President Joe Biden plans to name Lina Khan to permanently lead the FTC once she's sworn in as a commissioner. Hours earlier, the Senate voted 69-28 Tuesday to confirm her. Khan drew bipartisan Senate support, as expected (see 2106100069). FTC supporters, pressed Congress to increase FY 2022 funding and enact legislation to restore its FTC Act Section 13(b) consumer redress authority.
At Wilkinson Barker, Debrea Terwilliger from Public Utilities Commission of Nevada rejoins the law firm as partner ... GPS Impact hires Sally Aman, ex-USTelecom, as chief communications officer, and Teresa Chaurand, "working to advance representation of Latinos" in the Biden administration, as the public affairs firm's principal and senior adviser.
The FCC should issue an NPRM on a CTIA and USTelecom proposal to do away with regulatory burdens for pro forma transactions, NAB told aides to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a filing posted Friday in docket 17-105. “A single non-substantial internal transaction can result in filing requirements that strain resources, delay business decisions and divert sparse resources,” it said. Broadcasters have sometimes “opted to temporarily maintain a suboptimal corporate structure due to concerns that a pro forma application could delay or complicate other pending regulatory approvals,” NAB said. Apply “a uniform approach” to pro forma transactions across platforms, it said.
Commenters detailed how the chip shortage is creating problems for the tech industry, leading to longer lead times for obtaining network equipment, in response to an FCC public notice. Comments posted Friday in docket 21-195. Most didn’t seek specific action.
New York may not start enforcing a state broadband law requiring $15 monthly low-income plans that was to go into effect Tuesday, a federal judge ruled (in Pacer) Friday. ISPs challenging the state’s Affordable Broadband Act (ABA) are likely to succeed on conflict and field preemption arguments, ruled Judge Denis Hurley of U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York. ISPs showed imminent, irreparable harm, and the balance of equities and public interest favor keeping the status quo, he said. The decision counters recent rulings in California net neutrality and Maine ISP privacy cases where courts said states aren’t preempted.
Ransomware cyberattacks on massive targets such as Colonial Pipeline are rising and in the public eye, but TV and radio stations can also be attractive targets, said cybersecurity experts and broadcasters in interviews. And sometimes, such attacks on station owners are high profile.
New York may not start enforcing a state broadband law requiring $15 monthly low-income plans that was to go into effect Tuesday, a federal judge ruled (in Pacer) Friday.
Emergency broadband benefit providers are encountering problems enrolling eligible households in the program through Universal Service Administrative Co.’s national Lifeline accountability database, representatives said in interviews and FCC filings. Industry groups said it prevented some consumers from taking advantage of the temporary benefit when the EBB launched in May.
House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, put the onus on congressional Republicans Wednesday to come “to the table and sit down with us” to reach a compromise on an infrastructure spending package, as talks continued after the collapse of negotiations between the White House and a Senate GOP group led by Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia (see 2106080060). Veasey told a USTelecom virtual event that he expects the House Commerce Committee to mark up its part of infrastructure legislation soon so it can “get onto the floor for a vote,” after which it will be up to “my colleagues … in the other chamber to make sure this important legislation moves to” President Joe Biden’s desk. Veasey touted his backing of panel Democrats’ Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act infrastructure bill. HR-1848 includes $80 billion for broadband and $15 billion for next-generation 911 (see 2103110060). Whether that measure or another infrastructure bill passes depends on whether lawmakers are “willing … to come together and pass legislation that will help everyone be connected,” Veasey said. “Rural constituents will be very much … helped by this, as well as the lower income, largely urban residents that I represent.” Veasey touted his Enhanced Emergency Broadband Act, which would provide additional emergency broadband benefit program money (see 2103040049). “Create a path forward,” he said, “to make this program both permanent and sustainable.”
Tech and telco groups disagreed about USTelecom's petition for reconsideration of calling party notification and blocked call list requirements, in comments posted Monday in docket 17-59 (see 2105200074). Lumen said requirements should exclude legacy networks because it's "unclear whether those systems are technically capable of accommodating such a notification." The Voice on the Net Coalition agreed and said the FCC should confirm that calls blocked by a subscriber through anonymous call rejection or Do Not Disturb don't fall under the session initiation protocol (SIP) response code requirements. The Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee disagreed: "Introducing carrier discretion as to the type of notification will only increase confusion for legitimate callers." Incompas and the Cloud Communications Alliance said such flexibility "is exactly what the commission sought to avoid by prescribing standardized uniform notifications." The groups opposed extending January's deadline for notification implementation. USTelecom's petition "does not explain how a different form of notification would be superior to use of the SIP codes," said the American Bankers Association, National Retail Federation and others.