if they talked in washington. it was top-secret they had security clearance. so to talk about their work was treason so they were told to sharpen pencils or empty wastebaskets and they were secretaries and that is what they did and continue doing after the war. and because they were women people believed them. . . . .

jonathan's belter is the president and ceo of a trade association called u.s. telethon. he is our guest on the communicators. could you represent? i represent america's broadband providers, companies both large and small who are coming from every part of the nation, almost every state and we are all found by a simple set of principles. we want to be able to deliver the best quality, highest speed broadband to all americans regardless of where they are. there's work to do because there are still americans who don't have broadband. we are aligned to make sure we can provide ubiquitous access for all americans. >> was the companies you represent. >> this month i was able to fly out to alaska. i flew down to western new mexico and both were focused on

rural communities and extending next-generation broadband services to them. all the way up to companies that are national in scope and at&t and verizon and century link and consolidated frontier, windstream, it's a consortium of companies who are very different with different business models but are bound together by a singular vision to get more broadband out to more americans and to do so with my policy. >> before we start talking about some of those policies, give us a sense of your background. it's a little bit eclectic, is in it. >> i will take that as a compliment, thank you. i have been in the business of technology for a good part of my career. i've led companies both in silicon valley and in europe, building media products for consumers. i've also had the opportunity to serve in government. i served on the national security council at the pentagon as the associate director of the

knighted states information agency and i also had the opportunity to read and launch another policy focused organization called mobile future which is based here in washington per week recently moved to washington d.c. from california where my family has lived for the past 13 years and we are very excited to be here. >> to help us talk about some of these issues we want to introduce you to kyle daily. he is a tech reporter. >> thank you. i wanted to start off, you mentioned that the groups you represented, companies have a lot of work to do, can you talk a little bit about that? you hear a lot about 5g networks, these ultrafast, ultradense wireless broadband networks, can you talk about how we get to that stage? to make sure. the essential ingredient to moving forward, not only extending more broadband more americans, but also ensuring our global competitiveness is this

wonderful technology called broadband. our companies are committed to continued to make the investment, to provide the fiber of the infrastructure, the networks, get more broadband connectivity to more americans. takes a lot of work. it takes the right amount of investment, it takes the right types of business model but it also takes the right types of smart 21st century forward-looking policy frameworks that can actually accelerate in advance and extend the innovation and investment required to move forward to recognize the opportunities for 5g next-generation framework. >> can you talk about those frameworks? what are just a handful of things you really would like to see out of congress and the administration and the fcc. >> sure. let me start with the promise of new infrastructure investment. president trump, by taking office set a moonshot goal that

we should actually be investing up to a trillion dollars to revitalize and reinvent america's national infrastructure. increasingly, we all understand, and it is bipartisan understanding, that broadband is an essential input not only to the american economic future but our productivity and also deeply meaningful for so many reasons to our families and communities. we will work really hard on a bipartisan basis with congress, the white house, the fcc to ensure when the plan is put in place it prioritizes broadband. that we have a broadband first approach when we are thinking about any policymaking and any investment. that has two sides. one is money, making sure the right amount of money is proportion to broadband investment as part of a trillion dollar pot, but also that we can move forward in a parallel direction to streamline the regulation, make sure we can move more broadband more quickly to more americans by moving away from the regulatory overhang

compliance and obstacles that, unfortunately have made it more difficult for our providers to invest and do the hard work of delivering broadband to the customer. >> we are hearing from the white house that they seem to be easing off a little bit from making broadband a funding priority in the infrastructure package. i was recently at an event here in washington d.c. where the telecom advisor to the president said that they are more focused, as i think about infrastructure and getting something from congress on stuff like siding, making it easier for companies like those you represent to actually put equipment and facilities out there and maybe not so much on actually carving out money within that trillion dollar pie for broadband.

