The FCC should "reinstate strong net neutrality rules" and reclassify broadband internet access service as a Communications Act Title II telecom service, NTIA said Thursday. "Fair and open access to the Internet underpins virtually every aspect of American life," said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: "The Biden Administration supports the FCC’s efforts to put rules in place that preserve an open Internet, promote national security and protect consumers." The agency agreed in an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 23-320 that a "limited use of Title II authority" is necessary for national security (see 2310050063). "The lightning-fast evolution of our communications technologies and our growing dependence on these offerings necessitate a whole-of-government approach to security that engages all available federal government resources," NTIA said.
Dish Wireless wanted to do something unprecedented: design, build and deploy the world’s “first of its kind 5G network” in only three years using the public cloud, Eben Albertyn, Dish Wireless executive vice president-chief technology officer, said during an RCR virtual conference Thursday. Several experts mentioned the growing security and other challenges facing carriers in a virtualized-network world.
A draft order on circulation that would update the FCC’s foreign-sponsored content rules in response to a July 2022 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling against the agency could be interpreted to require that entities buying political issue ads must first show broadcasters they aren’t foreign agents, broadcast and FCC officials told us. That language could change before the item is approved, although when it will be voted on is unclear, FCC and industry officials said. The draft item “just creates more questions,” said Gray Television Senior Vice President Robert Folliard.
The FCC is moving toward requiring georouting of mobile calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office Thursday circulating on the 10th floor a draft NPRM proposing a georouting rule. Mental health interests applauded the move. "This is something we've been pushing for pretty much since the law that created 988 passed" in 2020, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Chief Advocacy Officer Hannah Wesolowski told us. The text of the draft NPRM wasn't released.
The U.S. was premature in creating a supplemental coverage from space (SCS) rules framework, and other nations ought to wait until after the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference, when there's a more globalized framework to follow, said Mindel de la Torre, Omnispace chief regulatory and international strategy officer, Thursday at Access Intelligence’s Satellite 2024 conference in Washington. Multiple 2023 WRC attendees said there was far greater focus on future agenda items than at past WRCs.
Senate Commerce Committee Democrats and Republicans who back allocating an additional $3.08 billion for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program and stopgap funding for the commission’s ailing affordable connectivity program used a Thursday spectrum-focused hearing (see 2403210063) to vent about the Hill's failure thus far to address either priority. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending bill, which congressional leaders released early Thursday morning as an amendment to legislative vehicle HR-2882, as expected (see 2403190062) includes neither ACP nor rip-and-replace funding.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday she hopes to soon file legislation on a five-year renewal of the FCC’s lapsed spectrum auction authority without language authorizing sales of specific bands, despite Republican criticism during a Thursday hearing about omitting an airwaves pipeline. Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., emphasized their 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909) as an antidote to concerns about the Biden spectrum strategy, as expected (see 2403200001). The hearing also revealed clear divisions among panel Republicans about continuing to explore 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, which has drawn opposition from DOD and top Capitol Hill allies (see 2403200061).
ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development announces new commissioners, including FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel; Abel Avellan, CEO-AST SpaceMobile; Mark Dankberg, CEO-Viasat; Shameel Joosub, CEO-Vodacom; Isabelle Mauro, director general-Global Satellite Operator’s Association; and Deemah AlYahya, secretary general-Digital Cooperation Organization... Phillips Lytle names partner Richard Marinaccio to lead law firm’s newly launched AI practice team ... Brown Gibbons Lang investment bank and financial advisory firm adds Stifel’s Jason Myler as a managing director within its tech team.
Eutelsat expects to put its Eutelsat 113 West B satellite into geostationary orbit in 2027, it told the FCC Space Bureau in a petition posted Wednesday seeking U.S. market access in the Ku, Ka, Q and V bands. The French- and Mexican-flagged satellite will provide fixed service and mobility applications in the Americas, Eutelsat said. The company said that while it has U.S. market access for the Eutelsat 113 West A satellite in the same orbital location, that market access grant is being surrendered.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau wants comments by May 1 on the state of private-led robocall traceback efforts in 2023, said a public notice Wednesday in docket 20-195. The commission needs feedback for an annual report to Congress as required under the Traced Act.