A draft NPRM on largely administrative changes to broadcast political advertising rules isn’t considered controversial and will likely be unanimously approved at or before commissioners' Aug. 5 meeting, said FCC officials and broadcast attorneys in interviews. The draft seeks comment on proposals to formalize policies about filing political ad information that the Media Bureau had long conveyed to licensees informally, attorneys said. “Some of it was already required, so I’m not sure that it makes much of a difference,” said Fletcher Heald's Anne Crump.
Provisions in the $65 billion broadband title in a developing infrastructure spending package weren't completely finalized Thursday, a day after the Senate cleared an initial test cloture vote 67-32 on proceeding to a shell bill (HR-3684). A bipartisan group of senators agreed Wednesday on the outlines of the package (see 2107280065). The Senate will vote Friday on the motion to proceed to HR-3684. Telecom-focused senators in both parties told us through Thursday that the thorniest broadband issue -- the extent of pricing transparency and digital redlining language -- remained in flux.
The full FCC voted to impose a per station penalty of $512,228 against 14 broadcasters and a reduced $30,000 penalty against another over violations of good faith negotiation rules in retransmission consent negotiations with AT&T and subsidiary DirecTV. The 4-0 heavily redacted forfeiture order was released Wednesday afternoon.
The FCC should establish a definition for “functional equivalence” and create uniform metrics for telecom relay service providers, said deaf and hard of hearing advocates in recent interviews. Hundreds of deaf and hard of hearing consumers submitted comments in docket 10-51 over the past two weeks urging this. Stakeholders said functional equivalency means a relay user can call or text using one number and have access to technologies similar to those of hearing consumers.
NTIA hasn't relaunched the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee or announced a meeting of what has emerged as one of the most important federal advisory groups on spectrum. Current and former CSMAC members said they have been told little, though they expect meetings to start again this year. Members said they're eager to get back to work, with many spectrum issues looming as 5G is deployed nationwide.
Bipartisan Senate negotiators were finalizing language Wednesday for their long-sought infrastructure spending package, after reaching a deal earlier in the day to resolve outstanding broadband and other items that had divided the group in recent days (see 2107220040). The measure is expected to keep broadband funding in the package at the agreed-upon $65 billion (see 2106240070), Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters. It’s also expected to include an extension of the FCC-led emergency broadband benefit, part of what’s expected to be a split decision between Democratic and Republican positions on connectivity affordability, lobbyists told us.
The prospect of an FTC privacy rulemaking is facing a partisan divide in the agency and on Capitol Hill. House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us the agency shouldn’t issue a rule because it’s a legislative issue Congress needs to fix.
The House Science Committee advanced the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the Future Act (HR-4609) on a voice vote Tuesday despite some lawmakers' misgivings about how the agency’s proposed role in spectrum and telecom tech research could clash with NTIA. Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, was awaiting feedback from the Department of Commerce. House Science also advanced the National Science and Technology Strategy Act (HR-3858) and other measures that mirror elements of the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260).
The Montgomery County, Maryland, Council OK'd small-cell legislation Tuesday that aligns with FCC rules, after lengthy, sometimes contentious debate. The council in Maryland’s most populous county OK’d 7-2 zoning text amendment 19-07. Council opponents raised RF safety concerns. The county was a lead plaintiff in an unsuccessful challenge in 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals of FCC 2018 orders on small cells and local moratoriums (see 2008120048).
The Senate Judiciary Committee wants to explore cryptocurrency legislation to help enforcers trace and retrieve digital payments in ransomware attacks. Ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told us he would be “glad to work on legislation” with Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., after the latter expressed interest during Tuesday’s hearing with officials from DOJ, the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Secret Service (see 2107230058).