Jeb Bush promised to roll back the FCC net neutrality order if elected president. Bush, a Republican and former Florida governor who is a known opponent to net neutrality, released a series of proposals on his campaign website this week and included net neutrality in his section titled “regulatory reform.” Bush argued that regulations are “choking” the U.S. economy. “Last we will repeal or reform the most onerous Obama rules and regulations,” starting with net neutrality among other issues, the campaign website said. “Together, we will role [sic] back the surging tide of regulations that have overtaken us the last 6 and a half years.” Bush elaborates on net neutrality in another section on his desired regulatory overhaul: “The [FCC]’s Net Neutrality rule classifies all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as ‘public utilities,’ subjecting them to antiquated ‘common carrier’ regulation,” the Bush campaign said. “Rather than enhancing consumer welfare, these rules prohibit one group of companies (ISPs) from charging another group of companies (content companies) the full cost for using their services. Small broadband operators -- like KWISP (475 customers in rural Illinois) and Wisper ISP (8,000 customers near St. Louis, Mo) -- have declared under penalty of perjury that the Net Neutrality rule has caused them to cut back on investments to upgrade and expand their networks.” “Unfortunately, Governor Bush is siding with the phone and cable lobby against the public,” Free Press President Craig Aaron said in a statement. “His opposition to Net Neutrality is misguided, and he gets the facts wrong. In reality, the rules are working. Broadband providers and Internet content companies alike are investing, and consumers can rest easy knowing that their rights to connect and communicate are protected.” Bush has received donations from significant industry players in the telecom space so far this year, including NAB CEO Gordon Smith, then-DirecTV CEO Michael White and Richard Wiley, the former FCC chairman heading Wiley Rein’s communications practice (see 1507210050).

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly extolled the virtues of economic freedom in a Monday speech to the Prosperity Caucus, according to prepared remarks posted Tuesday. He said both consumers and businesses should be free to buy and sell, without needing government permission, and with minimal restrictions. "Although these days it may seem as though profit is ... being treated as a bad word, know that for me I see profit, not as harmful, but as a shorthand for employer, dividend payer, taxpayer, community participant and many other things," he said. O'Rielly said the FCC shouldn't advocate for localities entering the market by competing directly with companies. In considering FCC actions, he said he has basic principles aimed at ensuring the commission: has statutory authority, has adequate evidence of market failure, carefully crafts tailored regulations and finds the regulatory benefits outweigh the burdens. He criticized the current FCC for not paying more attention to cost-benefit analysis. "The lack of thoughtful cost-benefit analysis will have even greater impact as the Commission expands the boundaries of its mission," he said, citing its net neutrality order. He asked for help from audience members in critiquing the agency's actions using such analysis, saying the commission's public record in proceedings was often "abysmal." He also voiced concern about the "dearth of economists" at the agency.

More than 80 percent of households in developed countries have Internet access, while nearly 35 percent of households in developing countries are connected, a United Nations Broadband Commission global broadband report found. It said that 57 percent of the world's population can't access the Internet, although the total number of connected individuals rose from 2.9 billion in 2014 to 3.2 billion this year. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region account for half of all active mobile broadband subscriptions, the Broadband Commission said, and Iceland leads all countries with the highest percentage of individuals using the Internet. The growth of mobile broadband usage in the Asia-Pacific region is "squeezing" other world regions in terms of global mobile broadband market share, the commission said. It said that from the end of 2014 until now, Europe and the Americas "saw declining proportional shares of mobile broadband subscriptions." The commission referred to 2014 as the likely tipping point at which growth in 3G slowed and 4G services accelerated. While Internet penetration is approaching saturation in the developed world, the report said, the U.N. commission's target of 60 percent of the global population online is unlikely to be achieved before 2021.

