Love was definitely in the air at DC’s Media Institute luncheon that fell on Valentine’s Day. House Commerce chmn Greg Walden (R-OR) started his speech to the crowd by saying “it’s great to call Ajit Pai chairman of the FCC.” He then praised Pai’s recent moves to launch a pilot program to increase agency transparency and other steps to update FCC process. Pai, along with several FCC and Hill staff, attended the event. Walden used his appearance to outline 2017 priorities, including a legislative fix to Title II net neutrality rules passed under previous chmn Tom Wheeler. He’s still seeking to work with Democrats on a Title II compromise (a Title II repeal could also come under Pai). Also on Walden’s to-do list: Reauthorization of the FCC and NTIA, FCC process reform, broadband buildout in rural America, cybersecurity, and of course, a telecom rewrite. Interestingly, Walden said he is looking at a rewrite of the Communications Act through several bills, rather than full-scale legislation that seeks to address everything. Walden, through the House Communications Subcmte he previously chaired, has been working on the rewrite for a few years.
The new piecemeal approach is largely in line with Walden’s Senate counterpart John Thune’srecent comments. Thune (R-SD) said in January that he plans to adjust key parts of the Act step-by-step. Walden said “you will see work moving forward on Comm Act rewrite.” The monthly Media Institute gatherings draw execs and lawyers from a host of media companies, with reps from AT&T, Verizon, Viacom, Disney, Comcast, Charter and Cox spotted at Tuesday’s affair. Walden said he is working with the Trump administration to include broadband buildout in a potential infrastructure package. “I hope there will be energy and telecom pieces” in the infrastructure package discussion, he said. He’s also communicated with the administration about the two vacancies on the 5-member Commission following the departures of Wheeler and Democrat commish Jessica Rosenworcel. Pai’s term expires at the end of the year so he will also have to be re-nominated and confirmed. All these things “need to happen sooner than later,” Walden said. The House Commerce chair expects his committee to move quickly to reauthorize the FCC and the NTIA, saying actions on this front could impact the FCC’s already approved broadband privacy rules, among other things. The rapid expansion of Internet of Things services and the associated security risks have caught many lawmakers’ attention. In November, the House Communications Subcmte and Commerce Subcmte held a joint hearing in Nov to understand the role of IoT devices. In addition, House Democrats asked FTC to step in to encourage device makers to implement IoT security measures. Walden called hacking and security breaches the biggest threat to the expansion of IoT business and the risk is getting bigger as cyberattacks continue to increase in magnitude. “The government can give the right tools” to defend network infrastructure against cyber threats, he said.
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