Congress should be cautious about legislative proposals that threaten to ban transactions from companies of a specific size, FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce livestream Wednesday. Citing $100 billion in market capitalization as a recent example (see 2104120033), he said such bans could end up applying to companies attempting to compete with those often cited in antitrust conversations. Phillips also criticized attempts to ban Hart-Scott-Rodino mergers, acquisitions and transactions due to the pandemic. The stated rationale was an increase in filings, he said, with the expectation that agencies would be “overwhelmed” and anticompetitive deals would go unnoticed. “The strong would prey upon the weak, and the government would sit there and watch it happen,” he said. When economic fortunes decrease, equity values decrease, companies have less money, and they spend less on M&A, he said, meaning less work for the FTC. “The notion of the overwhelmed agency and the wave of mergers and acquisitions simply wasn’t true,” he said. “It speaks volumes to the kinds of extreme skepticism that certain aspects of our political class apply to M&A generally.”
Legislation from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., would require tech companies upon request to “delete all personal information” collected from or about someone younger than 13. Sponsored by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the Clean Slate for Kids Online Act would modify the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which already gives parents “some ability to limit the use of or delete information collected from their children.” Kids deserve a chance at a “clean slate,” Durbin said.
Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella and Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association Senior Vice President Ann Wilson cited the need for President Joe Biden’s administration to revisit the FCC’s November vote to reallocate 5.9 GHz for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle-to-everything (see 2011180043), at a Tuesday hearing. The issue itself barely factored into the Senate Commerce Surface Transportation Subcommittee hearing. Only Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., mentioned it. The auto industry “would have the opportunity to move forward right away” to deploy dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies if FCC reallocation were unspun and an industry-led sharing plan implemented, Bozzella said. The order “doesn’t respond to the interference questions that have been raised.” Wilson hoped for “efforts made to have the [FCC] reconsider” its decision, given implications for auto safety technologies. American Center for Mobility CEO Reuben Sarkar said the FCC decision makes DSRC “obsolete” and means cellular V2X technologies will need further upgrades. 5G technology “has the potential to bring order of magnitude faster speeds” and other benefits, but full capabilities are “still years away.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the Biden administration plans to examine ways to equitably address 5.9 GHz (see 2103250071).
The Senate Commerce Committee pulled the Endless Frontier Act (S-1260) from its planned Wednesday executive session (see 2104230076), a committee spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., viewed the recently refiled, $112 billion measure as a linchpin for a coming legislative package aimed at countering Chinese competition in tech R&D (see 2104210070). Commerce decided to pull S-1260 from its markup session after committee members filed more than 230 proposed amendments, aides said. The delay was needed to allow more time “for some consensus” to develop, Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters. A “pause was needed,” but that doesn’t reflect any real hesitations among senators, lead S-1260 GOP sponsor Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said during a Washington Post webcast Tuesday. “There are additional things they would like to add to this legislation or amend.” Reaching a bipartisan consensus often requires lawmakers to “crowd in as many good ideas as you can” to ensure “the best possible work product,” he said. “All of this will be aired” via the committee process. A Young spokesperson said it’s likely Commerce brings S-1260 back up for a vote after a one-week chamber recess, expected to end May 10. House Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, opposed S-1260 in an Issues in Science and Technology opinion piece Tuesday, suggesting her National Science Foundation for the Future Act (HR-2225) as an alternative. She singled out S-1260’s proposal to create a Technology Directorate within NSF as a concern, saying “the goal should not be to wall the directorate off from the rest of NSF, but to make it a productive partner with rest of” NSF. “There is also a big risk in creating a ‘shiny new object’ that gets the attention of policymakers to the detriment of NSF’s fundamental research mission,” Johnson said. “I am particularly concerned by” S-1260’s “authorization of $100 billion over five years just for this new directorate, at an agency currently funded below $9 billion per year, without an overall authorization for NSF and its mission to advance fundamental research across all areas of science and engineering.” House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., also criticized S-1260 Tuesday. The bill, “which tries to beat the Chinese Communist Party at their own game of expansive government subsidies,” is “not how we will win the future,” she said. “I share the goal of increasing America’s global competitive edge, but creating new, duplicative multi-billion dollar programs is not the answer.”
