be able to successfully roll out broadband
deployment in the current supply chain situation?
Ms. Rosenworcel. It is something we have to monitor
closely.
Mr. Johnson. OK, all right.
Mr. Chairman, I have more questions. I will submit those
for the record.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mr. Johnson. And I will yield back.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman yields
back. The Chair recognizes Ms. Rice for 5 minutes.
[Pause.]
Mr. Doyle. You need to unmute, I believe, Ms. Rice.
[Pause.]
Mr. Doyle. Ms. Rice, we can't hear you. If you can hear us,
please unmute.
What do you think?
[Pause.]
Mr. Doyle. We will come back to her. The Chair recognizes
Ms. Eshoo for 5 minutes.
Ms. Eshoo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this all-important
hearing.
To the Chairwoman, bravo and congratulations. It is really
wonderful to see you in action.
And to each of the Commissioners, thank you to all of you,
because I think you are working very well together, and there
are so many important policies that you are making headway on.
So bravo, and thank you.
I want to start out with an issue that most people don't
think of that the FCC deals with, and that is national
security. We know what Mr. Putin is doing, the tragedy of
Ukraine. I think each one of you knows that, in response to
eight letters that I sent over to the FCC over, what, some four
years, the result of that is that the FCC has updated its
regulations last year so that the American people will know
when Russia is paying for propaganda broadcasts on airwaves
owned by the American people.
I can't underscore how really deeply disappointed I am that
American broadcasters are now suing the FCC. They are arguing--
get a hold of this--they are arguing that these bare minimum
transparency requirements are too onerous. Ultimately, they are
delaying implementation of the rules. Now, what is so onerous
about the following? All they have to do is say that their
content is paid for by a foreign government when it is, period.
So I don't know if any of the broadcasters are listening in
today. Come on.
We have a collective responsibility here, as Americans. And
right now Americans are listening to Radio Sputnik, and they
may not know that it is propaganda, is paid for by the Kremlin.
So this is unacceptable, and everyone should be behind these
really simple, easy rules.
Thank you for what you have said, Madam Chairwoman, about
robocalls. We will work with you to draw up legislation on the
authorities that you need, and also that the FCC should be able
to collect these fines that are placed on these bad actors.
Now, we know that Russia is known to couple kinetic war
with cyber attacks, including exploiting various hardware,
software, protocol-level vulnerabilities. I am really pleased
to see the FCC launch an inquiry about strengthening the
security of BGP. It is a critical internet traffic routing
protocol, and I think it is really very important, but it is an
under-appreciated issue.
So, Madam Chairwoman, can you just briefly tell us about
the issue, and what the FCC is doing on BGP security?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Well, thank you, I appreciate the
question.
Our effort to look at Border Gateway Protocol came out of
conversations we had with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency. We are coordinating more closely than ever,
and they identified it, and we confirmed that it is an
essential part of the internet's global routing system, but
there are significant vulnerabilities when traffic is exchanged
between networks. So we started an inquiry to try to understand
that better, ask questions about it, because we do not want to
create opportunities for theft or espionage at those connection
points.
And I do want to thank my colleagues. When I called them
and discussed these issues with them, and told them that it was
serious and we needed to move in a fast manner, all four of
them did.
Ms. Eshoo. Great. I just want to squeeze something else in.
To all of my colleagues, both sides of the aisle, we have
an opportunity to address, once and for all, the NextGen 911.
There are over 6,000 PSAPs in the country, in every community.
This is an arm for law enforcement, as well as health
emergencies in all of our communities.
So with the auctions, there will be money. And I think that
we need to all do this together to make sure that, once and for
all, that our PSAPs are funded appropriately so that the
emergencies in every single one of our communities be addressed
by NextGen 911.
And with that I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mr. Long for 5 minutes.
Mr. Long. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Chairwoman Rosenworcel, there is a petition the FCC is
considering that would allow a bureau to reinterpret the word
``classroom'' to mean households, expanding the E-Rate program
dramatically.
The FCC also did not seek comment on the actual rules
making the Affordable Connectivity Program permanent, but
rather sought comment on questions about how those rules should
look.
As the stewards of America's tax dollars, my colleagues and
I always--are always concerned that the funds we appropriate
will be used efficiently. However, far too often we see
government squandered away money through waste, fraud, and
abuse. While we can disagree on the structure and size of
various programs, I know you understand that every dollar
misspent is another dollar that never goes to the intended
purpose.
While I am pleased that you have continued the tradition of
Chairman Pai that he started to make the items in the open
meetings agenda available 21 days in advance of a vote, I am
concerned that a number of significant FCC actions are being
considered without the opportunity for the public to comment on
specific rules. Rather, the FCC seeks comment on public notice,
instead of the actual proposed language of the regulation.
Even worse, some proposals ask for the FCC bureaus to
dramatically expand programs by reinterpreting terms, as I
mentioned earlier, to delegated authority.
Will you commit to allowing the public to review proposed
rules? And will you commit to not abusing the delegated
authority process to expand the existing programs?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Any substantial expansion would require
that my colleagues all vote on it and we complete it at the
Commission level.
Mr. Long. Can you repeat that? I didn't----
Ms. Rosenworcel. Any substantial expansion of any program
would require that my colleagues and I agree on it, and vote on
it at the full Commission level.
Mr. Long. OK. Thank you. I have been fighting a cough and
cold for ten days now. I am about over it, but I am having a
hard time a little bit.
Commissioner Carr, while all funding programs must be
administered carefully, the enormous scale and rapid rollout of
the COVID relief programs created prime opportunities for the
bad actors to exploit government funding. Unfortunately, we are
already seeing this happen. The FCC inspector general recently
detected fraud in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.
Commissioner Carr, I would like to thank you for your work
to ensure that the funds going through the FCC are actually
reaching their intended recipients: American families who are
truly in need. Last fall you expressed serious concern that the
massive levels of broadband dollars being appropriated by
Congress could result in headline levels of waste, fraud, and
abuse. Can you explain for us the steps that you would like to
see taken to ensure substantive oversight of these programs?
Mr. Carr. Well, thank you, Congressman, great to see you
again.
I think everybody here probably remembers 2008, the last
time we had a massive infusion of broadband stimulus dollars of
around then an unprecedented 7 billion. Well, now, by my count,
we have over $800 billion. What we saw after the 7 billion was
just story after story of waste, fraud, and abuse. And the time
to act is now to make sure that we don't sit here two years
from now and say, where did the $800 billion go, because my
committees are still unconnected?
So we do a couple of things. One, require everybody to go
through the FCC's map. That is going to help. Two, make sure we
prioritize unserved areas first, make sure we close that
digital divide before we add additional providers. Three, we
need better tracking and measurements. I wrote letters to all
the executive branch agencies that have funds. I said, ``Where
are your broadband dollars going?'' The ones that responded,
one of them just said, ``We aren't even tracking how much of
this money is going toward broadband initiatives.''
So we aren't in a good spot right now in terms of controls
in place, and the window is quickly closing to fix that.
Mr. Long. OK. And I would like to thank all three of you
for coming in today.
And you are going to miss me next year on this committee
because, you know, having an auctioneer on here, I talk fast. I
want to yield back 54 seconds.
Mr. Doyle. Well, I will tell you what, Billy, that wins the
prize today.
OK, now we are going to try Ms. Rice again, and hopefully
her--she is able to come through.
Ms Rice. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman----
Mr. Doyle. So, Ms. Rice, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms Rice. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I am sorry for my
technical difficulties. Thank you all so much for coming today.
You know, in just less than a year, just under 11 million
households have enrolled in the ACP, including nearly three
quarters of a million households across New York, and thousands
in my district. Americans are desperate for affordable
broadband, and the FCC has stepped up to make this program a
success. All of us on this committee, I know, want to make sure
it continues to grow and reaches the tens of millions of
eligible households that have yet to enroll.
My congratulations to you, Chairwoman Rosenworcel, and I
would like to ask you--I am aware that the FCC has already had
400 virtual events to promote ACP awareness and enrollment.
Have you noticed any enrollment trends you can share with us?
Are there types of communities or consumers where we have
been especially successful, or where uptake is lagging?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you. We have reached 11 million
households, and it has been a lot of work. We have held more
than 400 different sessions. We have worked with boys and girls
clubs, with faith institutions, with the NFL players, the Miami
Dolphins Foundation. We have worked with the Navajo Nation.
Anyone who comes to us with a good idea, we will develop a
program to get the word out.
So the one thing that has become apparent is that people
need to hear from trusted actors in their local communities.
And so if anyone on this committee has ideas about how to reach
people where they are, we are open to them. We are iterative.
We want to reach people and make sure they hear about it from
people they trust.
Ms Rice. So the Commission's proposed rulemaking for ACP
bookmarked about $100 million for promoting the program and
encouraging enrollment, and that includes paid media campaigns,
grants to community, outreach partners.
