NEWSDecember 26, 1996 CHAIRMAN HUNDT RELEASES 1997 FCC AGENDA; LISTS MAJOR ISSUES, FCC STREAMLINING EFFORTS FCC Chairman Reed Hundt today released an agenda for the Commission in the coming year. In releasing the document Hundt said, "During the next year this Commission will take numerous actions designed to move us toward [a] competitive marketplace in communications and [the] general enjoyment of public benefits from communications. In consultation with many at the Commission, I put together this document as a way of setting forth a plan for the Commission to follow over the next year. We welcome the input of all others, at the Commission, in Congress, within the Administration, in private industry and among public interest groups, as to whether and how this plan should be modified." Hundt also noted that the agenda "is not an exhaustive list," and added, "[b]ut it is my hope that this document will describe the broad parameters and critical decisions that the Commission faces on the hard road ahead." In the agenda, Hundt first described the four principles on which the Commission should make decisions: (1) Make sure that the discovered truth about competition is nowhere frustrated by the chronic urge to monopolize... Government should always be on the good side: the side of competition; (2) Guarantee that necessary public benefits from communications are distributed fairly and efficiently; (3) Get rid of all the rules not necessary to reach these other two goals with a red-hot rule burning party; and (4) Make sure our operations are smart, simple, straightforward and slim. Hundt said, "The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Communications Act of 1934 together state our charter. Congress said it sought to establish a 'procompetitive, deregulatory' national policy framework for communications. Procompetitive, deregulatory -- that is our mantra as we try to wake all markets from the slumber of monopoly and retail price regulation." Looking back Hundt noted, "When I got to the Commission three years ago, everyone told me about the inevitable and imminent 'convergence' in which cable would provide telephony and the telephone companies would offer cable service. We can hope... but as of now expectations for a full front two-wire war are not being met." (over) -2- Pointing out that Wall Street has described the relationship between the cable and telephone industries as a "detente," Hundt added, "Detente is not what the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was supposed to be about. So apparently it's no small job to create sufficient incentives for competition to dispense with the need for regulation of monopolies." Hundt described a number of major efforts the Commission would undertake in 1997 to move markets to competition. These included: þ Removing economic barriers to competition by reforming access charges and universal service and by assuring new entrants can obtain fair prices when they buy, lease or connect with the incumbents' network. þ Removing operational barriers to competition by completing work on number portability, and access to poles, conduits and rights-of-way. þ Stimulating innovation by removing barriers to high bandwidth technologies. þ Reforming the Commission's spectrum policy to be more market-driven by opening entry and increasing technical and service flexibility. þ Opening and liberalizating international telecommunications regulation through the WTO negotiations and reform of the international accounting rates system; and þ Completing the Digital Television proceedings in a way that maximizes broadcasters abilities to respond to changes in technologies and markets, thus enabling broadcasters to compete in new markets, which is necessary to preserve free TV in a digital age. Hundt also described numerous ways the Commission should act to protect the public interest. These included: þ Keeping basic phone service low-priced; þ Ensuring that all schools, regardless of income or location are able to share in the benefits of the Information Age; þ Incentivizing markets to increase the access to telecommunications equipment and services to all; þ Making information on educational programming accessible to parents; þ Improving candidates' access to the public airwaves; (over) -3- þ Responding to the request of Congress and numerous states for an inquiry into liquor advertising on television; and þ Making sure the communications needs of the public safety community are met. While most of the actions discussed by Hundt directly result from tasks given to the Commission by Congress, Hundt listed several initiatives not mandated by the Act but critical to implementing a competitive, deregulatory framework. He suggested that the FCC should explore the possibilities of transferring responsibility for collections of the debt owed by auction winners away from the FCC to others. "These new businesses should have the ability to negotiate with bankers just as companies do everyday. But the FCC is ill-suited to act as a banker." The list of new initiatives described by Hundt also included: þ Developing legislation to allow more flexibility for unlicensed spectrum; þ Streamlining experimental authorization for spectrum use; and þ Removing barriers to use of smart antennas. Hundt also discussed efforts to make the Commission smarter and slimmer. Noting that the FCC was still carrying out the largest single workload ever given to an independent agency by Congress, Hundt said the Commission simultaneously needs to continue taking steps that will make the agency as fair, dedicated and effective as the best organization in the private or public sector in the world. Hundt noted how the Commission has been able to eliminate numerous functions by recognizing that market changes eliminated the need for those jobs to be done. He cited numerous streamlining initiatives including: eliminating individual licensing for recreational ships and aircraft; moving to electronic filing for licenses and applications; instituting computer license granting systems; allowing more application certification for routine applications; streamlining equipment authorization program; speeding up the complaint processes; and eliminating unnecessary reports. Hundt said, "We need to make sure the Commission focuses its resources on the policy tasks, not on administration. In this regard, over the last three years, we reduced the size of the Office of the Managing Director from 16% of the FCC to 9%, even while the Office was picking up major new responsibilities." Hundt noted the Commission also needed to consolidate the agency in a single new building at the Portals. (over) -4- Hundt closed by citing a recent article in a computer magazine which, describing the operations of the Commission, ended this way, "Overall, there's something scary about the dynamism of the FCC. Perhaps the world isn't ready for a government agency that is efficient, creative and works hard to improve customer communication and service. What would comedians have left to joke about?" Hundt concluded, "We're proud of that record and we're very excited about the uncompleted agenda. If we can all just keep focused on the hard road ahead, we will all have much more to be proud of and this country will realize the full benefits of the communications revolution." - FCC -