House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, jointly asked the GAO Wednesday to do a study on how the FCC’s broadcast TV incentive auction may affect low-power TV (LPTV) broadcasters and translators and their served communities, (http://1.usa.gov/1mR9L1V). Eshoo and Barton want to know the number of low-power stations that offer original programming or show local news and information, “especially those serving racial and ethnic minority communities”; “a projection of the number of such LPTV stations and TV translator stations that will be unable to locate to or operate on replacement channels after the auction”; and “a projection of the number of viewers that will lose over-the-air access to at least one such local LPTV station that provide[s] local news and information, especially to underserved communities of interest,” a Barton news release said. They asked for recommendations from GAO on the FCC and Congress “on ways to remedy adverse impacts ... .” Barton has circulated a draft bill that would protect such low-power entities, which Eshoo had voiced concerns about in a legislative hearing in late July.

The FCC is “actively working on initiatives” in line with recommendations in a GAO report on how the agency should improve the accountability and transparency of its high-cost program funding, Chairman Tom Wheeler told members of Congress from both chambers and parties in a Sept. 19 letter the agency released this week. The GAO report advised the agency to show “how high-cost funds are being used to improve broadband availability, service quality and capacity, and by conducting analyses of carrier data and publicly reporting this information annually in a granular and accessible manner,” Wheeler said (http://bit.ly/1ue8raJ). “We agree with the GAO’s findings and its recommendation,” he said, having “carefully reviewed” the report. “Specifically, based on the GAO’s recommendation, we are working to quantify where recipients have used high-cost funds to increase broadband deployment, penetration, and available speeds.”

American Commitment has gathered 2.4 million letters from constituents asking Capitol Hill lawmakers to stop what it says is the FCC attempt to “impose regulations on the Internet,” the free market-oriented group said in a news release Tuesday. “A Washington takeover of the Internet would be disastrous for free speech, commerce, and the future of the Internet as a sphere of innovation,” said American Commitment President Phil Kerpen in a statement. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., also issued a statement welcoming the letters as part of the net neutrality debate: “We have said all along that these rules continue to be a solution in search of a problem. We will continue working to get government out of the way in our effort to create jobs, boost the economy, and spur innovation.” The group had included a form letter at StopInternetRegulation.org, which said it would send a petition to the FCC as well as to the sender’s relevant member of Congress. “The unregulated Internet is probably the greatest success story of the century,” said the form letter, which does not explicitly mention net neutrality. “Tens of billions of private dollars pour into its networks every year, even in a bad economy. The only reason to change this is to appease a small left-wing political faction that is ideologically obsessed with government control over the economy.”

TVFreedom lambasted Congress for the different policies that have come up this year during the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization process. TVFreedom is a broadcaster coalition with NAB among its members. “Current Congressional efforts to regulate the video marketplace are unfortunately myopically focused on one faulty premise -- that TV blackouts have reached epidemic proportions due to retransmission consent disputes between broadcasters and pay-TV providers,” TVFreedom’s spokesman Robert Kenny wrote in a Monday op-ed for The Hill (http://bit.ly/1DSkWwN). He attacked the pay-TV industry in broad terms and backed two senators he views as pursuing these problems -- Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., for introducing an amendment to curb “gratuitous set-top box rental fees,” and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., for introducing an amendment on pay-TV billing practices and expected to hold a hearing on the issue. “Congress can reverse this trend of constant consumer abuse as it embarks on reforming the nation’s video marketplace,” said Kenny. “Let’s hope lawmakers see passed pay-TV’s ‘fat-cat’ lobbying tactics and take action to help lower consumers’ monthly cable and satellite TV bills that have risen at twice the rate of inflation for the past two decades.” Kenny attacked congressional provisions that would limit broadcaster joint retransmission consent negotiation as well as, without naming it directly, the broadcast a la carte proposal known as Local Choice, which was dropped from a Senate STELA reauthorization bill. Pay-TV companies have united to lobby against broadcasters on many of these issues through the coalition known as the American Television Alliance.

The Telecommunications Industry Association told Congress that telehealth should be a covered benefit. TIA had joined other groups, including the American Telemedicine Association, the App Association, Intel, Panasonic and Qualcomm, to submit a letter Friday to the House Commerce Committee on its 21st Century Cures initiative. “Congress has the responsibility to take necessary steps to help Americans realize the benefits of these solutions,” they said (http://bit.ly/1wREE73). “Congress should immediately address restrictions in Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act, which have resulted in arduous constraints on telehealth services, particularly via its geographic and originating site limitations. Restrictions in the law such as those in 1834(m) significantly limit patient access to new technologies, effectively discouraging providers from utilizing advanced [information and communication technology] ICT solutions in their practices and depriving millions of Americans the benefits of cutting-edge care available today.” They submitted other recommendations and said lawmakers should request a Congressional Budget Office study of “the costs and benefits associated with the expanded use of telehealth during 4Q 2014.”

NCTA fought back in defense of a Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (S-2799) provision that would repeal the set-top box integration ban. “Public Knowledge has been flooding inboxes calling on their network to take a stand on what they describe as an anti-consumer measure in must-pass video legislation,” said a Monday NCTA blog post (http://bit.ly/1rwikyj), referring to a recent PK campaign (CD Sept 26 p12). “A closer look shows that Public Knowledge is distorting the impact of this change in spite of the fact that these changes would benefit consumers. The integration ban is an outdated rule which forces cable operators -- and cable operators alone -- to include a separate piece of descrambling equipment known as a CableCARD in the set-top boxes they lease to customers, which adds costs, wastes energy and provides no benefit.” Public Knowledge “appears oblivious to this injustice, perhaps blinded by their seemingly endless desire to criticize the cable industry,” NCTA said. The House approved a similar provision in July. The battle over this STAVRA provision prevented the Senate from approving a Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act proposal earlier this month (CD Sept 22 p1).

