Communications Decency Act Section 230 should be rewritten and tweaked, not repealed, House Republicans told us after President Donald Trump failed to dismantle the statute through must-pass spending bills. House Democrats agreed there’s bipartisan consensus on the need to rework the tech industry’s liability shield.
In what he said will likely be his final speech as a commissioner, Mike O’Rielly told a GSMA/CTIA conference FCC should focus on the 7 GHz and other bands in the months ahead and that some, if not all 7 Ghz, should be repurposed for 5G. Beyond making the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for 5G, and potentially spectrum below 3.45, the next vein of spectrum to tap for 5G isn't clear and warrants a discussion, said AT&T Vice President-Federal Regulatory Hank Hultquist.
The FCC fully considered the California Public Utilities Commission’s request to delay its rollout of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I (see 2001140028) but decided not to grant it because "it presented no concrete plan on the way forward,” Chairman Ajit Pai said in letters to Rep. Anna Eshoo and three other California Democratic members of the House Communications Subcommittee, released Friday. Eshoo and Communications Vice Chair Doris Matsui, Tony Cardenas and Jerry McNerney wrote Pai in January seeking an explanation of the FCC’s rejection of the delay. The CPUC “offered no budget, no methodology for determining where subsidies would be directed, no criteria for provider eligibility, no timeline for distribution of funding and deployment, no auction design -- in short, no partnership for the FCC to join,” Pai said. “Their suggestion, if accommodated, would cause significant delay and confusion in the entire program, as the Commission created separate mechanisms and state-specific rules for each state, instead of connecting millions of unserved Americans to broadband networks as quickly as possible. It would cause still further delay to ensure that each state's unique proposed [RDOF] mechanism for awarding support operated consistently with the Commission's decision to allocate support using market-based mechanisms.”
A Thursday House Communications Subcommittee hearing is expected to feature partisan dueling assessments of the FCC's performance under Chairman Ajit Pai, capping off subcommittee Democrats’ often-rancorous relationship with commission Republicans this Congress (see 1901160031). Communications Democrats said the hearing will focus on FCC “lost opportunities” during President Donald Trump’s administration, including actions they say widened the digital divide (see 2009100066). The hearing begins at 10 a.m.
Twenty U.S. House Democrats from California said it’s “irresponsible” for wireless carriers to seek rehearing of a California Public Utilities Commission order requiring 72-hour backup power in certain high-threat fire areas (see 2008200038). “We are outraged that wireless carriers are arguing against safeguards that will protect Californians during wildfire season and that they are doing so as devastating wildfires burn,” said Reps. Jerry McNerney, Anna Eshoo, Doris Matsui and 17 others in a Thursday statement. “Critical wireless networks need to be able to operate even when fires shut down power service.” CTIA Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Kelly Cole responded, "Through difficult and unprecedented times, wireless carriers have gone above and beyond for California customers with an unwavering commitment to enhancing network resiliency and reliability." Industry is collaborating with public stakeholders, she said.
The FCC intends to “finalize new rules … later this year” to allow TV white spaces devices to operate with higher power in less-congested areas, Chairman Ajit Pai told House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and 13 other lawmakers in letters released Monday. Microsoft and others urged the FCC to act on TVWS, though there was opposition (see 2006030023). Matsui and the other lawmakers supported the NPRM in their June letter to Pai. “Our proposals will expand broadband availability for more rural Americans,” Pai said. “I also agree with your assessment that the current [COVID-19] pandemic has put our need for spectrum in sharp relief.” The spectrum that TVWS devices operate in “allows for the delivery of services over relatively longer distances and is better suited to deal with variations of terrain,” Pai said. “This makes it more attractive for providing broadband in rural and remote areas. The devices operate on an unlicensed basis, reducing barriers to entry.”
A trio of House Communications Subcommittee Democratic members from California -- Vice Chair Doris Matsui, Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney -- is seeking an FCC briefing “as soon as possible” on the communications-related impacts of recent wildfires and rolling blackouts in that state. The wireless industry amid the wildfires has been seeking a rehearing on a California Public Utilities Commission order requiring 72-hour backup power in certain high-threat fire areas (see 2008200038). The communications impacts of the wildfires and blackouts are especially concerning because “these events are taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the three said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Communications outages mean that people are unable to call 9-1-1, let their loved ones know that they are safe, or receive lifesaving alerts, which may include information about alternative wildfire evacuation routes or other information specific to evacuations during the pandemic.” The lawmakers “strongly urge and expect your agency, which is charged with overseeing our nation’s communications networks to promote public safety, to be taking all possible steps to monitor the situation and help ensure that Californians stay connected during this time.” They want the FCC briefing to include information on wildfire and blackout-related outages in California reported to the agency since Aug. 14 and commission actions to monitor the situation and work with the state government and telecom providers. The Democrats also want to know about situations in which wireless emergency alerts were used to issue warnings and provide information on wildfires and the extent to which the FCC is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others to ensure the WEA system is used “appropriately to protect the public” during the wildfires. The FCC didn’t comment.
House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey and 14 other committee Democrats urged the FCC Thursday to “provide unlimited voice minutes and unlimited mobile data to Lifeline recipients for the duration” of the COVID-19 pandemic, and increase “the basic support amount to cover the incidental costs of such increased benefit.” Talks between Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration on a compromise for the next pandemic aid bill appeared Thursday to be on pause until after Labor Day, as Senate leaders scheduled their next votes for Sept. 8. The House is already on recess and isn’t expected to return until Sept. 14. “We will have our regular pro forma meetings” and if Hill Democratic leaders “decide to finally let another package move forward … it would take bipartisan consent to meet for legislative business sooner than scheduled,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters. Senate Republicans’ proposal last month for the next aid measure contained few telecom and tech provisions (see 2007280059). 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). The FCC “has taken some small steps since March to tweak the Lifeline program’s rules, much bolder action is necessary,” House Commerce Democrats said in their letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Regrettably, the Senate has yet to consider any meaningful action to assist low-income consumers in affording broadband during this pandemic,” so it’s “all the more critical that the FCC use all of its authorities to ensure that the American people have access to internet services at an affordable cost.” The lawmakers also faulted Pai’s draft order to reduce a Dec. 1 increase of Lifeline’s minimum service standard for mobile broadband (see 2007300064). The proposal appears “to ignore the fact that coronavirus cases continue to rise, and the country has experienced nineteen consecutive weeks of over one million unemployment claims,” the Democrats said. Other signers included House Commerce Vice Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and subpanel Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif. Pai “for months has made clear that Congress needs to step up to the plate and make more funding available for connectivity during” the epidemic, a spokesperson emailed. “It’s therefore disappointing that House Democrats have failed to do their job and are refusing to find common ground with the Administration and congressional Republicans on broadband funding and other core national priorities unless they get their demand for special-interest giveaways that have nothing to do with the pandemic, like tax cuts for the rich in states like New York, New Jersey, and California.”
House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., backed open radio access networks, during an Open-RAN Policy Coalition webinar Tuesday. Both are co-sponsors of the Utilizing Strategic Allied (USA) Telecoms Act. S-3189 would require the FCC create an NTIA-managed O-RAN network R&D grant program (see 2004240032).
The House began considering its FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395) Monday, with anti-Ligado language intact. The House Rules Committee didn’t allow floor consideration of three proposed amendments trying to advance and stop efforts to hinder Ligado’s L-band plan, despite support from committee member Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas (see 2007170059). The panel ultimately agreed to allow votes on several other tech and telecom amendments, including ones aimed at Chinese companies ByteDance and ZTE (see 2007150062).