Wheeler Promises to Overturn Laws Blocking Muni Broadband

As reported previously on the Legislative Committee blog, a number of states have introduced or passed legislation that would prohibit the expansion of municipally-owned and -operated fiber networks.  The legislation, in several instances, has been promoted by incumbent oligopoly broadband providers.

In a statement made earlier this week at a cable industry conference, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler promised to use his regulatory authority (Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act) to “preempt state laws that ban competition from community broadband.”

A full transcript of his speech may be found here.

posted by Anant Raut

TN Legislature to Debate Definition of “Tennessee Whiskey”

The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Tennessee state legislature will debate today the definition of “Tennessee Whiskey.”  Last year, the state passed legislation requiring anything labeled “Tennessee whiskey” to be made in the state of Tennessee, made from at least 51% corn, filtered through maple charcoal, and aged in new, charred oak barrels.  As it stands, the law benefits Jack Daniel’s (which actively lobbied for the legislation last year), in that it mirrors the formula used by Jack Daniel’s.  Jack Daniel’s sells nearly 90% of “Tennessee whiskey.”

Diageo PLC, owned of (distant) number two Tennessee whiskey brand George Dickel, is lobbying for a relaxing of some of the rules, citing a desire to experiment with the formulation of its whiskey, as well as the difficulty in obtaining new oak barrels.  Jack Daniel’s owns its own cooperage, and plans to build a second one in Alabama.

posted by Anant Raut

FCC Eyeing State Laws Restricting Broadband Competition

The Charlotte Observer reports that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has stated that the FCC will be reviewing and possibly overruling state laws designed to protect incumbent broadband providers from competing services offered by municipalities.

The article details how the city of Wilson, N.C., created a low-cost, high-speed municipal fiber network that forced incumbent ISPs Time Warner and CenturyLink to lower their prices and offer higher speeds for consumers.  In response to that and similar initiatives in four other municipalities, the ISPs lobbied the N.C. legislature to pass a law in 2011 to prevent more municipalities from challenging their oligopolistic behavior.

This blog has previously reported legislation in Utah that would similarly restrict competition from a municipally-owned and -operated fiber network.

posted by Anant Raut

Senate Judiciary Announces Wireless Competition Hearing

With Sprint making overtures to a merger with T-Mobile, the Senate antitrust subcommittee will be holding a hearing next Wednesday entitled “An Examination of Competition in the Wireless Market.”  The witness list features:

• Eric Graham, SVP of Strategic Relations, Cellular South
• Randal Milch, EVP and GC, Verizon
• Jonathan Spalter, Chairman, Mobile Future
• Thomas Sugrue, SVP of Govt Affairs, T-Mobile USA
• Matthew Wood, Policy Director, Free Press

Additional details may be found here.

posted by Anant Raut

FCC Fires Warning Shot at State Broadband Restrictions

Two weeks ago on this blog, we discussed pending legislation in Utah that would prohibit broadband competition from a fiber network developed by a coalition of local municipalities.  Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler asserted the FCC’s authority to review and possibly overturn such competition-restricting legislation, citing Judge Silberman’s dissenting opinion in last month’s D.C. Circuit decision in Verizon.  

ArsTechnica has full coverage here.

posted by Anant Raut

Congress Scrutinizing Comcast-TWC

The proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, announced last week, is already drawing scrutiny and opposition from members of Congress, The Hill reports.  House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and antitrust subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) have announced plans to hold an oversight hearing (see press release here).

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released a noncommittal statement indicating that he would be watching the response of the antitrust authorities and the Federal Communications Commission.  Fellow Senator Al Franken (D-MN), who was quite publicly objected to AT&T’s failed acquisition of T-Mobile, has been far more vocal in his opposition, urging FCC Chairman Wheeler, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Ramirez, and Attorney General Holder to oppose further concentration in the industry.

