this telecommunications technology -- is nothing different. it's no more water sensitive to power than pg & e. there is nothing special about this. i'm in favor of the technology and favor of at&t putting in u verse in, but not putting in boxes above ground. supervisor scott weiner: thank you, next speaker. >> i have lived in this area for 20 years. this box has been here and it is a mess. it's been like that ever since i can remember. i checked it this morning, it belongs to comcast. we are not just talking about at&t. we are talking about a lot of other issues as well. it's something the city has failed to address. i'm talking about this street day after day, comcast, water department, you name it. no one has ever ever apparently made any effort to get this problem corrected. it's only wire closed. it's not locked. a child can get their hands inside there. it's only 3 feet from a comcast underground box. given the city's lack of monitoring success, we have all been notified that we have to repair our sidewalks, anything more than a quarter i

i voted for the telecommunications act of '96, and the cable act of '92, and i hope this year to get to vote for another major bill that comes from the leadership of mr. upton, mr. walden, mr. waxman and miss eshoo. this is a good thing to be doing and we're going to get some good information from your gentlemen and we appreciate you being here. >> gentleman's time's expired. we'll now go to the former chairman of the committee, mr. waxman, for opening comments. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i appreciate your convening this morning's hearing, and launching the subcommittee's examination of potential updates to the communications act. and i want to thank our distinguished panel for being here to help us think through these ideas, and i think i've been in congress during the time that all of you have been the heads of the fcc. technology has changed at a blistering pace since the enactment of the 1996 telecommunications act 18 years ago. the communications and technology industries are a thriving sector of our economy. as broadband plays an increasingly central role in the dail

telecommunications companies. i want this success story to be an unending one. and i think that is the goal of everyone on this wonderful subcommittee. so to that end, my goal throughout the subcommittee's review will be to see more competition, greater consumer choice, and more innovation. i am so proud, as the chairman was making his opening remarks, that so much of this has been born in my congressional district. and so innovation, innovation, innovation. and these goals were embedded in the '96 act, and they remain just as important today. at the same time, our process of examining the communications act should not derail, in my view, a more immediate update of our video laws, a view shared by a majority of the witnesses at a september subcommittee hearing. recurring tv blackouts, coupled with the rising cost of broadcast television programming, with limited choice, has left consumers frustrated, and looking to congress, and the fcc, for answers. i believe that working together at a bipartisan basis we can make this happen in 2014. so, chairman walden, thank

telecommunications companies. i want this success story to be an unending one. and i think that is the goal of everyone on this wonderful subcommittee. so to that end, my goal throughout the subcommittee's review will be to see more competition, greater consumer choice, and more innovation. i am so proud, as the chairman was making his opening remarks, that so much of this has been born in my congressional district. and so innovation, innovation, innovation. and these goals were embedded in the '96 act, and they remain just as important today. at the same time, our process of examining the communications act should not derail, in my view, a more immediate update of our video laws, a view shared by a majority of the witnesses at a september subcommittee hearing. recurring tv blackouts, coupled with the rising cost of broadcast television programming, with limited choice, has left consumers frustrated, and looking to congress, and the fcc, for answers. i believe that working together at a bipartisan basis we can make this happen in 2014. so, chairman walden, thank

i have had the good fortune to be one of the authors of almost every major piece of telecommunications legislation passed by the congress in the past three decades. the public interest is in the heart of each going back to the 33 and 34 act. i see no reason why that should be any different this time around. the only issue worth exploring is what that standard hats meant in year's past and whether there's any reason to give the commission different gliuidance for the future in interpreting it as we address the other questions that i've just outlined. mr. chairman, i wish you god's speed in this endeavor. i offer you my support and i'm delighted that the chairman of the commission has been here this morning to assist us in beginning this process which i hope will go forward with reasonable speed, with great care, and again with great attention to the public interest. i thank you all for listening to me. >> chairman dingell, thank you for your kind comments and generous and willingness to improve our communication and other laws. we look forward to working with you. my only disappointment

joining us are three working reporters on telecommunications. matthew schwartz is with "communications daily." paul barbagallo" is the managing editor at bloomberg bna. what do you think is on the fcc and federal agenda this year? in 2014art off, the fcc and beyond will be intently focused on spectrum. congress as well.

