The U.S. faces a shrinking percentage of students graduating with electrical engineering (EE) degrees, despite the importance of the engineering specialty to the telecom industry and the U.S. economy, ITIF said in a report released Monday. From 1997 to 2020, EE bachelor’s and master’s degrees conferred rose just 37.5%, while degrees in all other fields rose 81.1%, the report said. EE degrees granted to U.S. citizens increased 18.2%, compared to 110% for temporary residents. The group notes that the Chips and Science Act “will create tens of thousands of jobs in the coming years” requiring EE degrees. “Policymakers should provide incentives for colleges and universities to keep expanding EE enrollment for U.S. citizens and permanent residents while increasing retention rates,” ITIF recommended: “Many jobs in EE relate to military or other national security application areas that require the holder to be a U.S. citizen” and “many foreign students who obtain EE degrees here return to their home nation, boosting their domestic industry, not America’s.”
The FCC Monday approved long-awaited waivers allowing proponents of cellular-vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band to start to deploy, acting on a request filed in late 2021 (see 2112140070). The joint waiver request had reportedly been largely cleared by the FCC earlier this year but was awaiting NTIA review (see 2302020031). The joint request was filed by Audi of America, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, the departments of transportation in Utah and Virginia, Aaeon Technology, Harman International Industries, Panasonic North America and other companies. In 2020, the FCC approved use of the top 30 MHz of the band for C-V2X (see 2011180043). The band had formally been set aside for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) systems. “The underlying purpose of the Commission’s rules governing ITS [intelligent transportation system] operations would not be served by denying the Joint Waiver Request and thereby delaying or precluding C-V2X operations in the upper 30 megahertz of the 5.9 GHz band,” the Wireless Bureau said: “To deny the Joint Waiver Request and insist on application of the current DSRC-based rules would be contrary to the public interest as it would further entrench the DSRC technology the Commission determined needs to be replaced and preclude rapid deployment of the technology the Commission has identified as best suited to promote the most efficient and effective use of the spectrum.” NTIA had sought conditions for approval, and the waiver applicants agreed to adhere to the restrictions, the bureau said. Among them, devices are limited to equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 33 dBm and on-board units are restricted to an EIRP of 27 dBm at ± 5 degrees in elevation from the horizontal plane. “This is a big deal,” emailed Hilary Cain, vice president-technology, innovation, & mobility policy at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “These waivers were a missing piece of the regulatory puzzle needed for automakers to deploy V2X -- a game-changing wireless safety technology enabling vehicles to see around corners, talk to other vehicles and communicate -- in real-time -- with pedestrians, bicyclists, traffic lights and infrastructure,” she said.
An order and NPRM addressing changes to the commission’s frequency allocation table in light of recent World Radiocommunication Conferences saw a number of changes over the draft, including apparent wins for Qualcomm. Commissioners approved the WRC order ahead of their Thursday open meeting (see 2304190042). It was released Friday. Among the tweaks, instead of saying the order takes “only administrative actions that do not affect the Commission’s rules with respect to any party’s underlying rights and responsibilities” the final version says the FCC is making “several non-substantive, editorial changes” to the allocation table. The NPRM adds language to a section seeking comment on satellite uplinks in the 7190-7250 MHz band. It now says, “Qualcomm urges the Commission to seek comment on whether such allocations would ‘remain in line with the Commission’s present spectrum priorities,’ noting that the Chairwoman has identified the 7-15 GHz spectrum range, and some stakeholders, other administrations, and regional organizations are considering the 7190-7250 MHz band, for the next generation wireless technology.” The NPRM notes the same concern raised by Qualcomm on the 9.2-9.3 and 9.9-10.4 GHz bands.
Licensees and authorized telecom providers with reportable foreign ownership, investment or control need to file "prompt, accurate, and complete information," the FCC Enforcement Bureau said in Friday's Daily Digest. "When it comes to assessing U.S. national security and law enforcement interests, we will be vigilant in ensuring that companies comply with these important disclosure requirements," Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal said. The commissioners last week unanimously approved a framework for requiring companies to renew their Section 214 authorizations to provide international telecommunications services to and from the U.S. (see 2304200039).
Law firms Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins topped the ranks of tech, media and telecom M&A advisers in Q1, GlobalData said Thursday. It said Kirkland & Ellis topped the rankings in value as it advised on deals totaling $18.1 billion while Latham & Watkins led in terms of volume by advising on 27 deals. Both the deal value and volume top numbers were down sharply from Q1 last year, when firms in the No. 1 spots had $93 billion and 84 deals, respectively.
United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Malaysia are the world's most-connected nations, when judging by a collection of metrics including average time online daily, average number of social platforms used, and fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions per capita, IP proxy services firm Proxyrack said Tuesday. It said the U.S. ranked 25th.
If an international Section 214 authorization holder has had an application to transfer control or assign the authorization in the past five years and ownership hasn't materially changed, the FCC should give a way to certify this, Incompas said in a docket 23-119 filing Friday. Doing so would lower the burden and costs for complying with the Section 214 draft order on the April agenda and ensure the agency knows where it has information it needs in its records for a 214 review, it said. Rather than require 10-year renewals or three-year information submissions from 214 authorization holders, the agency could look at getting information it needs from authorization holders that have national security agreements from the agencies that require them to keep up-to-date information about their ownership and operations, it said. The filing recapped meetings with aides to the three regular commissioners and with Office of International Affairs Chief Ethan Lucarelli.
The deadline for nominations for membership to the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee is being extended to May 12, the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said Thursday. The original deadline was April 7.
Lowering reportable foreign-ownership interests from 10% to 5% would result in "significant real-world consequences that are contrary to the Commission's desire to encourage investments in telecommunications infrastructure" in the U.S., said DigitalBridge Group and Searchlight Capital Partners Thursday in docket 23-119. The investment companies said their limited partners and co-investors, especially sovereign wealth funds, treat their investments as highly confidential for competitive investment strategy reasons. They said there's no reason for the agency to change its rules because its disclosure threshold has no impact on the ability of national security agencies to continue doing their confidential reviews of foreign ownership at a 5% threshold, but it wouldn't promote national security to require public disclosure of passive limited partners and co-investors with insignificant equity interest and that lack any control of day-to-day operations of an FCC licensee.
April 21 is the deadline for comments on the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee's proposed recommendations, the FCC Office of International Affairs said in a public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest. "We can generally support most" of the draft recommendation, OIA said.