NTIA Leadership Should Help Fix Spectrum Disputes: Starks
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks expressed hope Thursday that political leadership at NTIA, with Alan Davidson approved by the Senate to lead the agency, will lead to improved “working relationships” within the federal government. “There are institutional concerns here,” he told a Cooley webinar: “We are all glad for his confirmation.” Starks noted there hasn’t been a Senate-confirmed NTIA chief since May 2019 (see 1905090051). Meanwhile, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pressed the FCC and NTIA to work together on improving coordination on spectrum (see 2201130050).
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The FCC and FAA share goals on the launch of 5G in the C band, Starks said. “Both agencies are clearly committed to both aviation safety and American technological leadership.” He noted some issues remain but said he’s “optimistic” all the parties will be able to resolve them “safely, as quickly as possible.”
The dispute over the C band “certainly has frustrated folks,” Starks said. “It’s a prime example of that needed coordination, and better coordination with our federal partners,” he said. “Spectrum policy has never been easy, and we’re certainly in an era where the focus is on bands that are already occupied by other federal users” and other incumbents, he said: “A lot of the very low-hanging fruit has already been picked.”
Starks supports updating a decades-old memorandum of understanding between NTIA and the FCC on both agencies’ roles on spectrum. The Trump administration left “unresolved issues” between NTIA and the FCC on some spectrum disputes, he said. Davidson said updating the MOU will be one of his priorities, Starks said.
The FCC will play a limited but important role as the NTIA implements a $42.5 billion broadband grants program as part of the infrastructure law, Starks said. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel “has committed to sharing the FCC’s information expertise … kind of an advisory role,” he said. That includes “something that we’re all trying to work expeditiously on,” finalizing broadband maps, he said. The FCC will soon be collecting and publishing details on broadband offerings, tied to the infrastructure bill, he noted. A draft NPRM on broadband labeling (see 2201060057) “goes to the heart of competition,” he said.
More than 9 million households have participated in the emergency broadband benefit program, with 250,000 added weekly, but tens of millions of qualified families haven’t applied, Starks said. “We know that affordable access to high-speed broadband is a game changer.”
Starks hears concerns about the temporary nature of EBB and “when the money was going to run out.” The affordable connectivity program, set to be approved in coming days (see 2201120038), “should give confidence all around,” he said. “If you’re having food insecurity, or housing insecurity, I can guarantee that you’re also experiencing digital insecurity.” Lifeline remains important for “making sure that low-income folks have that Lifeline phone that they need to connect them to jobs, to connect them to loved ones,” he said. Social programs need to be better integrated, he said: “If someone is signing up for food stamps, we need to make sure that they’re also aware of Lifeline.”
Starks called for more focus on privacy: “We’re learning new ways that data is being used, how it impacts our ability to participate in democracy, participate in society, our economy.” Some issues, like algorithmic bias, are “cutting-edge technology issues,” while others touch on more traditional consumer protections, he said. Fines in 2020 against the four national carriers for failing to safeguard data on their customers' real-time locations (see 2002270063) “highlighted the need … to supervise third-parties and data use,” he said. Rosenworcel circulated an NPRM Wednesday on updating rules on telecom carriers' data breach notification requirements (see 2201120047).