House leaders removed the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) from floor consideration Tuesday amid other committees’ objections to it, the bill’s sponsors told us Wednesday. Chamber leaders previously scheduled consideration of HR-4510 under suspension of the rules (see 2403010073), along with two other telecom-focused bills. The House voted 339-85 Wednesday to pass H.Res. 1061, which amended vehicle HR-4366 to become the Consolidated Appropriations Act FY24 appropriations minibus package that includes reduced funding for NTIA and other Commerce Department agencies compared with FY 2023 but a slight increase for the DOJ Antitrust Division (see 2403040083).
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., voiced varying levels of optimism during a Tuesday Incompas conference (see 2403050052) about the prospects that lawmakers will be able to reach a deal on stopgap funding that will keep the FCC’s affordable connectivity program running past this spring. The FCC said in a Monday update on its wind-down of the program that it will be able to provide only “partial” reimbursements for ACP in May (see 2403040077). Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., highlighted their ongoing interest in enacting legislation to lift or ease permitting processes in a bid to streamline broadband deployments.
The nascent Republican leadership race to succeed retiring House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) is scrambling expectations as to who will hold the GOP's top seat on the House Communications Subcommittee in the next Congress, lobbyists and observers told us. Environment Subcommittee Chairman Buddy Carter, R-Ga., confirmed to us Thursday he’s interested in House Communications’ lead GOP seat, but other lawmakers are too. There’s even more uncertainty about what Republican will lead the delegation on the Senate Communications Subcommittee in the next Congress as ranking member John Thune (S.D.) is a likely contender to succeed Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as the party's chamber leader.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., asked DOD and NTIA Wednesday for an explanation of how they will conduct new studies of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, which the Biden administration's national spectrum strategy requires (see 2311130048). Both lawmakers strongly supported the House Commerce Committee-cleared Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which proposes selling part of the lower 3 GHz band (see 2305240069). Lawmakers are grappling with reshaping a spectrum legislative package amid stalled talks and the DOD's negative findings last year about the effect that potential 5G use of the lower 3 GHz band would have on incumbent military systems (see 2312280044). The DOD “assessment found that non-federal operations are feasible if certain advanced interference mitigation features and a coordination framework are put in place,” Latta and Matsui said in a letter to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman. The national spectrum strategy's lower 3 GHz mandate provides an “opportunity to build upon” DOD's earlier findings by “studying additional private-sector access” on the band. “Clearly articulating the processes your agencies will use to study this band will help provide certainty for both federal and non-federal users,” the lawmakers said. They emphasized that NTIA developed the strategy “consistent with its statutory role as the sole agency responsible for authorizing Federal spectrum use.” They want insight from Davidson and Sherman about how DOD and NTIA will “co-lead” work on the new studies and “ensure a consistent and evidence-based process is used to establish methodology, assumptions, and parameters.” The legislators also want details about steps the agencies will “take to ensure all opportunities for commercial use in the Lower 3 GHz are fully considered and all relevant stakeholders have the ability to participate.”
Congressional Republican leaders are determined to advance a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to undo the FCC’s digital discrimination order (H.J.Res. 107) despite widespread acknowledgment the measure faces long odds of making it through the majority-Democratic Senate and an all-but-certain veto from President Joe Biden. GOP leaders’ intent in pursuing H.J.Res. 107 appears to be to bolster legal challenges of the digital discrimination order, officials and lobbyists told us. House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia and more than 60 other Republicans filed the measure in late January (see 2401310003).
House Communications Subcommittee members were universally positive about the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513) and four other communications network security bills during a Thursday hearing. House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and other lawmakers used the hearing to continue the drumbeat for Congress to allocate an additional $3.08 billion to close a funding shortfall for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, as expected (see 2402140055). Several Democrats touted the stopgap funding push for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2402130074) as another priority for securing U.S. networks.
An ESPN/Warner Bros. Discovery/Fox partnership creating a sports streaming platform is a further nail in the coffin of the traditional video programming bundle, video industry experts say. GlobalData analyst Tammy Parker said Tuesday it is "a blockbuster deal that will further decimate the traditional US pay-TV sector."
Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, Md.; Sen. Ed Markey, Mass.; and Rep. Grace Meng, N.Y., led a Friday letter with 64 other congressional Democrats supporting the FCC’s proposal permitting schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). CTIA endorsed the NPRM in comments filed with the FCC last week, while other industry groups questioned whether the FCC has authority under the Communications Act to expand the E-rate program as proposed (see 2401300063). “This proposal properly recognizes that learning now extends beyond the physical premises of school buildings,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote in the letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “When a sixth grader is completing a homework assignment through an online educational platform or a ninth grader is attending class through a video conferencing application, they are clearly engaged in educational activities.” The Communications Act gives the FCC “flexibility to structure and strengthen the E-Rate program as educational conditions change,” the lawmakers said: “With millions of students at risk of losing internet access at home” should Congress not appropriate additional money for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program before its initial $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April (see 2402010075), “we are glad to see the FCC exercising this authority and modernizing the E-Rate program, and we encourage the Commission to provide schools and libraries with the flexibility to adapt their programs to local conditions while continuing to effectively guard against fraud and waste.” Other Democrats signing the letter included Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui of California. On the other hand, House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, oppose the E-rate NPRM (see 2309270069). The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition praised the Democratic lawmakers for backing the proposal.
As live sports content continues what many see as an inexorable move to streaming, traditional pay TV is left in an increasingly tighter spot and the future of such deals is in limbo, media and sports industry experts tell us. The future of sports league and team deals with broadcasters is seen as more stable. House Communications Subcommittee members at a Wednesday hearing repeatedly highlighted sports programming's move from traditional pay TV to streaming services, at times expressing frustration with rising prices and fragmented access to games. Testimony from DirecTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun and other witnesses reflected earlier written statements that agreed the sports marketplace is in a state of flux (see 2401300078).
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey led four Democrats Monday in filing the Do Not Disturb Act to counteract perceived undermining of anti-robocall protections following the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous 2021 ruling in Facebook v. Duguid. In that case, the court backed a narrow definition of an automatic telephone dialing system under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2104010063). Senate Communications Subcommittee leaders focused during an October hearing on DOJ’s perceived reluctance in enforcing existing anti-robocall statutes (see 2310240065).