California legislators voted to require wireless eligibility for state broadband funds on the last day of their session Thursday. Wireless is a “reliable substitute … when it’s impossible to use fiber,” said Assembly Communications Committee Vice Chair Jim Patterson (R) in an interview Friday. The Utility Reform Network (TURN) prefers fiber and remains opposed.
American Tower and its Ulysses subsidiary, plus Verizon and Alltel, removed to U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana in South Bend Thursday an Aug. 16 complaint filed in Elkhart Superior Court in which plaintiff Debra Brown seeks to nullify the wireless communications easement on her residential property in Goshen, Indiana, and to exclude the defendants from the parcel of real estate that’s “burdened” by the easement, said their notice of removal (docket 3:23-cv-00842).
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade asked the Commerce Department to conduct a review of the country's status as a non-market economy, telling the agency that the nation's "achievements in market opening and integration into the regional and global economy" stand as grounds for review. Seeking to build on the back of the 2013 comprehensive partnership agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam, the ministry asked for a changed circumstances review of its NME status.
The California legislature passed broadband mapping, privacy and right-to-repair bills Wednesday. The Assembly voted 74-0 to concur with Senate changes to AB-286 on adjusting state broadband mapping requirements. And it voted 65-12 to concur with the Senate on AB-1194, which would say businesses aren’t required to comply with government requests for emergency access to personal information on abortion and contraception. The Senate voted 39-0 to concur with the Assembly on SB-244 to give consumers a right to repair electronics. The Assembly advanced two other bills to the Senate for concurrence. Members voted 52-14 for SB-362 to allow consumers to delete data collected on them by brokers and 80-0 for SB-387, an industry-backed bill to let the state lease public land at submarket rates for broadband deployment.
The upcoming U.S. outbound investment restrictions (see 2308090066 and 2308100045) should be overseen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, not the agency that heads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., Republicans said this week. Several lawmakers, including Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, said the new outbound investment restrictions are similar to a sanctions program as opposed to the case-by-case review process overseen by CFIUS for inbound investments, and said OFAC is better suited to prevent China from benefiting from sensitive American investments.
Officials with the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition still hope for FCC rules allowing use of the lower 12 GHz band for fixed-wireless by the end of the year, in time for the spectrum to be used as part of projects approved under of the broadband equity, access and deployment program. But SpaceX and DirecTV, in particular, which opposed mobile use for 5G, are giving no ground. Replies were posted Monday in docket 20-443.
Returning Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen announced he’s “rescinding a bunch of signed offer letters for people who were starting as soon as this Monday.” He made the announcement Sept. 8 on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said a “Flexport team member will reach out to each of you personally asap to explain the move.”
The executive at CBP responsible for the two pilot programs collecting data for Section 321 and Entry Type 86 told an audience of brokers that issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on required data submissions for de minimis shipments is "of the highest priority at CBP right now." He repeated for emphasis, "The highest priority. From the commissioner down, it has been: 'When are we going to get the NPRM?'"
Returning Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen announced he’s “rescinding a bunch of signed offer letters for people who were starting as soon as this Monday.” He made the announcement Sept. 8 on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said a “Flexport team member will reach out to each of you personally asap to explain the move.”
The Treasury Department approved about $158 million in Capital Projects Fund support Wednesday for Puerto Rico to build broadband infrastructure and multipurpose community facilities. The funding will support two efforts. It will fund the "resiliency and reliability of the island's high speed internet access" through a submarine cable resiliency program, said Capital Projects Fund Director Joseph Wender during a roundtable. The program will include building a new submarine fiber route to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic and U.S. Virgin Islands to create three cable landing stations, Wender said. The new support will also fund a multipurpose community technology center program for public access to the internet and technology. "We're certainly headed in the right direction," said Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (D): "These funds will make a huge difference in Puerto Rico since they will help us ensure that our island has the necessary broadband infrastructure and that all our citizens have the internet access, tech assistance, and training they need and deserve."