The FCC should refrain from approving Globalstar’s use of the 2.4 GHz band to deploy a private Wi-Fi channel until hard questions are answered about how the satellite operator will protect broadband radio service and educational broadband service deployments in the spectrum from interference, said the Wireless Communications Association in a letter posted Monday in docket 13-213. WCA noted it has long raised objections. Meanwhile, Globalstar representatives met with FCC officials, including Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman, to discuss recent tests of its terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) in a school. Aggregate throughput for Wi-Fi users there increased by more than 90 percent, Globalstar said. “The benefits of TLPS will be particularly important in America’s schools and libraries, high-density environments with substantial wireless broadband usage that will only increase over time,” Globalstar said in the same docket.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said some net neutrality order critics were "Chicken Littles" for arguing broadband reclassification would end broadband investment. "Our experience of the last seven months is consistent with the experience" of rural carriers that had advocated to classify broadband under Title II of the Communications Act -- "the virtuous cycle of innovation is alive and well," he said Monday in prepared remarks to the NTCA fall conference in Boston. "We've seen significant private sector investment in broadband networks throughout the nation, and not just in the most densely populated cities in the country. Private industry -- including those of you in this room -- continues to invest billions of dollars to expand America’s broadband. Both fixed and mobile providers continue to improve broadband speeds, and current and new entrants to the market are investing and expanding broadband availability to many Americans with speeds in some locations exceeding 1 gigabit per second." Commissioner Ajit Pai and other Title II critics say the order discouraged broadband investment (see 1509090056).

Consumer groups and others seek 14 more days for replies on issues being addressed in the FCC Lifeline NPRM. So said a filing from the California Emerging Technology Fund, Center for Accessible Technology, Consumer Action, Greenlining Institute, Media Alliance, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, National Consumer Law Center and Public Knowledge posted in docket 11-42 Friday. They previously filed for an extension, of which the FCC granted half (see 1509160069), and now want until Oct. 14 to file replies. Because of the complex nature of the issues being addressed, the organizations said the extension would let the replies be more focused and provide the FCC with better information.

Northstar and SNR, the designated entities Dish Network used to bid in the AWS-3 auction, filed notices of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, challenging an August decision by the FCC denying them the use of bidding credits to buy the spectrum, industry lawyers said Friday. That decision means the two would have to pay an additional $3.3 billion for the spectrum, bringing the total payment to $13.3 billion. Industry observers have predicted a legal challenge was likely, given the amount of money involved (see 1507240048). The SNR petition for review is said to argue that the FCC order is “arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion,” violates SNR’s rights to due process and “contravenes” the Communications Act and other U.S. law.

Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and others plan to back the agency's net neutrality order in court. Hundt will be joined by other former commissioners and current communications scholars in defending the commission's order on First Amendment grounds, said a notice submitted Wednesday of their intent to file an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is reviewing the case (USTelecom v. FCC, No. 15-1063). The notice said the brief would respond to arguments raised by certain petitioners and other amici that the FCC violated free-speech rights in its order, which also reclassified broadband as a telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act. It also said their brief wouldn't likely be duplicated by other amicus briefs.

The FCC so misrepresents how the Internet works in its response to legal challenges that its net neutrality order should be tossed out of court, said network/Wi-Fi innovator Richard Bennett, in a lengthy blog post Thursday. The FCC reply brief, filed with the Department of Justice (see 1509150052), "completely misrepresents the nature of the DNS [domain name system] and its role in the Internet," said Bennett, a High Tech Forum founder who filed an amicus brief supporting petitioners challenging the order (see 1508070058). "The brief shows that the order’s misclassification of Internet service is based on a fundamentally incorrect assessment of the facts. As a result, the FCC’s request for the Court’s deference on the basis of its expert status fails. The Court must therefore vacate the FCC’s order." Bennett said the order had numerous legal problems, but his concern was with commission assertions about the nature of the Internet's DNS, which he said contradicted one another and are "riddled with false analysis."

The FCC gave the two Dish-affiliated designated entities two more weeks to Oct. 1 to submit an additional payment or the irrevocable, standby letter of credit (LOC) for the spectrum they bought in the AWS-3 auction. Thursday was the original deadline. The FCC last month denied bidding credits for SNR and Northstar and ordered them to pay an additional $3.3 billion for the spectrum, bringing the tally to $13.3 billion (see 1508180062). Dish was the second highest bidder, after AT&T, in the record-setting AWS-3 auction. The DEs sought the time extension, saying the order “gives rise to new and complex business issues that Applicants must resolve before they can meet the payment or LOC requirements.” The FCC disagreed. Nonetheless “we appreciate that the Applicants may need additional time to resolve certain matters given the unprecedented size and complexity of their financial arrangements and contractual obligations with DISH,” the FCC said Thursday. If the two DEs offer LOCs instead of payment, the due date for writing a check to the government remains Dec. 16, the FCC said.