.. >> host: now on the fifth here on the commission, commissioner mignon clyburn served for acting

chair for half of the year. welcome back to "the communicators." >> it is nice to be here. >> i want to talk about the privacy of telephones that you are working on. what do you think about the appeal and their partial opinion on it? >> on february 11th, rate relief is going to go into effect. so millions of families can more affordably communicate. this is interstate and we are going to continue work on the intrastate engagement. we will answer any questions the source has. but i am happy this didn't impact the rates going into affect. >> i read this is a $1.2 billion

dollar industry. >> you have two providers with 80 plus percent of the market. you don't have a competitive engagement for the family and the people represented in prison n. the only type of engagement. when you have framework like that, that is not competitive, that screams loudly for regulatory oversight or engagement. >> how long will the rate take affect? >> these are interim rates and we will continue to work on that.

we are hopefully by midsummer or early fall we will have a permanent engagement and we will continue to work with the state to hopefully ensure they embark on a pathway and if not we will have to review options when it comes to intrastate issues. we have gautham nagesh with us today with "the wall street journal." >> we have the court decision regarding net neutrality and the fcc was found to have authority in that area. what was your reaction and what should be the way to maintain? >> maintain the need for an open and free engagement. that has option been the objective. the court upheld our 706 a and b

engagement that covers advanced communication incentives. for those that navigate in the space, we are talking about broadband or high speed internet. a provider must publically disclose their rules, network management principles and their performance. and they must tell us how they are engaging with us. it said if you want to stay the course or make changes to how you classify the internet, you will have the data roaming order you can look at for a possible pathway forward. and so this decision, while it

made a lot of headlines about legal scholars are debating on what it didn't do, i am focusing on what it did do. it provides a public a transparent opportunity to engage with providers. >> tom wheeler has been cagey about the road and his perspectives but there are implications. >> he has been forward saying he will accept the court's invitation to act. we are reviewing options and we will, again, stay firm for a free and open engagement. >> moving to another topic, which is one of interest to

viewers, the fcc sports blackout rule. what impact will that have? because we hear that there are still the possibility that there could be blackout for nfl games. >> this gets the fcc out of the business of determining what will and will not happen in terms of private negotiations. and looking at why the rules were enacted and most of the money back then were ticket sales. the majority was ticket sales and there was a reason for this 40 plus years ago. the reason no longer exist. we will be out of that part of the business and i think the talks are where they belong. i am hopefully the fans will

have more opportunities to engage. but that is, of course, in the hands of the others and hopefully not the fcc. >> another issue that has been discussed is the issue of cellphones in airplanes. how do you personal feel about that issue? >> when you talk about verbal engagement, i am like many who might not welcome that so broadly. i have often said when i am travelling an amtrak that i run, not walk, to the quite car. but i believe this, and i know it will provide for consumers and it already has on some airlines and more opportunity for data rich environments. it will open up to provide options hopefully over the long-term less expensive. when you look at the eco system when it comes to this, i have

been told by those individuals that 90% of the engagement is data only. a small part is conversation. is up too airline also rather to admit that conversation. what i know that is already happening, i sat next to someone that said thank you for allowing me to engage with my e-reader. it will enable that type of engagement and i think that is good for consumers. so i would not get hung up on the voice engagement because the way in which teenagers and we deal and engage on planes is quite and passive and data driven. >> commissioner, one of your greatest accomplishments was the

wireless inopratability data. you collected carriers in a room and told them to hash out on agreement. can you tell us anything more about that process? do you think that is a model other things could get done at the center? >> i hope so. i grew up learning about the way you settle a disagreement. you sit down and talk about it. we sat with a dozen closest friends, wink wink, and we entered into a serious converation about why not and how can we get there. what we saw, meaning the fcc, is that the parties were not so far apart. they were just entrenched in

their position. we were able to come up with an agreement that is providing divdeneds for those in areas that were landlocked. these small carriers purchase and bid on the properties and spectrum with the anticipation of being able to build out. now that is possible and possible in an expedited manager because we didn't know the

answers. >> i looked on wednesday morning and we were in round 42. there was $1.2 billion dollars committed. and every area was engaged. i am very proud of being able to take credit for circulating that item when i was acting chair because it is going to bring 10 mega hertz to market. it will provide a down payment for the first responders network that will provide nationwide public safety platforms. it was spectrum that no one thought was valuable not too long ago. so the engineers did a lot to make sure it was ready and able.

