UPDATE
San Jose, CA mayor Sam Liccardo quit the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) on Thursday. He says big telecom is running the group, and advancing its interests at the expense of consumers.
The point of the BDAC is to develop model codes for states and municipalities to ease siting of broadband infrastructure. Inside Towers reported there’s tension between representatives of local governments and industry representatives when it comes to how much money muni’s charge — and what industry is willing to pay — to site such infrastructure and how they should frame their recommendations to the agency. Liccardo’s resignation comes a day after BDAC wrapped-up a two-day meeting this week.
Liccardo said he joined BDAC knowing three-quarters of the membership favored or directly represented industry. He said he hoped they could “engage in constructive dialogue with the industry about how to bridge the digital divide,” in his resignation letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that was first reported by Axios. Now, he’s disillusioned.
“The chairs of the working groups on which I participated have been very cordial, and collaborative in tone, and I am grateful for that. However, after nine months of deliberation, negotiation, and discussion, we’ve made no progress toward a single proposal that will actually further the goal of equitable broadband deployment,” he wrote, adding though the group has “adopted principles that pay lip service to [the] objective, not a single one of the draft recommendations attempts to meaningfully identify any new or significant resources to promote digital inclusion.”
When announced, the FCC said the makeup of the BDAC and its subgroups represents a diversity of views and those who best understand the issues. Liccardo is running for reelection; he said politics had no part in his decision, reported The Hill.
Pai defended the BDAC, stating the group has “brought together 101 participants from a range of perspectives to recommend strategies to promote better, faster, and cheaper broadband. Bridging the digital divide continues to be my top priority, and I look forward to continuing to work with the BDAC and many others to remove regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and to extend digital opportunity to all Americans.”
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn stated she was “deeply disappointed” that the “industry-dominated BDAC disregarded the views of localities” including Liccardo’s. “Broadband deployment efforts must be a partnership between localities and the private sector. Disregarding an elected official representing one of the largest U.S. cities in the nation is unconscionable,” she stated.
January 26, 2018
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