Major Senate 5G security advocates say they're eyeing potential legislative vehicles to advance the Secure 5G and Beyond Act (S-893) and U.S. 5G Leadership Act (S-1625). The Senate Commerce Committee advanced both measures and the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (Data) Act (S-1822) during a Wednesday markup, as expected (see 1907230048). The committee revised all three measures Wednesday. 5G and spectrum issues also came up during two Wednesday hearings on White House Office of Science and Technology Policy matters.
The cable industry and allies strongly disagree with public, educational and government (PEG) access interests and backers over whether FCC cable leased-access requirements can withstand First Amendment scrutiny changes in the video marketplace (see 1906060029), in docket 07-42 postings this week in response to the agency's Further NPRM.
MVPDs like AT&T are abusing the retransmission consent regime to trick Congress into using a possible Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization as a vehicle for rewriting the retrans system in their favor, said NAB President Gordon Smith at a Media Institute lunch Tuesday. STELA "has outrun its usefulness" and should be allowed to sunset, he said.
Rural healthcare providers and the telecommunications companies that service them raised concerns in docket 17-310 about a draft report and order on promoting telehealth in rural America that the FCC has on its agenda for its Aug. 1 meeting (see 1907120003). Some are asking the agency to include recommended revisions before the commissioners vote, while others want to delay the vote altogether, until the September or October meeting, to give stakeholders more time to weigh in.
INDIANAPOLIS -- USF stakeholders scrutinized Viasat participation in an FCC auction of subsidies for voice and broadband to underserved rural America because they said the satellite provider indicates it could struggle to provide high-quality phone service. Viasat was such a major participant by some metrics it might have skewed the results, some said on a NARUC panel Tuesday and in follow-up interviews. The company seeks some related changes from the FCC. With the agency's members likely to vote next week on rules for the next high-cost auction, one consultant suggested Viasat not be included.
5G will mean fundamental changes to the overall communications industry, speakers predicted Tuesday at a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy event. They also agreed the race to 5G is real and the U.S. must win.
The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (Data) Act (S-1822) and two 5G security bills are expected to easily advance during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee executive session (see 1907180054), lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Some said they now believe the markup process is unlikely to result in any substantial changes to S-1822, after earlier hiccups. The other measures up for markup are the Secure 5G and Beyond Act (S-893) and the U.S. 5G Leadership Act (S-1625). The executive session is to begin at 10:30 a.m. in 216 Hart.
Proposed changes to how the FCC collects broadband deployment data should be some improvement over the oft-criticized Form 477-centric approach, though it also opens a potential can of worms with its crowdsourcing component, experts told us. Others see a catastrophic failure in the agency's not bringing retail pricing data into the mix. "It's tweaking a broken system," said Penn State telecom professor Sascha Meinrath. The proposal's on the FCC agenda for Aug. 1 (see 1907110071).
INDIANAPOLIS -- A now-combined state telecom commissioners' resolution asking the FCC to halt changes to the billion-dollar-a-year phone and broadband program for the poor passed its NARUC committee unanimously, in minutes. Such quick passage, while not atypical, shows lack of controversy among industry and state regulators for waiting on Lifeline revamps, attendees told us. There was no public discussion immediately before the vote and no one abstained, another sign stakeholders are on the same page, they noted.
Equifax will pay between $575 million and $700 million to settle claims for its 2017 data breach (see 1803010033), the FTC announced Monday in a joint settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 50 states and territories. Equifax failed to secure massive amounts of personal data with basic safeguards, the FTC alleged in its complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Data included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and physical addresses, exposing some 147 million consumers to identity theft and fraud risks, the agency said.