Around the country have become accustomed to, that it equal access to go anywhere on the internet come see any content, having a commercial transaction without having a preference for a priority or being blocked or throttle. We are very much in support of that. We think the new start a new entrances and new Business Models that the open internet is critical to the Economic Growth and continued success. Host were you off the reservation as far as being a former republican representative on the position . Guest i was in todays world but back in 1996, 2000 when the open internet first started it was republicanled and there was a bipartisan consensus around the open internet. Chairman powell was the first to enunciate and to t commit to a t of principles around net neutrality. He coined the term and then kevin martin, another republican commissioner chairman was the first to enforce the principle. When i was in congress there was a number of republicans and democrats are continued to support the principles of an open internet. Part of my job is only to be a voice for the openness but also to try to bring enough of a consensus in the industry around the issues and principles so that the bipartisan consensus that we once enjoyed on these issues can be restored and renewed. Host join our conversation is david kaut, Senior Editor with communications daily. The orders currently being challenged in the court. No one has a perfect crystal ball. We dont know what could happen but what is your best guess as to how that will play off . Guest my best guess is that chairman is the strongest possible Legal Authority to sustain an open internet rule. As you may know and for the audience, its been struck him twice in the courts. Wants comcast challenged the rules and the of the time for ricin, and the reducing either taiwan or other authorities. Now with the authority the fcc chose we believe it is the most legally sustainable which will create the predictability and certainty. The good news is that chairman used what was very successful in the wildest model. He could forbear from the old rule of applied a light touch and as it applies as to whether wireless or internet are the modern market. We believe he crafted strong rules, alastair rules and a light touch framework, and the courts we believe probably, i dont know if there may be some exceptions but is the core of what the chairman did at the fcc we think it will be upheld and sustained. Have you seen any changes since the order was adopted order take effect in the market or any problems developing that gave you some concern . Guest when i took the position sco comptel, part of what i was wanting to do was to build a coalition that was broad enough and deep enough to win the competitive policies or battles with at the fcc or in congress. Part of that was to broaden the coalition, having been a member of congress, coalitions are extreme and four and and winning the votes and wanted to make sure the Second Generation of competition survived and was sustained. Companies like google, netflix, amazon, twitter have joined comptel. What you are saying since the order is the Internet Business model what you think is the most efficient and innovative and highest growth Business Model compared to existing or the older telecom and cable Business Models. You are seeing tremendous value created in the economy, continuing to see high investment in networks. If you look at the most recent wireless auction, historic numbers were used or invested, over 40 billion into the wireless spectrum. You are seeing google Fiber Networks, new Wireless Networks sprint, tmobile and others, at t and verizon as well. We continue to see investment, continue to see growth, and the internet economy i think is going to flourish because of the predictability and certainty of these rules spent so far so good it sounds like. Youve already addressed this in general terms, procompetition but what are your top legislative or Regulatory Priorities specifically . Guest we have something called tech transitioned. What does that mean . As you look at the last mile network or what our audience may know as the wire that comes into their home or their business from the local Telephone Companies or cable company, as the legacy Telephone Companies transition from copper and something called tdm, an old technology, circus which, to i. T. , new networks, how do we make sure our public safety, the 911, how to make sure the competition that has taken root in the marketplace, continues in her eyes . And how do we make sure that our critical institutions, our schools, libraries, hospitals, first responders, the services that they depend on those networks, how do they go into the next technology, this transition with everything being sustained and improved . We want more efficient, you get better service, lowers the prices. We all want, and competitors have deployed ip networks from the very beginning. But the transition order that the commission adopt it said we will continue to maintain competition in the business market. We will provide these services that are essential to the well being of the country, and thats a big thing that weve been working on. The incentive auction, recent roles have been adopted continued to promote competition in the wireless market so that at least a third of the auction will be in reserve for either the new entrants or compass like tmobile and sprint and u. S. Cellular and ceasefire and a small regional companies. So that was a big thing. Interconnection at the edge of the open internet, this is the new. First amendment of speech. First amendment of competition policy, interconnection at the edge of what the internet traffic meets the last mile Network Comment to make sure it is open and competitive. We were able to win a major new interconnection policy, open internet, with at t direct a merger, and