i am still anticipating -- either we set a reserve price of $1.56 billion and i am hopefully we will exceed that. >> host: what do you see as the time table for the larger spectrum options? >> you are right. we anticipate that to be engaged by the end of the year. the big talk is the incentive options that we anticipate next year. we are working hard to make the spectrum for the best use. we engage in a process where we follow the model with broadcasters to make sure we are able to support and feed the public's desire and need for a rich wireless engagement. >> host: just a follow up to

what you talked about earlier. the sprint folks visited with wheeler about a sprint t-mobile merger. what are your thoughts about that? >> i don't think it would be wise for me to speculate. i am interested in player that are offering robust and varied services to be as strong as possible. so whatever comes before me, i will review appropriately but i will not engage in any type of speculation at this time >> t-mobile is, i think it is fair to say, disrupting the

wireless market. what is your view of competition? what impact do you think the denial made three years ago for at&t to acquire t-mobile. >> i go back to the question you asked about inopratability agreement. i lay hope in the fact the smaller providers will enable others and competition to be stronger and their footprint to become wider. as we continue along the path, i am hopefully as we free up more spectrum and consider different things and configeration, we will fuel the competition needed to fuel the com competitive

framework. competition is a mantra in which you hear us speak about. it is prominent in the communication act. whatever we can do to help facilitate that, we will. >> you have the broadcasters on the other side. will enough of them show up to bring in the 84 mega hertz? and others think it will be the must-carry stations. how will that impact communities under served by media right? -- underserved -- >> that is definitely a concern. but you know, with me, the

market and the voluntary option should be open for all. i am hoping, if this does impact, we will continue to to think about how we can get others to do more and these relationships that could provide other opportunities. and so, it is going to be a challenge if some of the predictions are true. but there are a whole host of opportunities that i hope stationholders will engage in. you can partial engagement and that could promote and provide opportunities for the type of

opportunities we want. -gauengagement >> do you anticipate shaird ownership rules? >> i anticipate that in the coming weeks >> the commission talked about relaxing the newspaper rule in the market. do you have a stance on that issue? do you think it will be revisited? >> we have been talking about this for a number of months as you know. i am looking forward to whatever the chairman circulates and at that time i will be in a better position to answer. again, thank you for the opportunity. >> host: mignon clyburn, you mentioned talking with fellow commissioners. craig baldwin has proposed three

reforms. would that make your job easier? >> it will make the spirit more robust. if you followed the meeting just a couple days ago, we were doing internal things in terms of process reform ourselves. our staff has done an incredible job in under circumstances with shutdowns and budget constraint and the like, but we continue to do the public's work. so we have done some remarkable things under those circumstances. but we can do better. the president put forth a means to self-evaluate. we are not in isolation or working in a vacuum. we continue to work with

congress to better the process. but we continue to look within ourselves. getting information from those who do business with us. from those internal, from the guards' defense to the chairman's desk. looking at creative new ideas to improve ourselves. we are in the reform business. we are in the process reform business and i am really happy we are not satisfied. we are doing a great job but we want to do better >> you are in your fifth year at the fcc. have you bine surprised at the engagement of the american public with your position? >> i am pleased that people recognize, particularly with a key objective of providing an affordable broadband opportunity

to the nation, and more communities are realizing how enabling and important this is. i am please would the level of engagement. i am happy people are realizing i am at the fcc not the ftc. they recognize how important this agency is and how it can be a partner to its progress. >> host: turning back to broadcast, some groups have been circulating concerns over the lack of diversity among the owners of broadcast stations. we have seen the market consolidate. and by some counts, there are no full stations owned by african-americans. is this a concern to you? do you see the internet filling the gap at all? >> that is absolutely a concern. i am looking at the internet and

