LA QUINTA, Calif. -- The EPA took “very seriously” telecom lead findings reported by the Wall Street Journal this summer (see 2307210004), EPA Senior Counselor to the Administrator Grant Cope said Monday. The government’s investigation continues, he told the NARUC Telecom Committee at the association’s meeting here. Also, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s former chief of staff Travis Litman said the FCC will have to “run, not walk” to complete net neutrality and other possibly divisive items before the election.
Groups including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Consumer Reports (CR) supported robust rules as part of the FCC’s proposed cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices in reply comments posted Monday in docket 23-239. In a letter posted last week, CTA, CTIA and other industry groups laid down a marker, saying the program should be voluntary and based on existing National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidance (see 2311090033).
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said during a Federalist Society panel discussion Friday that the Supreme Court’s growing focus on the major questions doctrine and the expected death of the Chevron doctrine (see 2306290063) has potential benefits in forcing lawmakers to make hard policy decisions.
Broadcast TV executives are bullish on the future of retransmission consent but are seeing varying levels of softness in the advertising market, they said on Q3 earnings calls this month. Nexstar and E.W. Scripps have experienced softness in the national advertising market, which Scripps CEO Adam Symson ascribed to macroeconomic headwinds. “We’re seeing no sign -- by region or market -- of any kind of recession,” said Gray Television co-CEO Hilton Howell in Gray’s call last week.
The Biden administration released its long-awaited national spectrum strategy and a presidential memorandum on modernizing U.S. spectrum policy at a White House ceremony Monday. The plan identifies the 3.1-3.45, 5.03-5.091, 7.125-8.4, 18.1-18.6 and 37.0-37.6 GHz bands for further study by NTIA over the next two years for potential repurposing (see 2311130007). But the plan omits other bands thought to be in the federal cross-hairs. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr slammed the strategy.
Countries need to decide the way forward on a broadcast protections treaty, the chair of the World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) said at a Nov. 6-8 meeting in Geneva, according to a transcript. A review of the third revised draft text accomplished two things, said Owen Ripley, Canadian Heritage associate assistant deputy minister-cultural affairs. It identified issues that could be improved for clarity or to move toward a consensus document and it allowed delegates to map the areas where outstanding issues remain.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday she will try to hotline kids privacy legislation in the Senate.
CTIA and NCTA locked horns in reply comments on whether the FCC should examine spectrum aggregation limits. AT&T asked for a rulemaking in 2021, focused on mid-band holdings, but the FCC's questions in a September notice (see 2309220064) go beyond what AT&T sought (see 2310060051). T-Mobile took fire from Dish Network and AT&T.
An FCC NPRM released Thursday proposes allowing schools and libraries to apply for funding from the E-rate program for Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet access services that can be used off-premises. FCC Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented, as they did last month on a declaratory ruling clarifying that the use of Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding (see 2310190056).
More work is still needed to ensure providers of all sizes can participate in NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program, broadband experts and industry officials said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Thursday. Panelists welcomed the agency's recent programmatic waiver regarding the BEAD program's letter of credit (LOC) requirements and sought additional action regarding performance bonds among other policies (see 2311010040).