The full article may be found here.

posted by Anant Raut

Utah Bill Would Protect Incumbent ISPs

ArsTechnica reports that a bill introduced by a Utah state legislator is designed to protect incumbent ISPs from competition from UTOPIA, a 16-municipality consortium that has built out a regional fiber network.  The article notes that the price of a “triple-play” package (Internet, voice, TV) offered by Comcast in Layton, UT, where the company faces no fiber competition, is $242/month at < 10Mbps, whereas the triple-play package offered by Comcast in Provo, UT, where it faces competition from Google Fiber, is $120/month @105Mbps.

The full article may be found here.

posted by Anant Raut

Federal Government Shutdown: The Latest

• The federal government of the United States has entered its second day of shutdown, and the first full day of furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal employees.
• During yesterday’s Legislative Committee teleseminar, former FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and former Assistant Attorney General Sharis Pozen offered some insights into what to expect.  Among the highlights:  the Agencies will continue to accept HSR filings, but will have a skeletal staff for review, with full teams called in as needed to determine whether to issue second requests; all conduct investigations will be suspended; teams involved in active litigation will seek continuances from their judges.
• The FTC and DOJ have posted their shutdown plans, here (FTC) and here (DOJ, see page 7 for ATR).
• Many of you in regular contact with staff at the FTC and DOJ may already be receiving Out of Office messages in response to emails.  Non-excepted staff are prevented by law from doing anything work-related during a government shutdown, per the Antideficiency Act.
• The House antitrust subcommittee hearing on Dodd-Frank’s effect on competition in the financial industry has been postponed.
• The Senate Commerce Committee executive session, in which the nomination of Terrell McSweeny for FTC Commissioner was likely to be voted in the affirmative at the committee level, has been postponed.

This blog will continue to post the latest developments on the federal government shutdown as it relates to antitrust and consumer protection.

posted by Anant Raut

This Week in Congress

A federal government shutdown, effective immediately at midnight tonight, seems increasingly likely.  Last week, the Democrat-controlled Senate rejected portions of a House budget bill that would have defunded the Affordable Care Act, voting out instead a 3-month continuing resolution (CR) that would have funded the federal government at current sequester levels through mid-November.  On Friday, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives sent back to the Senate an amended version of the CR that would have delayed implementation of the Affordable Care Act for a year (vote count:  231-192) and permanently repealed a medical device tax that is part of the Affordable Care Act (vote count: 248-174) and intended to help finance the law.

Today, the Senate comes back into session at 2pm.  The amendments to the CR passed by the House can be voted down with a simple majority, which is what is expected to occur.  After that, the two chambers have until midnight to agree upon a budget bill before funding for the federal government expires.

The FTC and the DOJ have already posted their shutdown plans, available here (FTC) and here (DOJ).  This blog will continue to report breaking developments regarding the shutdown as it relates to the federal antitrust agencies.

Hearings

Wednesday, October 2nd @2pm

The House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law is scheduled to hold a hearing entitled “Dodd-Frank’s Impact on Competition in the Financial Industry.”  A witness list is not yet available.

Rayburn 2237

Thursday, October 3rd @11am

The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to hold an executive session to vote on several nominations, including that of Terrell McSweeny, nomimated for Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.  Ms. McSweeny’s nomination is not considered controversial.  Once a nominee has been voted out of committee, his/her nomination must then be confirmed by a vote on the floor of the Senate (subject to filibuster).

Russell 253

posted by Anant Raut

This Week in Congress

Tuesday, July 23rd

“Pay-for-Delay Deals:  Limiting Competition and Costing Consumers”

Dirksen 226 @10:00am

The Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights has announced a hearing on “pay-for-delay” deals next Tuesday.  The witness list is as follows:

Panel I

• Hon. Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman, FTC

Panel II

• Robert G. Ramasco, President, AARP
• Diane E. Bieri, Partner, Arnold & Porter LLP
• Michael A. Carrier, Professor, Rutgers University School of Law
• Jonathan M. Orszag, Senior Managing Director, Compass Lexecon LLC
• Michael Russo, Federal Program Director, U.S. PIRG
• Dr. Sumanth Addanki, Senior Vice President, NERA Economic Consulting

A webcast of Tuesday’s hearing may be found here.

This blog has previously analyzed legislation introduced by Senator Klobuchar that would heighten the legal standard for pay-for-delay deals.

posted by Anant Raut