Panelists called for more federal dollars and resources to help minority and female entrepreneurs and for the FCC to address the digital divide to facilitate tech startups outside big tech hubs. “You cannot build a technology company with dial-up internet,” Andy Stoll, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation senior program officer-entrepreneurship, said at an FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment’s virtual event.
Public safety advocates asked the FCC not to cast a wide net in defining what constitutes 911 fee diversion, as required by the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (see 2102160064). Doing so runs the risk of excluding states from several federal resources due to the actions of a few bad actors, said filings in docket 20-291. Comments on proposed rules were due Tuesday. Some telecom associations also sought more certainty.
After years of discussion, the time seems right for augmentation or backup to GPS timing signals, GPS advocates and experts told us: Recent letters from House Infrastructure Committee leaders to President Joe Biden's administration complaining about slow progress show intent for implementation. GPS allies want to see how the Department of Transportation responds.
Communications Decency Act Section 230 “would benefit from thoughtful changes,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to tell House Commerce Committee members during Thursday’s virtual hearing (see 2103190054). Google CEO Sundar Pichai defends the statute in prepared testimony, saying recent proposals could have unintended consequences. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey instead focuses on transparency, procedural fairness, algorithmic choice and privacy.
With the USF contribution factor at an all-time high (see 2103020032), reform must be addressed “head-on,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr during a Free State Foundation event Tuesday. The contribution factor has been “spiraling,” he said.
Portland, Oregon, and 35 other municipalities and associations asked the Supreme Court to hear the appeal of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision upholding much of the FCC's 2018 small-cell orders. Monday's appeal by localities was expected (see 2103220059). Lack of a circuit split could work against the court taking Portland v. FCC, but local governments have hope because it raises important federal questions, State and Local Legal Center Executive Director Lisa Soronen told us Tuesday.
After overwhelmingly going virtual in 2020, major communications groups are announcing plans to hold in-person conferences this year, a Communications Daily survey found. This is despite the remaining pandemic threat and as vaccinations must keep up with evolving variants. Public health experts said in interviews that in-person meetings may be safe this summer, and much depends on vaccine rollout and the virus trajectory.
Most consumers need to be educated on what 5G is and what it can do for them, said Verizon Consumer Group CEO Ronan Dunne at a Fierce Wireless virtual event. It means new uses, first for business and then consumers, he said. Most of the focus Monday was on open radio access networks. Vodafone expects the first commercial deployments this year, said Santiago Tenorio, network architecture team head.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., will introduce legislation, potentially this week, to amend Communications Decency Act Section 230 liability protections, giving consumers the ability to sue when harmed by illegal online content, she said Monday (see 2009240062). Her Online Consumer Protection Act will be part of the discussion when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testify Thursday before House Commerce Committee members (see 2103190054), said Schakowsky during an event hosted by Common Sense Media and the Real Facebook Oversight Board.
Local and union officials support an imminent appeal to the Supreme Court of the FCC’s 2018 small-cell orders Monday. Many localities were expected to have challenged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision upholding much of the FCC orders by Monday’s deadline (see 2102080058). Local governments' expected cert petition wasn't yet available.