By Kelcee Griffis

Law360 (September 15, 2020, 4:43 PM EDT) -- A House Democrat who chairs a key telecom subcommittee criticized what he characterized as the Federal Communications Commission's limited efforts to help consumers weather the coronavirus pandemic, saying Tuesday that the agency should do more to aid cash-strapped internet customers and students who lack broadband.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said during a virtual address hosted by trade group Incompas that the FCC and congressional Republicans can't bank on companies' promises to cut customers slack on their broadband bills or to help schools afford internet connections for homebound students, putting an emphasis on passing relief legislation and expanding FCC programs.

"It has always been clear that we can't rely on corporate promises alone or donations alone to get us through this crisis. Congress needs to act," said Doyle, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology subcommittee. "To be frank, we have missed many opportunities to act already."

Doyle particularly criticized the FCC's sunsetting of its Keep Americans Connected pledge, a voluntary program that enlisted nearly 800 companies to suspend service disconnections based on overdue bills, waive late payment fees and open Wi-Fi hot spots to the public. Even though the pledge is no longer in effect, the pandemic lingers and consumers are still faced with similar financial hardships, Doyle said. 

"[FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai likes to tout the efforts of private companies, and I applaud them too, but the Keep Americans Connected pledge expired in June," he said. "While the pledge kept people from being disconnected, those who are struggling now have a pile of unpaid bills."

Pai, however, expressed a more optimistic view of the now-defunct pledge's ripple effects. Speaking during another Tuesday address hosted by Incompas, the FCC chairman suggested voluntary cooperation with industry was the best way to address consumer concerns during the first weeks of the pandemic.

"That really was critical in those early months, making sure that of all the things consumers had to worry about, broadband would not be one of them," Pai said.

He also highlighted the voluntary cooperation model for the future and expressed hesitancy to prescribe future pandemic coping measures.

"Going forward, one of the lessons learned is that that public-private partnership is so important. It's one thing for the FCC to pass regulations ... but in many cases, in an emergency, that voluntary cooperation can be much more effective much more quickly than other types of approaches," Pai said.

Two such programs announced in recent weeks are T-Mobile's Project 10Million — which offers students a number of free data-capped wireless hotspots and access to at-cost tablets and laptops via school districts — and the cable industry's K-12 Bridge to Broadband, which partners ISPs with school districts to connect families in need with low-cost broadband service.

While these commitments are laudable, Doyle said they likely won't go far enough for many districts that are struggling to scrape together extra cash needed to participate in the programs.

"While I'm glad to see that the broadband providers are participating in the recently announced Bridge to Broadband program ... too many school districts around the country are struggling financially and find themselves relying on federal funding to get broadband to school," Doyle said. "Who's going to pay for the additional costs of [these] connections?"

--Editing by Kelly Duncan.

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