Crowded Room Expected for Closed Hill Meeting on Telecom Act Update

摘要

The FCC and other federal agencies will be among the few missing at Friday’s planned closed Hill meeting to discuss an update of the Telecom Act, a Senate aide told us Thursday. Representatives from ISPs, edge companies and public interest groups are among the 32 that so far have confirmed attendance, the aide said. The groups plan to meet behind closed doors at 11 a.m. in Room 2322 of the Rayburn House Office Building. It’s a “giant session,” the Senate aide said. Given the number of names and the fact that many of their positions are already well established, “the structure does not lend itself to productivity,” the aide said. Congressional staff were to meet at 3 p.m. Thursday to work out details on the meeting’s format, the aide said. House and Senate Commerce Committees didn’t comment. The meeting is the first of three planned by the committees. A second meeting is expected to discuss spectrum issues, and a third will cover broadband deployment and adoption issues. While the doors will be closed to press and public, the committees have stated they plan to release participant lists and submitted statements.