do you think that is something you might still be able to get out of congress and out of the white house? >> first of all, i've got a say her colleagues at the white house, colleagues at the fcc are just tremendous public servants who are doing great work. they are aligned together in the idea that we really have to close the digital divide in our nation, particularly americans who live in the role part of our country so they can benefit from the broadband's benefits. that has two parts. one deals with those issues that grace mentioned, right-of-way, siting, making sure we have clocks to speed up permissions, permitting, licensing, there's all kind of procedural steps that we can take as part of an infrastructure plan. in parallel, on the other side of the coin, we also have to be serious about ensuring the right kind of dollars can flow to

american communities to provide more broadband. those dollars have been flowing consecutive through fcc's universal funds. we believe that direct grants and that provide broadband to those areas where it's economically challenging, if not impossible to deliver it is an obligation. we are sinning up to those applications. i'm really confident we will be able to work with the white house and with congress to structure a holistic plan to make sure we can actually ultimately close the digital divide in our nation. >> donovan, a report put out by your trade association shows private broadband investment has kind of leveled off over the past several years. why is that? >> it's actually troubling. we have been expensing, in the last two decades, a wonderful increase in the amount of investment that our company, broadband providers have been making in our nations network.

by our members here. although, two years ago, when the last fcc decided to impose 1934 utility style regulation in creating framework for an internet, we began to see, in a very troubling way, that that slope of investment had actually begun to go down. in the past two years we have seen it decrease about two and half billion dollars from about $78.4 billion in 2014 to $76 billion today. that is an alarm bell that has broken many of us up to the realization that we need to go back to smart policies that will allow us to bend the curb on that investment slope to create more abundance and austerity when it comes to our nation's broadband infrastructure, and if we can put in the right types of policies, move forward with lighter touch approaches, our companies will be in scented to do more to invest in our nation's broadband

infrastructure. we have work to do to get that done, but the steps that are being taken today by the administration, by the federal medications commission, by an increasing community of folks that realize we need to move forward, not backward in the internet future is a positive sign. we are going to try to work hard to advance those efforts. >> when you look at that 76 billion-dollar investment, where does that money go? >> it goes to many different parts of the broadband network that we increasingly rely on. it goes to investing in upgrading and maintaining the wire line infrastructure that connects our nation to the wireless infrastructure, that relies on the fiber that composes our wireline world, it

goes to managing these vast networks, it goes to ensuring that we actually have the deployment capacity, the work teams, folks that are climbing the poles, digging the trenches, doing the hard work everyday of attaching and connecting our nation to this dispensable called broadband. >> i did want to return a little bit, the 2015 regulations that you referred to would be the fcc's open internet order classifying broadband as a telecom service and instituting a number of net neutrality rules. there have been some groups that favored those rules that have disputed some of the findings like you guys had about broadband investment, they say that it's not entirely clear that there's a direct correlation to the internet order and that it's not looking at the whole picture, it's not looking at the other side of it,

the investment from google and amazon and sort of the companies on the other side of those networks so how would you respond. >> first of all, u.s. telecom, for 21 years has been reducing what is probably considered the gold standard of analysis, of how much u.s. broad-based providers are investing in u.s. broadband networks. other groups have come up with their own numbers that have included things like $3 billion for smart phones that are bought by a wireless carrier and $10 billion for another carrier in mexico, video services neither of which are actually covered by the title to regulation. it is very clear, if you did an apples to apples comparison and took out those inputs, their numbers would reflect exactly what our numbers clearly if you

look at the investment, they have been going down. it's great that certain internet companies are making investments in things like data farms, cloud infrastructure, products and services, and they should continue to do so. their total investment is affection, globally, of what u.s. telecom members actually invest in our network. it's got nothing to do with the actual investment that goes into maintaining and building american network infrastructure, the broadband investment, but all investment should be encouraged and we should have smart policies that in sent more, not less investment. it's all a great thing and we are determined to make sure that our companies have the confidence in the line of sight to make those investments and an even more aggressive way going forward. >> speaking about net neutrality, not just in terms of investment but in terms of principles of an open internet,

obviously efforts that the current fcc is undertaking to reverse that classification to ease back some of those rules, it's got a lot of people concerned, would your industry be willing to offer any sort of hard commitment to upholding some of the principles that people are really worried could be eroded? >> important point is that we need to take a step back from that fear, we live in a very contentious environment and a very contentious political moment. the fact is that broadband providers have made an ironclad commitment to maintain net neutrality protections for the customers, no blocking, no throttling, transparency print those commitments existed before the imposition of title to an net neutrality protections and commitments to them will exist after the reclassification back

