Today: US House Broadband Legislation, FCC Draft Broadband Deployment Report

US House Releases Additional Broadband Legislation

House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced a third series of bills introduced by #SubCommTech members aimed at expanding broadband infrastructure in rural America.  The bills aim to advance broadband deployment in disaster areas, as well as support innovation and remove obstacles to expansion. 

• H.R. 4832, The Restoring Economic Strength and Telecommunications Operations by Releasing Expected Dollars (RESTORED) Act, sponsored by Representative Kevin Cramer (R-ND), would permit companies eligible for funds under the Universal Service Fund’s High-Cost program to elect up to a 7-month advance payment of such funds to aid in the restoration of services in Presidentially-declared disaster areas.
• H.R. 4845, the Connecting Communities Post Disasters Act, sponsored by Representative Pete Olson (R-TX), would provide a 5-year categorical exclusion from environmental and historical reviews for communications facilities in Presidentially-declared disaster areas to aid the replacement and improvements to such facilities. 
• H.R. 4842, The Streamlining Permitting to Enable Efficient Deployment of Broadband Infrastructure, sponsored by Representative John Shimkus (R-IL), would exempt broadband facilities from environmental and historic preservation reviews if:
• they are on federal properties that have already granted an easement to another communications facility on the same property;
• they are in existing rights-of-way so long as the facilities meet certain parameters;
• the expansion of the broadband facility is no more than 30 feet in any direction.
• H.R. 4847, “Broadband Deployment Streamlining Act,” sponsored by Representative Susan Brooks (R-IN), would direct the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture to issue regulations within 1 year to streamline applications processes to locate or modify communications facilities on public lands.  It would also amend §6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act to institute a firm shot clock by which applications must be granted or denied.  An application is deemed granted if the agency fails to grant or deny within the allotted time.  The bill would also require the General Accounting Office to issue a report evaluating accuracy and reliability of data collected for the National Broadband Map. 
• H.R. 701, sponsored by Representative Bill Flores (R-TX), would express the sense of the House of Representatives that environmental and historic reviews of broadband facilities should be narrowly tailored and proportional to lands that are physically impacted by the deployment of such facilities.

FCC Draft Broadband Deployment Report

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced he had shared with his fellow commissioners the draft 2018 Broadband Deployment Report.  According to the Chairman, the draft report maintains the same benchmark speed for fixed broadband service previously adopted and concludes that mobile broadband service is not a full substitute for fixed service.  Instead, it notes there are differences between the two technologies, including clear variations in consumer preferences and demands.  He said: “The draft report indicates that the pace of both fixed and mobile broadband deployment declined dramatically in the two years following the prior Commission’s Title II Order.  However, the draft report also discussed how, over the course of the past year, the current Commission has taken steps to reduce barriers to infrastructure investment and promote competition in the broadband marketplace.  Taken together, these policies indicate that the current FCC is now meeting its statutory mandate to encourage the deployment of broadband on a reasonable and timely basis.”  Read the Fact Sheet here.

Responding to the release of draft, Commissioner Clyburn said, in part: “By the FCC’s own admission, over 24 million Americans are still without high-speed broadband access where they live…So how can this agency now claim that broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion?  Only by repeating the majority’s tired and debunked claims that broadband investment and innovation screeched to a halt in 2015.  While my initial review of Chairman Pai’s draft report raises serious concerns, I acknowledge that it addresses one of my concerns by now correctly concluding that mobile and fixed connectivity are not substitutes. I look forward to carefully reviewing the findings presented in the draft report

____________________________

The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.