Senate Commerce 5G Hearing Likely to Focus on Legislation

“We'll be looking” at what legislation is needed to help ensure the U.S. has a top leadership role in deploying and developing 5G technology, but the hearing also will be an opportunity to conduct oversight, said Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss. Wicker is “hopeful 5G will bring opportunities to improve the lives of the citizens in” Mississippi because of the technology's potential to improve rural connectivity.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., wants to “home in on some of the things that will free up more investment” in 5G. He said that includes removing “barriers and impediments and figure out what we can do to streamline the process to get those projects going more quickly.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., will “stay focused on how we make certain that [5G] is operational,” that there's sufficient spectrum to allow utilization of the technology and “expanding access.” Related legislation should “look at some of the spectrum utilization issues, some of the deployment issues,” she said.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., intends to again highlight the need for improvements to wireless access in rural areas amid the 5G euphoria. The new technology “is great, but if it doesn't extend into rural America, that will take away economic opportunity” in those areas, he said. “It's great that they're going to put 5G in Indianapolis; let's put it in Billings, too.” Tester made similar comments during Commerce hearings last year.

Streamline Uncertainty

Thune and Communications ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, are unsure whether they will reintroduce their Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act.

“We're still very interested in the bill and I've talked with [Schatz] about it, but there's probably less of a reason to do it given the fact that the FCC” issued orders last year that mirrored key provisions in the legislation, Thune said. But “we're looking at the possibility of getting that going again. We worked really hard to try to move it [last year] but ran into some snags” via opposition from local governments (see 1810040055).

The bill, filed last Congress, aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1806290063). The FCC in August issued a declaratory ruling prohibiting local and state moratoriums on infrastructure deployment and in September issued its ruling/order to remove local barriers to small-cell deployment.

“I'm still undecided about whether” reintroduction of the legislation “is the best path,” Schatz said. “The basic question is whether" the FCC's 5G actions “make a law unnecessary, and I don't know the answer." Lobbyists said it's unlikely Thune and Schatz will refile the bill until legal challenges to the FCC's actions are resolved. More than a dozen court cases are challenging those actions; the cases have largely been consolidated in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and appear likely to be completely consolidated there (see 1902050030).

The short-term need for the Streamline Small Cell Deployment Act appears “diminished” by FCC actions and it makes sense that Thune and Schatz want to wait for the legal challenges to “play out in court,” said R Street Institute Technology Policy Manager Tom Struble. But it's “not usually a great strategy to kick the can down the road indefinitely” on telecom policy issues. “Congress needs to have its say” on how to encourage 5G deployments via legislation, he said. It may be helpful for Schatz to sit on the bill for a while given the pushback he's likely to continue to receive from fellow Democrats, lobbyists said. Ex-Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was a prominent critic of the bill last year and his replacement as lead committee Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington, is also considered unsympathetic to the legislation.

Airwaves Act

The Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act is likely to soon be reintroduced and will get significant backing from lawmakers and witnesses during Wednesday's hearing, Struble and others said. The bill aims to identify spectrum for unlicensed use and free up mid-band spectrum for wireless industry purchase via an FCC auction (see 1802070054).

The Airwaves Act would appear to be a perfect candidate for consensus action given the bipartisan support it received during the last Congress, Struble said. The hearing is “certainly a timely opportunity to discuss that bill and how it intersects with important proceedings at the FCC, notably including” its 3.7-4.2 GHz C-band NPRM, said Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Director-Broadband and Spectrum Policy Doug Brake.

T-Mobile/Sprint is likely to be discussed during the hearing, Struble and others said. The pending deal “has implications” for 5G deployments, especially since the carriers have argued since announcing the purchase last April that it would help them effectively roll out 5G (see 1804290001), Struble said. Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and four other Commerce Committee Democrats who have been pushing for a committee hearing (see 1901240040) are the likeliest to discuss it Wednesday, lobbyists said. Senate Antitrust held a hearing on the deal last year (see 1806270068). The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Feb. 13 hearing (see 1901280051).

DOJ's recent 13-count indictment against Huawei and Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou (see 1901280052) could prompt discussion about 5G security issues, Struble and others said. Wicker invoked the issue last week during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing (see 1901290006). The FTC's case against Qualcomm on claims the company holds a mobile chip monopoly (see 1901300038) could also come up, Struble said.

Senators could also invoke Trump's expected call for Congress to revisit infrastructure legislation (see 1902010057), lobbyists said. The degree to which any senator talks about infrastructure legislation may depend on how specific Trump gets about his desired parameters for a final bill, including whether he cites the need for broadband or 5G language to be included in such legislation, lobbyists said. Communications sector officials have low expectations for telecom mentions during Trump's speech (see 1901180032).