Congress must act now to address national security issues surrounding TikTok, a bipartisan group of senators told us last week leading up to the House Commerce Committee's passage of two TikTok-related bills (see 2403070066). Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday defended TikTok, though he signed an executive order against the platform while president.
Exports to China
Former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly raised security concerns this week about wireless routers from Chinese companies. “Bad actors can misuse wireless routers to infect millions of home networks to obtain consumer information and documents, proliferate misinformation, disrupt functionality, or cause other harm,” O’Rielly wrote in a Hudson Institute blog post. “While the underlying internet infrastructure is protected by layers of encryption and other security features in its embedded standards, routers can give malicious actors entry to these systems, potentially affecting service providers, wider networks, and the global internet.” O’Rielly said policymakers should look at whether wireless routers could give China-sponsored hackers their “next entry point into U.S. networks.”
The House Commerce Committee on Thursday unanimously passed legislation (see 2403050051) that could lead to a U.S. ban on the popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok. The legislation is poised for floor action after gaining public support from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday.
The House Commerce Committee on Thursday will mark up two national security-related bills targeting TikTok, including one from Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.
Seventeen cable companies and other Wi-Fi advocates, spectrum sharing advocates, and defense and aeronautics companies Monday released a letter sent to NTIA about implementation of the national spectrum strategy. It warned against “anti-competitive efforts, modeled after China’s goals, to clear the 3 GHz and 7 GHz bands for exclusive licensing to a small handful of legacy carriers.” NTIA is set to release the plan March 14 (see 2402090059). “The decisions made … will directly affect the nation’s ability to maintain and promote our global competitiveness, national security, and national security technology leadership with our allies,” the letter said: “We urge the NTIA to adopt an Implementation Plan that is aggressive in expanding the pie for a wide variety of public, commercial, and national security uses.” The plan should focus on “accelerating the development and adoption” of spectrum sharing technologies and coexistence frameworks, the letter said. It noted the success of sharing in the 6 GHz band and the citizens broadband radio service band. Signers included the American Library Association, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, Federated Wireless, Deere & Company, Lockheed Martin, NCTA, the Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, Midcontinent Communications, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, Spectrum for the Future, WifiForward and the Wireless ISP Association.
Representatives of OpenPolicy and Human Security warned about risks posed by “backdoor malware” from devices manufactured in China. Meeting with aides to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, the representatives discussed the FCC’s proposed cyber mark program, teed up for a March 14 commissioner vote (see 2402220059). The rules should cover all devices, said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-239: “Attacks can also be commenced on mobile devices, and general-purpose products such as tablets, and any explicit exclusion of such connected products is inappropriate.”
President Joe Biden should recommend the FCC establish minimum cybersecurity standards for wireless carriers to protect Americans' cellphone data from surveillance by China, Russia and other countries, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote the White House Thursday. Wyden detailed how foreign entities have allegedly exploited flaws in “obscure technologies” like diameter and signaling system 7, which wireless companies use for texting and roaming purposes around the world. The FCC should “require companies buying access to SS7 and Diameter by leasing Global Titles to comply with registration and know your customer requirements,” he said. Global titles are unique addresses carriers use to route signaling messages. Wyden also urged OMB to “establish minimum cybersecurity standards for wireless services purchased by federal agencies.” The White House didn’t comment.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order directing DOJ to establish rules blocking large-scale transfers of Americans’ personal data to entities in hostile nations.
Mobile network operators cut carbon emissions 6% globally from 2019 to 2022, GSMA said in a report released Tuesday. European operators led with a 50% reduction. In North America, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, emissions fell 20%-30%. “Although operational emissions rose in Greater China and the Asia-Pacific -- the world’s largest and second-largest mobile markets, respectively -- global emissions overall decreased, despite growing data usage,” GSMA said. Achieving the sector’s target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 requires industry to cut emissions to 45% below 2020 levels by 2030, the group said. “The evidence shows that the mobile industry’s commitment to net zero by 2050 is paying off,” said John Giusti, GSMA chief regulatory officer: “Despite surging demand for connectivity and data, the global carbon emissions of operators continued to fall.”
Spectrum for the Future, which represents companies and groups focused on unlicensed spectrum, Monday countered wireless carrier arguments that the lower 3 GHz band should be allocated for full-power, licensed use. “First and foremost, the U.S. wireless carriers’ current mid-band spectrum holdings exceed the amount of spectrum dedicated to wireless carriers in China and in many European countries,” the group said. The U.S. has already allocated hundreds of megahertz of mid-band spectrum at 3.65-4 GHz to U.S. carriers, “whereas China has not yet allocated that spectrum,” the group said: “The mobile network operators want you to believe there is a binary choice -- clear the spectrum for our companies or lose to China, or Europe or somebody else.”