Neutrality rules aimed at ensuring Internet Service providers treat all internet traffic equally. She says text for the policies can be coming in the coming days. Voted for Net Neutrality during the obama administration. It was repealed in 2017 under president trump. This is 25 minutes. [background noises] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] i think were going to get started if people can take their seats. Could you folks take their seats if they can . So we will get going. I am from scc office of media relations. Just so you know we will be posting a fact sheet about the proposal text of the chairwomans remarks. Without further do let me introduce. Thanks will and thank you everyone for being here. You know, it was more than three years ago when the covid virus reached our shores and upended daytoday life. I do not know if you remember this early days i thought it was bewildering. We were told to stay home, hunker down and live life online. Thought was what i important at work but i moved my office to my dining room table. At home i kept changing the location of the wifi router feverishly trying to identify the sweet spot with the signal would reach everyone in my family. We had two parents, two kids, two jobs, and egg to crowded house with all of us on the internet all the time. It was a lot. And wee were lucky because so many others were digitally disconnected. We had people sitting in cars in parking lots to catch a free wifi signal for work in healthcare appointments. We had kids lingering outside fast food restaurants with laptops just go online for class. We had cities andnd towns tearfl they would never thrive without new efforts to extend broadband to their residents and businesses. As a nation, we responded to this crisis with extraordinary action. We made a historic commitment to broadband for all. Congress invested tens of billions of dollars into building Internet Networks and making access more affordable and equitable. Culminating in an investment of 65 billion in the bipartisan info structure law. A big part of that effort to close the Digital Divide that includes our efforts to map where broadband is and is not all across the country. And our efforts to assist 21 million households getting online and staying online to the Affordable Connectivity Program. But, you know the pandemic did Something Else of her to make Crystal Clear broadband is no longer just nice to have, it is a need to have for everyone everywhere. It is not a luxury, it is eight necessity. It is essential infrastructure for modern life. No went without it has a fair shot at 21st century success. We need broadband to reach one 100 of us and we need it to be fast, open, and fair. Yet, even as our society reconfigured itself to so much online, our institutions have not always kept up. Today there is no Expert Agency ensuring the internet is fast, open,th and fair. Since the birth of the modern internet the scc has played that role. And if you think about it makes sense. These are principles with deep origins and communication, law, and history. After all, back in the era when communications meant to each and every call went through the phone company could not cut you off from your call or decide to edit the content of your conversation. Now fastforward to the present. Communications means a whole lot more than phone calls. Means access to the internet because broadband is the most important infrastructure of our time. As a result of the previous decision to abdicate authority, Agency Charged with overseeing communications has limited ability to oversee the indispensable networks and make sure that is every consumer access is c fast, open, and fai. I think that is not right. Because for everyone everywhere to enjoy the full benefit of the internet age, Internet Access should be more than accessible and affordable. Internet needs to be open and that is what i want to talk about today. The internets open design is revolutionary. It is right there at its foundation. It means creating without permission. Building community b beyond geography. Organizing without physical enconstraints, consuming content where you want it and when he wanted. Cultivating ideas not just around the corner but around the globe. I believe it is essential we sustain the foundation of openness that is why since i have served at the scc i have always supported Net Neutrality. At this point its worth acknowledging Net Neutralityhe s one of the most widely discussed issues in telecommunication policy. But the debate around it often yields more heat than light. And going to keep my comments on the history here short. But focus on the basics. So roll back before the pandemic. Before the smart phone era. Before the Washington Football Team called themselves the commanders. Lets start in 2005. That is when scc adopted its first open internet policy statement which was built on policies but had long been in Communications Law and history. The agency made clear that when it came to Net Neutrality xpconsumers should expect their broadband providers would not block, throttle, or engage in paid prioritization of lawful internet traffic. In other words your broadband provider had no business cutting off access to websites. Sloan got Internet Services and censoring online speech. Broadband providers not allowed to play favorites like steering you faster some Online Service had given them a payout and assignment you to a bumpyou road for those who had not offered at the same pay. As a consumer you could go where you want and do what you want online with a broadband provider getting in the way are making choices for you. Now, after 10 years of policymaking and what i think when i count three rounds of litigation in 2015 the scc finally, finally adopted Net Neutrality protections are upheld by the courts. The scc had produced open internet policies that passed judicial muster. We had clear rules of the road and those rules weree popular. 