you is even more true when look at the telecommunications sector in general. how do you approach washington with knowing there hasn't been a lot of successful legislation on issues you care about most. what is the strategy to get something done, whether it is at an agency or an executive branch? >> i think we have been fairly successful. that happened quickly. we have marketplace fairness to the senate. that is really important legislation that makes it so the brick-and-mortar retailers are the same as on the internet. that is important. there is support for free trade in congress. that is important. everyone, weike want things not to happen. i think it is a matter of sometimes the senate and the asse have as much problem's the republicans. our job is to get them to see this is a national interest year. we have been a supporter of the no labels movement. they're willing to recognize their job is to solve international problems. business people are pragmatist. affiliated with either party. i'm happy to be in the middle of that. , i wenta book last year around t

they house telecommunications equipment that allow us to provide communication services to speed telecommunication services. so the purpose of the program:

wiley or three or four other wise people at the fcc to know what's best for me in the telecommunications policy. i think if we set the ground rules -- i agree you have to have a traffic cop. but i don't agree that you've got to be so prescriptive that the market just flat gets strangled before it even has a chance to get under way. so my question -- and i'll throw it open to the panel -- is there still a need for a title i? i mean for title ii, for common carrier? in the telecommunication marketplace today, could we deregulate the telephone companies in totality because, you know, there really is no such thing as a natural monopoly anymore? >> if we can find a way to assure that some of the qualities that people fought for long and hard in terms of privacy and public safety and consumer protection do not accompany the new tools of broadband and the internet as they accompanied telephone, then i think we're in trouble. i like the market approach, too. and it was decided long ago that the telecommunications industry, the media industries would appropriate under the capitalistic system. you

they house telecommunications equipment that allow us to provide communication services to speed telecommunication services. so the purpose of the program: the department has expressed concern that the installation of the surface mounted facilities whether at&t or any time will impede travel on public streets and inconvenience property owners and create blight right-of-way by the public. so in order to answer to these concerns that dpw had in august of 2005. dpw ordered 5 and 6 was implemented. this order which is titled regulation for issuing excavation permits in the public right-of-way is the purpose of the order to minimize the impact the placement of any sfm facility will have impact on the public right-of-way. this establishes rules and regulations anden insures permits affected will be heard before dpw issues any permit. a few things the applicant is required to provide is provide technical report, providing graffiti reports and each facility must display contact information of the applicant. so that folks that do receive problems or any other type of issue can call in. supervisor scott wei

i would say that they ruled in favor of what has always been at the heart of telecommunications law in our country dating back to the early 30s when the fcc was actually the federal communications commission was established. that is to public good, to serve the public. in this decision, which was--it was a lawsuit that was brought by verizon. verizon did not want the fcc, they were challenging that the fcc have any authority whatsoever to regulate in this square, so to speak, and they lost. the court said that the fcc clearly has the authority to address broad want in our country. so that's a very, very, very important decision, and i think a victory. now, what was very interesting also was to read what the court said in terms of why it's throughout two parts of the challenge from the fcc. and it was really because of how they coupled both two issues that they found, that using it under one umbrella that the counter didn't accept that. but does the federal communications commission have the authority to go back and to rewrite that, they do. they made that clear in their decision. so i'