conditioned by the charter merger with time warner. They are saying that they will continue to have an interconnection policy that basically exchanges traffic among all the networks. Something called settlement free. We believe that is the most economically efficient, most competitive. We are seeing gains in all areas for competition under this administration. Host congressman, when he talked about the incentive auction, are you happy with all the rules . Is there enough set aside in your view, and while youre Member Companies be participating . Guest we advocated for more to be honest, but to get 30 would leave was the best that could be done, and it is sufficient for most competition. At the into politics you may not get all you want but we got progress. I tell many people, ive met progress and politics but never perfection. The order i think was a good balance of the chairman put together to make sure that all of his objectives, a successful auction, broadcast participation, competitive promotion of new entrants and existing challenges to the incumbent. At the same time ive ever that we think will coming to benefit the taxpayer and to the u. S. The group those who are some of the Member Companies . Guest tmobile has indicated they will be participating. U. S. Cellular. You never know i if it could bea surprise of a new entrants i think were entering into an age that weve had, because of the old monopoly policies, networks that we could control the market, we could hold captive and that we could have scarcity in networks, capacity or speed and we could monetize about. Because of the internet model, and all the layers of the application, the internet of things, the internet of medicine from all of these new ways to do business over networks, the ability to do wifi or wireless Fiber Networks we are about to enter into a new age of new networks being driven by the Internet Companies and the internet economy. We havent talked much about the. You are a former congressman. You still have a lot of context of there. Can you give us a sense of the date of play on the hill to rewrite the telecom act and come up with some new broadbandbased legislation . Guest the energy and Commerce Committee for which i served as had a great hearing in the recent months. Their emphasis which i think is the right emphasis is how to do remove barriers to entry to Deploy New Networks . Whether that is existing network, and emerging network or a completely new start new entrants. How do you have access to polls and rights of ways and conduit . How do you streamline the permitting process, whether its a mini cell or a wireless power or a fiber deployment. One of our members is rocket fiber in detroit, michigan. They just deployed a new Fiber Network as part of the renovation and restoration of detroit took one of our Member Companies, you all may know google fiber. Wherever the no competitors responding build new networks at faster speeds, higher capacity and lower prices. This hearing was on the hill about how to Deploy New Networks and have competition from mike doyle, congressman from pennsylvania, said from idb service in pittsburgh is 400. But in austin or provo, or wherever these new entrants come, google fiber, its less than 100 at higher speed. Wanted the hearing focused upon was how do we incentivize and make new entrants and new builds but all participants possible. The second think we could really do on a rewrite whether its a fake emerging consensus on both sides of the aisle is video reform, retransmission consent of reform, and how do we make video pricing more competitive. What weve learned is that as video prices are high, it slows down the investment of new networks and it inhibits for it in paris or blocks new competition in the market. So video reform, new infrastructure deployment, a possible restructuring of the fcc that would reflect a more modern structure of the market versus the Old Industries and old Business Models. More wifi and wireless spectrum to be made available. Those are the things were consensus is emerging, and you have policies that was done, reform and modernize his that Broadband Services can be made available to low income individuals. Host how would you restructure the fcc . Guest if you look at the different titles, the have a commentary on the broadcast and cable. Really we are going to an emerging come to at all broadband world. And having those silos i think may not make sense in todays world. But whatever is done, i think the 1996 act has been again a great success. The fundamentals of interconnection and competitive access to networks into last mile access is extremely important. Maintaining that while reforming the structure, making sure that the process is as transparent as possible, as accountable as possible and as time as possible. Those were things that i think i congress, probably not this congress, but 2016 and into the next presidency and administration, we may look at. You mentioned the charter situation. You all opposed the comcastTime Warner Cable planned merger which was blocked come and enjoy concerns about at t and directv which was approved with conditions. Currently pending is a cable merger, and were on cspan which is a cable network. How do you all do the painting charter proposal to take over Time Warner Cable and broadcast networks . Guest a charter could be either a force for greater competition and innovation, over they could have anticompetitive effects. One step that they took that we applauded and commended was that they announced the it would have been interconnection policy at the edge. That would be the settlement three, over the top couplets like netflix, one of our Member Companies at others love you believe to interconnect and provide the content to the end user without a toll or of the. So that was very important that charter did. We continue to hope