to title i. so this debate isn't about net neutrality. it's about whether our companies are very clear about maintaining their commitment to protect the principles of net neutrality and to advance those principles. really it's about whether we want to have our most important technology advance of our lifetimes, maybe of our history, the internet, governed by regulators, using 1934 error rules, and era of the outhouse, not of the smart house to guide us forward, using the idea that the internet should be treated as a public utility. i have met many internet users around the country in this work. some have great things to say about their internet usage, some have bad things to say about their internet service, but i

haven't met a single internet user who wants their service to look more like their gas company or their water company. >> jonathan, what percentage of the u.s. population does not have access to broadband. >> is a very small but meaningful and important community, about 13 million americans. most of them live in rural communities, most of those communities can put broadband to tremendous use printing jobs, connecting to services that would be difficult to get to in healthcare and public safety and education. we have to all collectively roll up our sleeves and find the right policy frameworks to make sure that those 13 million americans can have access to the benefits of broadband, but that will take smart and wise policy. it also will take policies that in sent more investment on the part of broadband providers and commitments by the federal government to make sure that we can have the resources and the right types of regulatory and policy infrastructure to get there. >> what percentage of americans don't have a choice among broadband providers?

>> almost none. it's extraordinarily to think that we all use networks that right now are called 4g, lte. virtually every american has access to that and it was extraordinary to see the ramp up period was only 18 months to get there nationally. 96% of americans have a choice of at least three wireless carriers, almost 90% of americans have a choice between at least two wireline providers for the competition, as we move forward with more investment and we moved to this 5g network faster, more ubiquitous networks is only going to increase. that competition will potentially not only catalyze more choice but also give consumers a range of new products and services and opportunities to do things online that we can't even imagine today. >> when you get into a situation like we are currently in her google and amazon are having a smart device spat, does that

affect the entire ecosystem of the internet? >> well it is in important point. we in the broadband provider community, we are singled out by the lef last fcc to have special rules apply only to us. the movement now, in the fcc is to establish a new set of net neutrality protections that will actually encompass all of the entire internet ecosystem including companies like google and amazon. our broadband providers in our nation have been very clear about their commitment to maintaining net neutrality protections regardless of whether there are rules are not set by government. they have and they will. i can't say the same for some of our biggest internet companies. it's a bit ironic but it's time for them to catch up and is time to move forward with smart holistic net neutrality protections that will integrate

not only broadband providers but as importantly, the entire scope of companies that interact with consumers via the internet including the biggest amongst the internet giants out there. >> how would you initiate something like that being enacted. will they put out guidance and we will consider this anti- competitive, are you looking for legislation. >> right now the fcc is in the process of establishing a reclassification of broadband as a title i information service and in so doing the new cop on the beat will be our nation's premier consumer protection agency, the federal. [inaudible] which has not only the resources but the expertise to ensure consumer protections across all parts of the internet ecosystem, not just broadband providers. in addition to the fcc, there

are, they are not alone. there's the body of antitrust law that we have, the court system, we have 50 attorneys general that have consumers back in providing broad general consumer protections to them as well. ultimately, however, the work of ensuring that neutrality protections, of developing a thoughtful and consistent national policy framework for the most important phenomenon we call the internet is the responsibility, i would even say the obligation of congress to undertake. we have work to do to push that blog up the hill, but i am confident, just as we were able to do in 1996 in a bipartisan way where democrats and republicans came together, the common voice and common cause to develop a national policy framework that now, 21 years later we can do the same thing. it is time. consumers expect and require and deserve nothing less. >> is that the vision of the

bill that would have bipartisan support that would enshrine some of these protections that people are really concerned about, no blocking, no throttling kind of thing and apply it to the entire ecosystem? >> that is the goal. right now it's a bit of a distant goal, but we are keeping a focus on working with members of congress from all sides of the political spectrum to come to an understanding that the time is now to move forward to creating a bright line protection for consumers protections that our companies already commit to in areas such as no blocking, no throttling, transparency. it can be applied not just one part of the internet ecosystem, broadband providers, but to all parts of the internet that everyday consumers interact with including our largest internet company. >> part of the push against what the last fcc did coming from

critics of the obama administration, i suppose, was that it was overly regulatory. it was overreach. obviously, if congress is updating the statute, then that's not overreach, it's what they're telling the fcc what they can and can't do, but nevertheless, it sounds like that's a whole new class of regulatory powers that would apply to the internet companies on either side of the network, wouldn't that be overly burdensome in some ways? >> the important issue is whether we have the vision as a nation and society, but also as congress to fashion the right kind of regulatory and legal framework that would find a balance between catalyzing and