Commissioner Starks, you have emphasized the importance of
outreach to and partnerships with communities of color,
individuals with disabilities, and the poor, all groups that
are less likely to have quality broadband connections than the
general population. How can we make sure that these grants
actually get to community organizations that are best situated
to reach those households?
And why are these grants--to community-based organizations
in this effort----
Mr. Starks. It is----
Ms. Rice [continuing]. To increase, you know, the
enrollment?
Mr. Starks. It is a great question, Congresswoman, and
thank you so much for raising it.
You know, increasing participation in any government
program, especially a new one, is truly a complex problem. And
so, you know, as mentioned by Chairwoman Rosenworcel, you know,
increasing awareness of ACP is assuredly a first step, as you
mentioned. In setting up ACP, we affirmed, you know, $100
million set aside to advance these digital equity goals.
So here is what I am looking for, you know. I want to make
sure we follow through with that. And so when we are making
grants, we do need to identify those organizations, community-
based organizations with a proven track record of working with
low-income people, communities of color.
When we are contracting with experts to conduct focus
groups, for example, develop advertising campaigns, I think we
should ensure that they have expertise with, again, diverse
communities, low-income communities, you know.
And when we buy advertisements, another part that is going
to be part of our programmatic foray here, we should make sure
we are spending--that flows to diverse ownership workforces
consistent with our media diversity goals.
And so there really are a lot of ways where we can meet the
moment here with digital equity, as well as making sure we are
focusing and getting the most number of people so that we can
increase that 11 million number.
Ms. Rice. So I would encourage you all to work with State
and Federal--other Federal agencies and State agencies, as
well, because, as my colleague, Mr. Veasey, pointed out, many
of the ACP-eligible individuals or households qualify for the
program automatically because they already participate in a
program like WIC, SNAP, Medicaid, et cetera. But they don't
know they qualify, or they--for this program, or they run into
trouble when they try to prove their eligibility. So I would
just encourage the Commission to focus on that, and partnering
with as many Federal and State agencies as we can to kind of
fill in that gap there that may exist with people we already
know or identify to other agencies.
And thank you all so much for coming. We wish for your
success. Your success is America's success.
And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you very much.
Mr. Doyle. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Hudson, 5 minutes.
Mr. Hudson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Commissioners, it is good to see you here today.
One of the things I hear all the time from my constituents
back home in North Carolina is the lack of adequate access to
broadband. This hearing is important to my constituents and to
all of our constituents.
You, the FCC, are on the precipice of making decades-long
decisions which can propel our Nation into the next century by
giving our children the ability to learn from anywhere;
disrupting telecommunications strongholds by China; providing
lifesaving treatments through telehealth, telemedicine; and
making places like Carthage, Sanford, and, yes, Barbecue, North
Carolina the epicenter of global commerce.
In order to achieve this vision we must win the global race
to 5G. With auction authority set to expire in September, I ask
you, Mr. Chairman, to continue working with members on this
side of the aisle to produce a bill extending the FCC's
authority.
The upcoming 2.5 auction has ample mid-band spectrum, which
will vastly expand mobile connectivity in rural North Carolina.
My first question is for Commissioner Carr. We have
discussed my concerns about the potential for waste if
governments don't prioritize funding to connect unserved
communities that lack access to broadband, and my concern that
guardrails on recent funding bills could have been a lot
stronger. In my view, government-subsidized overbuilding will
create distortions in the marketplace, and allow the government
to pick winners and losers, with unserved and difficult-to-
reach communities getting the short end of the stick.
How do we ensure coordination between the various agencies
and governments who have an unprecedented level of funding?
Does this come down to a single map?
What else can Federal, State, and local officials do to
ensure this doesn't happen, and we do not overbuild programs
like RDOF that are already being deployed?
Mr. Carr. Well, thank you, Congressman, for the question
and your work leading on this.
The single most important thing we can do right now is to
make sure that there is no overbuilding with these Federal
dollars. It has been a lot of work to make sure that we have
enough Federal funds allocated to end the digital divide in
this country. And the good news is that I think we are there
with the amount that has been appropriated, if we put it into
the communities that are still unserved.
We cannot afford overbuilding and waste this potentially
generational opportunity to eliminate the digital divide. So we
have got to get our maps done. We have got to drive everything
through that. We need greater coordination across agencies. We
do have some agreements right now, but they don't cover all
agencies or all funds within the agencies that it covers.
And so these are some of the steps that we need to take,
because we can't sit here three years from now and not have
gotten billions of dollars' worth of bridging the digital
divide.
Mr. Hudson. Absolutely, I agree.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, congratulations on your position,
and it is a real pleasure to have you here today.
The FCC has taken significant steps in recent years to
identify and make available spectrum for commercial use,
including for 5G deployment, and that is critical to ensuring
the U.S. leads over China. I understand the FCC is currently
examining the potential of 5G in the 12 gigahertz band through
extensive engineering reviews, and some want to use the 12
gigahertz band for terrestrial use, but there is disagreement
over whether this will cause harmful interference to existing
satellite systems.
What is the status of the FCC's technical review?
Will you commit to complete your review in a timely manner,
especially if we find that coexistence is possible between
satellite and terrestrial use in this case?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. One of the most complex dockets we
have involves the 12 gigahertz band. So you went right there.
The 12 gigahertz band historically has had fixed satellite
systems in it. It has had direct broadcast satellite, and it
has had multichannel video data distribution systems. And now
we might want to add mobile broadband to the mix. As you might
imagine, that is going to take a lot of technical work to make
sure that the airwaves can accommodate all those different uses
without harmful interference.
And some of the data we have on our record points to
different interference-to-noise ratios that are copied from the
International Telecommunications Union, but are 30 years old.
We have satellite policies we are going to have to update. And
once we identify harmful interference, we will have to model
what it looks like, and try to come up with standards for where
satellite terminals can be compared to 5G systems.
These issues, to be candid, will take time, but they take
time because they are really important, and we need to do them
well.
Mr. Hudson. Right. Well, I appreciate that. And the last
question, in North Carolina and across the Nation, small rural
broadband providers are, in some instances, alone in servicing
their communities. They don't have large staffs to work on
grant applications, other paperwork requirements. What steps
does the FCC take to ensure that its regulations do not impose
disproportionate burdens on smaller broadband providers?
Ms. Rosenworcel. We always take steps to consider small
providers in all of our proceedings. We recognize they may not
have the resources needed to fully participate. And, as you
acknowledge, when it comes to broadband they may be the
companies and individuals we most need to deploy in some of our
most remote locales. So we have got to be mindful of that in
everything we do.
Mr. Hudson. Well, thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, I am not as good as Billy, but I will yield
back 12 seconds.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman yields
back. The Chair recognizes Mr. Soto for 5 minutes.
Mr. Soto. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you to our FCC
Commissioners for being here.
We just had Secretary Cardona from the U.S. Department of
Education in central Florida today. We know that our kids have
been through so much, our teachers have been through so much,
and connectivity has helped us through it, through distance
learning. But we also saw gaps in connectivity, especially in
our rural areas. And while we work with NTIA on rural broadband
infrastructure, it also will be critical for cell phone service
that we work with the FCC to improve this connectivity.
So I want to thank you all for the great work you have done
on the Emergency Connectivity Fund and the Affordable
Connectivity Program. Places in rural areas like Frostproof,
Florida, Saint Cloud, Lake Wales, and in Kissimmee benefit
greatly by this access to cell phone service.
I wanted to also talk about the digital divide directly. I
got to speak early on with you, Commissioner Starks, about the
amazing work that you all have been doing in the FCC. So it
would be great to get an update for my constituents, including
my wife, who is an assistant principal here in Osceola County,
on the work that you all are doing to help with that digital
divide and homework gap.
Mr. Starks. It is a great question. Thank you, Congressman.
And for your wife's efforts for your continued efforts, you
know, equitable education requires internet access, and many
schools, organizations have worked hard to close the gap. But
despite that, you know, reports have said, you know, going into
the pandemic, nearly a year there, that you still had over 12
million students who remain digitally disconnected, under-
served.
And so last year, even I made it a point to hear from
students myself. I met with students in Detroit, Michigan at
Brenda Scott Academy, a disproportionately high reduced-lunch
folks and students. And they talked about, you know, how they
were trying to learn on their devices, on a cell phone. The
most striking moment was a student who told me that she needed
a better internet, and that was plain and simple.
The ECF has done an enormous amount of work, and is
continuing, and so the commission staff who stood up this
program deserve a lot of praise, as well.
Mr. Soto. Well, thank you, Commissioner.
Chair Rosenworcel, thank you for your leadership, and
congrats on your chairwomanship.
In central Florida we have Cape Canaveral, where there is
NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and satellite internet has become a
major part of connectivity. We see that with StarLink across
the United States, and also with the crisis in Ukraine.
