Upton Pledges to end "Two-Year Assault" on Telecom

The next House Commerce Committee Chairman, Fred Upton (R-MI), has a history of involvement in telecom policy, including a long tenure on the Commerce Committee’s telecom subcommittee. Among other things, he has introduced legislation to enable telcos to obtain a nationwide cable franchise and to give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to implement and enforce a national Do-Not-Call registry.

In a recent statement, Rep Upton accused the Obama Administration of an “unfettered two-year assault” on the telecommunications sector (along with health and energy) and said that period “is now over.” Those comments may have been a reference to network neutrality, which has been widely opposed by communications carriers. But it is more difficult to read into his comments what he might be thinking about Universal Service reform. Perhaps Rep Upton would include reforms proposed in the National Broadband Plan in what he called the “assault on the telecommunications sector.” On the other hand, he has previously expressed concerns about the increasing costs of the Universal Service fund, which could make it unlikely for him to support expanding the Universal Service program to cover the higher broadband speeds as small telcos have advocated. In his statement, Rep Upton reiterated his desire to control costs, saying “We will stand firm in our fight to . . . cut reckless spending.”