>> host: now, you've also got during this week this vegas you've got several leading telecommunications corporate leaders speaking as well. >> guest: absolutely. we have the leader of almost every company involved in the world of innovation there from the head of verizon and at&t to the head of twitter. you name it, they are there. john chambers of cisco, the new president of intel, the head of sony worldwide, the head of yahoo!. so many different people. we have 900 different speakers at ces, and they all have their or creative, bright people and they're focused on the future and solving robs. and we as a society through innovation and technology. >> host: is it open to the media -- is it open to the public? >> guest: despite being called the consumer electronics show, it is open to those who have a business connection or reporters who can cover those that are there, but that's a pretty big -- we have to keep the crowds low because we invest, it's -- las vegas has more hotel rooms than any city in the room, but they can only handle so many people. we look to keep it around 150,000 peop

serve carlyle as managing director and partner focusing on investments in technology media and telecommunications genachowski is an advocate of and free and open internet and wall at the f c c he supported rules against discrimination by internet service providers over what content they carry. well there you have it will be checking these stories and keeping you posted on all the latest. now back during the housing bubble very very few people predicted the financial crisis however it mr warner mosely or did and he was capable of making this prediction by using the economic theory known as an empty or modern monetary theory

comparable services at reasonably comparable prices is the injunction on the charge of the telecommunications act reforming usf which the commission is in the process of doing with lots of wrinkles and problems to work out, no question about that. certainly an important part of the equation. but anybody who thinks that universal service fund alone is going to bring this country the kind of high-speed low cost broadband we need to have competitive in the 21st century is not looking at the situation as it is. this has to be an infrastructure mission. our country has had infrastructure missions before when we came together to build highways and railroads and rural electricity and so on and so forth. that's what we need now. we won't be competitive and get out of the holes that we're in unless every citizen in this country has that access and it's reaching that last 5% to 7%. that's extremely important. way more than half of our homes don't have high-speed low cost broadband that we need to be competitive. we need to look at that not just as an fcc problem but a problem confronting our government

>> all of the growth in the economy is from products that hook up with telecommunication. and we believe you should have a choice in broadband. it used to be broadcast on cable and satellite, but now there is the internet. and we want people having the choice of all of the technology in different ways. so there is wireless broadband and in the major cities we have run out of spectrum to have the broadband. so congress passed legislation man dating the spectrum. >> what do you think about the new chair? >> he is head of the association which is a great background. i served on a committee he served on. he led the united states in major world issues and allowed the state department to gather together and help when there is a crises around the world. and he is not looking his next job. every chairman has been young, and there is nothing wrong with a guy with gray hair now and then >> joining the conversation is alexander byers who writes for "politico" and puts out a letter for them. >> let's start with immigration. things have been stalled in the house for the while. the bill

is that enough of an effect on infrastructure investment and dedecision in local telecommunications? competition? does that have enough of an impact to bring up the jurisdiction recognized by 706? and the answer is potentially yes based on how these other cases come out. so in my opinion, does it make them more likely to consolidate, i actually think they were reluctant to consolidate before. now they're potentially regulated whether they consolidate or not. it may. the bigger point to me is a bunch of players who didn't they they had to worry about what the fcc's going to do now have to pay attention to this because they don't know how broad that authority's going to be intercepted to be. interpreted to be. >> it's a little bit of an aphorism at this point, but we're worried about net neutrality not just for amazon and google, but for that next start-up that none of us can identify yet. so i think i agree with much of what chris said if not all of it just now. there's a lot of changes happening here. i think those big internet players can fend for themselves, but they didn't have to

this is being advertised as the latest telecommunications technology by at&t and dpw. it demonstrates that at&t's technology is not the best. this is why they are installing the 26 boxes. as you can see from the overhead the addition of the new boxes is also in addition to the ones they already have. as one of the leading technologies in the world, san francisco should also lead in internet connecticut like kansas city. we need a project to install the fiber network. i'm glad you are starting to look at this. thank you. supervisor scott weiner: thank you very much. next speaker. >> hi. my name is karen chang and i live in the sunset. this is a model for private property, here we are talking about our streets used by residents and distances much greater. residents and 300 feet is not a notification by employing this rule, notification to the public is under cut and opposition will be less. we've also talked about the process around proposing alternative sites that meet the criteria. this is an insidious way of letting neighbors choose the locations for the sf. this is n

