It's an “easy” decision to support legislation for giving news outlets power to negotiate with Big Tech, House Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., told us Friday, despite criticism from fellow Republicans. Legislators and two witnesses at Friday’s hearing said the legislation could enable a big media monopoly when the goal is to check Big Tech power.

T-Mobile and AT&T countered Dish Network arguments on FCC rule changes for a 3.45 GHz auction (see 2103090034), aligning them more closely with citizens broadband radio service rules. Filings were posted Thursday in docket 19-348. Others also made arguments before Wednesday’s sunshine notice. T-Mobile cited “DISH’s history of enriching itself while delaying the deployment of spectrum and services.” Dish proposes changes “that would limit competition in the auction for that spectrum and … relax the proposed build out requirements in a way that would delay deployment,” T-Mobile said. The proposal “would enable DISH to acquire the spectrum at artificially depressed prices without any legitimate justification or demonstrated ability to put it to prompt use,” AT&T said. AT&T supported Dish arguments in favor of a “coherent spectrum-aggregation policy,” saying “every provider needs nationwide mid-band spectrum in large contiguous blocks to compete effectively.” Dish didn’t comment. OnGo Alliance representatives raised concerns about interference for CBRS band users, in calls with aides to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington. They discussed problems for CBRS environmental sensing capability providers from “uncoordinated” 3.45 GHz operations and the need for “coordination rules,” the group said. ARRL, which represents amateur radio operators, urged the FCC to allow amateurs to continue using 3.3-3.5 GHz, in calls with commissioner aides and staff from the Wireless Bureau, Office of Engineering and Technology and Office of Economics and Analytics. “Amateurs have applied their technical expertise -- much of it acquired through self-training -- to use the bits and pieces of spectrum in the 3400 MHz band that are not used by the primary operators,” the group said. Ericsson urged rethinking the proposed two-step out-of-band emission limit, in calls with Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau staff. “It would force the development of unique, U.S.-only products for the 3.45 GHz band, and would preclude use of globally harmonized … base station equipment,” the company said. “Extending elements of the CBRS framework is the best way to make the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available to a wider variety of users and use cases,” the Open Technology Institute at New America told Rosenworcel aides.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reintroduced the Global Trade Accountability Act, a bill that would not allow any hike in tariffs, tightening of tariff-rate quotas, or other restrictions on imports to go forward unless the House and Senate approve. Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., co-sponsored the bill, which was first introduced in 2017. Temporary tariffs or quotas would be allowed under a national emergency but would expire after 90 days without congressional approval. “Congress has ceded far too much of its lawmaking power to the executive branch, including the power to unilaterally raise tariffs,” Lee said in a March 11 news release. “Sudden hikes in trade barriers can have real and devastating impacts on American small businesses, farmers, and families, including in my home state of Utah.” Paul said that in “a constitutional republic, tax increases should never be imposed by the whim of one person.”

Congressional Democrats refiled a pair of multibillion-dollar broadband funding proposals Thursday -- the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR-1783) and Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act amid a rising push for infrastructure spending legislation, as expected (see 2103030063). The proposals' return came ahead of President Joe Biden’s Thursday night speech marking the one-year anniversary of widespread pandemic-related shutdowns, which some expect will include an unveiling of his plans for an infrastructure spending package. Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act package (HR-1319) earlier in the day, with emergency broadband money (see 2103110037).

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., seeks Senate Judiciary Committee markup for her bill letting small news outlets negotiate revenue-sharing with online platforms (see 2103100058). She told us after Thursday’s subcommittee hearing that she spoke about the possibility with Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who sponsored the bill last year.

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., seeks Senate Judiciary Committee markup for her bill letting small news outlets negotiate revenue-sharing with online platforms (see 2103100058). She told us after Thursday’s subcommittee hearing that she spoke about the possibility with Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who sponsored the bill last year.

Lobbying intensified before an expected Wednesday sunshine notice on what model FCC members should approve March 17 for auctioning frequencies at 3.45 GHz, filings showed. Cable and satellite stakeholders were among those seeking changes to the auction draft rules so that bidding resembles that used in bidding for citizens broadband radio service airwaves. Others seek for the regulator to stick with the C-band auction approach, which is what the original draft that recently circulated would do.

State and local officials backed Connecticut broadband regulations proposed by Gov. Ned Lamont (D) that would require universal buildout while updating infrastructure rules. But telecom industry officials opposed HB-6442 as regressive overreach, at the livestreamed Joint Energy and Technology Committee hearing Tuesday. Anticipating federal net neutrality action, some Connecticut lawmakers questioned the need for SB-4. Telecom lawyers disagreed in recent interviews on how other states will be affected by last month’s ruling by U.S. District Court in Sacramento allowing California’s law to take effect.

The Wireless ISP Association asked the FCC to auction the upper 40 MHz of the 3.45 GHz band by county, rather than by partial economic area, in calls with aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. Other groups also sought smaller license sizes (see 2103040061). WISPA would leave the remaining 60 GHz to be sold as PEAs. “Using county-based licenses for the upper 40-megahertz will promote greater participation in the auction by smaller providers interested in obtaining licensed mid-band spectrum for rural coverage,” WISPA said. T-Mobile urged 10 MHz rather than 20 MHz licenses and sought a simplified out-of-band emissions (OOBE) mask. Adopting citizens broadband radio service rules wouldn’t work, the carrier said. “While CBRS-style rules support lower-power operations and may have been appropriate for the 3.5 GHz band because of the need to protect incumbent radars and to address coexistence concerns, those circumstances do not apply to the 3.45 GHz band,” T-Mobile said: It wants a 40 MHz limit on buys by any bidder. New America's Open Technology Institute asked a Starks aide to model rules on those for CBRS: “CBRS is already proving that an integrated band with both licensed spectrum and shared [general authorized access], operating under common technical rules, promotes innovation, competition and more localized deployments by a wide variety of ISPs, enterprise and other institutions.” The “unique issues that led to lower power levels in the CBRS band are not present here, and allowing power levels comparable to C-band will maximize the efficient use of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band,” the Competitive Carriers Association said in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Proposed aggregation limits “will invite greater participation in the auction and promote competition by ensuring at least three licensees in each market,” CCA said. Lockheed Martin raised interference concerns for its three primary radar manufacturing and test facilities in New York and New Jersey. Filings were posted Monday in docket 19-348.

Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C., hopes to introduce bipartisan legislation in late April or early May updating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, he told us Monday. His office gathered comments from groups through Friday on a discussion draft titled the Digital Copyright Act of 2021. As chairman last session, Tillis worked with then-ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., on a multi-hearing review of the DMCA.