Senate receives notice of FCC net neutrality repeal

With help from Margaret Harding McGill, Ashley Gold, Nancy Scola, John Hendel and Steven Overly

NET NEUTRALITY NEWS — The Senate has now received official notice of the FCC's net neutrality repeal, according to two congressional sources. That procedural development is important because it could be the first step to triggering a 60-day clock for Congress to undo the FCC’s decision. (That is, 60 legislative days.) The Senate’s 47 Democrats and two independents plus Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine have said they would support such a maneuver, using the Congressional Review Act. That’s 50 votes, still one vote short of the number needed for approval in the Senate. The FCC did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday. Stay tuned.

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BLACKBURN SIDES WITH TRUMP ON BROADBAND — Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) isn’t joining fellow rural state lawmakers in pushing for dedicated funding for broadband in the infrastructure package. (The White House confirmed Tuesday that it wouldn’t seek to set aside money for that purpose.) Blackburn, leader of the House Energy and Commerce telecom panel, told John in a recent interview she wants to focus on bills to streamline permitting and clear away regulations impeding new networks, and attach them to the infrastructure legislation. “I want to see how much bipartisan support we can end up building for simplifying this process,” she said. E&C Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) agreed: “Sometimes it’s more than just the money,” he said, arguing that FCC subsidies already provide billions of dollars for broadband and that the private sector is doing just fine.

— But small telecoms from Blackburn’s home state say simply cutting red tape isn’t enough to close the urban-rural digital divide. “Money drives the network,” said Levoy Knowles, executive director of the Tennessee Telecommunications Association, citing estimates that the state needs well over $1 billion for broadband. “There has to be some dedicated money to close the gap.”

FCC HQ MOVE DELAYED — Agency staff were told this week that the move to a new headquarters in Washington’s NoMa neighborhood will be delayed until 2020, sources familiar with the internal meeting tell MT. The move from the agency’s current location in the Portals complex in Southwest D.C. had been slated for next year.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we're on the edge of our seats about if we’re going to have six weeks more winter. And as always, send your tech and telecom tips to lzhou@politico.com and @liszhou. Catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Quick Downloads.

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NEW MEDIA MERGER? – CBS and Viacom formed committees to “evaluate a potential combination” with each other, the companies announced late Thursday, noting there’s “no assurance this process will result in a transaction.” The Redstone family holds majority stake in both Viacom and CBS. We’re tracking, with special focus on whether a deal might involve the transfer of licenses, which would trigger an FCC antitrust review.

GOOGLE GETS ITS NEW ERIC SCHMIDT — Eric Schmidt’s replacement by John Hennessy as Alphabet executive chairman marks the end of an era in Washington as well as Silicon Valley. Schmidt, a veteran tech executive, was brought on as CEO in 2001 to stabilize what was then known as Google — and he arguably became the company’s political face. He was an adviser to Barack Obama, both on the campaign trail and in the White House. And he played a prominent role in 2016 Clinton campaign; MT was first to show you the photo of Schmidt at Clinton’s election-night party, wearing a “staff” badge. Since then, Schmidt has both criticized Trump on issues such as immigration and tried to build bridges to his White House, arriving extra early for a June sit-down on federal IT.

— Hennessy, who’s been on Google’s board for the past 14 years, has also spent a bit of time in political circles. When Obama gathered for a 2011 dinner with a dozen or so Silicon Valley leaders, Hennessy was among them, sitting to the right of Larry Ellison and across from both Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs.

FCC BROADBAND REPORT LOOMS — The FCC’s first report on U.S. broadband deployment under Republican Chairman Ajit Pai could surface as early as today. (The agency must do so by a Sunday deadline.) In a move that pleased many Democrats, Pai stuck with the current speed benchmarks for broadband internet service and concluded that mobile broadband is not a full substitute for a residential internet connection.

— But both FCC Democrats have taken issue with the report’s finding that the FCC is fulfilling its mandate to encourage broadband deployment in a reasonable and timely manner. It comes down to numbers. While Democrats say 24 million Americans lack access to high-speed internet service, Republican Commissioner Mike O’Rielly says it’s actually 14 million, according to an early excerpt of his statement shared with MT. “Not to diminish this figure, but it is important that we accurately describe the problem,” said O’Rielly, who voted to approve the report. The dispute is based on whether to include satellite broadband offerings in the deployment data.

UHF DISCOUNT’S DAY IN COURT — The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments for April 20 in a case challenging the FCC’s reinstatement of the “UHF discount.” Remember, Free Press, Common Cause and other groups sued last year over the discount, which eases broadcast TV ownership restrictions by allowing companies to only count half the reach of their UHF stations when calculating compliance with the 39 percent national audience cap. (See Sinclair.)

TAXATION WITH REPRESENTATION — Oracle tapped Michael Solon of US Policy Strategies to lobby on international tax and budget matters, a disclosure filing shows. The tech giant is among the big beneficiaries of the new tax law that reduces the taxes companies pay on repatriated money and overseas earnings. On Capitol Hill, Solon worked for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as well as former Sens. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

SILICON VALLEY MUST-READS —

— Sinclair messages employees about PAC donations: “On Wednesday, eligible Sinclair Broadcast Group employees — thought to be mostly executive types — received an invitation to contribute to the company's political action committee,” The Hollywood Reporter reports.

— Airbnb talks IPO: “Short-term home rental service Airbnb Inc will not go public this year, the company said on Thursday, and it also announced a change in executive leadership with the loss of its chief financial officer and appointment of its first chief operating officer,” Reuters reports.

— Google eyeing Saudi Arabia tech hub: “Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant and Google parent Alphabet Inc., two of the world’s biggest companies, are in talks about jointly building a large technology hub inside the kingdom, people familiar with the potential deal said,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

FTC FIGHTS BAD ROMANCE — As Valentine’s Day approaches, the FTC is here to protect something of utmost value: your heart. A new infographic from the agency warns people about online dating scams, especially situations when potential love interests ask for financial assistance. The FTC, which tracks fraud complaints, highlights some staggering stats: People lost a collective $220 million to online dating scams in 2016, and complaints to the FBI about such incidents have tripled over the course of five years. As Pat Benatar would say, “Love Is a Battlefield.” [Editor’s note: I may be the only one on the team who remembers this song.]

TRANSITIONS — Per POLITICO Influence, Emily Liner, previously of Third Way, is joining Salesforce's government affairs office. … Perianne Boring, founder and president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, is joining Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business as an adjunct professor. She will teach the school’s first-ever course on blockchain.

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Is AT&T selling its data center business?: “AT&T Inc. has reignited a sales process for its data-center business,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “The telecom company has engaged Bank of America Corp. to explore a divestiture of its data centers, said people familiar with the matter.”

Powell Jobs looking into BuzzFeed investment: “The editor of BuzzFeed has had discussions with the company started by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of the late Steve Jobs, about investing in the digital media company’s news division,” The Financial Times reports.

More smart eyewear?: “Intel Corp. plans to sell a majority stake in its augmented reality business, which aims to start offering smart glasses to consumers as soon as this year,” Bloomberg reports.

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Eric Engleman (eengleman@politico.com, @ericengleman), Nancy Scola (nscola@politico.com, @nancyscola), Margaret Harding McGill (mmcgill@politico.com, @margarethmcgill), Ashley Gold (agold@politico.com, @ashleyrgold), Steven Overly (soverly@politico.com, @stevenoverly), John Hendel (jhendel@politico.com, @JohnHendel) and Li Zhou (lzhou@politico.com, @liszhou)