Former President Donald Trump said Thursday night vowed he would “protect AM radio in our cars” should he return to the White House. Addressing the National Religious Broadcasters Presidential Forum, he said “we’re going to protect the content that is pro-God.” Millions of Americans “value listening to Christian broadcasters, and you're under siege,” said Trump, who pledged to create a federal task force fighting “anti-Christian bias.” He praised Salem Media, the largest Christian-focused broadcaster in the U.S., for its courageous work and for employing former Trump deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka. “I will never allow the big media left-wing pressure groups to silence you, censor you, discriminate against you, or in any way tell you what you have to say,” the former president said. Before Trump took the stage, Salem radio host and Fox News personality Hugh Hewitt told the audience that Hamas, Iran, Russian state-controlled media and the People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping also are "religious broadcasters," comparing them to cults that toe ideological lines. In addition, Hewitt classified U.S. legacy media such as CNN and MSNBC as another sort of religious broadcasting, which he called “secular absolutism.” The "only difference between their religious broadcasting and our religious broadcasting is that their scripture isn't written down,” Hewitt said.
Exports to China
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Friday approved the applications of seven 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) providers to launch operations by standard-powered unlicensed devices, closing out a multi-year process. The development is one of the most significant for 6 GHz since the 2020 FCC order opening the spectrum for unlicensed use, industry officials said.
AT&T acknowledged Thursday it suffered extensive outages on its wireless network, including the ability of customers to call 911. The FCC is investigating.
House Communications Subcommittee members were universally positive about the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513) and four other communications network security bills during a Thursday hearing. House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and other lawmakers used the hearing to continue the drumbeat for Congress to allocate an additional $3.08 billion to close a funding shortfall for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, as expected (see 2402140055). Several Democrats touted the stopgap funding push for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2402130074) as another priority for securing U.S. networks.
Witnesses set to testify during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Thursday (see 2402090072) want lawmakers to consider longer-term initiatives for curbing China’s risk to U.S. communications networks. The push for Congress to allocate an additional $3.08 billion for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2401240001) will likely receive attention during the hearing, as it has in other recent panels, lobbyists said. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
Working with carriers and vendors, NTIA awarded $42 million Monday to launch an open radio access network testing center in the Dallas Technology Corridor, with a satellite operation in the Washington, D.C., area. The program allows companies to collaborate on testing ORAN software and hardware. It was funded through the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, a $1.5 billion federal fund aimed at spurring growth of open networks and advanced spectrum sharing (see 2308080047).
The FCC's space regulatory regime is arguably due for a massive overhaul, space policy experts said Monday at a pair of Tech Policy Institute space events. SpaceX Vice President-Satellite Policy David Goldman said a coming wave of state-backed mega-constellation competitors will have resources that U.S. operators lack, and the U.S. must consider redoing its rules in response to that environment. FCC Space Bureau Chief Technologist Whitney Lohmeyer didn't address the idea directly. Christopher Yoo, University of Pennsylvania Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer & Information Science, said the Space Bureau might lack the technical expertise to tackle issues like orbital debris.
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Thursday hearing on a set of five bills aimed at improving U.S. network security, including the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513), the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The other bills are the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-820), Countering CCP Drones Act (HR-2864), draft Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act and draft Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (Routers) Act. First filed in 2022 (see 2210250067), HR-820 would require the FCC to publish a list of communications companies holding FCC licenses or other authorizations in which China and other foreign adversaries’ governments possess 10% or more ownership. HR-1513, which the House passed during the last Congress (see 2112020050), would direct the FCC to establish a 6G task force to provide recommendations on ensuring U.S. leadership in developing that technology’s standards. HR-2864 would add Chinese drone manufacturer Da-Jiang Innovations to the FCC’s covered entities list. The Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act would require NTIA assessment of “technologies available to increase the security and resiliency” of Taiwan’s communications networks. The Routers Act would have the Commerce Department “specify what transactions involving routers, modems, or devices that combine a modem and a router are prohibited” under then-President Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order, which bars transactions involving information and communications technologies that pose an “undue risk of sabotage to or subversion of” U.S.-based communications services (see 1905150066). “Our communications networks are an integral part of our lives, businesses, economy, and national security,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “As we’ve grown increasingly connected and more reliant on technology, these networks have become a target for adversaries and bad actors. To remain competitive and secure, the U.S. must ensure our communications and technological infrastructure is protected against adversaries, in particular the Chinese Communist Party.” The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
Wireless carriers are concerned and have many questions about the administration's processes for proposed studies under the national spectrum strategy that will examine the future of five bands as part of a possible spectrum pipeline, industry and government officials said. Carriers are most concerned about two bands, the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz, which they see as possible spectrum for full-power licensed use. Meanwhile, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter urged the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees Thursday night to reach a deal on legislation to “unite behind a national spectrum strategy” and reinstate the FCC’s lapsed auction authority.
Space operators see themselves facing emerging policy hurdles around the globe that could impede satellite spectrum sharing and satellite mesh networks. At the SmallSat Symposium in Silicon Valley Thursday, there also was discussion about the growing challenges of an increasingly noisy and crowded low earth orbit (LEO) environment and talk of the need for a global approach to space sustainability.