The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee's Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group reported Wednesday on progress on a pandemic report assigned by the FCC. One theme is that access to broadband overrides all other issues raised by COVID-19, officials said during the group’s quarterly meeting, held virtually. A final report should be ready for BDAC’s next meeting in October, said Red Grasso, WG chair who represents the North Carolina Department of Information Technology. “We’ve been pretty aggressive.”
DOJ Antitrust Division chief Makan Delrahim promotes Taylor Owings to division acting chief of staff and senior counsel, succeeding outgoing COS William Rinner, who's senior counsel until planned departure from the department "in the coming months" ... Verizon Public Sector names Jennifer Chronis, ex-Amazon Web Services, to lead Federal business; Michael Maiorana, Verizon Federal business lead, leaving the business effective Dec. 31.
Combined proposals Senate Republicans released Monday for the next major COVID-19 aid legislative package have few telecom and tech provisions. A proposal from Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., includes $1 billion for the FCC to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. HR-4998 provides funding to help U.S. communications providers remove Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security (see 2003040056). Shelby’s HR-4998 funding is the same as what the House Appropriations Committee allocated in its FY 2021 FCC funding bill (see 2007080064). The FCC earlier sought $2 billion to implement HR-4998 (see 2003230066). Shelby wants $175 million in emergency funding to CPB for “stabilization grants to maintain programming services and to preserve small and rural public" stations. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., filed the Restoring Critical Supply Chains and Intellectual Property Act with language from the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act. HR-7178/S-3933 would allocate funding to match state and local incentives and direct the Commerce Department to establish a grant program. The bill’s text is included in both versions of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395/S-4049). House Democrats had more tech and telecom language in their Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HR-6800), including broadband funding (see 2005130059).
Disagreements continued as the FCC took replies on a Further NPRM on the 6 GHz band, approved 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). Wi-Fi proponents lined up against groups like NAB and APCO, concerned about protecting existing spectrum use (see 2006300042). Replies were due Monday in docket 18-295 on proposals to permit very low-power devices to operate across 6 GHz, increase the power at which low-power indoor (LPI) access points may operate and other changes. NAB and electric utilities went to court (see 2007270067).
Disagreements continued as the FCC took replies on a Further NPRM on the 6 GHz band, approved 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). Wi-Fi proponents lined up against groups like NAB and APCO, concerned about protecting existing spectrum use (see 2006300042). Replies were due Monday in docket 18-295 on proposals to permit very low-power devices to operate across 6 GHz, increase the power at which low-power indoor (LPI) access points may operate and other changes. NAB and electric utilities went to court (see 2007270067).
CTIA hires Avonne Bell, from Kelley Drye, as director-connected life, new title for job previously done by Jackie McCarthy, who went to New England Cable & Television Association (see this section, Jan. 27) ... San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) announces Jordan Sun joins Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation as city's chief innovation officer; he recently returned from deployment to Afghanistan as chief operating officer, Special Operations Joint Task Force, Afghanistan Technology Team with Army.
CTA taps David Rhew, Microsoft global chief medical officer, and Alexander Garza, SSM Health chief medical officer, to co-chair new Public Health Tech Initiative, tasked with creating recommendations on use of technology for addressing and resolving future public health crises ... CTIA hires Avonne Bell, from Kelley Drye, as director-connected life, new title for job previously done by Jackie McCarthy, who went to New England Cable & Television Association (see this section, Jan. 27) ... San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) announces Jordan Sun joins Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation as city's chief innovation officer; he recently returned from deployment to Afghanistan as chief operating officer, Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan Technology Team with Army.
The U.S. extended for one year a national emergency that authorizes sanctions against people and entities engaged in terrorist activities, drug trafficking and other actions in Mali, the White House said July 23. The White House said activities in Mali continue to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the U.S. The extension is through July 26, 2021.
The aerospace industry applauded the U.S. decision to loosen export restrictions on unmanned aircrafts, saying the change may allow U.S. companies to better innovate and compete in emerging markets for new aircraft technologies. The decision, announced by the State Department July 24, will no longer subject exports of certain unmanned aerial systems to a “strong presumption of denial,” but will instead impose a case-by-case review policy on a “subset” of unmanned aircrafts that fly at speeds below 800 kph.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Don Young, R-Alaska, pressed the FCC Thursday for more information on its $200 million COVID-19 telehealth program, citing continued transparency concerns. The FCC awarded the last grants from the program in early July (see 2007080027). “We are concerned about the lack of transparency regarding this program,” the lawmakers said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. He said during a May briefing he would supply monthly reports on the program but “as of this writing, we have not seen any such reports.” The “lack of transparency was also apparent” at the Senate Commerce Committee’s June FCC oversight hearing (see 2006240069), when “you failed to explain how the metrics noticed in the Report and Order establishing the program, other than infection rate information, would be used to determine which applications should receive support” via the telehealth program,” the lawmakers said. “This suggests that the FCC preferred speed over transparency and fairness with regard to reviewing applications. As a result, applicants from several states did not receive funding, despite being seriously impacted by the crisis and eligible according to the program’s rules.” The lawmakers sought answers by July 30, including on how the FCC intends to “track, oversee, and evaluate the impact of the disbursed funds.” They also want to know how many applications the FCC received for the telehealth program, how much funding the applicants sought and how the FCC has “increased its capacity … to ensure against waste, fraud and abuse.” The FCC "acted quickly to create from scratch" the COVID-19 telehealth program "to expand the provision of vital telehealth services during this national emergency," a spokesperson emailed Friday. "We also administered the program in a transparent manner. For example, we publicized funding awards on a weekly basis and a full list of the funding awards can be found on the FCC's website. Moreover, the applications we received can be found in the docket."