other platforms to augment. it isn't a substitution. i am not going to be satisfied until there are pathways to parity. it is important by way of programming and ownership that the american experience is reflected. i think that is important for opportunities, information desen sem nation and the needs of the society are better met when there is reflective engagement. i remain concerned and will not be satisfied until there are opportunities for all on all platforms >> representation of minorities has declined at a greater rate than others. we don't see the broadcast lice

license being renewed. is there anything you would encourage to get representation in? >> that is an area i am continuing to be reflective on and welcome robust engagement from the public in terms of guidance. >> host: one statement in the president's addressed public-private partnerships. will the government have a role in this? >> we are doing this now. when you look at the connect america fund, that used to be the high cost fund. we are leverage private dollars and using public dollars for areas in poverty. as it relates to the president's

connect-ed we embrace that commission. i had to opportunity to attend the announcement in a middle school. i was in there with an audience that is willing to embrace that engagement. government can't afford to do it alone especially with the current state at play. we are looking for legally sustainable creative ideas that will close the gap. 15 million americans don't have the infrastructure for broadband. we have less than a 100 million people who have not adopted broadband at home. the economics, when you talk to them, is the primary reason they can not afford broadband after playing the rest of the bills.

we have significant issues to attend to. we have very significant, you know, problems we need to address. and only through a collective engagement in a public-private partnership can we deal with this. >> you mention the digital divide. there are debates over this. some people introduced the notion that people don't understand the important of broadband internet. the other issue is if cost was an issues, this would encourage cost limits put on or a program to subsidize cost for low-income

households? >> we have broadband pilot trials. we have about 14 or 17 different models where we will gleam from the data what direction -- lean -- that is the most affective means. we are not satisfied with targeting that type of financial incentives in those areas. we are trying to see what types of things work and what-types of incentives work and hopefully within a few months, i will be able to look at the data and come back to you and say here the pathway we think it is best to engage to address the issues you put forth. >> host: what state of disru

disruption in the telecommunications world -- is it time it rewrite the 1996 telecom act? how often do you have to refer back to the 1934 radio-television act? is it possible in today's world to regulate and manage all of the components? >> it is becoming more and more of a challenge. i cannot sit here and say it hasn't been. we have been talking about ip transitions, but we are going through technology transitions. people say we are in the digital world and i will not get into the that argument, but i will say we are increasing forced to be more creative in terms of how we deliberate. we are continued to be engaged

in more agreements and experiments which will see in some of the ip trials that we will get more feel. by march 6th is when some of the experiments are due to come in. this type of engagement is representation that yes, we may challenges, but we mutually recognize things are changing and evolving and it is in everyone's interest to join in. >> we had an article we ran and received letters back railroad regarding the fact that ip isn't as resilient and doesn't come

with power attached and in natural disasters it isn't as reliable. how did you them addressing this and which values and regulations should be transferred from the existing network to the new one? >> the four values remain. those are not negotiable. one of the reasons for the trials is to address the same issues you put forth. the transitions in which we are experiencing offered incredible, positive engagements. more opportunities and more capacity and options for those with disabilities. video call opportunities for e-91 engagement. there has been a lot of positives, but you are addressing the challenges. the reason for the ip trial that

we know it is important for people to engage from public safety networks to dealing with health care issues and big and small and rural cities and urban centers. it is important to address these issues. things are changing. we are cutting the cord and moving from wireline to wireless. change is here. what do we do to ensure the public's expectations are realized? and the networks are hard as possible. working with the utility companies to help with resilliance, and indoor accuracy

of cellphones. hopefully with the robust technology transitional trials will be addressed. >> host: mignon clyburn has been our guest this week along with gautham nagesh of "the wall street journal." >> c-span created by america's cable companies in 1979. brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> we will talk to steve king about immigration, the debt ceiling and health care. and lauren angle