80 of americans support open internet and Net Neutrality policies. So this i looks like its goingo be the end of the Net Neutrality saga. But not so. Because in 2017 the last administration took it up again and did something different. It announced that it would break with over a decade of consistent scc policy repeal the scc open internet rules. The once over held up by the court. Now the public of backlash was s overwhelming maybe you remember it. People lit up our phone lines, quadrant email inboxes and jammed our online Comment System to express their disapproval. Despite this overwhelming opposition from the public the scc repealed neutrality. The actions were soe extreme United States senate voted to restore the agencies open internetpr protection. Now, i believe this repeal of Net Neutrality but the scc on tthe wrong side of history. The long side of the law and the wrong side of the american public. It is not good then and it makes even less sense now for determine the infrastructure which since the pandemic proved so essential for modern life, it needs no oversight and i think that is just wrong. So today we begin a process to make it rates for this afternoon shared with my colleagues of rulemaking proposes to reinstate Net Neutrality. This is the first step. Only vote on the rulemaking we will invite Public Comment about how it were strike Net Neutrality rules can help ensure Internet Access is vast, open, and fair. We will need to develop an updated record to identify the best way to restore these policies and have a uniform National Open internet standard. Now, i recognize that we are kicking off this rulemaking and that will be the headline today. But while i have your attention there is Something Else to share with you about this process in andthis policy today. The repealtr of Net Neutrality rules was problematic not only because it wiped away enforceable bright line policies to prevent blocking, throttling in paid prioritization. It was problematict because what the agency did reverse the decision to oversee broadband as an Internet Access telecommunication service. Under title ii of the communication active. Well, and had a lot of downstream consequences of think we should talk about it. That last sentence is youlicated and i realize if are not from washington a little hard to impact. So let me do it for you. Title ii is a part of the law that gives the scc Clear Authority to serve as a watchdog over the communication marketplace and look out for the Public Interest. Title ii took on special importance in the Net Neutrality debateou because the courts have ruled the scc has a clear Clear Authority to enforce open internet policy if Broadband Internet is classified as a title ii service. And providing a Strong Foundation for Net Neutrality rules is a good reason to support classifying Broadband Internet is a title ii service. But again, there are downstream consequences that flow from the agency retreating from title ii on they need attention so let me anexplain. Back to the pandemic. Itle made clear at broadbents essential infrastructure for modern life for access to the internet is now access to everything. And common sense tells us the nations leading communication watchdog should have the muscle it needs to protect consumers and make sure theyre Internet Access is vast, open, and fair. Common sense also tells us a thing or two about the state of competition in the broadband marketplace. I i am a big believer in the power of competitive markets to drive innovation, investments in consumer benefits. But i also recognize the high cost of entry makes competition a challenge in many places. That is why almost half of us have High Speed Service with 100 megabits per second download speed and only half of us can get it for more than a single provider. In fact only one fifth of the country is more than two choices at this speed. If you are broadband provider messes up with their ability to go where you want and do what you want online and cant just pick up and take your business to another provider. That provider may be the only game in town. You need a referee on the field looking out for the Public Interest and ensuring access is fast, open, and fair. On one issue after issue classifying broadband is a title ii service would help serve the Public Interest more efficiently and effectively. So lets start with Public Safety. The fccs decision to roll back Net Neutrality the court found the agencies disregard of its duty to analyze the impact to Public Safety renders the decision arbitrary and gracious. I agree. The record before the court demonstrated whenfi firefighters in santa clara, california for responding to wildfires they discovered the Wireless Connectivity on their command vehicle was being throttled as a result of title ii repeal the scc did not have any authority to intervene fix it. Title ii would also bolster our authority to require Internet Service providers to address internet outages. This issue really hit home for me when i visited detroit last year but i heard about hope village and neighborhood of nearly 7000 people that suffered through a 45 day internetug oute during the pandemic with little recourse. Remember, when scc backed away from overseeing broadband it meant the only mandatory outage reporting system we can have ine place this focus on Long Distance voice outages. Let me submit to you and a modern economy and during the pandemic collecting only data about when the voice system goes down does not cut it. Look at National Security. The scc has taken a series of bipartisan actions to reduce our dependence on insecure communication equipment. To keep potentially hostile actors from connecting to our networks. This is good. But its not enough to keep our adversaries at bay. Today we take away authorization to provide service thete United States from state affiliated companies who may wish to do us harm, we take the weight whats thknown as section 214 authorit. But remember it thanks to the retreat from title ii in the last administration, that authority does not cover broadband. This is a National Security loophole that needs to be addressed. And look at cybersecurity sec is actively involved in federal interagency cybersecurity planning, coordination and response activities. You want the Expert Agency with all sorts of knowledge about Network Technology to be sitting at that table. But without reclassification sec rpcan limited ability to limit n the network policy. Then look at Network Resilience and reliability. We want to make sure that our Communication Networks hold up during emergency situations like natural disasters. Title i could help us better monitor the degradation of merchant state with the required outage recordings i mentioned earlier. Then look at privacy. The law requires telecommunication providers to protect the confidentiality of the proprietary information of their customers. That means these providers cannot sell your location data among other sensitive information. These privacyio protections currently extend a phone Service Customers but not to broadband subscribers because title ii does not cover the latter. Does that really make sense . Do we want our broadband provider selling off where we go and what we can do online . Serving our surface for a payday from a new intelligence model . Doing any of this without our permission . Br then look at broadbent deployment. As a nation we are committed post pandemic to building broadband for all so keep in mind when you construct these facilities, utility poles are really important for a title ii gives cable phone companies rights to attach the facilities to utilityty poles when they deploy service. But when scc rolls back its open internet rules that eliminated the pole attachment rights of broadband only providers. And if you really want build out and you really want competition this is not good. Let these to be fixed. Look at robo text. Along with the robocalls they are a big force of consumer complaints at the scc. One