Atlanta attorney Carolyn Roddy was added to the Trump transition's FCC landing team, according to its landing team roster, which is updated periodically. Roddy, who has FCC and telecom industry experience, is an adjunct professor at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School and a board member of the Georgia Technology Authority, which manages delivery of IT services to state and local government agencies and entities.
The International Trade Commission on Jan. 1 posted the Preliminary Edition of the 2017 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements a wide range of changes to the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System tariff nomenclature, which forms the basis for the HTS, that took effect at the beginning of 2017. This is the fifth part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering machinery and electrical equipment of chapters 84 and 85.
Atlanta attorney Carolyn Roddy was added to the Trump transition's FCC landing team, according to its landing team roster, which is updated periodically. Roddy, who has FCC and telecom industry experience, is an adjunct professor at Atlanta's John Marshall Law School and a board member of the Georgia Technology Authority, which manages delivery of IT services to state and local government agencies and entities.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., likely will chair the Senate Communications Subcommittee again in 2017. He told us Thursday that, in weighing the choice between Senate Commerce’s Communications and Aviation subcommittee leadership, he chose Communications, which would maintain the subcommittee chairmanship he held for the past two years and as ranking member earlier. “I’ve requested that, yes,” Wicker said of the Communications Subcommittee. He has the second-highest seniority among Commerce's Senate Republicans, giving him broad sway. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., chaired the Aviation panel last session but lost her re-election bid. After the election, Wicker wasn't able to immediately say where he would land, citing a need to talk with Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and many believed last month he might depart Communications and leave an opening for Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to chair it (see 1612200067). Republican Senate staffers expect formal announcements to come next week, they said. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, was ranking member and expects no change in this coming session. “I hope so,” Schatz told us Thursday. Leadership is less certain for the House Communications Subcommittee, with former Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., rising to lead the full Commerce Committee. Some believe Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has the edge to take over (see 1612300029). Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wouldn't say whether she plans to pursue the ranking member spot she held for many years alongside Walden. “I don’t have any comment on it,” Eshoo told us Thursday when asked about rumors she may not seek the role. Her office also declined comment.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., likely will chair the Senate Communications Subcommittee again in 2017. He told us Thursday that, in weighing the choice between Senate Commerce’s Communications and Aviation subcommittee leadership, he chose Communications, which would maintain the subcommittee chairmanship he held for the past two years and as ranking member earlier. “I’ve requested that, yes,” Wicker said of the Communications Subcommittee. He has the second-highest seniority among Commerce's Senate Republicans, giving him broad sway. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., chaired the Aviation panel last session but lost her re-election bid. After the election, Wicker wasn't able to immediately say where he would land, citing a need to talk with Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and many believed last month he might depart Communications and leave an opening for Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to chair it (see 1612200067). Republican Senate staffers expect formal announcements to come next week, they said. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, was ranking member and expects no change in this coming session. “I hope so,” Schatz told us Thursday. Leadership is less certain for the House Communications Subcommittee, with former Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., rising to lead the full Commerce Committee. Some believe Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has the edge to take over (see 1612300029). Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wouldn't say whether she plans to pursue the ranking member spot she held for many years alongside Walden. “I don’t have any comment on it,” Eshoo told us Thursday when asked about rumors she may not seek the role. Her office also declined comment.
LAS VEGAS -- FirstNet President TJ Kennedy told a CES panel the importance of FirstNet was driven home to him two years ago when his father died of a heart attack. Kennedy said he was on a plane to FirstNet at the time and found out only when he landed in Las Vegas. Kennedy said his father lived in a rural area: “What are the things that we can be doing to leverage technology for emergency services? What are the things that we be doing to leverage technology for fire departments, not just in big cities, but also in rural areas?”
LAS VEGAS -- FirstNet President TJ Kennedy told a CES panel the importance of FirstNet was driven home to him two years ago when his father died of a heart attack. Kennedy said he was on a plane to FirstNet at the time and found out only when he landed in Las Vegas. Kennedy said his father lived in a rural area: “What are the things that we can be doing to leverage technology for emergency services? What are the things that we be doing to leverage technology for fire departments, not just in big cities, but also in rural areas?”
LAS VEGAS -- FirstNet President TJ Kennedy told a CES panel the importance of FirstNet was driven home to him two years ago when his father died of a heart attack. Kennedy said he was on a plane to FirstNet at the time and found out only when he landed in Las Vegas. Kennedy said his father lived in a rural area: “What are the things that we can be doing to leverage technology for emergency services? What are the things that we be doing to leverage technology for fire departments, not just in big cities, but also in rural areas?”
Two House Republicans called on the executive branch to level sanctions greenlighted when President Barack Obama on Dec. 23 signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017, to respond to alleged ongoing Russian violations of arms control treaties, such as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. House Foreign Affairs Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Ted Poe, R-Texas, and House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., authored NDAA Section 1290, which requires sanctions against companies involved in arms control violations and entities that conduct business with those firms. Poe criticized the Obama administration for not confronting Russia either economically or militarily regarding its purported violations of the INF Treaty and other arms control agreements (here). “This administration waited out the clock on Russia’s blatant violations of arms control agreements like the INF treaty,” Rogers said in a statement. “The next administration has to do better, and I’m pleased the Rogers-Poe sanctions will be available to them.” The INF Treaty prohibits the development and testing of all land-based missiles capable of hitting ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. The White House and Trump Transition Team didn’t comment.
Roslyn Layton credited India with recognizing the value of free data but cited problems with its "aggregator" approach. Reversing a previous ban on differential pricing for data services, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) now acknowledges free data can help the poor, said a Tuesday blog post by Layton, an American Enterprise Institute scholar and Trump FCC landing team member (see 1611290022). The "TRAI rejected three proposed models for free data and presents a new model in which 'third party aggregators' create the market for free data," she wrote. "Let’s applaud TRAI for recognizing the value of free data. Aggregation is a novel approach, but it is neither costless nor neutral. Moreover, the ruling creates a new problem of regulatory discrimination restricting how telecom service providers can participate in the market." Layton suggested the better way to discover the best free-data approach "would be to conduct a randomized control trial without regulatory discrimination." Indian telecom carriers could still challenge the TRAI's decision in court, she said, but for now the aggregator-based policy sets up a "de facto randomized control trial" as other south Asian nations have implemented various free-data programs that have increased broadband adoption. "It’s hard to see why some 446 million people in rural parts of India could not benefit from such programs, in addition to at least 80 million urban poor in the country," she wrote.