A top California communications lawmaker pushed back on industry opposition to a bill that would require $30 affordable internet plans as a condition of receiving California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) infrastructure grants. The Assembly Communications Committee voted 8-2, with two Republicans voting no, to advance SB-424 at a Wednesday hearing. In addition, the committee voted 10-0 for bills that set broadband labor standards (SB-1460) and expand eligibility for CASF public housing broadband grants (SB-1383). All three pieces of legislation, previously passed by the Senate, will go to the Appropriations Committee.
The space economy in 2022 accounted for $131.8 billion, or 0.5% of U.S. GDP, and supported 347,000 private-sector jobs, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday. The agency said manufacturing accounted for 31.1% of total private employment in space, with information following at 21.9%.
A California Senate panel scaled back what the California Public Utilities Commission could require from cable companies under a proposed update of the state’s 2006 video franchise law, known as the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act (DIVCA). At a hearing webcast Monday, the Senate Communications Committee voted 12-4 to approve the Assembly-passed AB-1826 with amendments. The Senate committee delayed receiving testimony on an Assembly-passed equity bill (AB-2239) that would ban digital discrimination as defined by the FCC (see 2405230012).
The commercial space launch industry should not be sanguine about SpaceX's forthcoming Starship heavy launch rocket's impact on competition, though changes won't be immediate, Arianespace Chief Commercial Officer Steven Rutgers said Tuesday at the Washington Space Business Roundtable. Meanwhile, a notable shakeout in the ranks of new and emerging launch providers is coming, launch executives predicted.
The federal TikTok ban that takes effect Jan. 19 is “unprecedented” because Congress has never “expressly singled out and shut down a specific speech forum,” said TikTok/ByteDance's opening brief Thursday (docket 24-1113) in the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit challenging the ban’s constitutionality (see 2405070045).
Supporters of the FCC's expired affordable connectivity program acknowledge the Senate Commerce Committee’s impasse (see 2406180067) on the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) may spur a reexamination of alternatives for addressing broadband pricing. This realization comes amid weakening odds that Congress can address ACP funding via a broader package aimed at restoring the FCC's lapsed airwaves sales authority. Lawmakers continue insisting a legislative solution is possible this year even though Senate Commerce’s cancellation of its planned Tuesday markup of S-4207 (see 2406170066) was its fourth pulling of the measure since early May. Other stakeholders are urging a shift to emphasizing nonlegislative solutions.
Expanding the reach of the citizens broadband radio service band via reworking the aggregate interference model (see 2406120027) opens the door to further significant CBRS operational changes, wireless and spectrum experts said Tuesday. They spoke during a CBRS seminar that the New America's Open Technology Institute sponsored. Preston Marshall, chairman of the OnGo Alliance, which promotes spectrum sharing, said that while the "CBRS 2.0" operational changes announced this month were uniformly beneficial to users, future "CBRS 3.0" discussions could start edging into areas, such as power levels, where there would be winners and losers. He said industry needs to come to a coherent, cohesive position to present to regulators rather than the government having to "arbitrate a food fight."
There’s a lot of speculation and little evidence about the risks associated with generative AI, so lawmakers and enforcers should show “humility” when regulating the technology, executives from Google, CTA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Monday.
State lawmakers may be more inclined to pursue broadband affordability policies in the wake of recent FCC and court rulings as well as last month's ending of the federal affordable connectivity program (ACP), multiple telecom experts said last week. Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D) told Communications Daily he hopes “these developments will lead to stronger support in 2025” for an affordable broadband proposal that failed this year. However, some anticipate ISPs will likely object, and fiscal constraints could limit states' efforts.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday that she circulated for a commissioner vote an NPRM seeking comment on further changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band. An FCC and NTIA agreement unveiled Wednesday on broader use of CBRS (see 2406120027) shows what's possible when you push the boundaries of how spectrum is shared, experts said Thursday during a discussion at the International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies (ISART) conference in Denver.