USTelecom names Alanna Chapell, ex-office of Rep. Daniel Kildee, D-Mich., director-government affairs ... The Blue Owl Group, consultants including for internet, launches with Colin Crowell, ex-Twitter vice president and ex-FCC senior counselor, as managing director and including as advisers Alder Renewables’ Ian Punkett, Lucia Gamboa, Ledyard Group’s Lauren Culbertson Grieco, all also ex-Twitter, and Sotera Consulting founder Patricia Cartes Andres, ex-Google.
The FCC released an NPRM Thursday on a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices (see 2307180054). Commissioners approved the NPRM 4-0 last weekend. The NPRM poses dozens of questions about the scope and nature of the program. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington released statements. Comment deadlines will come in a Federal Register notice.
House China Committee leaders pressed FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday for information about the extent to which Chinese equipment manufacturers like Fibocom and Quectel are spying via U.S. IoT-connected devices via connectivity modules. Those “modules have the capacity both to brick the device and to access the data flowing from the device to the web server that runs each device,” House China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif., said in a letter to Rosenworcel. If the Chinese government “can control the module, it may be able to effectively exfiltrate data or shut down the IoT device. This raises particularly grave concerns in the context of critical infrastructure and any type of sensitive data.” The lawmakers specifically cited Fibocom and Quectel because both gearmakers get “extensive state support” from the Chinese government that makes their equipment a surveillance vector. “The FCC has taken important steps to counter the nefarious influence of [Chinese Communist Party]-controlled technology in U.S. telecom networks, including” clamping down on use of gear from Huawei and ZTE on U.S. networks, Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi said: “There are still many U.S. and allied firms that compete with” Chinese “cellular IoT module providers -- such that restricting Quectel and Fibocom’s access to the U.S. market would not undermine U.S. telecommunications networks.” Tackling Chinese IoT modules “is a natural next step for the FCC, in consultation with appropriate national security agencies,” the lawmakers said. They asked Rosenworcel to tell them whether the FCC is “able to track the presence” of IoT modules on U.S. networks and whether the commission is considering addressing that equipment as part of its November order (see 2211230065) to prevent the sale of yet-to-be authorized equipment from Chinese companies in the U.S., among other matters.
The FCC is working with the White House's interagency Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children regarding concerns about environmental and health risks potentially posed by telecommunications companies' lead cables, agency spokesperson emailed us Friday. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency has offered assistance to EPA (see 2307210004). "We take seriously the concerns raised about potential lead exposure from communications lines," she said. Meanwhile, the EPA, the FCC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should form a joint task force with the aim of mapping lead cable deployments nationwide and prioritizing remediation, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Blair Levin, who oversaw development of the agency's National Broadband Plan, wrote for the Brookings Institute Friday. "One would hope [the three] along with the White House are already coordinating such a response," as such a task force could give guidance on remediation strategies and exposure risks, they said. Wheeler, a Brookings visiting fellow, and Levin, a nonresident senior fellow, said the first step must be mapping where and how the lead cables are deployed, and then prioritizing the different installations where remediation is necessary. If there are debates and litigation about what science says about the actual threat, as well as about ownership liability, "the matter will drag on unresolved for years," they said. Other states are likely to follow New York and require telcos to provide an inventory of lead-affected cables, they said. But only the federal government "has the combination of skills and resources to orchestrate an acceptable resolution," they said. The EPA will be a focus of discussions, though the FCC has the authority to demand such information as data about previous testing and the location of lead sheathed cables, they said. Having taxpayers foot remediation costs seems unlikely, but it's probably the best path to accelerated remediation of sites where the cables present an immediate or near-term risk, they said. The FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program "provides a model for addressing common practices that in the fullness of time created risks that America broadly wants to be eliminated," they said. Since billions spent on cleanup by telcos could affect their broadband deployment activity, "we need the federal government to map, prioritize and fund the solutions."