host: what is your biggest concern when it comes to telecommunications today? createshat it opportunity and serves democracy. and these are not questions about terminology and semantics. these are questions about the future of where this country is going. all of the communication things are going to translate to the internet, that internet becomes hugely invested with the public interest, and as a country would have to face up to that if we want a free and open internet, if we want people to have access to all of these communications tools and if we want a civil dialogue that is forms rather than diminishes the state of the nation. guest: my concern is there would be some public policy adopted that would have perhaps the best of intentions but unintended consequences that will actually harm innovation, investment, and the consumer experience. market.us look at the i think the fcc should wait and see. it should do a market study. again, peer-reviewed bona fide economic analysis -- what it has not done. i think it had done, it would find that the competitive, dyn

conditional use authorization under planning code sections 719.83 and 303 to develop a wireless telecommunication services wtss facility for at&t mobility. the proposed macro wts facility would feature 122 roof-mounted panel antennas housed within individual faux vent pipes. related electronic equipment would be located on the roof and in the basement. the facility is proposed on a location preference 6 site limited preference, individual neighborhood commercial districtt within the haight street neighborhood commercial district, and 40-x height and for continuance. sf 112341234 it's proposed for continuance for january 23rd. item 2. item 2: 2013.1695t e.watty; 4155 558-66200 request for a planning code amendment - pursuant to planning code section 302, to allow non-conforming secondary structures that exceed a property's maximum floor area ratio limit to be demolished, in whole or in part, and reconstructed, if certain findings can be made by the planning commission though the downtown authorization process section 3099. the ordinance was introduced by supervisor david chiu and is identified as

>> he mentioned we had a chance to work together on the tell telecommunications act of knicks. we had an opportunity to work specifically on section 706. so we're quite familiar with the provision how it was drafted and crafted. what it was meant to do and not meant to do. i have articulated a couple of times in the last couple of weeks i think should have happened in the court case and obviously i have deep reservations. i disagree with the court's decision.

and this week on "the communicatorsa look at some of the telecommunications and the tech issues that the congress and the fcc may face in 2014. joining us are three working reporters on telecommunications, matthew schwartz is with communications daily, kate tummarello is with the hill, and paul barbagallo is the managing editor of bloomberg bna, mr. barbagallo, let's start with you. what do you think on the fcc and the congressional agenda this year? >> guest: well, i think to start off spectrum. the fcc in 2014 and beyond will be intently focused on spectrum. congress as well. we will have this month the first spectrum auction at the fcc in nearly half a decade, and we'll have another spectrum auction later this year, and the biggest spectrum auction, which everybody has been eagerly anticipating, the incentive auction of spectrum in 2015 as new fcc chairman tom wheeler has stated. so that is, as i see it, one of the bigger issues in congress and fcc on the tech front. the wireless carriers have been lobbying aggressively for many years to free up federal airwaves, commercial airwav

joining us are three working reporters on telecommunications. matthew schwartz is with "communications daily." paul barbagallo" is the managing editor at bloomberg bna. what do you think is on the fcc and federal agenda this year? in 2014art off, the fcc and beyond will be intently focused on spectrum. congress as well. month a firsthis spectrum auction at the fcc in nearly half a decade. we will have another later this year. the a spectrum auction, which everybody has been eagerly anticipating, the incentive option of spectrum in 2015, as the new fcc chairman, tom .heeler, has stated that is, as i see it, one of the bigger issues in congress and the fcc on the tech front. wireless carriers have been lobbying aggressively for many years to free up federal airwaves, commercial airwaves to satisfy their consumers' appetite for bandwidth. >> how major is this month's spectrum auction? >> later this month, the fcc will hold an auction for spectrum. many people thought it would be a bigger deal. basically, there is going to be .nly one bidder -- is -

