The U.S. extended national emergencies authorizing sanctions against Hong Kong and transnational criminal organizations, the White House said July 7. The White House said actions taken by Beijing to “fundamentally undermine” Hong Kong’s autonomy and activities by transnational criminal groups continue to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The emergencies were renewed for one year, from July 14 and July 24, 2021, respectively.
The FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. should seek additional funding to extend the emergency broadband benefit program “for as long as necessary,” or at least until Lifeline reimbursement is increased, said a draft resolution to be considered by NARUC during its July 18-21 meeting. The draft recommends Congress phase out the program’s bypass of the state eligible telecom carrier designation process and the FCC address problems with enrolling eligible households through the national verifier. The draft also seeks Lifeline revisions. Also under consideration is a broadband expansion task force recommendation to prioritize areas with less than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps up (see 2106250048). It more participation in NTIA initiatives and the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. It recommends a “centralized database of carriers” that don't meet USF obligations, and regularly testing network speed, latency and reliability for carriers receiving federal or state funding. NARUC will consider whether to urge the FCC to make the EBB program more permanent, as well as a resolution backing the California Public Utilities Commission’s petition to reconsider the confidentiality of filings in the network outage and disaster information reporting systems. NARUC’s telecom panel unanimously supported the CPUC's petition in November (see 2011100033). The FCC didn’t comment Wednesday.
The FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co. should seek additional funding to extend the emergency broadband benefit program “for as long as necessary,” or at least until Lifeline reimbursement is increased, said a draft resolution to be considered by NARUC during its July 18-21 meeting. The draft recommends Congress phase out the program’s bypass of the state eligible telecom carrier designation process and the FCC address problems with enrolling eligible households through the national verifier. The draft also seeks Lifeline revisions. Also under consideration is a broadband expansion task force recommendation to prioritize areas with less than 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps up (see 2106250048). It more participation in NTIA initiatives and the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. It recommends a “centralized database of carriers” that don't meet USF obligations, and regularly testing network speed, latency and reliability for carriers receiving federal or state funding. NARUC will consider whether to urge the FCC to make the EBB program more permanent, as well as a resolution backing the California Public Utilities Commission’s petition to reconsider the confidentiality of filings in the network outage and disaster information reporting systems. NARUC’s telecom panel unanimously supported the CPUC's petition in November (see 2011100033). The FCC didn’t comment Wednesday.
The State Department plans to renew the charter for its International Security Advisory Board, which advises the agency on arms control, nonproliferation, emerging technologies and other national security issues, the State Department said in a notice. The board includes national security experts with scientific, military, diplomatic and political backgrounds. Although it usually meets quarterly, it didn’t convene in 2018, 2019 and 2020 due to a “review of its status” by the Trump administration. The State Department will renew the board for two years.
Some House Democrats are beginning to echo their Senate colleagues’ concerns about the continued lack of permanent leadership at the FCC and NTIA (see 2106160056). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he plans to delay the subpanel’s customary FCC oversight hearings until President Joe Biden names a permanent commission chair and fills a vacant seat that would give Democrats a 3-2 majority. Qualms about Biden’s failure to name a permanent NTIA administrator also featured during a Wednesday House Communications hearing on nine bills largely aimed at increasing the role that agency and the FCC play in communications security. Subcommittee members from both parties appeared interested in pursuing those measures.
Some House Democrats are beginning to echo their Senate colleagues’ concerns about the continued lack of permanent leadership at the FCC and NTIA (see 2106160056). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he plans to delay the subpanel’s customary FCC oversight hearings until President Joe Biden names a permanent commission chair and fills a vacant seat that would give Democrats a 3-2 majority. Qualms about Biden’s failure to name a permanent NTIA administrator also featured during a Wednesday House Communications hearing on nine bills largely aimed at increasing the role that agency and the FCC play in communications security. Subcommittee members from both parties appeared interested in pursuing those measures.
The European Union and the U.S. working together have the leverage to change China's distortions in the world economy, experts speaking during a three-day series on EU-U.S. trade issues said. But it's not easy, with the economic interests of German manufacturers in China, the history of trade tensions across the Atlantic, and bureaucratic torpor on both sides, they said.
The FCC opposed the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network’s request for a stay (in Pacer), sought last week, of the FCC’s order reallocating the 5.9 GHz band (see 2106030075), in a pleading posted Tuesday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. AREDN told the court Wi-Fi in the band would effectively preclude use for high-speed broadband networks by amateur operators. AREDN said 5.9 is the “workhorse” band for its operations. “The Order fulfills a pressing public need for increased Wi-Fi internet capacity by making an additional 45 megahertz of electromagnetic spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band available for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses in indoor environments,” the FCC said (in Pacer) in docket 21-1141. “AREDN contends that unlicensed use in this band will cause harmful interference to amateur-radio users, but it failed to present any supporting evidence in the proceedings leading up to the Order,” the FCC said. ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials supported the stay. “AREDN is correct that the FCC exceeded its authority in issuing the Order,” they said (in Pacer), arguing the FCC action is barred by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, which requires spectrum for intelligent transportation. The FCC “improperly disregarded the TEA and exceeded the agency’s spectrum allocation and licensing authority, and was otherwise arbitrary and capricious,” they said. The 5G Automotive Association said it supports a stay but opposes AREDN’s logic. The FCC, not the Department of Transportation, has authority “over the nation’s public airwaves,” 5GAA said (in Pacer): “A stay premised on DOT’s purported authority to dictate the terms of use of national spectrum resources would be contrary to law -- and could wreak havoc on a well-settled regulatory framework that has remained in place for more than a century.”
The House Appropriations Committee’s proposed report on the Financial Services Subcommittee-cleared measure to fund the FCC and FTC in FY 2022 seeks further work on changes to USF contribution rules and wants additional study of how municipal broadband can expand connectivity access. The committee was still considering the underlying bill late Tuesday afternoon. Dueling panels of telecom policy officials disagreed on how lawmakers should translate into legislation the $65 billion broadband component in a bipartisan infrastructure package framework President Joe Biden endorsed last week (see 2106240070).
The European Union and the U.S. working together have the leverage to change China's distortions in the world economy, experts speaking during a three-day series on EU-U.S. trade issues said. But it's not easy, with the economic interests of German manufacturers in China, the history of trade tensions across the Atlantic, and bureaucratic torpor on both sides, they said.