Representatives of Apple and Broadcom proposed rule tweaks for very low-power operations in the 6 GHz band, in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. They also spoke with a staffer from the Office of Engineering and Technology. The FCC proposed in an April 2020 Further NPRM to allow VLP devices to operate in the band indoors without automated frequency control (see 2306230046). “In order to reduce the already insignificant risk of harmful interference even further … we discussed that the Commission could take two further steps,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. The FCC could create a transmit power control (TPC) rule for VLP equipment “that contains a specific and measurable power-reduction mandate,” the filing said: “Such a rule could state that TPC shall, on average, reduce the PSD [power spectral density] of the VLP device by 3 dB, compared to the maximum permitted PSD of VLP devices. The Commission would then permit VLP equipment makers to demonstrate during the FCC device certification process that a particular VLP device complies with this rule in order to receive authorization to operate at the maximum permitted” PSD. The FCC could also prohibit VLP devices from operating as part of a fixed outdoor installation, Apple and Broadcom said: “By doing so, the Commission would ensure that all VLP operations would be itinerant, not operating at any one set place and in any one set orientation to a FS receiver.”
The FCC and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are partnering on a trial of georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the commission said Thursday as commissioners approved 988 outage reporting requirements 4-0, as expected (see 2307130010). Commissioners also unanimously approved an order allowing 14 FM6 stations to broadcast analog signals as an ancillary service and an order giving tribal libraries and other E-rate participants greater access to funding.
The use of AI and other technologies in managing how spectrum is used tops the agenda for the FCC’s Aug. 3 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday (see 2307130025). The FCC also released the draft items. Commissioners will vote on proposals on power levels for digital FM radio. Also on the agenda, a draft order establishing an up to $75 monthly broadband subsidy for eligible households in high-cost areas through the affordable connectivity program.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a commissioner vote a proposed order that would revise FCC customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules to require wireless carriers to adopt secure authentication methods before redirecting a customer’s phone number to a new device or provider. The order would also require providers to immediately notify customers whenever a SIM change or port-out request is made on their accounts and “take additional steps to protect customers from SIM swap and port-out fraud,” said a Tuesday news release. “These new rules would set baseline requirements that establish a uniform framework across the mobile wireless industry while giving wireless providers the flexibility to deliver the most advanced and appropriate fraud protection measures available,” the FCC said. An accompanying Further NPRM would seek comment on “ways to further harmonize these rules with existing CPNI rules and additional steps the Commission can take to harmonize government efforts to address SIM swap and port-out fraud.” Announcing launch of a Privacy and Data Protection Task Force in June, Rosenworcel said one item would be following up on a SIM swap and port-out fraud notice released last year (see 2111160036). “Every consumer has a right to expect that their mobile phone service providers keep their accounts secure and their data private,” Rosenworcel said: “These updated rules will help protect consumers from ugly new frauds while maintaining their well-established freedom to pick their preferred device and provider.” A CTIA spokesperson emailed, “The wireless industry is committed to working with other stakeholders, including the FCC, to stay ahead of bad actors, while protecting the ability of legitimate customers to transfer their phone number to a new device or wireless provider.”
The FCC will consider additional steps to ensure tribal communities have access to E-rate funding during the agency's July 20 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a note Wednesday. Rosenworcel circulated a proposal last week to allow the use of E-rate funds for Wi-Fi hot spots (see 2306260029). Also on the agenda are an order addressing local programming and proposed rules on reporting and notice requirements for 988 outages.
NTIA announced funding allocations for its broadband, equity, access, and deployment program Monday. All entities will receive a formal notice of their allocations Friday, the agency said. The $42.5 billion program will be used for broadband deployment efforts, adoption and workforce development. Initial proposals may be submitted from July 1 through Dec. 1. States and territories will have access to 20% of their allocated funds once their proposal is approved by NTIA. Texas is receiving by far the largest BEAD award, at more than $3.3 billion.