creative incentives for innovation and investment while at the same time providing the right kind of consumer protection so that all of us can have confidence whenever we go online we can have access to the content of choice, when we wanted and whatever platform we wanted on. privacy protection. a list of must haves that we as consumers understand are very, very important, and that our companies in the broadband community have committed to that i believe that balance can be found. it was found in 1996. it has been reiterated even in the first six years of the obama administration, which understood that principles based on the right touch approach that would take a more permission less vision on the need for innovation in our country is the right way to go. will we be able to get there? i believe that we will, i'm optimistic that we can. we have some work to do though to make sure we can return to a

common vision about why consumers expect and require those types of protections, that they be fully applied to all parts of the internet. >> jonathan, should alaska broadband, or the company in western new mexico or verizon be able to offer the so-called fast lane to consumers? >> the fact is, in our internet society today, there are many important reasons why broadband data and broadband traffic should be prioritized. the brave first responders, the fire women and firemen rushing into danger in southern california expect that the broadband access and data communication that flow over broadband will be prioritized. the driverless cars of the future, we will have to expect those transportation networks

will have prioritized access to broadband so they can remain safe. our doctors, our nurses, even our surgeons of the future who are providing robotic surgery which will be a reality soon will have prioritized traffic so that they can do the work of providing healthcare, and so prioritization is already reality. i also think the more choices consumers have opportunities to experience, the more tools, more pricing plans for the more variety that is offered to consumers is a good thing. it's also very clear, broadband companies understand this, that if at any time they do not provide their rec consumers wite expense they want, those consumers are empowered to go to any of the competition with the click of a mouse. and with a vote of their wallet.

it is the consumer that must be in charge of what kind of consumer experience they want. our companies are listening very carefully to them. that free market is thriving and working and created this extraordinary internet that we are all enjoying today and the net neutrality that we are enjoying today and will enjoy tomorrow. >> as you alluded to stuff like emergency services, the privatization of that is permissible, or was permissible under the 2015 roles, why is it so important for isps to be able to prioritize other traffic if it's just streaming video. >> what's important is that there should be opportunities for consumers to have access to different kinds of content in different types of service models so that if a provider for example wanted to provide lower cost or even free content,

provided sponsored data, it's those opportunities would not be blocked by a government regulator. imagine if "steve jobs" had to present his pricing plan to the fcc as he was thinking about the future of the iphone. i don't think we would have one. if jack dorsey had to submit for prior approval to the fcc or to another government body content service ideas for approval, i don't think we would have this wonderful company called twitter which has been transformative in so many societies but i think we need to take a step back and realize that our consumers are aligned in trying to find innovation and choice and opportunities and that we do have the full protections that are available through institutions like federal

government, courts and states to ensure there are fair dealings and no anti- competitive behavior in our internet. >> you mentioned the early days of companies like twitter and apple, it strikes me that there could have also been other outcomes if they couldn't afford to have traffic, for instance, so i guess this is sort of an overarching question, but how do we make sure that the startups that the smaller companies and the consumers themselves are not left behind. >> i think the core principle of net neutrality is to ensure that any content can be delivered on any platform at any time of the consumer's choosing and broadband providers are committed to those principles including throttling, transparency, no anticompetitive lord discriminative content.

>> if any of america's internet providers are broadband providers or internet companies stray outside of those rules, consumers have enforcement mechanisms they can turn to to make sure those companies are held to task. that's the important point. net neutrality will continue to thrive and be strengthened because it will be extended beyond broadband providers to the entire internet ecosystem. that is a great thing for consumers. >> jonathan is the president and ceo of the trade association u.s. telcom and kyle works on telecom issues for bloomberg law. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. it is brought to you today by your cable or satellite

provider. >> book tv is on twitter and facebook. we want to hear from you, tweet us, twitter.com/book tv or post a comment on our facebook page. facebook.com/book tv. >> good evening everyone and welcome to the princeton public library. my name is janie i'm the public programming librarian. it is my honor, on behalf of the executivef director and the rest of our staff to welcome you to this evening's program. before i introduce our speaker, some things are in order. first and foremost, thank you to the incredible team at ten speed press. they reached out to the library