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March 2017

Remarks Of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai "Bringing The Benefits Of The Digital Age To All Americans"

I’d like to outline some of my guiding principles as Chairman, and then discuss some specific proposals we will pursue.
1) Importance of Digital Empowerment: High-speed Internet access, or broadband, is giving rise to what I have called the democratization of entrepreneurship.
2) The Need for Ubiquitous Internet access: As Chairman, I plan to focus more time and attention than the Federal Communications Commission traditionally has on places where people feel left behind—places that Washington too often looks past.
3) The Power of Competitive Free Markets: The public interest is best served when the private sector has the incentives and freedom to invest and create. That’s why we must eliminate unnecessary barriers to investment that could stifle new discoveries and services. In particular, the government should aim to minimize regulatory uncertainty, which can deter long-term investment decisions.
4) Light-touch Regulation: I believe that a healthy respect for the free market doesn’t mean that government has no role. For example, the FCC must protect consumers and promote public safety. And it will be critical for the agency to be proactive in freeing up more wireless spectrum to allow consumers to benefit from the next generation of wireless services, known as 5G.

Let me turn to how we plan to translate these principles into policies to promote infrastructure and innovation. In the digital age, I believe our wired and wireless broadband networks are core components of our nation’s infrastructure. That’s why my position is clear: If Congress moves forward with a major infrastructure package, broadband should be included. Now, that raises the important question of how those investments should be made. And on this topic, I have a couple of ideas:
1) Any direct funding for broadband infrastructure appropriated by Congress as part of a larger infrastructure package should be administered through the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) and targeted to areas that lack high-speed Internet access.
2) Congress should include in the infrastructure bill my proposal for creating Gigabit Opportunity Zones.

Better together: Broadband deployment and broadband competition

Who has access to broadband in America, and who reaps the benefits of broadband competition? Data from a recent Federal Communications Commission study provides insights into both important questions.

First, the importance of access. For the very first time, the FCC concluded in 2015 that the disparity between urban and rural access to broadband provided the basis for direct agency action. Time has proven that conclusion right – and increasingly important. As my colleague Nicol Turner-Lee recognized immediately after the 2016 election, the Americans who lack access to broadband services – more rural, more middle income, less likely to have attended college – are the same ones who voted for change in economic policies.

Second, the question of marketplace competition is important as well. It can be tempting to accept the view that, in an environment of scarce government resources and competing interests, merely ensuring broadband access from a single provider is enough – especially as an improvement on a status quo with little or no access at all. History tells a cautionary tale, though. In 1913, the U.S. Department of Justice settled an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T by essentially accepting AT&T’s monopoly in exchange for the build-out of the nation’s telephone system. AT&T worked hard to uphold its end of the bargain, but it was decades before competitive markets were free to serve consumers, stimulate innovation, and avoid unnecessary regulation. In other words, as a nation, we should embrace both expanded broadband deployment and expanded broadband competition. Without competition, the pressure from consumers for better and cheaper broadband will naturally ease, and rural America could fall even further behind.

House Intel Chairman: 'We don't have any evidence' that President Trump was wiretapped

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) said that his panel has not received any evidence that President Donald Trump was wiretapped during the election campaign. "As I told you last week about the issue with the president talking about tapping Trump Tower, that evidence still remains the same, that we don't have any evidence that that took place," Chairman Nunes said. "In fact, I don't believe just in the last week of time, the people we've talked to, I don't think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower." It is not the first time Chairman Nunes has stated that there is no evidence to suggest Trump was wiretapped.

Facebook’s Town Hall feature helps you find and contact your local government officials

Facebook's mobile app has added Town Hall to help you find your local government representatives on local, federal, and state levels. The feature fits in with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s manifesto published in Feb, where he called for a focus on using Facebook to build a more civically engaged community.

With Town Hall, you can enter your address to locate the government officials that represent your district. Facebook says it won’t share your address, though it doesn’t specify whether this information is saved. Town Hall does manage to identify officials down to your local council member. Once your results are populated, you can use the list to follow the representatives’ Facebook pages or contact them by calling, emailing, or messaging. The effort here is nice for those who want to use Facebook as a social venue for encouraging civic engagement. But relying solely on what data these officials have provided on Facebook prevents it from being genuinely helpful.

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