The FCC released its order approving 3-2 radio broadcaster Audacy’s request for a temporary waiver of its foreign-ownership requirements. The dissents from both FCC Republicans condemn the order as a deviation from normal FCC procedure, but neither mentions by name the involvement of the Soros family in the deal, though that has been the main focus of Republican lawmakers and conservative media critical of the restructuring. Commissioner Brendan Carr previously called the waiver a “Soros shortcut.” To suggest that Audacy is receiving special treatment is “cynical and wrong,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, pointing to numerous similar grants from the FCC going back to 2018. “Our practice here and in these prior cases is designed to facilitate the prompt and orderly emergence from bankruptcy of a company that is a licensee under the Communications Act.”
The House voted 257-125 Monday night to approve the Senate-cleared Building Chips in America Act (S-2228), sending it to President Joe Biden's desk. S-2228 would streamline federal permitting rules for projects that the 2021 Chips for America Act funded. It would in part make the Commerce Department the lead federal agency for conducting National Environmental Policy Act reviews for Chips for America Act projects and narrow the number of projects that would require those evaluations. The Senate approved the measure in December by unanimous consent. S-2228 lead sponsors Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hailed the legislation's passage in the House. “This is a major step forward for our economy and national security,” Kelly said. “By preventing unnecessary delays in the construction of microchip manufacturing facilities, this bill will help maximize our efforts to bring this industry back to America, creating thousands of good-paying jobs and strengthening our supply chains.” Cruz called it “a crucial step in onshoring jobs and making our country less dependent on China for semiconductors critical to national defense.”
The successful deployment of open radio access networks will require international cooperation, speakers said Wednesday during NTIA’s first International ORAN Symposium in Golden, Colorado. On day one, conference attendees heard U.S. officials highlight the Biden administration’s commitment to open networks (see 2409170061).
Keith Schomig, ex-White & Case, named partner at Paul Hastings, focusing on national security reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. … Aalyria, advanced networking and laser communications tech company, appoints Comtech Telecommunications’ Maria Hedden as chief operating officer … Arteris, provider of semiconductor system IP for system-on-chips development, names Joachim Kunkel, Synopsys, to board …GeoLinks hires Mark Funaki, ex-Capstone Green Energy, as general counsel-corporate secretary … Air5, 5G tech company, adds Vinod Khosla founder Raj Singh to advisory board.
Lantronix announces resignation of CFO Jeremy Whitaker, appoints Controller Brent Stringham as interim CFO and names David McLennan, ex-Sierra Wireless, as adviser during the transition … Vecima Networks promotes Judd Schmid to CFO, succeeding Dale Booth, retiring … Lattice Semiconductor appoints Ford Tamer, ex-Inphi, CEO, replacing interim CEO Esam Elashmawi, who continues as chief strategy and marketing officer.
AI is “part of everything” and will only grow in importance, but the U.S. is falling behind other countries in developing AI policy, Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said Thursday during the Augmented and Virtual Reality Conference. “Innovation and technology are moving forward and policy is falling further and further behind,” DelBene said. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Extended Reality Association (XR) sponsored the conference at the AT&T Forum.
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday the FCC should revoke Disney-owned ABC’s licenses after what many observers considered his poor presidential debate performance Tuesday night against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ nominee. Trump has repeatedly said broadcast networks and other entities should lose their ‘licenses’ over their coverage of him, including January comments that NBC and CNN are “crooked” and should “have their licenses or whatever they have taken away” (see 2401170050). Harris and Trump, the Republicans’ presidential nominee, briefly traded barbs during the evening about the U.S. tech leadership position with China.
America’s Public Television Stations promotes Kate Riley to president-CEO, effective Oct. 1 and succeeding Patrick Butler, retiring … New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) appoints Manny Barreras, ex-Motorola Solutions, as Department of Information Technology secretary … Kaya DeRose, ex-Maryland’s Charles County Circuit Court, joins TLP: Telecommunications Law Professionals as an associate … Lynk Global’s Dan Dooley rises to CEO, succeeding Charles Miller, who becomes chairman; and John Olson, retired U.S. Space Force, joins as president-strategic development … CrowdStrike cybersecurity company hires Kartik Shahani, ex-Tenable, as vice president-India and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation … National Content & Technology Cooperative elects Comporium's Karl Skroban as board chair, succeeding Vexus Fiber’s Elaine Partridge, who remains on board, and David Thacker, TVS Cable, as vice chair … Entegris, supplier of materials for semiconductor and high-technology industries, appoints Mary Puma, ex-Axcelis Technologies, to board.
China is ahead of the U.S. on many fronts in its plans to emerge as the world leader in 5G, and eventually 6G, experts warned Wednesday during a webcast by the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub. The group released a paper urging that the U.S. reassert leadership in wireless technology.
Expect the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a major interpretation on Section 230 as lower courts continue to make conflicting rulings about social media platforms’ free speech rights, legal experts told us in interviews.