The successful deployment of open radio access networks will require international cooperation, speakers said Wednesday during NTIA’s first International ORAN Symposium in Golden, Colorado. On day one, conference attendees heard U.S. officials highlight the Biden administration’s commitment to open networks (see 2409170061).
Consumer advocates said the California Public Utilities Commission should move ahead with service quality rule changes that the telecom industry says would be illegal. “The Commission has the authority and supporting precedent to impose meaningful enforcement mechanisms for its customer protection and service quality rules,” The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) said in reply comments the CPUC received Tuesday. However, telecom industry commenters said a CPUC staff proposal and consumer groups' proposed additions aren’t supported by facts, the law or policy reasons.
The House Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved a pair of kids’ online safety bills on a voice vote, opening the door for potential floor action and negotiations with the Senate.
The House Commerce Committee voted 45-2 Wednesday to advance the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449), as expected (see 2409170040). The panel's approval came after a lengthy debate over the proposed mandate that automakers include receiver technology in future automobiles. Several lawmakers voted in favor of HR-8449 but said more changes will be necessary before it reaches the floor. House Commerce later approved on voice votes amended versions of the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (HR-7890) and Kids Online Safety Act (HR-7891) after a sometimes emotional debate (see 2409180048). The panel at our deadline hadn't yet considered the Telehealth Modernization Act (HR-7623).
The House Commerce Committee is back on track to advance the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449) as part of a markup session Wednesday, as expected (see 2409100070), but the measure’s Senate backers still face headwinds. The panel said Monday night it will mark up HR-8449, which would mandate that automakers include AM radio technology in future electric vehicles, along with 15 other bills. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The “must-vote” clock on radio group Audacy’s request for a temporary waiver of FCC foreign-ownership rules is set to expire Wednesday, and FCC officials told us they're expecting its approval, though at least one Republican will dissent on what in several past proceedings has been a routine request. Audacy, which owns more than 200 stations and is the second-largest radio group in the U.S., is seeking the waiver to allow it to first complete a bankruptcy restructuring that has George Soros-affiliated entities purchasing its stock. The FCC’s Democrats have already voted the item, agency officials told us.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is eyeing attaching her Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) to an end-of-year package instead of pursuing another markup attempt before Congress recesses at the end of September for pre-election campaigning. She previously eyed a potential September markup of S-4207 (see 2408150039) in hopes of resurrecting the measure after it repeatedly stalled earlier this year. S-4207 would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2029, and provide a vehicle for allocating funding for the commission’s lapsed affordable connectivity program and other telecom priorities.
Work remains before open radio access networks are viable worldwide, Sarah Morris, deputy NTIA administrator, warned Tuesday. Among the gaps are “consistent, repeatable and open RAN testing and speeding the pace of commercial-scale deployments,” Morris said during the opening NTIA’s first International ORAN Symposium, taking place this week in Golden, Colorado.
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was skeptical on Monday of TikTok’s argument that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act's planned ban of the platform in the U.S. is unconstitutional (see 2406210004). The statute requires China-affiliated ByteDance must sell TikTok by Jan. 19 to avoid the ban. The D.C. Circuit’s review also looped in a related challenge to that law from a group of TikTok creators. DOJ and ByteDance want the D.C. Circuit to rule by early December so they can have time for a likely challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court before the Jan. 19 divestiture deadline.
Title I or Title II of the Communications Act would bar the New York Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), said amici supporting ISP groups in briefs Friday at the U.S. Supreme Court. NCTA, a cable industry group that didn’t join the original May 2021 challenge that several national telecom associations filed in a district court, said the ABA “would impose unprecedented and unlawful rate regulation on broadband services.” The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) also condemned the state law. “If the ABA becomes effective, it will achieve the opposite of what it purports to accomplish, making it harder for communities of color to subscribe to broadband.”