NEW ORLEANS -- The NARUC Telecom Committee won’t vote yet on a proposed resolution to clarify state utility regulators’ authority to oversee networks that come from federal broadband spending. Members decided to wait after members raised concerns at the association’s conference Monday. "I don't think any additional clarity is needed,” said Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades (D). “We have the authority we need. We just fail to use it.”
With an FCC commissioner vote scheduled for Thursday on improving the delivery of outage information to public safety answering points (see 2210270067), a few tweaks remain possible to the FCC’s approach, industry officials said. The 10th floor is still considering filings made at the end of last week seeking a few changes to the draft order, officials said. APCO filed late last week and other filings were expected (see 2211100051).
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., are believed to be readying separate proposals for a larger spectrum legislative package as Congress returns this week from the long pre-election recess. The bills would grapple with how to address a renewal of the FCC’s auction authority before a short-term extension expires Dec. 16, among other things. CTIA Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann and others cited the FCC renewal as the priority lawmakers should focus on as they grapple with whether to move forward on the House-passed Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) or another measure as a compromise vehicle, during a Monday R Street Institute event.
The much-scrutinized 911 center in Washington, D.C., has completed about two-thirds of the recommendations from a D.C. audit report since a follow-up audit said little progress was made, Office of Unified Communications (OUC) acting Director Karima Holmes told D.C. council members Thursday. At a three-hour Judiciary and Public Safety Committee virtual meeting, members picked up on concerns raised at a September hearing (see 2209280058), pressing Holmes on recent audits and specific incidents where incorrect addresses and miscommunication led to dispatching delays.
NTIA plans to announce its funding allocations for its $42.45 billion broadband, equity, access and deployment program by June 30, it said Thursday. The FCC also announced it will release a draft of its broadband availability map Nov. 18. Eligible entities will be able to challenge it through Jan. 13.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's plans to remake the International Bureau into a Space Bureau and stand-alone Office of International Affairs (OIA) (see 2211030032) will likely get bipartisan support at the commission, former agency officials said. There was initial concern about the announced plan from House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., for potentially taking limelight away from the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (see 2211040039), but those concerns seemingly have been papered over, a current commission staffer told us. We were told commissioners will likely see the Space Bureau as a good thing, especially if it can streamline the regulatory approval process for applicants.
Ten years after the launch of wireless emergency alerts, WEAs have become a critical part of providing warnings to the public, officials said Thursday during an FCBA webinar. Speakers said WEAs have made progress since the false missile alert that created panic in Hawaii in early 2018 (see 1801160054 and 1803160042). Last month, FCC commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM proposing new rules to make the emergency alert system and WEAs more secure (see 2210270058).
The electoral battle for control of Congress remained unresolved Thursday, but former FCC officials agree with other communications sector observers (see 2210310073) that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is likely to face less critical oversight if the GOP wins either chamber than would otherwise be expected because the current 2-2 split commission has spawned relatively little controversy. NTIA could face more of the heat, experts told us. Tech policy stakeholders, meanwhile, expect a shift in the direction on Big Tech-focused legislation under GOP majorities.
All but one of the members of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees considered in competitive races this year (see 2211070059) won reelection in the Tuesday midterm election, but a handful of veterans on the House Commerce and Judiciary panels went down to defeat. Democrats performed better than election forecasters predicted in many battleground races, with enough contests still uncalled Wednesday afternoon that all major news organizations remained unable to declare which party would control either the House or Senate in the 118th Congress. That uncertainty means the outlook for tech and telecom policymaking remains unclear, officials and observers said in interviews.
Livestreaming is a highly desired offering in over-the-top video, but numerous complications stand in the way of providers risking the effort to successfully deliver real-time events, said presenters on a Wednesday Stream TV session on livestreaming at scale.