Sneak peek at FCC agenda

March 10 is the deadline for announcing the tentative agenda for the Federal Communications Commission's March open meeting -- and officials are hinting there could be a number of big ticket items.

1. Many predict this month will bring a vote on whether to expand Lifeline subsidies. The subsidies currently provide funds for low-income Americans to obtain phone service, but a majority of FCC Commissioners want to expand that to Internet service as well. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was approved on the issue in 2015, and officials have said it is high on the priority list in 2016.
2. The commission also wants to begin the process of writing privacy regulations to protect personal information of consumers that is stored with Internet service providers, like Comcast and Verizon. Matthew DelNero, chief of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, said in a speech that the agency was looking to create rules governed by three principles: choice, transparency and data security. DelNero was quick to deny that the rules would apply to so-called edge providers -- companies like Google, Facebook and YouTube that provide services over the Internet but whose privacy practices are still under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).