Senate Slates Pandemic-Related Broadband Hearing

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing May 13 on “The State of Broadband Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic." 

The hearing will look at FCC efforts to expand broadband while keeping low-income residents connected despite difficulty in paying or inability to pay. 

Related: COVID-19 Crisis Hits TV Industry

It will also look at CARES Act broadband funding, which included $200 million for an FCC telehealth program, and legislative proposals for using funds in further COVID-19 aid bills to close the rural digital divide. 

Witnesses include Steven Berry, CEO of the Competitive Carriers Association, Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA-the Rural Broadband Association, and Jonathan Spalter, CEO of USTelecom. 

Notably absent from the list at press time was anyone from NCTA-the Internet & Television Association or ACA Connects, whose members include cable ISPs committed to the FCC's connectivity pledge and who have gone beyond that pledge to keep a shelter-in-place populace communicating.

Asked why neither was on the guest list, a spokesperson for the Committee would only say: "US Telecom represents wired broadband providers. As does NTCA."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.