The FirstNet Authority Board approved a $358 million budget Wednesday for FY 2023, which includes $190 million for investments in building a better network. The in-person meeting was closed to the public but streamed from Los Angeles. FirstNet acting CEO Lisa Casias warned of one looming concern -- the need for the FCC to renew FirstNet’s spectrum license.
The FCC’s report to Congress on the future of the USF, released Monday (see 2208150048), contained more questions than answers, industry experts said Tuesday. The 65-page report has few broad conclusions on the future of USF, declining to adopt competition as a separate goal or to set a separate deployment goal targeting mobile broadband. It weighs against assessing a fee based on broadband internet access service (BIAS).
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America sent a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission last week requesting guidance on Ocean Shipping Reform Act regulations. In an Aug. 15 email to members, NCBFAA said it asked the FMC for more “clarity” on OSRA provisions that restrict common carriers from invoicing parties for detention and demurrage unless the invoice includes certain required information. The group also asked the commission about the fee dispute process; made “inquiries with respect to the treatment of ocean carrier vendors, such as railroads and chassis pools”; and asked about new, prohibited conduct for common carriers. NCBFAA asked FMC to explain “to what extent do these new prohibitions and requirements, especially for invoicing, apply to marine terminal operators, customs brokers, freight forwarders, breakbulk agents, and other entities assessing and invoicing” fees.
The Joe Biden administration could be poised to take an action the Donald Trump White House tried but wasn’t able to complete and release a national spectrum strategy, industry officials familiar with the administration’s work on the issue told us. That follows what could be key meeting in May at the Aspen Institute. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson participated in the two-day session, which focused specifically on a national strategy.
ASPEN, Colo. -- It's "too early to tell" whether NTIA efforts aimed at better spectrum coordination among federal agencies are paying off, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said Sunday at the Technology Policy Institute's annual Aspen Forum. He said improved coordination has White House backing and agencies "want to do better."
The Joe Biden administration could be poised to take an action the Donald Trump White House tried but wasn’t able to complete and release a national spectrum strategy, industry officials familiar with the administration’s work on the issue told us. That follows what could be key meeting in May at the Aspen Institute. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson participated in the two-day session, which focused specifically on a national strategy.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America sent a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission last week requesting guidance on Ocean Shipping Reform Act regulations. In an Aug. 15 email to members, NCBFAA said it asked the FMC for more “clarity” on OSRA provisions that restrict common carriers from invoicing parties for detention and demurrage unless the invoice includes certain required information. The group also asked the commission about the fee dispute process; made “inquiries with respect to the treatment of ocean carrier vendors, such as railroads and chassis pools”; and asked about new, prohibited conduct for common carriers. NCBFAA asked FMC to explain “to what extent do these new prohibitions and requirements, especially for invoicing, apply to marine terminal operators, customs brokers, freight forwarders, breakbulk agents, and other entities assessing and invoicing” fees.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week announced new export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines. The controls, which were agreed to by members of the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement at last year’s plenary, will apply to two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software and certain pressure gain combustion (PGC) technology.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and other panel leaders are hopeful they can use the August recess to negotiate a deal on a spectrum legislative package before Congress returns after Labor Day, or at least decide whether to seek a stopgap FCC spectrum auction authority renewal in hopes of reaching a consensus later. Panel Democrats and Republicans divided along party lines (see 2208020076) during a Communications Subcommittee hearing last week on whether they back the 18-month authority extension included in the House-passed Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624).
The FCC “must enforce the law by collecting and publishing equal employment opportunity data by broadcasters and cable operators,” in a rulemaking within the next six months, said joint supplementary comments posted Wednesday in docket 98-204 from diversity and public interest groups including the National Urban League, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry. The collection of the data was teed up by a Further NPRM voted by the agency in July 2021 (see 2107260059). “To avoid any hint of the constitutional questions” raised by broadcast commenters on the FNPRM, the agency should rule that statistical EEO reports alone can’t be used to initiate an inquiry into a licensee’s EEO compliance,” the groups said. The agency needs to act soon so OMB can approve the data collection within one year, allowing data collection by the end of 2023 and results by mid-2024. The groups want the data to be collected in a public digital portal that can also be used to show results by company and on regional and state by state bases. Many other federal agencies collect similar data from companies, and the FCC collection could stimulate research and create more industry transparency, the groups said. The FCC should also move to adopt a series of diversity proposals long requested by MMTC, the groups said. Those proposals include creating a civil rights section of the Enforcement Bureau and more extensive EEO enforcement and requiring certifications that job postings at FCC licensees preceded hiring decisions. The agency “has fallen far behind standard industry practices and is depriving itself and the public of the most basic and least regulatory tools” to ensure equity and diversity in the communications workforce, the groups said.