telecommunications services, which he will sometimes hear referred to as title ii services because they are regulated under the information act, and information services. and the law also has a provision that says that providers of information service and providers in that category shall not be treated as a common carrier, which is a term that has a long history in the common law. and the core of the court's ruling on tuesday was that the antiblocking and the anti-discrimination rules amount to the common carrier for rules. and that means that the fcc cannot impose the inside looking and anti-discrimination on information services, which is exactly what the fcc had previously said broadband service providers are. so, in fact, there is a level at which the court was saying that the fcc cannot have it both ways. they can't decide that prague and is information service and then turn around and impose the kind of nondiscrimination requirements that have characterized the common carriage. with that background, i would like to turn the discussion over to the panelists. i think i would like to

the things that people are realizing is that the americans have had dominance in the whole telecommunications field and over the internet. so one reason it's easy for the nsa to gather in the information is the fiberoptic cables commiphora the nut and american companies have been cooperating with the government in turning over information voluntarily or allowing the government to just have a lot of access to things like the internet, a potential surveillance tool. i was just at a meeting at the white house over the summer where there were a lot of people from the telecommunications industry and internet industry, who told the pratt that if we don't -- the president if we don't have better data protection against the government we're going to lose money because people are going to stop trusting american companies and europeans will create their own internet companies and own telecommunications companies and won't come through the united states companies unless the united states companies start pushing back and renewing to turn over the private data of customers, and it could cost american busi

. >> next on c-span, a hearing on telecommunication regulations. the house debates the fiscal 2014 spending bill. in the governors of oklahoma and colorado give the annual state of the states address. upcongress is considering an date to the federal communications act which was last revised in 1996. in a house hearing, former heads of the fcc discuss regulation of broadcasting and telecommunications. a major topic was yesterday's federal court ruling that struck down the fcc rules on net neutrality. representative greg walden shares this two and a half hour hearing. -- chairs the hearing. >> if our friends in the audience could find a steep -- seat, we will get started here. i will call to order the subcommittee on communications and technology and thank our witnesses for being here for this first of what will be many hearings as we look to update the communications act. few sectors of our economy are equal to communications and technology sector when it comes to innovation, investment in the american economy, and job creation. in these tough econo

fourteen years into the 21st century is well past time to reform our telecommunications laws. this session, we ask you to pass legislation that will accomplish this, but at the same time rural and other unserved parts of our state should have the same broadband internet access as urban areas. [ applause ] >> with your help, this year, we will extend the job-creation tax credit from five years to seven, enabling more businesses to maintain employees and hire new ones. economic development demands infrastructure. we will propose the formation of a non-profit enterprise dedicated to fostering public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure projects such as transportation and water. this will not only bolster economic development, it also will lighten the burden on taxpayers, and harness minds and resources outside of government to address unmet needs and keep colorado competitive. such partnerships offer a path toward financing solutions to existing challenges, such as traffic congestion, in places like fort collins and colorado springs. in the wake of the floods, we proved ou

but if you go back and classify it as a telecommunications service, then you are probably on sound ground. it would be contentious but it would not the all that complex. you would have the commission go back and say, we kind of made a 2004.e back in 2002 and of course, this stuff is telecommunications. at telephone call is a telephone call, whether a land line service or an internet call. functionally it is the same sort of thing. why wouldn't a consumer be callled on that internet to the same kind of protections that advocates fought for or consumers for years and years west among all these things we are talking about? mcdowell,issioner same question. how would you define net neutrality? what did you -- do you think about the court did? the folks me say for watching, michael copps and i come from different philosophical approaches on many issues but we are the best of friends and we had a terrific colleagues inas the fcc. this is a rarity in washington. sometimes we would arrive at the same destination but through different paths completely. and there are things that this -- divide is. i

