The House Homeland Security Committee will focus more on encryption and locked phones, House Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee Chairman Max Rose, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. During a subcommittee webcast, he said he doesn’t “love” the idea of terrorists communicating through encrypted platforms and police not having immediate access to such an alleged criminal's phone after an attack.
Ultra-high band spectrum remains a “wild, wonderful and challenging” world, said Ted Rappaport, director-NYU Wireless at New York University School of Engineering, during a National Science Foundation webinar Wednesday. The FCC tapped Rappaport to speak on the importance of spectrum above 95 GHz before a vote last year approving the spectrum horizons order (see 1903150054). Some are looking to spectrum as high as 700 GHz, he said. Commissioners will consider an NPRM on the 70, 80 and 90 GHz bands at their June 9 meeting (see 2005190058).
The acquirer of Frontier Communications’ northwest network is weathering a global pandemic and the seller’s bankruptcy as it seeks to be “a different kind of company,” Ziply Fiber CEO Harold Zeitz said in an interview Monday. The rebranded Northwest Fiber is upgrading Frontier’s core network and plans to extend fiber further into rural areas where economical, he said. Whether Ziply finds success is “all about execution,” Moody’s analyst Neil Mack told us.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., signaled potential hiccups ahead Wednesday for the Spectrum IT Modernization Act (S-3717), despite the Senate Commerce Committee easily advancing the measure on a voice vote. Blackburn noted concerns about how the measure would affect DOD spectrum policymaking. It's a matter committee leaders told us will remain on their radar after Memorial Day recess because of opposition to the FCC's approval of Ligado's L-band plan (see 2005080043). Senate Commerce also advanced FCC Inspector General nominee Chase Johnson and three other tech bills.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology should develop metrics and measurements to guide the cybersecurity framework (see 1909270056), said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., Tuesday. The framework has helped organizations assess cyber risks, but it must be a “living document,” she told the Information Technology Industry Council. NIST didn’t comment.
The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic made the FCC more determined to eliminate unnecessary regulation, Chairman Ajit Pai said during the Wireless Infrastructure Association’s virtual version of its annual ConnectX. The agency also Tuesday released its draft version of proposed changes to infrastructure rules, proposed by WIA and CTIA (see 2005190058). Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr also spoke.
U.S. carriers have kept up with unprecedented demand under COVID-19, American Tower CEO Tom Bartlett told the Wireless Infrastructure Association’s ConnectX virtual conference Tuesday. The conference's goal is to help explain what’s happening “on the ground” during the pandemic, said WIA President Jonathan Adelstein. “Everybody recognizes how essential having reliable wireless service is.”
A Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee FCC oversight teleconference was far tamer than the subpanel’s other examinations of commission business during this Congress (see 1912050043). Most subcommittee members focused on telecom-related COVID-19 legislative proposals. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai emphasized his requests for additional funding. Pai also got additional support from House Communications Republicans for the commission’s recent approval of Ligado’s L-band plan (see 2004200039).
A draft declaratory ruling circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Tuesday clarifies that industry can swap out antennas and other infrastructure on towers without delay under the 2012 Spectrum Act. Commissioner Brendan Carr told us Tuesday that despite the early resistance (see 2005110029) some local governments support the infrastructure clarification and the pandemic underscores the need for building infrastructure quickly.
LG sees many automotive applications on the ATSC 3.0 road map, John Taylor, senior vice president-public affairs and communications, told a CTA-NAB webinar Monday. “The automotive makers that we’re speaking to” see big opportunities for 3.0 in “backseat entertainment” and the technology’s “one-to-many architecture,” he said.