House Democrats criticized the Commerce Department for creating a National Institute of Standards and Technology senior position without notice to congressional committees. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appointed Jason Richwine deputy undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology. Richwine published “blog posts for a prominent white supremacist website,” wrote House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas, and Research and Technology Subcommittee Chair Haley Stevens, Michigan. “That Dr. Richwine holds these beliefs and has deliberately built a public profile around them is abhorrent; that he has apparently been rewarded for them by the Trump Administration is a scandal.” Commerce didn’t comment.
The judge in DOJ and states’ antitrust case against Google wants to plot an initial schedule before the December holidays, said U.S. District Court in Washington Judge Amit Mehta on a telephonic status conference Wednesday. Mehta asked parties to file Dec. 11 their proposed case management order and outstanding issues for the judge to resolve. It mightn’t include a concrete trial date if parties are planning to seek summary judgment, he said. The judge scheduled an 11 a.m. Dec. 18 telephonic hearing on the proposed scheduling order. Before committing to a schedule, Google wants more information about the third-party investigation done by the government, including a list of the third parties that provided information, said Google attorney John Schmidtlein. DOJ attorney Kenneth Dintzer said that kind of information isn’t usually given until discovery starts but noted the government plans to provide information including 100 potential witnesses in its initial disclosure due Friday. Mehta agreed that disclosure should provide Google sufficient information about the extent of the investigation. Wednesday's conference followed an Oct. 30 meeting (see 2010300027).
Southern Co. asked the FCC not to act now on revised 6 GHz rules, while others sought changes proposed in an April Further NPRM, in filings posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to make clear Wednesday whether there will be a vote at the Dec. 10 commissioners' meeting (see 2011130045). “Take additional time to fully evaluate and consider” concerns that have been raised “before adopting any further rules on unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band,” Southern said in calls with aides to Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The Open Technology Institute at New America told acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from the Office of Engineering and Technology that the FCC should act. “We urged the Commission to act on Verizon’s Petition for Reconsideration requesting higher power for unlicensed standard-power 6 GHz access points already subject to [automated frequency coordination] control,” Verizon said of a call with OET.
The union that represents FCC employees submitted to the Joe Biden presidential transition team a “blueprint” for improving the federal labor-management relationship and rescinding executive actions by the current White House that “undermined the civil service,” said a National Treasury Employees Union news release Tuesday. The NTEU plan recommends replacing appointees to administrative boards such as the Federal Service Impasses Panel and the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the release said. Those bodies “have upended legal precedent with decisions that disproportionately favored management,” NTEU said. The plan urges the Biden administration on day one to roll back executive orders such as the October Schedule F order (see 2010300048). “A new administration is an opportunity to collaborate on restoring the executive branch agencies to the standards that the American people deserve and expect,” said NTEU National President Tony Reardon.
Industry is underinvested in support and incentives for securing emerging technology, the World Economic Forum reported Monday. The WEF cited increases in regulatory requirements and cybersecurity costs. It noted cybercrime reporting is up 300% since the start of the pandemic, says the FBI. “We have been doing cybersecurity the same way for the past 15 years and it’s not going to work anymore,” said WEF Cybersecurity Lead Will Dixon. “What has changed is that now, the criminals of the future can easily exploit these emerging technologies and our growing interconnectivity at a scale not seen before.”
One significant deficiency found in the FCC's FY 2019 auditor's report on USF budgetary accounting has been corrected, but the other, on information technology controls at the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co., will take more time to fix, the agency said in its FY 2020 financial report Monday. It said it "worked diligently in FY 2020" on corrective action plans for the IT controls, "but more remains to correct this issue." It said it "will make every effort in FY 2021 to implement corrective action plans." The report includes an audit of agency financial statements by Kearney & Co., hired by the FCC Office of Inspector General (OIG). The report said that aside from the FY '19 deficiencies, there were "no reportable instances of noncompliance with laws, regulations and contracts applicable to FCC." The OIG made a series of recommendations, including USF contributions reform, adequate E-rate program controls and supporting rural hospital and healthcare providers during the pandemic "without creating gaps in controls that increase the risks for conflicts of interests, fraud and abuse."
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., “looks forward to voting for” FCC nominee Nathan Simington, her chief of staff, Charles Flint, told us. She raised concerns in late October about his preparedness for an initial phone conversation with her (see 2011020001). President Donald Trump cited Blackburn in a tweet urging Senate Commerce Republicans to support Simington just before his Tuesday Senate Commerce confirmation hearing (see 2011100070). She has since faced pressure from other conservative organizations, including Revolver News.
Dish Network, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile were among 57 potential bidders qualified to participate in the C-band auction, which starts Dec. 8, the FCC said Thursday. Others include Cox Communications, UScellular, Smith Bagley, Carolina West Wireless and Pine Cellular. An additional 17 bidders were deemed not qualified, including Viasat, Pine Belt Cellular and Altice USA’s CSC Wireless.
FCC Office of Economics and Analytics data shows the digital divide is closing, said an agency release Thursday. Americans living in areas without access to terrestrial fixed broadband of at least 25/3 Mbps decreased 46% from the end of 2016 to the end of 2019. The data is based on Form 477 filings. “Services at higher speeds saw even more significant deployment, with the number of Americans living in areas without broadband speeds of at least 250/25 Mbps falling by 77% since the end of 2016,” the release said. “In just three years, the number of American consumers living in areas without access to fixed broadband has been almost cut in half,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Today’s report confirms that our work enabled the private sector to deliver record-breaking results,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr. “The FCC should continue to prioritize a connectivity agenda and pursue reforms that will incentivize buildout of Internet infrastructure.” Free Press Policy Manager Dana Floberg disputed the FCC's progress on the digital divide. "As @freepress has shown time & again, Pai is actually taking credit for the passage of time -- not for anything his FCC has done," she tweeted. "At last count, 92% of fiber deployments made under Pai's term were actually planned & announced under his predecessor -- when #TitleII was in place!" That's referring to net neutrality and the Communications Act.
SpaceX's focus in coming months is expanding its consumer footprint in the U.S. and its service into new countries, said Vice President-Starlink and Commercial Sales Jonathan Hofeller in a Euroconsult discussion Tuesday. Canada's Innovation, Science and Economic Development Department approved SpaceX providing service last week. Hofeller said SpaceX also aims to broaden its customer base into government, educational and enterprise. Telesat Senior Vice President-Corporate and Business Development Michael Schwartz said its low earth orbit constellation is being designed to emulate fiber as much as possible, with launches to start in early 2023. He said it anticipates announcing a manufacturer of its LEO satellites later this year. Stewart Sanders, head of the SES/O3b mPower Program, said first launch of SES' mPower constellation will be in less than a year, with service commencing in 2022. Asked about the state of Iridium's 2019 memorandum of understanding with OneWeb for a combined L- and Ku-band service offering, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said he doesn't know where it stands, with OneWeb emerging from bankruptcy. "They're still resetting themselves as a company," he said.