House staffer: FCC should have focused on broadband plan before net neutrality

LAS VEGAS — A key staffer in the House Energy & Commerce Committee expressed some frustration with the FCC’s request to push back the deadline for the national broadband plan.

Neil Fried, who advises top committee Republicans Joe Barton (Texas) and Cliff Stearns (Fla.), indicated that he wishes the FCC had focused all of its efforts over the past several months on the broadband plan.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on net neutrality,” he said while speaking on a panel about broadband deployment. “I’m not sure why we didn’t spend that time on statutorily mandated items.”

The FCC this week asked for a one-month extension of the deadline to deliver the national broadband plan to Congress. The original deadline was Feb. 17.