Spalter Urges National Broadband Framework, With Open Internet Safeguards Applied Evenly
The U.S. needs a legislative overhaul that promotes broadband deployment and protects an open internet and privacy with "light-touch" regulation across sectors, said USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter on C-SPAN's The Communicators that was scheduled to be televised Saturday and Monday.…
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"We need a national approach to how we want to govern the internet," he said, citing support for "bright-line net neutrality protections" based on "no blocking, no throttling, no anticompetitive prioritization" principles. "It’s time for Congress to step up, and if it doesn’t, then other folks are going to step in," he said. "Internet innovation and dynamism" can't continue if there are 50 different state rules, such as California's recently passed net neutrality legislation, he said. Many companies in the U.S. are applying the EU's general data protection regulation, he said: "We shouldn’t have the director general of the European Union become our de facto privacy regulator. We need to have our own strong, uniform and consistent national framework ... that’s applicable to all parts of the internet.” He said USTelecom members are committed to ensuring network security, consumer choice, transparency and appropriate breach notifications. Meantime, he expects the FTC to be "vigilant" as a "tough, new cop on the beat" after its broadband authority was restored by FCC reclassification: “I’m sure that all of us are going to be hearing from them." He disputed criticism that Verizon "throttled" the cell service of California firefighters, saying the problem had nothing to do with net neutrality: "Verizon has said very clearly it was a customer service error. They addressed it immediately. They developed new protocols and approaches for service plans for public safety agencies going forward." He said it wasn't ISPs but other internet players that have had their practices subjected to public scrutiny in recent years. He said wireline telcos face "fierce" challenges from cable, wireless and satellite providers. "Competition is white hot," he said, calling for "regulatory parity" to ensure ILECs aren't hamstrung. He praised the FCC for working to close the digital divide but said government shouldn't fund network overbuilding and service duplication. USTelecom members "are on the barricades" of cybersecurity, investing hundreds of millions of dollars and working with the Department of Homeland Security and IT professionals to beef up network defenses, he said, urging others to collaborate.