Spreading high-speed internet will remain a key focus for the California Public Utilities Commission in the years ahead, CPUC President Alice Reynolds told Communications Daily during a wide-ranging Q&A. Reynolds addresses broadband funding, affordability issues, state USF and the FCC’s net neutrality rulemaking in written answers to our questions, lightly edited for length and clarity.
If the U.S. Supreme Court blocks social media laws in Florida and Texas, it could have a chilling effect on states trying to regulate online content, a panel of experts said Tuesday. Speaking at a Federalist Society webinar event, panelists said a ruling bolstering the tech industry’s First Amendment rights could jeopardize the constitutionality of laws aimed at regulating kids’ online safety. The Supreme Court held oral argument Monday in NetChoice v. Paxton (22-555) and Moody v. NetChoice (22-277) (see 2402260051).
Former FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor is citing the extensive Thursday outages on AT&T’s wireless network (see 2402220058) as a reason for Congress to approve the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669). The measure would require a Transportation Department mandate for inclusion of AM radio technology in future vehicles. HR-3413/S-1669 continues to face obstacles in both chambers, though S-1669 lead GOP sponsor and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other supporters have eyed alternate routes to pass it this year (see 2401050065). “Last week’s cell outage and the revelation of Russia’s capacity to disrupt U.S. communications satellites should be a sobering wake-up call to Congress that it is time to pass” HR-3413/S-1669, Gaynor, the acting homeland security secretary during the final eight days of the Trump administration, wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill Saturday. “Here’s hoping Congress listens to the nation’s leading public safety experts and acts before the consequences of inaction become tragically significant.” AM radio “is often the only communication available to those in harm’s way,” especially in disasters when “there was no power and cell towers quickly became overwhelmed,” he said. “That is why it has always been the fail-safe communication system public safety leaders rely upon to keep the citizenry safe and informed -- and why FEMA has cautioned carmakers away from removing AM.” The auto industry “is opposing” HR-3413/S-1669, “arguing that new digital streaming services and cellphones can adequately keep the population informed,” Gaynor said: “However, millions of Americans have limited to no cell coverage on a good day and rely on AM radio stations for critical emergency information.”
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.
Expect a U.S. Supreme Court majority to side with the tech industry in its content moderation fight against social media laws in Florida and Texas, experts told us in interviews last week.
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.
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.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission unanimously supported revising various telecom rules at a Thursday meeting. In three separate 3-0 votes, the commission supported staff’s proposed changes to Chapter 55 rules for telecom services (docket RM2023-000017), Chapter 56 rules for interexchange telecom service resellers (RM2023-000018) and Chapter 57 rules for operator service providers telecom services (RM2023-000019). During the meeting, the commission slightly modified the Chapter 55 proposal to remove a sentence related to submitting changes to a company’s principal business address. The removed sentence read, "The submission shall be accompanied by an attestation that the tariff and/or Terms of Service are identical, except for the address change to the existing tariffs and/or Terms of Service."
Republican FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington “will seek reconfirmation” to a second term “and has been in touch with” the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., “about the process,” a Simington spokesperson told us Tuesday. Simington joined the FCC in December 2020 after a swift but partisan Senate confirmation as Democrats objected to Republicans fast-tracking his approval after Joe Biden beat Donald Trump (see 2012080067). Simington’s term technically expires June 30, but he can remain on the commission until Jan. 3, 2026, absent Senate confirmation of another nominee.