Unfortunately, sometimes we see speculators that are proposing
to repurpose the 12 gigahertz spectrum that these satellite
operators use. It would be great to hear of your continued
support for this critical spectrum use by satellite systems to
help with the very isolated areas in both Florida and in areas
across the world.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you. You really do have this space
age happening in your backyard in Florida. We want to make sure
at the FCC that it continues to be viable, too. We have a
proceeding on the 12 gigahertz band that involves a lot of
satellite systems, and now possibly the introduction of mobile
terrestrial use.
This is a complex proceeding, as complex as any proceeding
before the agency. We are combing through engineering
documents. We are trying to identify if the--having these
services coexist is viable, what interference might be harmful,
how we should model it. That work is all underway. I can assure
you that we have our best engineers assessing this right now,
and we can continue to keep you updated as we proceed.
Mr. Soto. Thank you, Chairwoman.
And I want to end just by stressing the importance of the
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program. This is critical for
areas like South Osceola and Polk County in my district. And
together we will close this digital divide, this homework gap,
and the need to improve access for rural businesses in
Florida's 9th congressional district, in central Florida and
across the Nation.
And with that, Chair, I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mr. Walberg for 5 minutes.
Mr. Walberg. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the
Commissioners for being with us today.
Getting spectrum into the marketplace quickly is essential
for connecting Americans across the country. We remember back
during the Trump Administration, the FCC freed up an
unprecedented amount of spectrum by taking an all-of-the-above
approach, including for both licensed and unlicensed operations
in low, mid, and high-band frequencies.
Chairman Rosenworcel--and again, congratulations for your
chairship--in 2018 you called for the FCC to maintain a
spectrum calendar to increase transparency about how and when
the new resources will be made available to the public. I
agreed with the merits of this idea, but I haven't seen a
follow-through on that call yet.
Are you still committed to putting out a spectrum calendar?
And if so, what bands, beyond the already scheduled 2.5
gigahertz auction, would you place on the calendar either for
auction or making available for the unlicensed?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. To be clear, in 2018, in the Mobile
Now Act, this committee and Congress required us to publish an
annualized calendar, which we did in September of last year.
As you have acknowledged, we have already auctioned the
3.45 gigahertz band, and we now have the 2.5 gigahertz band in
our sights for July.
Going forward, I would ask this committee's help on two
fronts.
First, the Spectrum Pipeline Act from 2015 requires NTIA to
identify 30 megahertz of spectrum below 3 gigahertz for
auction. I would like you to make sure that that actually comes
to fruition.
And then I know you are working hard to try to identify how
we might be able to have access to 200 megahertz of spectrum in
the 3.1 to 3.45 gigahertz band, which--the auction of those
airwaves was delayed by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs
Act.
So those would be two of the bands that I have in my
sights, but two of the bands that I also need this committee's
help to bring to commercial market.
Mr. Walberg. We hope we can do that.
Chairperson Rosenworcel, turning to oversight, Congress
created a $7 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund, as we have
talked about, to help schools and libraries stay connected to
their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC has
distributed over five million connected devices through the
ECF.
My concern is that--does the FCC have a system in place
that has kept track of where these devices went after they were
sent to the schools and libraries?
And what safeguards are currently in place to make sure
that the devices purchased through the Emergency Connectivity
Fund are not duplicated across other programs?
Ms. Rosenworcel. It is absolutely imperative that we
prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in this program and any other
program. But I would love to followup with you with more
specifics to make sure that I give you precisely the rules that
apply to this program, and not one of the other ones that I
have in my head at this moment right now. So we will followup
with you on that.
Mr. Walberg. We will look forward to that.
Ms. Rosenworcel. OK.
Mr. Walberg. Because I think we agree, we have too few
resources to waste, and that includes our kids. I am glad most
of them are back in school in the classroom now.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, my final question is I want to
followup on an answer you gave to Leader Rodgers's question
earlier about rate regulation. I just want to make sure that
there aren't any hidden asterisks in your statement when you
say, ``no rate regulation.'' Are you including within that a
commitment not to apply section 201 and 202's just and
reasonable provisions to broadband rates, either before or
after the fact?
Ms. Rosenworcel. There is no asterisks.
Mr. Walberg. No asterisks. I am glad to hear that.
And, Mr. Chairman, I am going to return 56 seconds.
Mr. Doyle. Wow. I will tell you, you guys are making our
side look bad. I thank the gentleman for yielding back.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Butterfield for 5 minutes.
Mr. Butterfield. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Can I
add his 56 seconds to my time?
OK----
Mr. Doyle. No, you may not.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Butterfield. My request is denied. But thank you, Mr.
Chairman, for convening this very important hearing today. And
thank you to our guests today. And thank you for the incredible
work that you do at the Commission.
And let me also say good afternoon to my colleagues. I am
not in the committee room. I wish I could see all of you. But
hopefully, we will be back to normal very, very soon.
Chair Rosenworcel, we chatted a few days ago, and let me
just congratulate you and thank you on your incredible service,
not just since you have been on the Commission, but your
service before you joined the Commission. I know your resume,
and I know you have been very dedicated and committed down
through the years. And I just thank you so very much. I am
confident that you are going to really make a significant mark
on the work of the Commission.
And to the other Commissioners, Commissioner Starks, you
and I are friends and have been for years, and Commissioners
Carr and Simington, it is just good to see all of you. But let
me just get right to the point.
Like Congresswoman Rice said a few moments ago, this is
very important. The Affordable Connectivity Program, ACP, is
incredibly important. And I just thank you for your leadership
to ensure the success of the Affordable Connectivity Program
and the Emergency Connectivity Fund. These are two very
important initiatives in my State.
In North Carolina, over 400,000 households are enrolled in
the ACP, and schools and libraries in the State have been
awarded some $150 million in funding, with over $17 million of
that in my congressional district. That is a big deal. These
are real, meaningful benefits for my constituents. And I hope
that all of you will continue to work together in ensuring the
success of these important programs.
I want to commend the Commission's work on pole
replacements and dispute resolution. I wrote to the FCC last
year urging you to act on this important issue. So I appreciate
the Commission taking steps like this so that unserved
households, like those in my district, can get online much
faster.
So let's start with question No. 1, and I will start with
the Chair. I would like to move on to my bill, the Expanding
Broadcast Ownership Opportunities Act, which focuses on
bringing back the FCC's minority tax certificate program. And
you and I have talked about it over the years. It is designed
to incentivize diversity of ownership in the broadcasting
industry.
Let me ask you, Madam Chair and Commissioner Starks. Both
of you have been outspoken about the positive impacts of this
program. I would like to offer the opportunity for all the FCC
Commissioners to eventually embrace this idea, and to
understand the potential benefits of reinstating the tax
certificate program.
Madam Chair, if you would, speak very briefly to this.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. I embrace it fully, wholly, and
completely. History demonstrates it was the single most
effective tool we had to increase the diversity of ownership of
media properties in the United States.
Mr. Butterfield. And Commissioner Starks, can you add to
that, please?
Mr. Starks. Yes.
Mr. Butterfield. Go ahead.
Mr. Starks. I emphatically and foot-stomp it, as well.
Fourteen hundred full-power commercial broadcast television
stations, less than six percent owned by women, less than three
percent are minority-owned. And the minority tax certificate
program speaks for itself with the great results that it
achieved.
Mr. Butterfield. Thank you.
And back to our chair, Madam Chair, my bill, the Data
Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act--that is a mouthful, but we
have talked about it before--it directs the FCC to use its data
mapping tool to track maternal mortality and severe morbidity
rates. Making the connection between maternal mortality rate
and broadband access is crucial to identifying areas that lack
support, especially in African American communities, where the
maternal mortality rate is unacceptably high.
Can you discuss this with us in the few seconds that we
have left?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. The United States is the only
industrialized economy with an increasing level of maternal
mortality. It is a quiet crisis. There are new telehealth
technologies that can help women during their pregnancies and
produce better outcomes for them and their children. We have
got to figure out how to use broadband connections to make
those better outcomes happen, and I think your bill and the
data we collect pursuant to it would help with just that.
Mr. Butterfield. And Commissioner Starks, can you use the
last 20 seconds to talk to us about modifying the commission's
FM booster rules?
Mr. Starks. Yes. Thank you for the question, Congressman.
This proposal garnered 21 civil rights organizations'
support. You know, small radio station operators frequently are
also small business owners. I heard from them how hard it was
for them to weather the pandemic, as well. So I see great
potential in this geobroadcast technology improving local radio
experience, news, weather, emergency, as well as positioning
small broadcasters and broadcasters of color to compete for
listeners and advertising dollars.
And very last, I would like to say, Congressman
Butterfield, thank you for your long dedication to public
service. Your legacy of excellence is something that I follow,
and particularly in the media and telecom space.
