Press Release
Free Press Testifies at House Hearing on Need for Broadband Data
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner urged members of Congress to make sure that the Federal Communications Commission’s implementation of the National Broadband Plan includes gathering thorough and accurate data on broadband availability.
Turner commended the FCC for modernizing the Universal Service Fund to increase access to broadband services, but added, “The transition plan still leaves in place many of the more problematic aspects of the existing subsidy system, including the lack of a process of determination of where subsidies are actually needed in order to keep rates and service quality [in rural areas] reasonably comparable to rates and quality in urban areas.”
Turner also criticized the FCC’s assessment of the state of broadband deployment. He said the National Broadband Plan overstates the availability of high-quality broadband services, noting that the Plan’s quantification of availability is based on questionable assumptions and fails to make determinations about where services are actually offered.
Finally, Turner testified on the Commission’s authority to act in the broadband arena in the wake of the Comcast v. FCC decision. Turner said, “Reclassification would simply restore the framework that Congress adopted for all two-way communications networks in 1996, a framework that today still applies to all of the high-capacity data lines in the very competitive business broadband market. Reclassification, followed by Section 10-based forbearance, will preserve the status quo deregulatory approach, but will put the Commission’s plans for universal service and consumer protection back on proper legal ground. Reclassification will simply bring the Commission’s rules back into harmony with the law, and is justified by the current realities that make the original 2002 decision inappropriate for today’s broadband marketplace.”
For a copy of S. Derek Turner's written testimony go to: http://www.freepress.net/files/Turner_April_21_2010_NBP_House_Testimony.pdf
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Learn more at www.freepress.net
Turner commended the FCC for modernizing the Universal Service Fund to increase access to broadband services, but added, “The transition plan still leaves in place many of the more problematic aspects of the existing subsidy system, including the lack of a process of determination of where subsidies are actually needed in order to keep rates and service quality [in rural areas] reasonably comparable to rates and quality in urban areas.”
Turner also criticized the FCC’s assessment of the state of broadband deployment. He said the National Broadband Plan overstates the availability of high-quality broadband services, noting that the Plan’s quantification of availability is based on questionable assumptions and fails to make determinations about where services are actually offered.
Finally, Turner testified on the Commission’s authority to act in the broadband arena in the wake of the Comcast v. FCC decision. Turner said, “Reclassification would simply restore the framework that Congress adopted for all two-way communications networks in 1996, a framework that today still applies to all of the high-capacity data lines in the very competitive business broadband market. Reclassification, followed by Section 10-based forbearance, will preserve the status quo deregulatory approach, but will put the Commission’s plans for universal service and consumer protection back on proper legal ground. Reclassification will simply bring the Commission’s rules back into harmony with the law, and is justified by the current realities that make the original 2002 decision inappropriate for today’s broadband marketplace.”
For a copy of S. Derek Turner's written testimony go to: http://www.freepress.net/files/Turner_April_21_2010_NBP_House_Testimony.pdf
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, and universal access to communications. Learn more at www.freepress.net
