All five FCC commissioners, other officials and industry slammed a memo by a “senior National Security Council official” proposing the U.S. build a national 5G network, selling access on a wholesale basis to carriers. Axios published the leaked memo Sunday. Monday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said it's a bad idea. The memo compares 5G to the push under President Dwight Eisenhower to build a national highway system in the 1950s and warns that China could otherwise build a network first.

All five FCC commissioners, other officials and industry slammed a memo by a “senior National Security Council official” proposing the U.S. build a national 5G network, selling access on a wholesale basis to carriers. Axios published the leaked memo Sunday. Monday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said it's a bad idea. The memo compares 5G to the push under President Dwight Eisenhower to build a national highway system in the 1950s and warns that China could otherwise build a network first.

Neustar and North American Portability Management traded fire over disruption risks in the FCC's local number portability administrator transition from Neustar to Telcordia's iconectiv. Neustar said a planned initial April 8 LNPA regional system "cutover" to iconectiv "suffers from continued lack of transparency," testing that has been "abbreviated" and the lack of a "safety net" if it fails. NAPM's transition oversight manager (TOM), PwC, "has no plan for rolling back" LNPA functions to Neustar if iconectiv systems fail, said the incumbent in a Wednesday webinar presentation.

The Senate could pass an autonomous driving bill if compromise can be reached on objections from Democrats, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-N.D., told reporters after a field hearing at the Washington Auto Show. The American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV Start) Act passed the committee in October (see 1710040063), but Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., Ed Markey, Mass., and Dianne Feinstein, Calif., blocked S-1885’s move to the floor over concerns it doesn’t adequately protect driver safety.

The Senate could pass an autonomous driving bill if compromise can be reached on objections from Democrats, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-N.D., told reporters after a field hearing at the Washington Auto Show. The American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV Start) Act passed the committee in October (see 1710040063), but Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., Ed Markey, Mass., and Dianne Feinstein, Calif., blocked S-1885’s move to the floor over concerns it doesn’t adequately protect driver safety.

The Senate could pass an autonomous driving bill if compromise can be reached on objections from Democrats, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-N.D., told reporters after a field hearing at the Washington Auto Show. The American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV Start) Act passed the committee in October (see 1710040063), but Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., Ed Markey, Mass., and Dianne Feinstein, Calif., blocked S-1885’s move to the floor over concerns it doesn’t adequately protect driver safety.

The Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 24 posted a new chapter of its draft guidance document on human food preventive controls regulations, detailing requirements for supply chain programs for human food products that in some cases may be applicable to importers. Under the supply chain provisions, facilities that manufacture or process ingredients from outside suppliers must use approved suppliers and appropriate supplier verification activities, including on-site audits and record reviews of their suppliers. FDA’s draft guidance includes information and illustrative examples on who is subject to supply chain program requirements and what activities they must conduct.

The Entertainment Software Association backed core findings in an FCC draft report on the status of broadband-like deployment under Telecom Act Section 706. ESA supports the draft's plan to keep the fixed speed benchmark for advanced telecom capability (ATC) at 25/3 Mbps and not declare that mobile is a full substitute for fixed service. But the group believes the fixed benchmark will "need to be raised over time," said a filing Monday in docket 17-199 on a meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, who shared the draft last week with colleagues (see 1801180053). The report should clearly state "that low latency is an important element of ATC and that going forward it would explore the appropriate ATC benchmark for latency," ESA said, referring to data retrieval time. The "Commission should eventually set a latency benchmark of 75 milliseconds or less, since such latency is necessary for real-time interactive online applications, such as video games," it said. The report's effective due date is Feb. 2, an agency spokesman told us Tuesday.

The Entertainment Software Association backed core findings in an FCC draft report on the status of broadband-like deployment under Telecom Act Section 706. ESA supports the draft's plan to keep the fixed speed benchmark for advanced telecom capability (ATC) at 25/3 Mbps and not declare that mobile is a full substitute for fixed service. But the group believes the fixed benchmark will "need to be raised over time," said a filing Monday in docket 17-199 on a meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, who shared the draft last week with colleagues (see 1801180053). The report should clearly state "that low latency is an important element of ATC and that going forward it would explore the appropriate ATC benchmark for latency," ESA said, referring to data retrieval time. The "Commission should eventually set a latency benchmark of 75 milliseconds or less, since such latency is necessary for real-time interactive online applications, such as video games," it said. The report's effective due date is Feb. 2, an agency spokesman told us Tuesday.

The Entertainment Software Association backed core findings in an FCC draft report on the status of broadband-like deployment under Telecom Act Section 706. ESA supports the draft's plan to keep the fixed speed benchmark for advanced telecom capability (ATC) at 25/3 Mbps and not declare that mobile is a full substitute for fixed service. But the group believes the fixed benchmark will "need to be raised over time," said a filing Monday in docket 17-199 on a meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, who shared the draft last week with colleagues (see 1801180053). The report should clearly state "that low latency is an important element of ATC and that going forward it would explore the appropriate ATC benchmark for latency," ESA said, referring to data retrieval time. The "Commission should eventually set a latency benchmark of 75 milliseconds or less, since such latency is necessary for real-time interactive online applications, such as video games," it said. The report's effective due date is Feb. 2, an agency spokesman told us Tuesday.