thing we have learned about the bad actors behind this junk is they are continuously evolving their technologies to reach us with their scams. Title ii authority would give us the maximum flexibility counter this fraud and evolve our approaches as technology changes. To be clear the scc is actively engaged in all these issues. But at times it can require duct tape and bailing water to jury rig the t justifications to make sure all of our actions are on sound legal footing. It does not always work. And, it renders unnecessarily vulnerable in her most important security objectives. Reclassification of broadbent is a title ii service that makes the work more efficient and effective consumers moree confidencece that there Internet Access is fast, open, and fair. On top of this restoring open internet policies will mean a uniform Legal Framework applies to the whole country. If you think nothing much has happened since scc retreated from her neutrality policies and are asking yourself what is the big deal . Think again and look harder. Because when scc stepped back from having these policies in place, the court said the states could step in. So what washington withdrew california road and with its own regime. Other states to breed they put Net Neutrality rules and state lawsde and executive orders and contracting policies. So in effect we have open deinternet policies that provids are abiding by right now they are just coming from sacramento and places like it. But when you are done with the most influential infrastructure in the digital age wheat benefit from having a national policy. All this means were choosing between nety neutrality and no rules but that is a false choice. What we are really discussing aresc having one national standd or a patchwork of state regulations. Hi having gone for this drill before ima know a small but vocl chorus of naysayers surely already raising objections. They say title ii is heavyhanded. And if we are seeking comments on anything like applying title ii broadbent and its entirety i would say they have a point but we are notin doing that. We are approaching with a light touch. Back in 2015 when scc glass had neutrality upheld by the court the scc chose to forbear from 27 provisions title ii of the Communications Act and over 700 Agency Regulations for broadband and broadband providers. We are sticking with that approach. They say this is a rate rate ren no, no how no way. Bestow competition is the way to bring down for consumers approaches like the Affordable Connectivity Program are the best bet for making sure service is affordable for all. They sayr nothing bad has happened. Again states stepped into the void created by the scc retreating from that neutrality. It is time for washington to step back in with a national thl policy to make sure Internet Access is fast, open, and fair. All right, so what happens next . On thursday i will release the full text of this rulemaking it seeks common to putting back in place policies to y prevent broadband provider from engaging in blocking, throttling, paid a prioritization along the general conduct rule that prohibits broadband provider from unreasonably interfering or unreasonably disadvantaging consumers from going where they want and doing what they want on the internet. Now for consumers this means internet openness, security safety and one nation wide Net Neutrality stated they can count on. Three weeks from now on october 19 i will estimate ask e to vote. If we get at least three votes who will kick off this rulemaking and i promise you i will do a lot of listening. We all need to have an open mind it would all benefit from a fresh record on the subject. Now, as we move forward i want to make one last play at every expectations process will get messy at times. I have in fact been to this rodeo before and i believe peaceful protests are a sign of healthy democracy. What i worryry about is when things get ugly part in the past when the subject came up we had Death Threats against chairman e and hisai family that is completely unacceptable. I am grateful to the Law Enforcement that brought the individual behind these threats to justice. We had a fake bomb threat called in to disrupt the vote i know, i was there. We had protesters blocking chairman wheeler in his driveway and keeping him from his car and we saw a dark effort to tear down a pro Net Neutrality agency. I recognize those that go to these extremes are not listening to or reading these remarks but those of you who are, set the tone for the debate. So make some noise, make a ruckus to keep it in line. Above all, keep speaking up we are here now because so many people let the agency know this issue matters. You are here now because a covid pandemic taught us with painful clarity just how important broadbent access is in modern life. And in the United States we have made a historic commitment to make sure highspeed Internet Access reaches all. We have invested in infrastructure like never before. Now lets make sure it is fast, open, and fair for consumers everywhere. Thank you. [applause] bikes coming up tonight on cspan it to a conversation with Virginia Governor then republican president ial hopeful nikki haley giving Economic Policy speech at the New Hampshire institute of politics. Later with ukrainian prosecutor general on the importance of Holding Perpetrators Accountable for alleged war crimes committed against ukrainian citizens. All coming up tonight on cspan2. Cspan a student came documentary competition is back celebrating 20 years with this years theme looking forward while considering the pastor. We are asking middle and High School Students to create a fivo addressing one of these questions. And the next 20 years what is most important change would like to see it america . Poor, over the past 20 years what has been the most important change in america as we do each year we are giving away 100,000 in total prizes with a grand prize of 5000 and every teacher and students participate in this years competition has the opportunity to share a portion of additional 50000. The competition deadline is friday generate 19, 2024. For information visit our website at student handout work. Cspans washington journal. Inviting you to discuss the latest issue of government, politics and public policy. From washington and across the country hurt coming up wednesday morning the hill talks about the latest efforts in congress to pass government funding bills before the september 30 deadline for it also National President of the American Federation of Government Employees on the shutdown and its potential impact on federal workers. And freshman near republican congressman will talk about the funding deadline and aid to ukraine. See spans washington journal per join the conversation live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern wednesday morning on cspan, cspan now or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of governments. Funded by these television companies