Lawmakers Urge Reauthorization, Modernization of Federal Broadband Programs

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., urged the White House to support reauthorization of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, in comments posted Friday on the Broadband Opportunity Council’s (BBOC) request for comment on broadband availability and deployment issues. A group of House Democrats led by House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a separate filing to “modernize” regulations for the Rural Utility Service’s Telecom Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee program to “better facilitate high-speed rural broadband deployment.” BBOC, which the White House created March 23 to spur broadband investment and adoption (see 1503230064), sought comment on ways the federal government can modernize “outdated regulations,” identify regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and promote broadband adoption.

BTOP reauthorization and strengthening the RUS program would aid in encouraging investment and adoption of broadband, Klobuchar said. An NTIA-released study showed the BTOP grants are projected to increase economic output by as much as $21 billion annually, she noted. BBOC also sought input on state, local and tribal broadband-related issues and rural broadband issues.

Modernizing regulations for the RUS Telecom Infrastructure loans program “would better facilitate broadband development and encourage qualified borrowers to take advantage of this important program,” the group of House Democrats said in their filing. They sought an update of the loans program’s definitions of “reasonably adequate service” and asked USDA to “ensure a broad stream of applicants is able to seek loan support.” The loan program’s current definitions of “reasonably adequate service” as being at least 1 Mbps may “hamper USDA’s ability to implement modern connection standards,” the House Democrats said.

AT&T urged BBOC and its member federal agencies to “take steps to coordinate and streamline the processes for applying and obtaining approval for siting wireless infrastructure” on federal property, including expediting General Services Administration development of common forms and processes for deploying broadband facilities on federal and tribal lands. The Department of Defense and other federal agencies should also adopt a common set of procedures and fee schedules for broadband deployment, AT&T said. BBOC should adopt best practices for communities to use in attracting broadband deployment, AT&T said, saying Raleigh and five other North Carolina municipalities eased regulatory barriers to attract the telco to deploy gigabit fiber service in the municipalities and at four area universities that participated in the North Carolina Next Generation Network. Federal agencies should also take steps to “prepare themselves” for the IP transition and retire their incumbent copper networks, which would make them a “positive force for driving network modernization,” AT&T said.

CenturyLink and other private sector stakeholders urged federal agencies to streamline permitting processes for broadband deployment on federal lands. CenturyLink asked agencies to avoid “policies or decisions that fund or enable overbuilding of existing fixed broadband services.” Federal agencies should “initially target support to areas that are currently without broadband service, and focus support in these areas so as to encourage broadband deployment in a fiscally responsible manner,” CenturyLink said. The Treasury Department should work with federal agencies to develop a set of guidelines to allow tax policies to support broadband deployment, as it did with the BTOP program by allowing those funds to be excluded from a corporation’s gross income in tax filings, CenturyLink said.

USTelecom urged the Department of Transportation to preserve the Federal Highway Administration’s general waiver of Buy America requirements on manufactured products, which aids broadband deployment by waiving the requirement for non-steel and iron materials commonly used in utility relocation. USTelecom urged the Department of Housing and Urban Development to encourage broadband deployment in affordable housing units by identifying ways that broadband providers can have “reasonable access” to those housing units since building owners “routinely” deny access or charge “exorbitant fees.”

ITTA said the BBOC should encourage state and local governments to adopt a statewide franchising process or reduce local government barriers to deployment since the local franchising process can often be “so burdensome that competitors often choose not to offer [IPTV] services in that community.” ITTA also urged the White House and BBOC to “use their influence to call for reform” of the 1992 Cable Act’s retrans consent provisions since recent spikes in retrans fees “are hindering competition in the video distribution market.” The association said rural communities typically “suffer more” under the retrans fee structure because most are outside a broadcaster’s tower range to receive free over-the-air signals.

The National League of Cities (NLC) was among a bevy of state- and local-focused entities that urged BBOC to work with them to promote localized broadband deployment as the FCC and NTIA did. “Our associations should be invited to participate in federal-level workshops and seminars” to discuss how states and localities have successfully increased broadband adoption and deployment, the NLC said. NARUC submitted its 2013 federalism task force report. It urged the continued use of federal-state joint boards on communications policy recommendations but called for states to continue to have primary responsibility for ensuring service reliability and consumer protection (see report in the Aug. 28, 2013, issue).

NTCA said the BBOC should coordinate efforts with the FCC because of its role in administering the USF high-cost program. The BBOC’s goals for rural broadband deployment “simply cannot be realized without frequent and effective interagency coordination,” NTCA said. FCC programs like the high-cost program must be “viewed as the foundation for any efforts focused on any rural areas,” NTCA said. Along with coordinating with the FCC, BBOC can also consider the “implications of changes in federal agency policies that affect the High Cost Program and also changes in the High Cost Program that affect other federal initiatives,” NTCA said. “Such coordination is necessary to ensure that individual agency initiatives work hand-in-hand as part of a holistic federal policy aimed at promoting ‘broadband opportunities’ rather than at cross purposes with one another in a manner that undermines the success of both -- to the detriment of broadband opportunities and the consumers who need them.”