Broadband experts emphasized the need for the FCC to reclassify broadband internet access service as a Communications Act Title II telecom service Thursday. "Today, there is no expert agency ensuring the internet is fast, open, and fair," Ramesh Nagarajan, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's chief legal adviser, said during a New America Open Technology Institute event (see 2310190020). Multiple court decisions have made it clear that "Title II is the foundation of strong, legally sustainable net neutrality rules," Nagarajan said, adding it would also aid in the commission's efforts in addressing national security, cybersecurity and public safety. Hooman Hedayati, Communications Workers of America senior strategic research associate, agreed. Title II allows regulators to "require service quality standards and basic safeguards so that networks are there at times of emergencies," Hedayati said. Title II reclassification and net neutrality are "incredibly relevant to individual privacy for lots of reasons" said Stacey Gray, Future of Privacy Forum senior director-U.S. policy. "The most obvious one is that it's the most clear hook, arguably mandate, that the FCC has for promulgating specific and robust privacy rules" for broadband providers, Gray said. Future of Music Director Kevin Erickson noted net neutrality protections would also allow online creators to have more choice when deciding on platforms that best fit their business models. It gives smaller creators "the same level of access to audiences that huge corporations have," Erickson said. "Net neutrality policy is competition policy" because it ensures that consumers and small businesses can access online content and services "without undue interference by their ISP," said Incompas President Angie Kronenberg. Consumers "don't have a lot of choice" in the home broadband marketplace, Kronenberg said. Providers offering broadband service need only the nondiscriminatory access and rights provided through reclassification to "build the networks faster and more affordably," she said. "Most consumers do not have Title II-regulated services for their communications needs," Hedayati added. A national framework established at the FCC that is ultimately responsible for ensuring consumers and businesses have access to affordable services and choice is necessary, Kronenberg said, because "we don't have a place to really go right now to say there's an issue" when one is identified.
District of Columbia Council members demanded more transparency from Washington’s 911 center about its handling of call-taking and dispatching errors. The D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety Committee held a livestreamed oversight hearing Thursday about the Office of Unified Communications, which has received much scrutiny over incidents where incorrect addresses and miscommunication prompted dispatching delays. A former, longtime OUC employee claimed the office engages in unfair labor practices.
Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (HR-889/S-341) lead Senate sponsor Mark Warner, D-Va., is considering attaching the measure’s language to the House-approved Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (HR-7024) ahead of the upper chamber’s consideration of the package. Lobbyists question whether there’s sufficient momentum for swift action on HR-889/S-341 despite communications industry interest. Meanwhile, a potential bid to allocate $3.08 billion from an FCC reauction of 197 returned AWS-3 licenses to fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2401240001) is unlikely to become part of the 2024 National Security Act supplemental appropriations package but could be a factor in talks for other must-pass legislation this year.
Space operators see themselves facing emerging policy hurdles around the globe that could impede satellite spectrum sharing and satellite mesh networks. At the SmallSat Symposium in Silicon Valley Thursday, there also was discussion about the growing challenges of an increasingly noisy and crowded low earth orbit (LEO) environment and talk of the need for a global approach to space sustainability.
President Joe Biden extended a national emergency that authorizes sanctions against people and entities in Myanmar, the White House said Feb. 7. The “situation” resulting from the military coup in 2021 continues to pose a threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, the White House said. The emergency was extended for one year beyond Feb. 10.
The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) urged the FCC to move forward to ensure “local public-safety control of the band, with local decision-making about how the 4.9 GHz band can best meet a jurisdiction’s current and future needs.” Giving FirstNet control of the band “would reduce ‘local control’ to merely allowing local public-safety officials to choose between quality-of-service levels offered by a national network provider, rather than having actual ownership and control of these critical networks,” CERCI said in a Tuesday filing in docket 07-100. The group provided details on state and local use of the band. Among the examples cited: the California Department of Transportation’s use for autonomous/connected vehicle communications and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s use for public safety communications in its subway and bus systems.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should get a “significant” funding boost next year so its export control authorities can keep pace with emerging technologies and so its enforcement branch can continue increasing penalties on violators, the top Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee said this week.
The U.S. unsealed an indictment this month charging seven people with helping Iran violate U.S. sanctions through a billion-dollar smuggling network that sold oil to buyers in China, Russia and Syria. DOJ also seized $108 million that the network tried to launder through correspondent accounts at U.S. banks.
The U.S. unsealed an indictment this month charging seven people with helping Iran violate U.S. sanctions through a billion-dollar smuggling network that sold oil to buyers in China, Russia and Syria. DOJ also seized $108 million that the network tried to launder through correspondent accounts at U.S. banks.
President Joe Biden understands the importance of a “coordinated policy” that maximizes "the benefits the American people get from spectrum,” Austin Bonner, deputy U.S. chief technology officer-policy, said Thursday during the NTIA spectrum policy symposium's final panel. The White House's spectrum strategy reaffirms the FCC's and NTIA's roles, establishes the Interagency Spectrum Advisory Council (ISAC) and creates a White House-led mechanism for dispute resolution, providing “a consistent and clear place to bring challenges,” she said. During the many meetings the administration held before releasing the strategy, a consistent theme was “the need for senior level buy-in,” which led to ISAC's creation, she said. Bonner said the council is planning on meeting regularly. From the beginning of the administration, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she works, the National Economic Council and the National Security Council “strongly agreed that spectrum policy needed to change” and “needed presidential-level direction,” Bonner said. The strategy ensures that, before spectrum studies are conducted, they’re coordinated between NTIA and the agencies. “That’s really critical,” said Matthew Pearl, NSC director and special adviser-emerging technologies. Something that emerged during recent spectrum fights was the importance of assumptions and methodology when bands are studied, Pearl said. The president wants a “science-based, data-based approach” on spectrum issues, he said. NTIA and ISAC will be unable to resolve some issues and that’s when the White House will step in and convene the agencies prior to a decision, he said. Pearl noted that he was previously at the FCC and worked on spectrum issues, including the C-band. The FCC and NTIA “have made significant progress” in working together, adopting and operationalizing a memorandum of understanding on proposed spectrum decisions, he said (see 2208020076). The White House is committed to resolving disputes “as early in the process as we can,” he said, acknowledging difficult spectrum issues will result in disputes. “We’ve turned a corner, but we also have set ourselves a challenging road,” Bonner said.