in addition cost of developing information technologies telecommunications as well as manufactured energy saving equipment and electronics the speaker noted that integration of science education in industry will be the primary focus. some banana mocha leone could come on making the president outlined the creation of knowledge based economy as one of the priorities in his address to the nation. today it is necessary to combine efforts of science manufacturing business in innovations to create the basis for new industrial plants. this bill is another tool of state support for the moment of new technologies in our country at the new show in unison and the sawdust been adjusted biggio on the initiative telling you a most splendid the deputies also approved a bill on internal affairs authorities in the second reading the document prohibits a policeman to use weapons without warning. we remind that this proposal creates certain risk for citizens and causes many debates among people official party members submitted a bill on state support for small and medium businesses to the government this wa

>> as harold mentioned, he and i had a chance to work together on the telecommunications act of 1996 and we had an opportunity to work specifically on section 706. so we're quite familiar with the provision, how it was drafted, what it was crafted what it was meant to do, what it was not meant to do. i articulated a couple times i think last week what happened in the court case. i have deep reservations. i adisagree with the court's decision because i believe the commission did not have authority to issue rules. i think 706 has been abused and it should be returned to its original intent that we helped frame years ago. so i have difficulty with that part of the equation. it makes it harder to get to the second part of the equation that the sec rules were thrown out and -- fcc rules were thrown out and a question we've proposed many times and i think the commission as a whole what to digest going forward with. >> what do you think chairman wheeler will do about the chairman neutrality rules? >> i learned long ago not to try to guess what other people do in d.c. in this environment tha

coming up tonight on c-span, a discussion about telecommunications policy. that, we will look at u.s. military force abroad. then there will be a hearing on the situation and the ukraine. >> yesterday the american enterprise in subdued hosted a discussion about telecommunications policy. one of the topics was the ruling that found that the fcc did not have adequate authority to regulate the internet. it is the net neutrality rule. next, a closer look at that and what we can expect from the debate over internet access. >>s is about one hour. welcome everyone. i am the director of the center for internet communications and technology policy. we are here for an event we planned to look forward to 2014, in the context of making predictions about major policy events likely to occur this year. i think we are already exhausted. we are ready to take the rest opf the year off. but that won't happen. it has been an eventful week. we're when the focus our discussion today on the events of this week with respect to the net neutrality hearing, the net neutrality decision

two of our videos won a national award at the telecommunications officers and adviseers. the national association representing local government jurisdictions and consortiums and those that see communications and broadband technology. both of them find in sf parks. i would like to thank sfgtv for producing our videos and mark who both do so much to give us, help tell our stories. the videos can be found on youtube by search sf parks. i'm proud to announce the graduation. the green ageers accomplishments of 2013-2014 term. the green ageers term is made possible by the san francisco alliance and improving their role in communities open space. an as team of motivated youth, they work with the southeast sector of the city and hosting volunteers and they gain everyday skills applicable to everyday life. i want to give advanced congratulations to this years class and commissioners you are invited to join me at the ceremony -- on january 8th. i want to say to the commission and staff and park volunteers and park advocates, happy holidays! >> thank you, sir. technical difficulties

. >> michael martelly is a former musician and club owner, lamothe was a telecommunications executive who is now dating a supermodel. they have given haiti's recovery a catchy title. >> the slogan is haiti is open for business. you're a business guy. is business the way back for haiti? >> haiti's open for business is a way for us to take care of the poorest in haiti by creating job by attracting foreign investment. >> still, enormous challenges remain, the martelly government has faced a string of protests from opposition unions. highlighting haiti's horrendous water system and hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes remain in tent camps. what the administration says haiti needs most is money. more than half the money pledged after the earthquake has not been paid. >> the country is coming back, we are 50 stories underground after the earthquake. right now we are 20 stories underground so we still have much to do. >>ful of the assistance after the earthquake came with conditions. haiti couldn't decide how to spend it. they say tourism could give them the money they need t