A draft FCC notice of inquiry would seek comment on expanding access to the affordable connectivity program and Lifeline for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, if adopted during the commissioners’ July 14 meeting. It would seek comment on the agency’s authority to adjust both programs to better assist survivors and whether the FCC should adopt certain requirements set in the proposed Safe Connections Act.
Supporters of FCC nominee Gigi Sohn were hopeful Thursday that Senate Democratic leaders might use Republican absences in the chamber as an opportunity to vote to discharge Sohn from Commerce Committee jurisdiction before the start of a two-week recess set to end July 11. Lawmakers we spoke with cast doubt on whether Sohn’s short-term confirmation prospects were improved due to continued uncertainty about the position of three undecided Democratic senators if leaders forced a vote. Sohn’s confirmation process has been stalled since March, when Senate Commerce tied 14-14 on advancing her to the full chamber (see 2203030070). Her supporters have been eyeing ways to break the logjam (see 2206070046).
The House Appropriations Committee expects the FCC to "take further action to help eliminate the potential for future interagency spectrum disputes" beyond a coordination agreement between commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson (see 2202150001), the panel said in a report accompanying the Financial Services Subcommittee's FY 2023 bill. The underlying measure (see 2203280069), set for a Friday committee vote, would give the FCC $390 million, up 2.3% from what Congress appropriated in the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package President Joe Biden signed in March (see 2203150076). The bill would give the FTC $490 million in FY23, up 30% from FY22. The markup begins at 9 a.m. in 1100 Longworth.
The COVID-19 pandemic drove home the importance of being able to connect to the internet, said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, head of the ITU Telecom Development Bureau, and candidate for secretary-general of the organization, during a virtual Telecommunications Industry Association conference Wednesday. The bureau recently concluded its international conference, held every four years, this year in Kigali, Rwanda. Other speakers stressed the importance of making connections more secure and the challenges industry continues to face.
Wireless carriers warned the FCC proposed reporting requirements in a Further NPRM on wireless emergency alerts would require wholesale changes in alerting technology and asks for information they can’t collect. APCO and the National Weather Service (NWS) asked the agency to impose reporting requirements on industry. Comments were posted Wednesday in docket 15-91. Commissioners approved the FNPRM in April (see 2204190053).
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., won’t bring up bipartisan privacy legislation the House Commerce Committee introduced for markup this week, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told reporters Wednesday.
The FCC will consider how to leverage Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program to better support survivors of domestic and sexual violence, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday, previewing the commissioners' July 14 meeting agenda. Survivors of domestic and sexual violence "uniquely rely on access to private communications" and face "unique challenges securing reliable phone and internet service," Rosenworcel wrote: The item under consideration will look to "ensure that survivors are able to communicate safely with abuse hotlines and shelters."
The FTC and DOJ will issue draft merger guidelines in the “coming months,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said Tuesday during the agencies’ final public listening forum on the topic (see 2204270064). Republican commissioners warned the Democratic majority against politicizing the document and to base any changes on established legal and economic analysis.
The FCC gave Dish Network and designated entities SNR Wireless and Northstar Wireless an opportunity to cure control issues in the AWS-3 auction and fair notice of the legal standards it would apply in looking at their claims to be very small companies, said a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday, again rejecting challenges by the petitioners of the auction outcome. Oral argument was in January (see 2201140032). The D.C. Circuit in 2017 upheld the FCC's withholding of auction bidding credits to the DEs based on too-close ties to Dish (see 1708290012).
Industry experts said some questions remain after last week’s announcement that “key stakeholders in the aviation and wireless industries” agreed to a revised rollout of C-band spectrum around some airports by Verizon and AT&T (see 2206170070). Airlines for America (A4A), which represents major airlines, already questioned the pact in a letter to the FAA.