Mr. Butterfield. I am grateful. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time has expired. The Chair
recognizes Mr. Duncan for 5 minutes.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, I don't know if
the Democrats are practicing baseball yet, but you look awful
alert to have gotten up so early, if you all are.
I want to thank the Commissioners for being here. After
over 500 days of not having an oversight hearing, I am glad we
are finally doing that.
We have talked a lot today about the need for expanding
rural broadband connectivity, accurate mapping, and interagency
cooperation to ensure we aren't double-building in the process.
So I want to echo these concerns, and the need to build out the
rural networks, rural broadband, rural networks. I think there
needs to be a huge percentage going to rural America, instead
of inner cities, where there may already be existing networks,
and not just keep spending billions of tax dollars repeatedly
on the same inner-city neighborhoods.
We have also talked a lot today about spectrum, and the
scarcity of spectrum, and the need for continuing and expanding
auction authority to make more spectrum available, and ensuring
that the spectrum we make available is usable for industry. I
also want to echo those concerns, but this ground has pretty
much been covered by the time you get to me.
So, Commissioner Carr, I want to ask you, in your testimony
you mentioned the need to push back against the abuses of Big
Tech. And I especially want to focus on anti-discrimination
provisions that you mentioned. What do you think we in Congress
need to do to protect First Amendment rights of conservative
content creators, local businesses, local broadcasters, and
others who feel they have been trampled on by Big Tech, keeping
the importance of that and multiplicity of information sources
that you mentioned in your testimony in mind?
Mr. Carr. Thank you, Congressman. Thanks to you for your
work on this issue of reining in Big Tech. I think, first and
foremost, we have to fundamentally overhaul section 230. There
are portions of section 230 that are pro-speech, that create
incentives to leave speech up, particularly political speech.
And there is portions of section 230 that today have been
misread by courts, as Justice Thomas have walked through, to
give them, internet companies, carte blanche to remove any
speech that they want. That is not the intent of Congress in
section 230. And I think Congress needs to amend section 230 in
a way that is going to promote more speech.
But 230 reform alone isn't going to be enough. That is why
we need to impose some basic transparency obligations on Big
Tech. Right now it is a total black box. Some speech is left
up, some is taken down. There is no consistency at all. I think
we need some basic non-discrimination that could take a lot of
different forms, whether it is treating like cases alike, or
looking at legislation in the Senate that Senator Wicker has
that talks about trying to protect speech that is political in
nature from discriminate takedowns.
And I think there is steps we can do in terms of user
empowerment. Right now, the whole point of section 230 was to
give a little bit of balance between content moderation that
websites do and empowering--giving users tools to engage. And
right now, that balance has shifted too far.
And I think one step that we could do would be to empower
users to make their own content moderation decisions. If you
want Fox News to filter your feed before you see it, maybe plug
that in. If you want MSNBC's to do it, plug that in. There can
be third parties that offer ways to do content filtering, or
someone can just choose the Wild West version.
But if we give people more power to make those decisions, I
think that is a pro-speech reform that we would be better off,
because then we can have, you know, robust, wide open political
debates, which we are better for, because that is how we solve
problems in this country. It is not by keeping ideas off the
table, but by having robust discussions about them.
Mr. Duncan. I would love to see this committee or the full
committee deal with 230 protections, and have Big Tech come
back in, where we could delve into that.
I will move on. Mr.--Commissioner Simington, I know you are
a big proponent of looking at regulation of receivers as a way
to increase efficiency of how we use spectrum, based on its
scarce resource. How would you address the concerns of industry
about the potential burdens of such regulations? And what are
the benefits of ensuring that government users of spectrum have
to upgrade their standards to be more efficient?
Mr. Simington. This is a great question, because the
difficulty of taking receiver standards up in the past has
always been that it is a much, much, much more difficult
question than physical assessment of transmission.
You can put a transmitter in a box and test if it is
emitting according to spec. For a receiver, you have to field
test it, and you have to field test it under a wide variety of
interference conditions. It is an exponentially more
complicated problem, much more like a large research lab's R&D
function than something that the Commission is capable of
doing. And that is exactly what we don't want to do here.
So hopefully, industry is being assured right here, right
now that we are not going to cram burdensome regulations down
on them. Instead, the idea is going to be to assess what
constitutes an acceptable threshold of interference between
every band and service right here, right now, and then to be
able to compare and contrast them to understand where it is
that receivers' improvements could lead to the availability of
bands for commercialization, or to otherwise greater spectral
efficiency.
I think that is the last free real eState we are likely to
find in the spectrum, but it is very valuable. So hopefully,
that is how we will get there.
Mr. Duncan. Yes----
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time----
Mr. Duncan [continuing]. Thank you.
Mr. Doyle [continuing]. Has expired.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you, I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The Chair recognizes Ms. Matsui for 5 minutes.
Ms. Matsui. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for having
this hearing today. And I want to welcome the Commissioners,
and especially congratulate Chairwoman Rosenworcel.
And I also want to say it sounds like we are having a
productive--you know, before it even got to this point now
today, so you have already done productive work already.
I have a question regarding receiver standards. While
recent disputes have highlighted the importance of spectrum
governance and coordination, it also reinforces the need to
take a meaningful look at the role receivers play in supporting
or hindering more intensive use of airwaves. I know the FCC
will be examining this important issue soon.
I am also working on draft legislation that I believe can
complement this effort by assuring the Federal Government isn't
buying outdated or inefficient technology.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel and Commissioner Simington, can you
describe the relationship between Federal receivers and the
spectrum pipeline, and do you think legislation addressing
Federal receiver supply could complement the FCC's work?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you for the question and your
interest in spectrum policy, generally.
Traditionally, we have had discussions about just
transition when it comes to spectrum. But if we want to be
efficient, we also have to think about the other end. We have
to think about receiving. For that reason, working with
Commissioner Simington, we have a notice of inquiry we will
consider next month on this subject.
But I think what you are raising in legislation is really
important. Making spectrum receiver efficiency part of
government purchasing will change the market for receiver
equipment because government purchases at a greater scale than
anyone else.
I think that that was a subject of an old executive order,
and it is an idea we need to revisit right now.
Ms. Matsui. OK, thank you. Mr. Simington, do you have a
comment?
Mr. Simington. Yes. I just wanted to express my
appreciation for your work on the proposed Spectrum Coexistence
Act. I have, frankly, I have heard it quietly said by people at
major executive branch agencies that focus on spectral
efficiency, in terms of agency and government procurement, is
exactly how to improve relationships with the FCC.
Ms. Matsui. OK, thank you.
A reliable pipeline of valuable mid-band spectrum is a
fundamental part of keeping the U.S. ahead in the race to the
next generation wireless technology. To help keep our pipeline
robust and predictable, I recently called on NTIA Administrator
Davidson to finish the 2019 study on the 7 gigahertz band.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, you recently highlighted the
importance of spectrum in the 7 to 15 gigahertz range for 6G.
How would completion of the study help industry prepare for the
future?
And can you describe its potential for commercial use?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes, thank you. So we are already going
there. We are talking about 6G. And it feels early, but there
are other nations that are already doing this, so I think we
should start targeting some airwaves.
At Mobile World Congress I mentioned, as you suggested,
that spectrum between the 7 and 15 gigahertz bands should be
our target. So that NTIA study you mentioned that I believe is
ongoing is really important.
Ms. Matsui. OK. Thank you very much.
In California wildfire season has grown from a seasonal
concern to almost a year-round threat. In the face of more
frequent and severe wildfires, hurricanes, and tornadoes, I
introduced the bipartisan Emergency Reporting Act, which passed
the House earlier this Congress. I am glad to see the
Commission taking action to improve network outage reporting to
help us prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, what steps is the FCC taking to
strengthen the resiliency of communications networks during
emergencies?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you. You know, whether it is
snowstorms in Texas or wildfires out West, we have got once-in-
a-lifetime weather events happening with increasing frequency.
After Hurricane Ida hit land in Louisiana, Commissioner
Carr and I went and studied the communications damage and we
came back and immediately started a proceeding to consider how
we should, you know, update our wireless cooperative resiliency
framework that helps keep wireless service running after
disaster, what kind of notification is necessary for 911 and
first responders in a disaster, and what reforms we can make so
that our power companies work better with our communications
companies.
That is a discussion that is still ongoing, but I really do
appreciate that Commissioner Carr decided to participate in
that, and has been really thoughtful in trying to find ways to
advance it, consistent with the kind of concerns you just
described.
Ms. Matsui. OK. Well, thank you very much.
And Mr. Chairman, I will yield back--well, I guess--I was
going to yield back 1-second.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Doyle. You are right on time, Doris, thank you. The
Chair recognizes Mr. Cardenas for 5 minutes.
[Pause.]
Mr. Doyle. Mr. Cardenas, you are--you have 5 minutes.
Mr. Cardenas. Hello, this is Cardenas. I have 5 minutes?
