Senate Announces FCC Oversight Hearing

Set for March 12; all five commissioners slated to testify

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/5/2013 2:03:11 PM

The Senate Commerce Committee has officially announced the March 12 FCC oversight hearing, confirming a report last week in B&C/Multichannel News.

According to the committee announcement, all the commissioners will be in attendance.

Look for Commerce chairman Jay Rockefeller (D- W. Va.) to ask about the status of incentive auctions that will be used to fund the emergency first responder broadband network he has championed.

He is also likely to include other broadband and phone issues given that this week he reintroduced do not track online privacy legislation and sent letters to the largest wireless carriers about wireless "cramming" bill scams.

Rockefeller has also made gauging the impact of violent and indecent content on kids a priority for his committee, so that issue may come up as well.

The committee last held an FCC oversight hearing in May 2012, only days after commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai were sworn in.

The chairman of the committee, Jay Rockefeller (D- W. Va.) is Rosenworcel's former boss. They worked together when she was a top committee aide to push for a broadband first responder network.