Iowa will be the sixth state with a comprehensive privacy law. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed SF-262 Tuesday. Privacy lawyers said it’s one of the most business-friendly statutes yet. Consumer Reports policy analyst Matt Schwartz “wouldn’t say it’s necessarily great news for consumers,” he said in an interview Wednesday.
House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Republican and Democratic members took widely divergent views Wednesday of Commerce Department implementation of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act-funded broadband programs and money from the 2022 Chips and Science Act. Subpanel Chairman Morgan Griffith, R-Va., made clear the hearing was only the initial stage in their plans. Griffith and other Oversight Republicans repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats for signing off on IIJA and the Chips law, saying both meant unrestrained spending and don’t have enough checks to prevent waste, fraud and abuse. Democrats conversely trumpeted the measures as crucial to helping Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
NAB will take the FCC to court unless it delays the 2022 quadrennial review and concludes the 2018 QR, said an ex parte filing Wednesday and broadcast industry officials in interviews, “The Commission has no lawful basis for withholding the belated 2018 review, and that failure independently threatens the viability of the 2022 review,” said the filing in docket 22-459. Multiple broadcast attorneys said the trade group is resolved to pursue the matter in court and without FCC action NAB will petition the U.S. Court of Appeals for a writ of mandamus. The filing gives the agency until April 12 to toll the 2022 QR proceeding and conclude the 2018 iteration. It’s not likely the FCC will agree to the request, attorneys said.
The FCC is taking next steps on receivers, proposing a policy statement with "high-level principles" rather than rules or standards, which some industry observers had expected (see 2301180046), at commissioners' April 20 open meeting, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday. The meeting is another busy one for the agency. The agenda includes a draft order on spectrum sharing rules among non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) systems, which has gotten little consensus among satellite operators (see 2204270015). Commissioners will also take on additional rules to get tough on Chinese carriers still operating in the U.S.
Republican states are responsible for an unprecedented wave of free speech violations, not the tech industry or Democrats, House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
The launch of 5G open cores for carrier networks is gaining momentum and in many cases will happen before stand-alone open radio access networks, experts said Tuesday during Fierce Wireless’ virtual 5G Blitz Week. They said moving operations to a 5G core offers one way for carriers to monetize their investments in 5G.
Members of the FCC Precision Ag Task Force raised concerns Tuesday about how the commission's next iteration of the broadband availability map will treat agricultural lands. Meeting virtually, the task force also heard updates from working group leaders and discussed the timing of its reports amid efforts to pass the 2023 farm bill (see 2212020059).
Consumer advocates and allies are largely bullish on the prospects for the MVDP "all-in" pricing disclosure NPRM on circulation (see 2303220042), though some think it's an idea that would have had more value before the era of cord cutting. Many expect MVPD pushback or opposition depending on the details of implementation. The NPRM, which hasn't been released, proposes bills and promotional materials prominently show the bottom-line price of video service including line-item fees.
Commerce Department Inspector General Peggy Gustafson plans to emphasize at a Wednesday hearing that her office is “committed to oversight” of the $48 billion in broadband funding under NTIA’s administration from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Subpanel Republicans aim for the House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing to criticize what they view as excessive spending via IIJA and other measures (see 2303230077). Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., meanwhile, led refiling of the Reforming Broadband Connectivity Act in a bid to revamp USF's funding mechanism (see 2112220072). Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., led a House companion measure.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., got backing from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley Tuesday in his quest to delay congressional action on repurposing parts of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for commercial use until after a DOD study of its systems on the frequency. The military officials told Rounds during an Armed Services Committee hearing that doing so before that analysis is final would jeopardize national security. Rounds has been holding up Senate leaders’ bid to pass a House-cleared renewal of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through May 19 (HR-1108), which led to the mandate lapsing earlier this month (see 2303090074), because he’s concerned about lawmakers reaching a deal on a spectrum package that would address the lower 3 GHz band.