Mr. Doyle. Yes, you are up.
Mr. Cardenas. OK, thank you so much. I was having problems
with my iPad. Thank you very much. I appreciate this
opportunity, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, so that we can have
this opportunity to work with and speak to the FCC
Commissioners, and all the wonderful work that is going on
around the country, and implementing legislation that we have
all passed and are very excited about.
I would like to highlight, first of all, the
accomplishments of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, the
Affordable Connectivity Program, as well. EBB and ACP are great
examples that demonstrates what a partnership between Congress,
the FCC, and the internet service providers, the private
providers that can lead to including making this program a
reality for so many consumers. Public-private partnerships can
and do work. The FCC successfully implemented this program, and
the private sector stepped up to participate and help consumers
by offering free and low-cost broadband to ensure that every
family has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet
to stay connected and to close the digital divide.
For example, this morning I just found out that Charter
announced 100 megabit speed for under $30 a month. That means--
and also with no equipment, no installation charges, et cetera.
That means that, with $30 a month ACP credit, we will be able
to see families across America be able to afford to have access
to the internet at a speed that is--so that people can do their
homework and then get their work done.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, it is good to see you. I love
working with you. And thank you so much for making yourself so
accessible to so many communities around the country,
especially in my district. How do you think the FCC can build
on this success, so that all households and communities can
benefit from the personal and economic benefits of high-speed
broadband internet?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you for the question, and thank you
for the work you are doing to get out the word about the
Affordable Connectivity Program in your own district.
We are partnering with anyone and everyone who has a good
idea. We have worked with the Department of Education to send
out emails to everyone with a Pell Grant in this country. We
have worked with the Department of Labor to make sure that in
State unemployment centers there is information about these
materials. And my colleague, Commissioner Starks, is
spearheading an effort to work with Federal housing authorities
to make sure that they too learn about it.
The bottom line is that our program is up for iteration at
any moment in time when people on this committee or anyone else
has a good idea about how we effectively get the word out so
people hear about it from people they trust. So keep us posted.
We would love to have your ideas. Keep them coming.
Mr. Cardenas. Thank you. And thank you for all the work
that you are doing across departments. I know people accuse
government of being too siloed, so thank you for demonstrating
that it can be done. And thank you for the success that the FCC
has had working across different agencies and departments.
When it comes to spectrum, two issues are very clear:
first, we need more spectrum available for commercial use; and
second, with little greenfield spectrum left, we need to use
all available tools to determine the most efficient use of
spectrum in every band.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, you and the FCC have really
showcased this ingenuity working with DoD, NTIA, and the
wireless industry to develop a successful sharing framework in
the CBRS, otherwise known as Citizens Broadband Radio Service,
thereby allowing commercial operators access to critical mid-
band spectrum, while protecting DoD operations in the band. We
should consider how sharing regimes like this one can be used
in other bands, including 3.1 to 3.4 gigahertz, and band that--
lower portions of the 37 gigahertz band.
With spectrum being scarce, a scarce resource, what other
types of innovative sharing regimes are you considering to help
ensure we are getting the most efficient use out of every
megahertz of spectrum?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Going forward, it is not going to be easy.
We are going to need creative spectrum policies like what you
just mentioned in the CBRS band. And we are also going to need
new technologies, continued use of automatic frequency
coordination, so that we have dynamic, real-time information
about when airwaves are available and when they are not.
The United States has always led on these issues. And going
forward it is something that I think we should continue to
pursue, and it is going to be a feature of our spectrum policy
for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Cardenas. Leading is a source of pride, but, more
importantly, it is about economics and leading the world like
we have in the past.
I would love to ask Mr. Starks a question to expand on
housing and access to--when it comes to public housing, et
cetera, but I apologize. Hopefully you have an opportunity to
expand on that.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. OK, I thank the gentleman. The Chair now
recognizes Ms. Kelly for 5 minutes.
Ms. Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was a proud supporter
of the American Rescue Plan Act and its creation of the
Emergency Connectivity Fund. This legislation was targeted at
helping us close the homework gap that has been talked about.
The ECF is helping students and teachers across the country
access what is now a basic educational tool: the Internet.
Already, schools and libraries in Illinois have been awarded
over $200 million from ECF, of which over $7 million has been
awarded to my district, which is urban, suburban, and rural.
The Affordable Connectivity Program is another important
program enacted on a bipartisan basis that is helping to
connect the unconnected. Over ten million consumers have signed
up for the program, and it is helping over 335,000 Illinoisans
pay for broadband service each month.
However, we know that nationwide there are over 38 million
households eligible for ACP that aren't signed up yet.
Marginalized communities, including people of color, immigrant
populations, and non-English-speaking communities are
disproportionately disconnected, and are less likely to be
aware of ACP.
Chairwoman, how does the FCC plan to engage with hard-to-
reach communities to ensure they are aware of the programs and
ultimately enrolled?
And let me give my congratulations to you.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Thank you. I have said it before, I will
say it again: We need trusted actors in communities getting the
word out.
One of the things that we are doing right now is running a
proceeding to identify how to spend the outreach dollars we
have with local institutions to make sure that they have the
resources they need to amplify this program and reach people
where they are.
I will also add that, as an act of transparency, on a
monthly basis we publish statistics for this program on a zip
code basis. So every office that serves on this committee can
look at that data, and try to understand if there is an area
within their district where they feel that more progress can be
made, you should let us know. We will study that data with you,
and try to identify a way forward.
Ms. Kelly. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Commissioner Starks, do you have any additional thoughts on
how the FCC can engage with hard-to-reach communities?
Mr. Starks. It is a great question, Congresswoman. As I
have mentioned, the pilot program, particularly with public
housing--I agree with Chairwoman Rosenworcel, making sure that
our community-based organizations--advertising is going to be
important.
One additional thing that I would offer up to you,
Congresswoman Kelly. You know, seniors are, in particular, a
group that I think would benefit also from additional focus on
ACP. Just one out of three seniors, you know, one out of three
seniors lacks a home broadband connection. Nearly 13 percent of
seniors live at or below the poverty line. And so there is a
way that they need to be part of our targeted reach out.
You know, I would also say, based upon the numbers thus far
for ACP, seniors only account for, you know, maybe about 10,
12, 15 percent of folks that are currently enrolling. And so
the last thing that I would say here, obviously, when you are
talking about digital divide with seniors particularly, issues
of digital literacy come into play. Making sure that seniors
have the confidence in both setting up and using their internet
connections is going to be a big part of that reach-out, as
well.
Ms. Kelly. Thank you so much. Through the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act, we are investing $65 billion to help
ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-
speed internet. We know everyone is waiting on the FCC's
broadband maps so this important work can get underway. But we
have seen problems in the past when we spent limited Federal
dollars to build out our broadband networks without first
having accurate service maps.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, congratulations on recently winning
the bid process you all faced getting the maps underway. But
with that, can you tell us why it is important that the
Commission not sacrifice accuracy for speed in developing these
maps, especially when this historic investment is at stake?
Ms. Rosenworcel. For too long at the FCC we have had maps
that don't work, that overState service. And as a result, when
we have Federal dollars, we don't always send them to the right
places. So we have got to put a premium right now on getting it
right, because we are spending more money on broadband
deployment than ever before. And we are going to also put a
premium on sharing our data with every single part of the
Federal Government that is giving out funds for broadband. We
want to make sure that we are coordinating like never before,
as well.
Ms. Kelly. Thank you. I just want to close by saying I am
eager for the fifth Commissioner to be seated, so you will be
at full capacity.
And I want to express my support for the agency acting to
re-establish its authority.
I yield back two seconds--or one now.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mrs. Fletcher for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Fletcher. Thank you, Chairman Doyle. And thanks to you
and Ranking Member Latta for convening today's hearing on the
Federal Communications Commission and its role regulating
communications across the country.
And thank you to Chairwoman Rosenworcel, and
congratulations, as well. Thank you to Commissioners Carr,
Starks, and Simington for joining us today, and for your
testimony. It has been very helpful, I think, for all of us to
hear these perspectives and cover these range of issues.
And I join all of my colleagues who have expressed their
appreciation for your efforts to expand broadband deployment to
all communities, rural and urban. That includes your
leadership, in addition to all of your work in administering
the two historic affordability programs that we have discussed
today, the Affordable Connectivity Program and the Emergency
Connectivity Fund.
In particular, schools and libraries in Texas's 7th
congressional district that I represent have been awarded more
than $4 million through the ECF, and I know this will open
doors and opportunity for so many young people in my district.
So we are very appreciative of those efforts.
And Chairman Rosenworcel, I wanted to take a minute to
touch on this. I really support your approach to incentivizing
communities and providers to work together toward the shared
goal of broadband deployment everywhere. And that is why last
year I introduced the Broadband Incentives for Communities Act
to provide critical resources to cities and counties to enhance
their zoning and permitting functions.