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a May 6 hearing on broadband access and affordability equity, the Commerce Committee said Tuesday. The virtual panel begins at 11:30 a.m. EDT. “Underserved communities -- particularly low-income communities and communities of color -- have long faced systemic barriers when it comes to accessing high-speed internet and reliable connectivity,” said Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “At next week’s hearing, we’ll examine the ways that a lack of affordable, high-speed internet service marginalizes racial and ethnic minorities, further undermining access to economic, educational, and social opportunities. We will also explore ways to fix the problem so.” The Pallone-led Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America Act (HR-1848) includes digital equity language, among other broadband-focused provisions (see 2103110060).
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., refiled her Extending Tribal Broadband Priority Act Monday, to expand the priority window for tribes to apply for 2.5 GHz licenses. The measure, first filed last year (see 2010150046), would require the FCC open a new window for tribal applications for at least 180 days. The previous opportunity ended in September (see 2009030012), despite petitions seeking further extensions. “The FCC didn't sufficiently recognize the difficulties many tribal nations have faced,” Warren said.
The FCC corrected the docket to 21-181 for the Media Bureau notice seeking comment on whether it needs to update rules implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act’s bar on excessively loud TV ads (see 2104200001).
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to mark up five tech and telecom bills Wednesday, including the just-refiled (see 2104210070) Endless Frontier Act (S-1260). The committee said it will also vote on NASA administrator nominee Bill Nelson and deputy commerce secretary nominee Don Graves. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 216 Hart. Also on the docket: the Protecting Seniors From Emergency Scams Act (S-15), Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act (S-163), Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act (S-198) and Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act (S-326). S-15 and House companion HR-446 would require the FTC to report scams targeting seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic to Congress and make recommendations on how to prevent future scams during emergencies. S-163 and House companion HR-1032 would increase the 5G workforce by requiring the FCC to lead an interagency working group to develop recommendations to address the telecom sector’s labor needs (see 2102110063). S-198 and House companion HR-1218 would require the FCC to map areas that lack broadband connectivity and have poor maternal health (see 2007220081). S-326 would compel an FCC economic analysis of the effects of broadband deployment and adoption (see 1906060002).
The Commerce Department is focused on gaining support for President Joe Biden’s jobs plan, which includes increased funding for the semiconductor industry, Secretary Gina Raimondo said: The administration also is reviewing China policies. “We are right now undergoing a whole-of-government review,” Raimondo told Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness. “It's fair to say there may be changes, but it's early for me to say what the changes might be.” Regardless of policy changes, she said Thursday, Commerce will look to hold China accountable for unfair trade actions. Legislators and others are watching how that affects Chinese telecom gearmakers (see 2104080006).
Ninety-eight entities opposed to the FCC's 2020 approval of Ligado’s L-band plan marked the one-year anniversary (see 2004200039) Thursday by urging President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to “work together with the FCC to stay and ultimately set aside” the order. The FCC isn't expected to reverse itself (see 2101290058). Ligado said in early April that federal agencies haven’t informed the company whether any of their GPS devices might need repair or replacement. “Although Ligado continues to attempt to convince policymakers that its proposed terrestrial service will not cause harmful interference and is somehow critical to American success in 5G, the executive branch and affected parties have repeatedly detailed the adverse economic, national security, and public safety impact of the proposed Ligado operations,” Iridium and other opponents said in letters to Biden and congressional leaders. The FCC "has made and affirmed its" unanimous decision, a Ligado spokesperson said. "Its decision was based on rigorous scientific analysis and thousands of pages of data. Rather than rehashing tired arguments and politics, we are focused on the future, which means working cooperatively with all stakeholders to implement the FCC’s order, developing 5G solutions and investing in U.S. digital infrastructure."