Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg backed lawmakers' concerns Thursday about the FCC’s November vote to reallocate 5.9 GHz for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle-to-everything (see 2011180043). He pointed during a House Infrastructure Committee hearing to coming talks within President Joe Biden's administration about an equitable way to address the issue. Lobbyists we spoke with said they expect a formal interagency review soon.
More industry groups urged the Commerce Department in docket 210113-0009 to delay implementing an interim final rule on securing the information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain. The Information Technology Industry Council previously sought a delay, while Microsoft proposed an alternative (see 2103230062).
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.