Catholic broadcasters and groups filed two petitions for reconsideration against the FCC’s equal employment opportunity order in part because it updates Form 395-B to account for nonbinary employees.
TechFreedom urged the FCC not to use an “obscure provision” on digital discrimination, buried deep in the “enormous” Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to “smuggle onerous common-carrier regulations” onto the internet. TechFreedom’s position was detailed as part of an amicus brief Tuesday (docket 24-1179) in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Wednesday she's talking to a range of lawmakers seeking potential changes to an amended version of her draft Spectrum and National Security Act after the panel pulled Cantwell’s bill and 12 others from a planned Wednesday markup session Tuesday night (see 2404300072). The potential for the spectrum bill to make it into the bipartisan 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act “got precluded weeks ago,” Cantwell told reporters. The Senate voted 89-10 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the FAA bill as a substitute for Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (HR-3935). Lawmakers are still eyeing other vehicles for allocating stopgap money to keep the FCC’s ailing affordable connectivity program running through the remainder of the year. Those proposals include a bid from Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, that would attach an amendment to the FAA package appropriating ACP $7 billion (see 2405010055).
Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, a lead GOP co-sponsor of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565), confirmed Wednesday he will push hard for an amendment to the bipartisan 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act that would appropriate $7 billion in stopgap funding to keep the ailing FCC broadband program running through the end of the fiscal year. The Senate voted 89-10 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the FAA bill as a substitute for Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (HR-3935).
Policymakers, industry officials and broadband experts emphasized the demand for additional rural broadband deployment and affordability programs during an NTCA policy conference Wednesday in Washington. With uncertainty looming around the FCC's affordable connectivity program, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks urged Congress to replenish the program and keep rural communities connected (see 2405010055).
The FCC received assignments in a national security memorandum that President Joe Biden signed Tuesday. They were similar to those in a 2013 presidential directive. The memorandum says the U.S. “is in the midst of a generational investment in the Nation’s infrastructure” but faces “an era of strategic competition with nation-state actors who target American critical infrastructure and tolerate or enable malicious actions conducted by non-state actors.” Moreover, the memorandum directs the FCC to “identify and prioritize communications infrastructure by collecting information” on communications networks. It is tasked with assessing sector risks and “work[ing] to mitigate those risks by requiring, as appropriate, regulated entities to take specific actions to protect communications networks and infrastructure,” the directive says. It calls on the agency to collaborate with “communications sector industry members, foreign governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to identify best practices and impose corresponding regulations.” The FCC "is committed to doing its part, working with government and industry partners, to increase the security and resilience of our nation's communications infrastructure," an agency spokesperson emailed.
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Tuesday extended the deadlines for SI Wireless and other carriers to remove, replace and dispose Huawei and ZTE equipment from their networks. The deadline for Si Wireless was extended from May 24 to Nov. 24. “SI Wireless states that it has continued to experience delays in obtaining replacement equipment, in some cases experiencing delays of 4-6 months,” said the notice in docket 18-89: “It also asserts that equipment vendors are focusing on their production of 5G equipment and have reduced or terminated production of 4G LTE equipment, making it more difficult to access 4G-only LTE equipment.” Among the other extensions, the bureau moved the deadline for Bristol Bay Cellular from April 25 to Oct. 25, for Commnet Wireless from four deadlines in July to deadlines in January, for Mark Twain Communications from June 6 to Dec. 6, for Pine Belt Cellular from July 18 to Jan. 17, for Plateau Telecommunications from July 18 to Jan. 18, for Point Broadband Fiber from five deadlines in April and May to October and November, and for Southern Ohio Communication Services, from April 6 to Oct. 6.
The FCC and FTC agreed to "coordinate consumer protection efforts" on net neutrality, the agencies announced in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Tuesday (see 2404250004). "If consumers have problems, they expect the nation’s expert authority on communications to be able to respond," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. FTC Chair Lina Khan noted that "effective law enforcement requires targeting the upstream actors enabling unlawful conduct, and having the FCC as a partner here will be critical.” The MOU ends the 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom agreement between the two agencies and clarifies that commitments from prior MOUs "remain in effect and are not altered or invalidated by the new MOU."
China-based Hikvision USA answered FCC questions on its proposed plan for compliance with agency rules (see 2308070047) and requested confidential treatment on information filed. The filing notes that Hikvision equipment is sold in the U.S. through distributors and original equipment manufacturers and provides data on its marketing. The data was redacted from the filing, posted Tuesday in docket 21-352.
Broadcom, Wi-Fi Alliance Services and the Wireless Broadband Alliance offered the FCC an update on changes to power spectral density rules for automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band, which the three proposed in March (see 2404150050). The filing, posted Tuesday in docket 21-352, asks the Office of Engineering and Technology to “promptly approve the proposed code modification for our systems so that they can continue to perform as the Commission anticipated while accounting more accurately for the permitted PSD levels.”