The Senate Investigations Subcommittee gave guidance to federal regulatory agencies on how much they should consider the volume of comments on a proposed rule and said the agencies should develop limits on duplicative comments, in recommendations Thursday. The FCC was flagged in the report. Government transparency advocates said some agencies are considered likely to act on the recommendations.
The Senate Banking Committee’s data privacy hearing Thursday showed a “significant amount of consensus” on the need for platforms to be more transparent about data they collect online, Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, told us. Legislators appeared to believe this should be “part of any ultimate [legislative] solution,” he said. Ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, hopes the committee delivers a data privacy bill, telling us Crapo is “very interested.” Brown said to expect interest from the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees.
New York lawmakers aim to coordinate next moves on net neutrality after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Oct. 1 that FCC 2017 net neutrality deregulation doesn’t stop state policies (see 1910010018). However, two Democratic bill sponsors interviewed this week disagreed how cautiously to proceed. Two Massachusetts net neutrality bill authors agreed the D.C. Circuit ruling frees states to act.
House Democrats blasted CEO Mark Zuckerberg for failures in privacy, workforce diversity and advertising discrimination, during a hearing Wednesday. Skeptical Republicans drew attention to similar miscues. They also defended Zuckerberg as an innovator and warned Congress against hindering Facebook’s digital currency.
Network virtualization and open radio access networks (ORANs) could be the key to ensuring that 5G networks are secure, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said in a keynote at the Mobile World Congress. Speakers Wednesday said 5G offers great promise and some challenges.
A notice of inquiry for the FCC's annual broadband deployment report was adopted 3-2 Oct. 4 and posted Wednesday afternoon. Comments are due Nov. 22, replies Dec. 9, in docket 19-285. The NOI circulated in July (see 1908090012) and concerns were raised about incorrect data. Now, Democratic commissioners' concerns focused on lack of better data collection methods. The FCC proposed to maintain 25/3 Mbps as the metric for fixed broadband and will take comment on whether another approach is justified.
Commissioners are expected to approve, with no dissents and few questions, an order and Further NPRM Friday on the 800 MHz rebanding, FCC and industry officials said. The order is loosely tied to T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint (see 1910020030) but didn’t generate controversy. No parties reported meetings at the FCC on the item in docket 02-55.
States protested the FCC denying waivers of Wednesday’s deadline to hard-launch the Lifeline national verifier in Connecticut, Georgia, Nebraska, New York and Vermont. State and other officials told us low-income people could lose inexpensive telecom service. Tuesday’s Wireline Bureau order responded that states have themselves to blame (see 1910220060). “It was harsh,” said Vermont Department of Public Service Telecommunications and Connectivity Division Director Clay Purvis.
Some media-focused officials testified in favor of a shorter-term Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing. The possibility has come into increasing focus as the law's Dec. 31 expiration nears (see 1910220058). Witnesses otherwise adhered to their existing STELA stances. Several Senate Commerce members later told us they're no closer to deciding what direction to go on the issue.
NPR, NAB and the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) have concerns about FCC proposals to update technical rules on low-power FM stations, posted through Tuesday in docket 19-193 for Monday’s NPRM comment deadline (see 1907310044). Representatives for LPFM entities such as REC Networks and Prometheus Radio Project said proposals don’t go far enough to relax interference restrictions for LPFM. “20 years is enough time to take the training wheels off and move LPFM forward into the next 20 years,” said REC Networks. “The net effect of enacting these proposals would be more congestion in the already crowded FM band,” NAB said.