Based on the experiences in my district in Houston, where
we have rolled out 5G, where we have a lot of folks who have a
lot of experience here, we have seen that those can be real
challenges. And so to enable the cities, counties, communities
that are permitting this expansion, we put together this bill
to help facilitate that process. And given the billions of
dollars provided for broadband under the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act, we should make sure that local
jurisdictions that are interested in expanding critical
broadband and 5G services have access to the resources that
they need to manage the process, as well as clear incentives to
move quickly.
So I would welcome the opportunity to work with you on this
issue by making this concept really a critical part of our
ongoing Federal support for fixed and wireless broadband
deployment. And that connects a little bit with, I think, your
approach, Chairwoman Rosenworcel, about kind of a carrots-and-
not-sticks approach for communities when it comes to broadband
deployment. Can you talk a little bit more about your approach
and strategy, and why you think that that is how we should move
forward with broadband deployment?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. You know, there are two things I
know to be true here. First, that we have a massive
infrastructure project underway in the United States right now
to bring high-speed broadband to everyone, everywhere. And the
second thing I know to be true is that we have a tradition of
local control in the United States. We have got a Tenth
Amendment, and we have got people who want to have a say in
what is happening in their own backyard. So we have got to
figure out how to manage both of those two realities at the
same time.
And I think what you are describing is spot on. We should
make sure that, when we are developing programs with Federal
funds, we condition those funds on having a reasonable and
streamlined process for things like permitting and rights-of-
way. And if we do that, we will both be able to build out this
infrastructure and honor that tradition of local control, and
do it in a reasonably speedy way. I think that is a win-win
across the board.
So I very much appreciate the approach you just described,
and we would be happy to work with you on it further.
Mrs. Fletcher. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much. I very
much look forward to the opportunity to do that.
And with the minute or so I have left, I also just want to
touch on the theme of resiliency for our communications
networks. In recent years in my district in Houston we have
seen many types of disasters, from the winter freeze that
everyone observed last year, to three 500-year floods three
years in a row that knocked out power and hindered
communications access. So I would love to get your thoughts and
input on how we ensure network resiliency of existing networks,
and how we promote resiliency in the construction of new
networks. On just that for 30 seconds or so.
Ms. Rosenworcel. We have an outstanding proceeding just on
that issue. And it was the byproduct of a trip that
Commissioner Carr and I took after Hurricane Ida.
We are looking at updating the wireless cooperative
resiliency framework. We are looking at making sure that first
responders and public safety authorities get timely notice of
outages. And we are looking at improvements we can make for
coordination between telecommunications companies and power
companies, because commercial power is so important for modern
communications.
Mrs. Fletcher. Well, thank you so much for that.
I will ask the other Commissioners to respond for the
record, since we won't have time.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mrs. Fletcher. And I will yield back with 2-seconds,
Chairman Doyle, thank you very much.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentlelady. The Chair recognizes Mr.
Pence for 5 minutes.
Mr. Pence. Thank you, Chairman Doyle and Ranking Member
Latta, for allowing me to join this subcommittee hearing today.
And thank you to the Commissioners for being here.
As many of my colleagues have discussed today, rural
communities are left at a disadvantage because of a lack of
access to broadband service. Certainly, in my Indiana 6th
district, that is the case. Too many of my constituents
throughout southeast Indiana remain unserved, not under-served,
totally unserved by broadband providers. That means access to
telehealth, online education, remote work opportunities, and
social connections with family and friends are simply out of
reach.
If we are going to close the digital divide with Federal
resources, the FCC should prioritize, in my opinion, parts of
the country that remain unserved before upgrading existing
networks in covered areas like my Indianapolis.
Unfortunately, the delayed process for improving outdated
broadband service maps is still an issue for providers in my
district. Currently, consensus block data will show coverage
across my district, but all I have to do is drive from
Columbus, my hometown, to Richmond or Rushville, and I can tell
you where I have no service.
Meanwhile, broadband infrastructure has not escaped the
inflation and supply chain disruptions that ripple across the
country. In my district materials for broadband infrastructure,
such as fiber and other communication equipment, still face
upwards of 12-month backorders.
Last summer I wrote to the Department of Commerce with 17
of my colleagues to consider opportunities to address these
shortages and secure materials necessary to close the digital
divide.
Mr. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to insert this
letter for the record.
Mr. Doyle. Without objection, so ordered.
[The information appears at the conclusion of the hearing.]
Mr. Pence. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I encourage the Commission to find ways to share expertise
with relevant agencies to alleviate delays and release
broadband maps so that Federal funding can reflect the needs of
southeast Indiana and all of rural America.
Madam Chairwoman, I was pleased to see my bill, the
Broadband Interagency Coordination Act, signed into law in
2020. I understand the Commission has recently updated
interagency agreements to include additional agencies regarding
broadband coordination. However, it is also my understanding
the FCC does not have an interagency agreement with every
agency involved in broadband support programs.
The IIJA requires your Commission to establish a deployment
locations map to provide an overview of federally funded
broadband deployment projects across the country. Can you
explain the interagency process that your Commission is
conducting to implement this law?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. It is important that we coordinate,
because we have a chance to make generational change with these
funds, and we are only going to do it if we are all working
together. And to that end, consistent with the law you
described, in June of last year we signed a memorandum of
understanding with the Department of Commerce and the
Department of Agriculture to make sure that we share our data
with them so that we can make sure our efforts work together,
and not in opposition.
I have already notified our colleagues at the Department of
the Treasury we would like to do the same with them. They have
a $10 billion fund. They are not mentioned in the legislation,
but we are casting far and wide, and trying to make sure that
we can all work off the same information, the same data sets,
and make good decisions together.
Mr. Pence. Well, I was interested--you know, I would have
identified Treasury. Thank you for doing that. Are you
optimistic that you are going to get everybody at the table
together?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I am persistent.
Mr. Pence. You are----
Ms. Rosenworcel. That might be better.
Mr. Pence. You seem like you do, so good.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes.
Mr. Pence. Well, thank you very much----
Ms. Rosenworcel. It can happen.
Mr. Pence. Thank you all for being here.
And Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. I thank the gentleman. Let's see, Mr. Welch, you
are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Welch. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I just want to say to everybody that your job
is so important, especially since there has been such
significant appropriations, basically bipartisan, to help on
broadband.
Mr. Carr, you said something. Your tone concerned me a
little bit, but your concern I share. This money, OK, in a lot
of ways, is the easy part. We need resources in order to get
the capacity to have broadband in rural America. But it is--the
hard, hard, hard work is actually getting it done, getting each
house wired. So I share that concern.
But the tone part of it worried me a little bit, because we
are going to be depending on you and your organization to keep
an eye on this as it is being implemented. And I just want you
to know I share that concern, but I look to you and your
colleagues and the Chair to make certain this money results in
folks in all of our districts having the broadband that they
absolutely need. Are you with me on that?
Mr. Carr. Yes, absolutely.
Mr. Welch. All right. So this has got to be a cooperative
effort is what I am saying.
Mr. Carr. Yes.
Mr. Welch. I mean, you all got to be together on this, and
it just would--I would want to shoot myself if I saw that this
became a blame game before we even got rural America wired. So
thank you. Thank you for that.
Congratulations, now-Chairwoman Rosenworcel. I want to ask
you about 911. Our colleague, Anna Eshoo, has been a huge
champion of modernizing 911. And one of the challenges we have
in Vermont is we have got these antiquated systems. You know,
people are in back rooms, and there is bubblegum on the chair.
You know, it is just--and we need it. It has got to work, but
we need some funds. And you have got a spectrum auction that we
are going to be considering re-authorizing.
And I think Anna--Congresswoman Eshoo's thought is maybe we
could use some of that money, not just to go back to the
Treasury, but to upgrade the 911 services that we have around
the country and, again, all of our districts. I would ask you
to comment on that.
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes. Thank you for that. I appreciate it.
I think it is an important idea.
I think you have an opportunity to make history. We have
got more than 6,000 911 call centers all across this country.
You know, the odds are you might only call them once in your
life, but it will be the most important call you ever make. And
many of those centers are not upgraded for the digital age. But
if you were to re-authorize our spectrum auctions, we take the
revenue from public airwaves and dedicate it to setting up a
nationwide fund to update 911. I think that is within this
committee's power, and it would be a great thing to do.
Mr. Welch. Yes, well, I hope all--but, Commissioner, you
will have a discussion on that. But that certainly would be
helpful to Vermont.
Another question that I would ask each of you to answer,
there is more and more VIoP
[sic]--you know, the phones are over the internet, and that
is happening in Vermont, it is happening all around. When they
weren't over the internet, then there was regulatory authority
if consumers had complaints. Now there is no regulatory
authority if consumers have complaint for the voice over
internet. I think there should be.
