All That’s Old Is New Again

All that’s old is new again at the Commission’s May open meeting. Our agenda will feature many long-standing Commission priorities -- public safety, universal service, process reform – and build on a foundation of recent reforms to three key Commission programs.

1) I am circulating an item that would refine our network outage reporting requirements and propose common-sense updates to keep pace with technological change. This proposal would initiate a dialogue and seek comment on ways to keep our reporting requirements current, whether for outages to emergency or non-emergency communications, so that we can continue to collectively safeguard the networks that American consumers and businesses rely upon.

2) Building on the Commission’s experience with its Rural Broadband Experiments program, I’m proposing new rules that would allocate over $2 billion over the next decade in Connect America Fund support for rural broadband through competitive bidding. The Order I’m proposing to the Commission would set robust yet flexible standards for broadband deployment, recognizing the diverse challenges inherent in deploying broadband in rural America. It would also target support where it’s most needed on the local level, ensure accountability, and safeguard against waste, fraud, and abuse. Ultimately, we hope the power of competitive bidding will spark robust broadband deployment and service offerings across rural America in the most cost-efficient way possible.

3) I circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to eliminate two outdated public file requirements: one regarding the retention of copies of letters and emails from the public and another requiring cable operators to publicly disclose the location of their control center for receiving and processing television signals. These recommendations are consistent with our agency-wide process reform initiative to review all Commission regulations and update or repeal outdated and unnecessary rules.