The federal government should financially support the growth of data centers in the U.S., telecom and tech groups said last week in comments to NTIA. Meanwhile, an Amazon workers' organization urged that NTIA should be aware of data centers' carbon footprint and skeptical about industry’s environmental impact assessments.
Industry groups widely opposed an FCC notice of inquiry seeking comment about the impact of broadband data caps on consumers and potential regulatory steps the agency could take. In comments posted Friday in docket 23-199 (see 2410150069), many warned the proceeding was a step toward rate regulation and potential consumer harm should the FCC limit the use of data caps. Some public interest groups urged the commission to proceed, however.
The Biden administration is making progress on each of the five bands it's studying as part of the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048), Shiva Goel, NTIA senior adviser-spectrum policy, said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar late Thursday. Other speakers said the government must make available more high-powered licensed spectrum to ensure the nation doesn’t fall behind China and other competitors.
CTA is optimistic it can work with the new Trump administration on tech issues, two of the group's top policy officials told us. The outlook on spectrum policy and other issues isn’t completely clear, they added.
The incoming Republican administration and Congress will likely work at rolling back many of the current FCC’s policies through a combination of agency action, court decisions and the Congressional Review Act (CRA), attorneys and analysts told us in interviews. The CRA's threat also will likely limit the current FCC's agenda, they said. “The CRA is kind of looming over anything the FCC wants to try to do before the administration switches over,” said Jeffrey Westling, American Action Forum director-technology and innovation.
Some Republicans are softening their support for forced divestment of TikTok after President-elect Donald Trump vowed during the campaign he would “save” the Chinese social media app.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission during an agency meeting Thursday unanimously denied Lumen's petition for reconsideration of an order finding violations of the state's service quality rules (see 2410070044). A Lumen spokesperson told us the company will "continue our extensive efforts to address their concerns while exploring our procedural options moving forward."
During a Thursday Incompas virtual event, communications industry lawyers offered few clues about which lawmakers will fill vacant top GOP slots on the House and Senate Communications subcommittees, but CEO Chip Pickering forecast substantial leadership continuity on both chambers’ Commerce committees. Pickering and lawyers who spoke at the event, meanwhile, saw limited prospects during the lame-duck session that Congress would advance a spectrum legislative package or funding for the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.
The FCC’s draft order on creating a standardized process for authorizing content-originating FM boosters necessary for geotargeted radio ads is expected to be unanimously approved during the commissioners' Nov. 21 open meeting, industry and agency officials told us.
The submarine cable rules rewrite NPRM on the FCC's Nov. 21 meeting agenda (see 2410310048) will likely see resistance from subsea cable operators, who question proposals on shorter license terms, subsea cable experts told us. However, one said a 5-0 approval of the draft NPRM is likely. It's less clear whether the next FCC will make draft rules from the NPRM a priority, the expert added.