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., worries the FCC “is relegating broadcasting to the past, rather than working to give broadcasters a chance to compete in the modern content marketplace,” he planned to tell the Oregon Association of Broadcasters Friday, according to prepared remarks. Walden enumerated multiple issues of concern around “a number of its actions,” pointing to the agency’s “ban on joint sales agreements, changes to the UHF discount, and a persistent delay in processing those petitions for allocation changes from VHF to UHF filed prior to the Middle Class Tax Relief Act,” all of which are “troubling,” he said. He insisted that broadcasters that do not wish to relinquish spectrum in the broadcast TV incentive auction should be allowed to make that choice. “I intend to ensure that the Commission properly implements the provisions of the Act to preserve a vibrant post-auction broadcast environment,” Walden said. “That includes ensuring that broadcasters who wish to remain broadcasters can do so; ensuring that the FCC makes all reasonable efforts to maintain coverage areas; ensuring that the FCC coordinates with Mexico and Canada; ensuring that the FCC does not unnecessarily impact LPTV and translators; and, ensuring that the FCC raises enough money to compensate stations that return spectrum, to reimburse those that relocate, and to fund FirstNet.” Walden criticized the laws governing broadcasting as particularly old, and slammed the broadcast media ownership rules, saying he plans to take aim at the rules in a planned overhaul of the Communications Act: “It is our intent that the #CommActUpdate take a hard look at the current state of the market and have a serious conversation on how we can remove unnecessary government intrusion into broadcasting and let broadcasters compete in the 21st century.” Walden criticized FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for “having taken it upon himself to unilaterally ‘reform’ industries without regard for the consequences to consumers, to jobs and the economy, or to the innovation that has been the hallmark of the American communications industry” and referred to the FCC’s “seeming disregard for transparency and process.” The commission declined to comment.

Public Knowledge kicked off a more formal campaign against the provision of the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act (S-2799) that would repeal the set-top box integration ban. The provision “would make it difficult for consumers to use devices like TiVo DVRs, which use CableCARDs to access video programming,” Public Knowledge said in a widely circulated email message Thursday. “No member of Congress should prioritize broadcast and cable company interests over the rights of the people using these services.” NCTA has strongly lobbied in favor of the integration ban repeal. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., had proposed and withdrew an amendment during the bill’s markup session last week that would have changed the integration ban provision. He blocked the Senate’s Sept. 18 attempt to pass by unanimous consent a Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act bill that included the STAVRA provisions, prompting backlash from Senate Commerce leaders of both parties (CD Sept 23 p1). That was the last day Congress was in session until mid-November, and STELA expires Dec. 31. Public Knowledge backs the Markey amendment and asked people to spread the following message on Twitter: “#STAVRA reauthorization must not hurt consumers, learn more: bit.ly/Yd6sGC @MarkeyMemo @publicknowledge.” The message links to a Sept. 17 blog post from senior staff attorney John Bergmayer blasting the STAVRA provision.

The House Commerce Committee received 50 responses to its white paper on USF policy, the committee revealed Thursday, posting all comments online (http://1.usa.gov/1lBg6gN). It had issued the white paper in August as part of the Communications Subcommittee initiative to overhaul the Communications Act, and responses were due Sept. 19. It was the fifth white paper on aspects of the overhaul issued this year. Respondents include major companies such as AT&T and Verizon as well as state groups like NARUC and NASUCA and Microsoft, which has responded to every white paper so far. Other commenters include the Nebraska Public Service Commission, the Oregon Telecom Association and the Telecommunications Association of Maine. “We urge Congress to encourage the FCC to create an inclusive environment where all eligible providers have an opportunity to compete for support with the goal of closing the gap between broadband available in urban and rural areas,” the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association told House lawmakers. Microsoft lauded the shift in focusing USF on broadband and encouraged Congress to “continue to afford the FCC with authority and flexibility to reform the mechanism for contributing to the universal service fund, as needed.” The Alaska Communications System noted that “contrary to the prevailing view in Washington,” it “has never considered the USF system as ‘broken,'” but said it’s “vital to include safeguards that ensure that available funding is used efficiently.”

The administration should revise its plans to relocate and consolidate the Department of Homeland Security headquarters, and Congress may want to consider making future funding for the project contingent on DHS and General Services Administration progress, said a GAO report. Completion of the $4.5 billion construction project at the St. Elizabeths campus in Washington is now estimated at 2026. The location is slated to eventually house senior DHS officials and Customs and Border Protection headquarters. DHS and GSA officials said the project has received $1.5 billion less than requested for FY 2009-14, GAO said Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1uH3g0F). “According to these officials, this gap has escalated estimated costs by over $1 billion -- from $3.3 billion to the current $4.5 billion -- and delayed scheduled completion by over 10 years,” said a report summary. It’s “disappointing that we don’t yet have a detailed and viable plan for the consolidation,” said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ranking member Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in a Monday news release (http://1.usa.gov/1wLAC04).