MARKEY HOLDS HEARING ON BROADBAND ACCESS
[SOURCE: Congressman Ed Markey]
Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, chaired a hearing
this morning to discuss draft legislation regarding broadband mapping and data
collection. The legislation seeks to address the lack of accurate information
about the nature and extent of broadband service across America in order to
pave the way for the development and implementation of a comprehensive national
broadband strategy. In his remarks he said: "I believe at this point there is
growing consensus if not unanimity -- around the fact that current data
collection methods used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are
inadequate and highly flawed. Currently, the FCC counts a single broadband
subscriber in a 5-digit zip code as indicating the entire zip code has
broadband availability, even if the sole subscriber is a business and not a
residential consumer. This can lead to highly inaccurate and overly generous
notions of actual broadband availability and use, particularly in rural areas
where zip codes are quite large. In addition, the Telecommunications Act
compels the FCC to assess the nationwide availability of advanced
telecommunications capability, which Congress defined as having high-speed
capability. The FCC implemented this provision and defined high speed in 1999
as meaning 200 kilobits per second. The problem is that the FCC has not kept
pace with the times or technology. Simply put, in 2007 terms, 200 kilobits per
second is not high speed. The bill proposes increasing this ten-fold to 2
Megabits per second."
http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2845&Itemid=141
* FCC Out of Touch with Broadband Reality
Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott told Congress that the Federal
Communications Commission has failed to uphold its obligation to effectively
collect data on broadband deployment across the United States. "We cannot
evaluate problems that we don't measure or study -- much less can we solve
them," Scott said. "The bill under discussion would represent a leap forward in
our knowledge about broadband markets and inevitably improve broadband policy."
The hearing coincides with the filing deadline for an FCC Notice of Inquiry
(NOI) seeking input on whether high-speed broadband is being made available to
all Americans. Free Press, Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America
filed comments outlining the FCC's failure to address the current deficiencies
of the broadband market, and urging the Commission to develop and implement a
comprehensive broadband policy.
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=236
* Scott testimony: http://www.freepress.net/docs/scott_testimony_5-17.pdf
* FCC filing:
http://www.freepress.net/docs/cu_cfa_free_press_706_noi_comment.pdf
* McSlarrow Advises Caution On Legislating 'High-Speed' Definition
National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Kyle McSlarrow told
legislators Thursday that while he supports a draft bill requiring better data
collection on the rollout of broadband, he doesn't buy the "sky is falling"
scenario driving some backing the bill. McSlarrow said that speeds are
increasing, prices falling, and that the industry is developing a new cable
modem service with speeds exceeding 100 megabits per second. McSlarrow agreed
that the FCC's definition of high-speed access, which includes 200 kilobits as
high speed, has been outstripped by technology, but added the cautionary note
that the government should be careful of legislating another definition of
high-speed for the same reason given the pace of change, saying that "what
makes sense today may look strange a couple of years from now."
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6443784.html?rssid=193
* Broadband mapping is trojan horse for Big Govt. net regulation
[Commentary] Calls by House Telecom Chairman Ed Markey and other Big Government
proponents for better "broadband mapping" is simply a "trojan horse" for
regulating the Internet. and more government intervention in the marketplace.
http://www.precursorblog.com/node/399
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