Many small and mid-sized internet service providers (ISP) have doubts that they will participate widely if at all in the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. At ACA Connects' annual summit Wednesday in Washington, President Grant Spellmeyer said members are concerned "about where BEAD is headed" on project requirements and conditions. "Places like Pennsylvania have got some troubling provisions that are slowing members down," he said. "I think you're going to see wildly disparate results across the 50 states." One ISP that operates in multiple states told us it's leaning away from participating in the states with particularly onerous conditions.
NAB and backers of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) are continuing to push for the bill’s passage, possibly by attaching it to a future omnibus appropriations package. The bill's supporters argue attaching the AM radio legislation to an omnibus appropriations package could help it overcome headwinds that have prevented its legislative approval since early 2023 (see 2401050065). CTA and other opponents of the measure argue it should go through a normal legislative process.
House leaders removed the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) from floor consideration Tuesday amid other committees’ objections to it, the bill’s sponsors told us Wednesday. Chamber leaders previously scheduled consideration of HR-4510 under suspension of the rules (see 2403010073), along with two other telecom-focused bills. The House voted 339-85 Wednesday to pass H.Res. 1061, which amended vehicle HR-4366 to become the Consolidated Appropriations Act FY24 appropriations minibus package that includes reduced funding for NTIA and other Commerce Department agencies compared with FY 2023 but a slight increase for the DOJ Antitrust Division (see 2403040083).
Industry groups are backing calls that would refine the FCC's challenge processes for the national broadband map and broadband serviceable location fabric, they said in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 19-195 (see 2402200073). Many seek changes that would improve the challenge process for mobile service and increase transparency in how disputes are adjudicated within the commission.
T-Mobile will light up “over the next few days” part of the 2.5 GHz spectrum it won in the 2022 auction after the FCC said the licenses are being released (see 2402270084). Turning on the 2.5 GHz spectrum followed the carrier's multiyear push and required an act of Congress (see 2312190089). T-Mobile plans to auction 800 MHz licenses committed to Dish Wireless after cash-constrained EchoStar decided not to buy the spectrum (see 2403010041), T-Mobile executives said Tuesday at a financial conference.
Industry widely opposes the FCC's proposal to adopt additional reporting requirements for providers as part of the commission's efforts to combat digital discrimination. Commissioners sought comment on an NPRM proposing to adopt annual reporting and internal compliance program requirements following a November order adopting rules to curb discrimination (see 2401310052). Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 22-69. Consumer advocates and state officials urged the FCC to adopt the proposed requirements and establish an Office of Civil Rights within the commission.
The House Commerce Committee on Thursday will mark up two national security-related bills targeting TikTok, including one from Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., voiced varying levels of optimism during a Tuesday Incompas conference (see 2403050052) about the prospects that lawmakers will be able to reach a deal on stopgap funding that will keep the FCC’s affordable connectivity program running past this spring. The FCC said in a Monday update on its wind-down of the program that it will be able to provide only “partial” reimbursements for ACP in May (see 2403040077). Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., highlighted their ongoing interest in enacting legislation to lift or ease permitting processes in a bid to streamline broadband deployments.
NTIA is facing increasing pressure from carriers for additional spectrum for full-power licensed use, and from interests favoring a more open-ended approach, especially in the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz bands, as the agency finalizes an implementation plan for the national spectrum strategy, due for release March 14. DOD is defending its systems in the bands targeted by carriers. Meanwhile, there are questions about how much longer Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser, will remain at the agency after the implementation plan is released, industry officials told us.
Lack of trained tradespeople and onerous permitting procedures could represent major challenges to broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program implementation, speakers said Tuesday at Incompas’ annual policy summit in Washington. The looming end of the affordable connectivity program (ACP) (see 2403040077) is a big wrench in the works of planned BEAD projects, said Evan Feinman, who leads NTIA's BEAD program. He said internet service providers are recalculating project costs, and many planned projects will go into the red as they receive less help covering their operating expenses.