And I just ask--I don't have much time, but ask each of
you--I will start with you, Mr. Simington, whether you would be
in favor of us making certain--actually, you can do it, have
authority to address legitimate consumer complaints if they
have problems with their voice over internet.
Mr. Simington. It is certainly within Congress's power
issue to require us to address anything of that nature, yes.
Mr. Welch. I think it is within your power. I think you
could do it, as well.
Mr. Simington. Well, I have got no objection. And, as some
of my colleagues have mentioned earlier today, we are moving up
the timeline for VoIP in response to the TRACED Act exactly for
that purpose.
Mr. Welch. Thank you.
And Mr. Carr?
Mr. Carr. Thank you, Congressman, for the question. I am
very open to taking a look at VoIP, and making sure we have the
right regulatory framework around it----
Mr. Welch. Right.
Mr. Carr [continuing]. Given what that technology is, to
make sure we protect consumers.
Obviously, consumers have other services they have a
certain expectation on, and it is not entirely clear to me
that--why we should have such a gap with VoIP, as well.
Mr. Welch. Thank you.
And Chairwoman Rosenworcel?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes. Communications is an essential
service. It needs oversight from the FCC.
Mr. Welch. OK, thank you. Well, I certainly support that,
and I appreciate you working together on it.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Starks. For my part, Congressman----
Mr. Welch. Sorry, that is right, Mr.--I am sorry.
Mr. Starks. No, no, no, no worries. The only thing that I
would additionally add is that, you know, we adopted an NPRM
seeking comment on a wide variety of resiliency issues,
including VoIP services. And that may be another way that we
can start to help think through this.
Mr. Welch. OK. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time has expired. The Chair
recognizes Mr. Carter for 5 minutes.
Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank all of you
for being here. This is extremely important.
And I want to give a shout out to Commissioner Carr. He has
been to my district before, and I appreciate that. I appreciate
it very much.
I want to ask you, Chairwoman Rosenworcel--we have rolled
out some programs. Every time you roll out relief--and you need
to be very careful. All of us understand that, and it needs to
be delicately dealt with. However, we have not dealt with
something like we have with this COVID pandemic in the past,
and that is the enormous and quick rollout that we have had.
Therefore, we--you know, there is always going to be
problems, there is always going to be bad actors, and there is
bad actors in everything. There is bad actors in pharmacy, bad
actors in health care. And so it is just part of it.
But I know that we are going to see and discover later on,
as this--as time goes on, that there were a lot of bad actors,
and that probably we are going to discover that. But
unfortunately, we have already seen it. We have already seen it
happen. The FCC inspector general recently detected fraud in
the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.
What were the OIG's findings on that? Can you go over that
for me very quickly?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Sure. We had to get this program up and
running in 60 days. And you also, I think, you know, in a smart
effort, asked the inspector general, ``Take a close look at
it,'' because you get a program up and running fast, you have
got to make sure there are no loopholes.
They identified a loophole, which is that we had a
streamlined process for registering households that have
children in community-eligible participation schools with high
numbers of kids on the free and reduced lunch program. And
immediately upon learning that we shut down our portal for
collecting that--those applications, we added additional
documentation. We referred bad actors to our enforcement
bureau, and we also made sure that we reached out to every
single provider and every single subscriber that had signed up
through that portal to re-certify and re-verify them. And we
have got ongoing enforcement activity to take--to hold to
account anybody who caused problems using that portal.
So to be candid with you, I think the system worked as
intended. We got it up and running fast. We found a problem,
and we addressed it with speed.
Mr. Carter. Commissioner Carr, what lessons do you think we
can learn from this, from these findings?
And how can the FCC tighten eligibility in the enrollment
process so that we reduce waste, fraud, and abuse?
Mr. Carr. Thank you, Congressman, for the question. Great
to see you again.
You know, look, I think part of the concern that I had, and
part of maybe the energy driving behind my concern is I really
think we are headed toward a problem here. We are going to
waste a lot of funds. And I wrote letters last summer to four
different executive branch agencies--Treasury, Education,
Commerce, Agriculture, about, hey, could we work together, can
we coordinate to make sure we don't waste this opportunity? And
I didn't even get responses from all of the agencies.
And so the frustration that I have is that we are trying on
the front end to solve this before it is too late. And it is
not clear to me that we have the guardrails in place. So again,
one, we have to have these maps at the FCC that we drive this
through; we have to avoid overbuilding; we have to have
tracking controls in place, so that agencies know where their
funds are going, and one of the responses that I did get didn't
give me a lot of confidence that we are doing that; and we need
to empower our inspector general with the tools that they need
to ferret out waste, fraud, and abuse.
And in fact, there is a request even to get a Senate-
confirmed IG at the FCC. I don't know if that will be better or
worse, but that is another step that could be taken.
Mr. Carter. Right, good. Thank you for that.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, let me ask you. The Affordable
Connectivity Program and the Emergency Connectivity Fund, they
both provide funding for devices and internet connectivity,
some of which can be used to purchase a hotspot or a connected
device. In instances where an eligible low-income household is
also eligible for ECF funds, how is the FCC ensuring that these
two programs are not duplicating one another?
Ms. Rosenworcel. We actually have rules in place to prevent
that from taking place. So we developed the ECF program to make
sure that we check on that during our enrollment process to
prevent just what you are describing.
Mr. Carter. So you are pretty confident that that is not
going to happen?
Ms. Rosenworcel. We have rules in place. We will monitor it
over time. I understand what you are saying. You know, we don't
have infinite resources. We want to reach as many people as
possible with these----
Mr. Carter. Sure.
Ms. Rosenworcel [continuing]. Programs, and that is why we
have a rule to that effect. But it is something we will
certainly monitor over time for the reasons you describe.
Mr. Carter. Good. Commissioner Carr, I wanted to end with
this. Even before the pandemic, the broadband providers had
programs to assist low-income customers get or stay connected
to the internet. Since then these programs have expanded, they
have improved service, and they have become more widely
available, which is good.
Combined with Federal subsidies, many service plans are
free to consumers, yet we still see people who are not adopting
these services. Going forward, we need to examine the impact
these Federal programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program
and Lifeline have on adoption rates to determine if they can--
if they continue to be necessary. So I hope that you all will
pay close attention to that, as well.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I will yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes
Mrs. Dingell for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Dingell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for having
this hearing. And I am going to cut to the chase, since we have
votes.
This hearing has highlighted that broadband and spectrum
access remains a necessity to participate in today's economy
and, as the chairwoman and Commissioners have emphasized, offer
educational opportunities, medical services, and provide new
avenues for cutting-edge public safety advancements.
I want to focus on developments in communications
technology and its potential uses in roadway safety.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel my questioning has to do with the
FCC's ongoing 0.9 gigahertz proceeding. In--the Commission's
initial report and order from November 2020 designated the
upper 30 megahertz of this band for intelligence transportation
systems, or ITS. It furthermore stated that the C-V2X was the
technology that should be utilized for ITS.
The Commission asked for further comment on implementing C-
V2X and winding down DSCR
[sic] last spring. We are now one year removed from that
public comment period and two years removed from the original
R&O, and I understand much work remains for those State and
local DoTs and/or automakers who want to deploy this
potentially lifesaving technology.
Based on the current record before the Commission, how is
C-V2X expected to advance automobile safety in this country?
And most importantly, will you work with those automobile
stakeholders who want to deploy the C-V2X technology in the 5.9
gigahertz band?
Ms. Rosenworcel. The quick answer is yes. We are in
conversation with them right now. I know that they want early
access to that 30 megahertz of spectrum, and they have a
petition before us requesting access. It is my understanding
they are going to be updating that petition. We are waiting for
that, and I hope we can proceed.
That is the technology that is, of course, the successor to
DSRC, and I think it has lots of potential in that 30 megahertz
of spectrum. So we want to be able to stay in contact with
them, and stay in contact with you, and see if we can make that
happen.
Mrs. Dingell. This matters. We have delayed it for too
long.
What can the FCC do next to aid automobile stakeholders
interested in deploying C-V2X?
Can the FCC provide any timeline at this time to enable the
deployment of C-V2X?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I think the most important thing at this
point is that we get that updated petition, we provide them
with access on a special temporary authority basis, so they can
do the kind of experimentation necessary, so they can develop
their systems and we can develop rules. That is my goal to have
happen as soon as feasible. So, we will continue to work with
them and you to make sure that that actually takes place.
Mrs. Dingell. I will commit to working with you and them.
I want to emphasize that this needs to be a priority for
the agency. These stakeholders need clarity, and I urge the FCC
to do all it can to enable the deployment of C-V2X faster. I
will continue to push to ensure that we are addressing this
issue with the urgency that it demands.
Last, what protections are in place to ensure that
interference from unlicensed devices in the lower 45 megahertz
will not interfere with ITS's use of the upper 30 megahertz in
the band?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I should point out that this is the
subject of ongoing litigation in the DC Circuit. There are some
auto interests that have taken the decision from 2020 to court
to hash this out in front of a judge. So that is ongoing right
now.
