The Telecommunications Act of 1996: 30 Years Later — sitting of 26 March 2026: transcript & video

Name: The Telecommunications Act of 1996: 30 Years Later
Uploaded: 2026-03-26T14:15:00+00:00

00:00 - 00:24

Speaker 1

Telephone operator can use universal services in the next county. They can't. And so one has Internet, full Internet coverage in the adjacent county does not. So thank you for that. Mister Pickering, what do you think? How can you add to that conversation?

00:24 - 01:25

Speaker 2

You know, on USF, as we see the build out right now, both historic levels, as I mentioned, by the private sector, historic levels with bead funding from the public sector, and the bead is just now hitting the shovel to the ground. And so as we go through the next year, two years, we need to assess what the right size of the USF should be post bead, and then look at the right reforms as commissioner O'Reilly mentioned. How do we right size it, keep what is critical in the core? How do we reduce the size of the USF? And one thing that we need to make sure that we don't do, we don't need to tax the innovation economy, and we don't need to put fees on the innovation economy that could then be replicated by our international competitors that would disadvantage us.

So those are measure, right size reform.

01:25 - 01:55

Speaker 1

Yeah. And federal procurement policies are wrecking the whole thing. I mean, we've best implemented by the local folks who own the local transmission lines, poles, and things like that. So it just seems like it's one conflict after another. Commissioner O'Reilly, I excuse me.

Commissioner O'Reilly, the Telecommunications Act did very little to regulate wireless networks, and yet wireless is probably the most common way we stay connected to others today. How did this happen, and what lessons do we take from this?

01:56 - 02:19

Speaker 3

Well, it happened because Congress addressed it a couple year three years earlier in over ninety-three and addressed kind of a lot of the structural issues and set up the auction process. And so it was done differently. And it's similar to how this committee has acted on spectrum last year, setting the framework for spectrum for a number of years, and as you debate whether to do something on some of the other pieces. So it was kind of a separate universe.

02:19 - 02:19

Speaker 4

Mhmm.

02:19 - 02:49

Speaker 3

The lesson is that, you know, there are pieces in over 93 that, you know, one that you obviously know very well because of this. Your auctions are the only way to, only the best way and the only way to award licenses, and allocation must happen. We must have more spectrum, and we have to clear it from inefficient users. And then you have the issue of how do you deal with states? Mister Wood referenced that the states have some involvement in the wireless, and they actually have very little role in wireless service.

It has actually worked very well.

02:49 - 02:54

Speaker 1

Yeah. And, mister Tear, I wanted to get your input on it. I got 12 seconds.

02:54 - 03:03

Speaker 5

In 2007, when Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, he didn't stand up and say, is this in the public interest, do I need to get a permit from the FCC to do it? He launched it.

03:03 - 03:03

Speaker 1

Yes.

03:03 - 03:04

Speaker 5

The rest is history.

03:04 - 03:06

Speaker 1

Good. Thank you. I need to yield back, mister chairman.

03:06 - 03:10

Speaker 5

Thank you, chairman. Recognize John from Florida. Mister, so for five minutes for your question.

03:10 - 04:38

Speaker 6

Thank you, chairman. Orlando is now the 20th largest metro area. We relish the opportunity to have local stories, local voices about Central Floridians, and there's a reason why we have laws preventing any one company from owning it all, protecting these local stories, ensuring competition, and multiple viewpoints. Yet we saw the FCC just approve the Nexstar Media Group acquisition of Tegna on March 19, a deal valued at $6,200,000,000, where one company would own 265 local broadcast stations in 44 states and D.C. That goes well beyond the 39% national cap to now a company that would reach 80% of the market.

There isn't any language that I know of in the FCC laws that allow for a waiver of this cap, which is why eight attorney generals have filed suit on this issue. And president Trump, his credit has flip-flopped more than a Mar-a-Lago beachgoer on this issue. No expansion of the fake news networks, he said, as recently as November 2024. Three months later, quote, we need more competition against the enemy, the fake news national TV networks. I'm sure future congresses are gonna be fascinated to learn about his change of opinion.

In the meantime, Mister Wood, is FCC Chair Carr's magical mystery waiver lawful?

04:39 - 04:54

Speaker 4

No. I like the Beatles reference too. But it is not lawful. Congress wrote that law, and whatever people think about broadcasters needing to get bigger, we think they tell a different story to their investors than they tell you. But Congress has to be the one to change that law.

The FCC can't simply ignore it.

04:54 - 04:55

Speaker 6

Now you.