AM radio "is critical" to parts of rural America without reliable cellular or broadband access, such as farmers needing weather updates, the National Association of Farm Broadcasting told Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Thursday, urging her to press automakers to not drop AM radio from vehicles. Noting Ford plans to not offer AM radio in its noncommercial vehicles starting next year, NAFB said automakers not offering AM radios in vehicles "will put into serious jeopardy an important lifeline and source of information to rural America, not just during times of emergency events but every single day."
The Biden administration this week released a national strategy for critical and emerging technology standards and outlined plans to strengthen American leadership in international standards bodies. The administration hopes the strategy helps the U.S. better work with allies to develop technologies that are “more accessible and sold more broadly across the globe, furthering market reach and helping to drive growth in our economies,” a senior administration official said during a May 3 call with reporters.
With preparations well underway for the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference, starting Nov. 20 in Dubai, officials from the State Department, FCC and NTIA said they must work together, especially on issues on which industry disagrees, like use of the 7-15 GHz band for international mobile telecommunications (see 2304240049). Officials warned the COVID-19 pandemic complicated work on the technical studies that are critical to WRC, during an FCBA webinar.
FCC proposals for improving emergency alert system reliability “are not tailored to the size, resources, or capabilities of EAS Participants,” said NCTA, ACA Connects, National Public Radio and NAB in meetings this week with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, said an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 15-94. The FCC “relies on fairly scant evidence of cybersecurity incidents or EAS equipment failures to justify the far-reaching proposals,” the filing said. The agency also underestimated the resources required for entities to comply with the proposals, the filing said. “Most EAS Participants have no in-house cybersecurity expertise, and therefore would likely require extensive -- and expensive -- assistance from outside consultants to translate the FCC’s broad and vague requirements into an actionable plan,” the filing said. The recently enacted Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 designated the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) as the lead federal agency on cybersecurity incident reporting, the filing said. “It would be premature, and potentially duplicative and counter-productive for the Commission to create a cyber-related incident reporting scheme before CISA completes its proceeding,” the groups said.
The Commerce Department announced the seven people who will represent the U.S. on the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council’s Talent for Growth Task Force, a group aiming to help both sides build a better work force for emerging and existing technologies. Task force members from the U.S. include a Commerce official as well as several industry and union representatives.
The seven state plaintiffs in the massive Telephone Consumer Protection Act case against multiple defendants oppose as coming too late in advance of a June trial Tuesday’s motion by defendant Scott Shapiro's attorneys to withdraw as his counsel, said their opposition Wednesday (docket 4:20-cv-02021) in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Houston. The states estimate Shapiro was responsible for nearly 40% of the 742.3 million calls made to consumers whose numbers were on the national do not call registry (see 2302220001). Burns & Levinson's Shepard Davidson and Kane Russell's David Thrasher seek to withdraw from the case.
The FCC’s reconstituted Disability Advisory Committee held its initial meeting Wednesday, receiving updates from agency staffers on recent developments at the commission. DAC took no actions at what was a virtual introductory meeting. Commissioner Nathan Simington said the start of the new DAC raises questions about the role the FCC will play in the future as more services are no longer clearly regulated by the agency.
The FAA is “not planning to seek an extension” of wireless carriers’ previous commitment to delay some use of their C-band spectrum for 5G past the current July 1 deadline, acting Administrator Billy Nolen said during a Wednesday House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee hearing. The House, meanwhile, easily passed two spectrum bills -- the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-1343) and Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act (HR-1353).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on the Secure Space Act (HR-675) and three other satellite and spectrum-focused bills under suspension of the rules. The other measures on the docket: the Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act (HR-1339), Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-1343) and Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act (HR-1353). HR-675 would bar the FCC from granting satellite licenses to any entity it identifies as a national security risk under the 2020 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. HR-1339 would require the FCC to review and potentially institute changes to satellite rules to promote precision agriculture. HR-1343 would provide statutory authority for ITS’ role in managing NTIA’s telecom and spectrum technology programs. HR-1353 would require the FCC to allow satellite direct-to-cell service providers and others to apply to access spectrum to fill in wireless coverage gaps in unserved areas specifically to provide connectivity for emergency services. The House Commerce Committee unanimously advanced all four bills last month (see 2303240065).