President Donald Trump’s administration and the all-Democratic House Rural Broadband Task Force are teeing up proposals that include connectivity money, Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told us. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and some lawmakers, meanwhile, used a Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on the commission’s spectrum auctions program (see 2006160030) to highlight the need for additional telecom funding as part of COVID-19 aid legislation, including for broadband.
Louisiana legislators are trying again on a bill to spur rural broadband by electric cooperatives, after Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed a bill last week that he argued would restrict broadband access in violation of the 1996 Telecom Act. Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley advised against SB-406’s restrictions in a Zoom videoconference a few weeks ago with the Louisiana governor’s broadband commission and state Sen. Beth Mizell (R), the NARUC president told us Tuesday.
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly got relatively little attention from Senate Commerce Committee members during a Tuesday hearing on his renomination. What attention he did receive was largely positive, with Democrats training their fire on other nominees. President Donald Trump renominated O’Rielly in March to a term ending June 30, 2024. O’Rielly’s current term ended last June, and he can remain until the beginning of 2021. O’Rielly has a good chance of confirmation (see 2004030072).
Facebook’s handling of President Donald Trump’s recent post about looting (see 2006100027) is dividing the Senate along party lines, leading Republicans to examine amendments to Section 230, as expected (see 2005290058). Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in interviews they are exploring proposals for altering the tech industry’s liability shield.
A Tuesday Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing on the FCC’s spectrum auctions program was a venue for subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., to again dig into his longstanding concerns about the plan for 3.7-4.2 GHz C band, as expected (see 2005270034). Kennedy and other subpanel members discussed the issue throughout three rounds of questions for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Kennedy forecasted another hearing soon. Pai and some subcommittee members highlighted the need for additional telecom funding as part of COVID-19 aid (see 2006160049).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will speak about 5G at a Wells Fargo investors conference Thursday. Pai generally has shied away from Wall Street meetings for most of his chairmanship, though other commissioners do analyst meetings more frequently. The Pai remarks are closed to the news media but expected to be webcast the next day by the FCC, Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche said.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., urge President Donald Trump to appoint a national cyber director. Monday, they said COVID-19 has highlighted the federal government’s lack of cyber structure (see 2003110076). They co-chair the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which recommended creating a national cyber director with oversight from new congressional cybersecurity committees. The position would be president-appointed and Senate-confirmed.
Unmanned aerial systems are seeing a push due to COVID-19, speakers said on an FCBA webinar Monday. During a second panel, speakers said spectrum issues remain, with the FCC looking at the best airwaves for drones.
Microsoft, public interest groups and some broadcasters disagree with NAB, America’s Public Television Stations, larger broadcasters such as Meredith and Tegna, and both the BitPath (formerly SpectrumCo) and PearlTV ATSC 3.0 consortiums on whether proposed changes to the rules on TV distributed transmission systems would lead to stations with vastly expanded reach. “The intent of the proposed rule change is not to have broadcasters reach viewers beyond their authorized service area,” said Pearl TV in comments filed by Friday’s deadline in docket 20-74, urging the FCC to “stay focused.” The FCC shouldn’t be “spawning monstrous megastations that are largely divorced from any real connection to the ‘communities’ that they are licensed to serve,” said TV broadcaster PMCM.
The FCC should seek public comment on any NTIA petition about Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2006040056), said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. "From there, we can see if there’s something that we should do or should not do" about President Donald Trump’s executive order on 230 and how it applies to social media platforms, said O'Rielly. Also last week, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks asked where's the petition.