Lawmakers Prep Bicameral Push on Stand-alone Broadband Fund

Lawmakers in both chambers are preparing a letter to the FCC to address one of NTCA’s USF priorities on stand-alone broadband, reviving a bicameral, bipartisan letter sent to the FCC last Congress. NTCA also received promises from two lawmakers Tuesday that they will take the group’s priorities to heart, with legislation if need be. Prominent topics included overhaul of the USF, call completion problems and net neutrality, a controversial and partisan item in Congress.

NTCA gathered nearly 500 members for a legislative summit mostly closed to the press and to lobby Congress in what a spokeswoman said was more than 200 scheduled meetings. NTCA has been circulating drafts among Hill offices of letters it intends to send to the FCC. A principal stand-alone broadband letter follows up on one that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sent last May.

“Yeah, I think we’re trying to get the same kind of approach that we did last time, see if we can get the FCC’s attention this time, and get them back on the issue,” Thune told us at the Capitol Tuesday, confirming that he and Klobuchar are leading the charge again. “Senator Klobuchar and a number of others of us who represent states where this is an issue want to see a solution.” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler seems to be “interested in fixing it,” Thune said. He and Klobuchar collected 42 senators’ signatures for their letter during the last Congress.

Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., a Communications Subcommittee member, leads a House companion letter and hopes to collect lawmakers’ signatures by May 1. Last Congress, then-Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., now a senator on the Commerce Committee, had led a House letter with 89 signatures.

The FCC is working with rate-of-return carriers on the issues, Wheeler said in an April 17 blog post, reaffirming his commitment to address them by year's end. "We took another important step as my staff, Commissioner [Mike] O’Rielly and his staff, Commissioner [Mignon] Clyburn’s staff, and staff from the Wireline Competition Bureau met with associations and others representing rate-of-return carriers to ask for their creative cooperation in getting this job done for rural consumers," Wheeler said.

"Chairman Wheeler has said the commission would work on this over the past couple of years but we have not seen any real action," Cramer told us, explaining his motivation. "My sense is he needs a little encouragement and that is the purpose of the letter. Should we take up the heavier lift of rewriting the [Communications] Act, fixing some of these simpler issues helps clear the deck for broader reforms."

The Thune/Klobuchar letter says “out-of-date rules tie high-cost USF cost recovery for small rural carriers to a consumer's actual purchase of voice service, even if the consumer no longer wants that service and only wants broadband service,” a draft said. The plain old telephone service (POTS) “requirement prevents rural consumers from making choices that are available to their urban counterparts. Ironically, these outdated rules may hurt lower-income rural consumers the most, possibly putting the price of broadband out of reach unless those consumers make the additional expenditures to buy POTS as well.”

“It is long past time to finish the job by updating USF for a marketplace that gives consumers a full set of choices between quality voice and broadband services,” a draft of Cramer’s House letter said. “Small rural carriers have worked hard to provide innovative services to some of the most difficult-to-serve parts of our country, only to see obsolete, anti-consumer rules put broadband out of the reach of some consumers by unnecessarily cutting support.” The Cramer letter said “long-term options” to revamp USF support “can and certainly should be explored as well, but not at the expense of an immediate, targeted solution to the issue highlighted in this and last year’s letters.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told NTCA that universal service overhaul is “much needed” and, as expected (see 1504200044), that he plans to hold Wheeler to a commitment to have a stand-alone fund for rate of return carriers before the end of the year. “It is obvious that the funding structure is outdated,” Manchin added of USF, pointing to the tripling of the contribution factor over the years. Manchin said he's working with other senators “on a path forward” to address the unsustainability of the fund, which now increasingly goes toward broadband access and adoption, he said. Manchin also criticized the skyrocketing costs of the Lifeline program and said he backs a spending cap.

Rep. David Young, R-Iowa, threatened legislation on call completion problems. “Dropped calls, I know they cause a lot of frustration, not just to your consumers but to you as well,” Young told NTCA in a speech at the group’s conference hotel. “The joke’s about over, I hope. We all know who is causing this. The FCC needs to not only set basic quality standards, they need to enforce them. … If the FCC cannot do this on their own, Congress needs to step in. ... We need to act on this.” Young has been familiar with call completion problems for years, dating back to his work as chief of staff for Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, he said. Young also said Rural Utilities Service loans “are working” and that “we need to maintain these loans.” NTCA members loudly applauded Young when he talked of Congress needing to “step up and do something on this,” referring to intercarrier compensation and USF overhaul. He plans to sign Cramer's letter. “Congress has sat idly by and let the FCC run really roughshod over telecom policy” and should “add some bite to its bark by truly making the FCC accountable,” Young said.

“This is not really about the FCC preventing bad behavior,” Young said of net neutrality. He's an Appropriations Committee member, one of seven Agriculture Subcommittee Republicans. Young emphasized the power of appropriations policy riders and Congress’ ability to “use the power of the purse to withhold funding.” He didn’t specifically threaten net neutrality but mentioned federal rules coming out “at a really alarming pace” and said that Congress needs to reassert its authority. “I believe Congress needs to have a role as well,” he said of net neutrality, “and hold the FCC’s hand to the fire. … The FCC should not treat the Internet like a utility.” He also alluded to the importance of the Congressional Review Act review process for major agency rules.

Net neutrality “continues to dominate” discussions, Manchin said in his speech. But he believes in a “middle ground” and hopes for “a bipartisan way” forward on the issue. Thune has pressed for legislation this Congress and said he wants to work with Democrats.

Manchin and Young both stressed cybersecurity. Manchin expects the Senate to take up the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-754) “sometime in the coming week” and suggested that the Data Security Act (S-961) from Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., will “be added to the cybersecurity bill when it hits the floor.”

“We’re talking about foreign governments, we’re talking about organized crime -- these are very real threats,” Young said of hacking. “The government needs to trust providers as a partner and part of the solution and not see folks as the problem, because you’re not the problem.” He warned against “the big hand of government” while emphasizing the importance of protecting personal security and private data.

“I do believe the FCC views these issues more and more through an urban lens,” Young said. “Your true rural advocacy is going to come from Congress.” NTCA members should ask lawmakers to hold the FCC accountable or “get off their rear ends and start moving legislation,” Young added. “Your voice is heard in my office.”