that charter will see itself as a disruptor, an innovator in the marketplace. And will continue to take procompetition commitments as they go through their merger. Host congressman, im sure you saw the New York Times recent editorial on cable boxes and whether they should be opened up or gotten rid of. What do you say to the Cable Companies that have invested in the cable box, that have provided the video, and what do you say to them and you want to open up their competition . Guest as weve seen the progression on the wireline telephone side, the cutting of the cord and going to the wireless or the cellular voice and service. Verizon, sometimes we disagree with, but they recently have made a big push to break the bundle so that they can be more competitive in video. And we applauded that. The settop box we would like to comment we started a campaign, to unlock the box, much like youve unleashed the phone and the wireless industry. What we would like to see, and the reason he is so much innovation, the iphone, android, smart phone, the laptop come is that each individual could get his wireless subscription, but by whatever phone you wanted, and that phone would be interoperable. The individual control. And because of that you have had this tremendous innovation in the wireless device market. We want to do the same thing in the cable set top box market. So that new companies and new entrants and new innovations. We believe the cable industry at this point is going to oppose this, and thats something we expect, but five years from now, ma 10 years from now if we are successful we think cable will have a larger market with more applications and more services, and you have a very innovative ecosystem of devices, and just like competition that is ended up being good in the wireless market in the Long Distance backbone and internet market, the more competition would bring, markets get bigger, growth gets higher, investment increases and incumbent, competitor alike benefit from it. When i was a congressman i didnt want competition. I didnt want an opponent. The one that i had a challenger, i ended up investing 30 times more in my campaign. My constituent service was never higher. By legislative productivity was never greater, and that was a better congressman as a result. It strengthened my ability to represent the district, not we can do it. I think whether its a political incumbent or a cable incumbent, more competition makes us all better. Host five, 10 years down the road, which the future of video . How long are we going to be watching video . Guest it is going to be vastly different than what it is today. Its what we see in the market, more over the top, more screaming, more internet. The bundle as we know it today will possibly exist in some form, but very carefully. It may be a skinny bundle. It may be the option you could have a fat bundle. You could do just and over the top, and alec hart. The choices are going to be multiplied, and thats a good thing. Out of the knesset lurched for programmers or cable because i think youll see more markets, more applications that will then go over the networks, cable and competitive unlike come with many, many different applications layered over then come with a much larger market that everyone grows in benefits from. Host to refer back to what david has to come at what point does congress draw the line and say okay, were going to start new legislation today with all this technology that just keeps moving . Guest were going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1996 act next year, february. Its hard for me to imagine. I was a young staffer as reform, framed and establish the principles and then the actual legislation. I think its been a great success. Are there some things we can build upon and improve or so markets that have not yet tasted the full fruit of vibrant competition . In the last mile networks, yes. So whatever we can do to bring more competition there, individual competition, greater competition. And the streamlining, the reforming. You will probably not be able to start in the middle of congress, and a president ial and Congressional Elections are to get there, but the hearings that are being held now, and somewhat the same that the table for the next congress, i think youll see more and more talk of reform as we go forward. There some things that can be done that brings competition to the last mile. Right now 85 of the country has only a choice of one or two providers in the last mile wired service. I think we can do better than that as a country. That should be our focus on any new rewrite. You mentioned the Election Year which is coming up. Theres always an Election Year coming up. Are you discerning any signals coming out of any of the president ial candidates on Communications Policy . And if you arent, are there any issues you think should be part of the conversation . Guest i would argue, and those people when they associate Ronald Reagan with his legacy, they dont think im breaking up of at t and they dont think how that led to spread building the first fiber Long Distance network, mci build fiber then worldcom. Those became the internet backbone. In 1992 when we had the 92 cable act, no one thought that satellite with river channels and digital would force cable with 30 and analog to digital. Then that laid the last Mile Broadband infrastructure into the cable modem and for the competitive wire policies that start in 1993 when he said we wont just have too, will live up to seven. And then the 96 act, those things have had more of an effect on our life, our politics and our economy than any other i believe domestic economic actions in our lifetime. More than tax or budget or any other policy. And so in the president ial candidates look at what works, what doesnt, hopefully they will reestablish this bipartisan consensus that could