But I have confidence in the engineering work of the FCC
that was done before I took over the agency that suggested that
there is no reason to be concerned for interference. We are
going to be able to accommodate in this band both auto safety
interests and unlicensed interests.
Mrs. Dingell. Thank you. I just want to say it is vital
that we are developing forward-thinking policy to support the
rollout of this cutting-edge, lifesaving technology such as
V22X
[sic]. I want to work very closely with you, because this
will save lives on the roads.
Thank you very much. I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady's time has expired. We just have
two more witnesses, or two more members, and hopefully we can
maybe get this, so we don't have to recess for just one more
person.
Mr. Joyce, you have 5 minutes, but if you don't want to use
it all, that would be great.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Joyce. Thank you to my fellow Pennsylvanian, Chairman
Doyle, and Ranking Member Latta for allowing me to waive onto
this hearing.
And congratulations, Chairwoman Rosenworcel, for your new
position.
My first question is for Commissioner Carr. Many of us have
kind of bad habits of signing up for subscription service,
whether it is Netflix or a free trial online, and then
forgetting about it. And then a few months later, you know what
happens? The bill arrives, and you weren't using the
subscription, and you cancel the bill. When it comes to Federal
subsidy programs, that bill can continue to increase if
eligible households eventually move out of their eligibility,
and yet continue to receive support on an ongoing basis.
Does the Affordable Connectivity Program have ongoing
verification processes to continually review and validate
eligibility?
Mr. Carr. Yes, thank you, Congressman, for the question.
Generally, with our programs we have usage requirements and
other checks that we make. And I can confirm that we have all
of those right ones in place for ACP, as well.
Mr. Joyce. Thank you. I think that is very important.
Strengthening those safeguards to re-verify and re-apply for
the ACP program on a periodic basis does help to prevent waste,
fraud, and abuse. And I urge the Commission to continue
utilizing these types of accountability measures in the
program.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, I have serious concerns about the
different Federal agencies making funding decisions based on
different sets of data. That, coupled with the differing grant
programs, it is really ripe for wasting Federal funds, rather
than focusing on the truly unserved parts of America. So this
is going to be kind of a quick question, as the chairman
requested.
This is yes or no. Do you agree that the FCC's RDOF program
is on a path toward successfully narrowing the digital divide
thus far?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes.
Mr. Joyce. The second question--again, we are going to make
it quick, yes or no--do you agree that the NTIA should follow a
similar structure, and not impose open access requirements or
price regulations and requirements on recipients of their BEAD
grant program?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I believe those questions are up to them
and whatever authority you ultimately provided to them in the
infrastructure bill.
Mr. Joyce. I do not support the NTIA imposing open access
or price regulation as a condition for grant funding. I think
that opens it up to so many areas of disqualification.
Now, changing subjects, it is clear that the American
consumers rely heavily on wireless. And we see it. We see it in
the use of mobile phones, Wi-Fi and, increasingly, connected
devices like thermostats and even door locks. With this demand
for wireless services, how are each of you looking at the need
for a spectrum strategy that includes a balance of license and
unlicensed spectrum?
And first I will ask Commissioner Carr.
Mr. Carr. Well, thank you. This is--a year ago I put
forward a spectrum calendar with listed bands. I thought it
would get done that year, this year, and next year. For
instance, in that I included 3 to 4, 5 gigahertz, which we have
done; 2.5 gigahertz, which hopefully we are doing soon; 6
gigahertz--I think we could look to authorize very low power
devices, as well as client-to-client device communications. We
can seek comment on increasing power in 3.5 CBRS, and we could
take a look at UNII2c and on licensed band and looking at
whether we can make that more usable. And there are some
additional bands for this year and beyond that I have also
listed that I think will help keep us on track.
Mr. Joyce. Chairwoman Rosenworcel, from your new perch, how
do you address this?
Ms. Rosenworcel. We are going to have to work with you in
Congress to make sure we identify more spectrum that we can
make available for both licensed and unlicensed purposes.
The truth is that many of the Federal actors that have
allocations today are not eager to give it up. And we are going
to need to work with Congress to make sure that their
allocations are efficient, and when they have airwaves that
they can make available for commercial auction or new
unlicensed use, they do so.
Mr. Joyce. And we look forward to working with you in those
regards.
Commissioner Simington, would you please address this?
Mr. Simington. Absolutely. Everything that has been said so
far is correct. We need to continue bringing licensed spectrum
to market.
Part of the obstacle in the background of everyone's
thinking about the question of bringing licensed spectrum to
market is the conflict that inevitably arises. And so we need
tools to diffuse those conflicts in advance, which is where I
think we are trying to go with the receiver NOI.
As far as unlicensed uses, I would also note that some
unlicensed uses have proven to be so encumbered that only a
small portion of the actual unlicensed spectrum that is
allocated is actually supported by vendors. And I would be
happy to support that with examples in----
Mr. Doyle. The gentleman's time has expired. Thank you.
Is Mrs. Trahan still looking to ask questions?
Mrs. Trahan. I would love to, if there is time, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Doyle. OK. You have got 5 minutes, and we have got 1
minute and 12 seconds until the vote is over. So go for it.
Mrs. Trahan. Well, thank you, thank you, Chairman Doyle,
Ranking Member Latta, for allowing me to waive on today to
discuss a crucial agency.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill included 65 billion to
ensure that every American has access to high-speed internet,
and Massachusetts is slated to receive no less than 100 million
to help provide broadband coverage to 137,000 people who
currently lack it.
The legislation also created the new Affordable
Connectivity Program, the long-term iteration of the Emergency
Broadband Benefit. And according to recent data, over 161,000
Massachusetts residents have enrolled in the program already.
Congress created the Emergency Connectivity Fund in the
American Rescue Plan that funds devices and internet service to
students and teachers and library patrons, and schools and
libraries in my district in Massachusetts have received about
seven-and-a-half million dollars from this fund.
So I just want to thank you all for your leadership on this
important program. Each of these investments is critical to
ensuring that no family ever has to sit in a fast food parking
lot to get online again.
But the infrastructure law also included a broadband
nutrition label provision spearheaded by my colleague,
Congresswoman Craig, and dedicated public interest groups. And
this provision is vital in helping my constituents understand
their broadband service speeds, costs, and network management
in simple, clear terms. It is a great idea, but the label won't
work if people can't see it. ISPs are very good at hiding fees
in the fine print, and so we need to make sure they don't hide
this new label.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel, it is, first of all, great to see
you again. I know the Commission is still working to finalize
those rules, but I think it is critical that these labels be
displayed in a number of places most often seen by consumers,
including their monthly bills. Can you just talk briefly about
why this kind of transparency is so important for consumers,
and also for competition?
Ms. Rosenworcel. Yes, I agree. Look, you go into the
grocery store, you pull boxes of cereal off the shelf, you can
compare calories and carbohydrates really easily, because they
have the same nutrition label. That is what we are going for
here. All of us know that so many of the details get buried in
the fine print. We want to make it easy for people to compare
service and make good choices for their families. The goal is
to make these labels mandatory, so that consumers can come to
expect them any time they choose to sign up for or purchase
broadband service.
Mrs. Trahan. I couldn't agree more. I have been advocating
for similar measures from tech platforms for terms of service
labeling. It is clear to me that enforcement is very important
with this kind of transparency.
For example, this committee has worked to ensure the FDA
nutrition label, as you mentioned, is accurate for over 30
years. And with the new broadband label, consumers are going to
need an easy way to report problems, and the FCC should be
prepared to investigate.
Do you have thoughts on how the FCC can enforce the label
requirement?
Ms. Rosenworcel. I think it will provide us with an
additional tool. If a consumer signs up for service and the
label says that they get a minimum speed, and they don't get
that minimum speed, and we start hearing from lots of consumers
about that, we are going to have an opportunity to enforce and
take action against them, and hold them to their word. So it
provides an additional route for enforcement activity going
forward.
Mrs. Trahan. Great.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate you allowing--squeezing me in at
the tail end, and I yield back.
Mr. Doyle. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair requests
unanimous consent to enter the following records and other
information into the record: a letter from Leadership
Conference on Civil and Human Rights; a document from former
FCC Chair Michael O'Reilly; an op ed from Congressman Crowley;
an op ed from Neil Freed; a letter from 11 organizations on the
5.9 gigahertz band; a letter from U.S. Chamber of Commerce; a
letter to former FCC Chairman Genachowski; and a letter to Hon.
Gina Raimondo.
Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Doyle. I want to thank our witnesses for their
participation today.
I remind members that, pursuant to committee rules, they
have ten business days to submit additional questions for the
record to be answered by the witnesses who have appeared. I ask
the witnesses to respond promptly to any such questions you may
receive.
At this time, the committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:49 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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