Private 5G is in the nascent stage, but adoption is starting to accelerate, speakers said during a Fierce Wireless virtual conference Monday. Speakers said the network often has to be tailored for the individual business and has to go beyond a “turn-key” solution.
Some bristled at a Louisiana legislator proposing changes to a sweeping privacy bill on the Friday before a Monday legislative hearing. The House Commerce Committee cleared HB-987 by voice with Microsoft-backed amendments. Committee members from both parties listed issues they want addressed as the bill moves to the floor.
Development of open radio access networks, and the security and reliance of 5G, require cooperation between government and industry, said Brendan Dowling, an Australian communications official, during an Open RAN Policy Coalition virtual conference Monday. The session is part of the ongoing Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among the governments of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. Leaders of the quad countries will meet May 24 in Tokyo for a summit, where infrastructure is expected to be a main topic, speakers said.
A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel debated whether social media platforms more closely align with common carriers or with newspapers and broadcasters in a case that could have major implications for internet speech (see 2204040039). Judges were skeptical of arguments from both the tech industry and Texas during oral argument Monday in New Orleans.
The Biden administration’s Monday announcement (see 2205060046) that 20 ISPs committed to offer low-income households broadband plans with download speeds of at least 100 Mbps at no more than $30 per month got a mixed reception among communications policy stakeholders. All of the participating ISPs -- which include Altice, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, Mediacom and Verizon -- were already part of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program that subsidizes qualifying households’ broadband up to $30 per month. The White House said the participating ISPs cover more than 80% of the U.S. population.
It’s “reprehensible” that FTC Chair Lina Khan and her allies have attacked agency staff as “lazy and corrupt,” and it shows in the agency’s “terrible” employee survey results, Commissioner Christine Wilson said Friday at a Free State Foundation conference.
Dish Network doesn’t think it needs to ask for an "extension” of its FCC deadline to bring coverage of its mobile 5G network to 20% of the U.S. population by mid-June, said Chairman Charlie Ergen on a Q1 earnings call Friday. “We’re still on track” to meet the deadline, he said, conceding “we’re not spiking the football yet.”
FCC commissioners and industry groups stressed the need for USF changes during Free State Foundation’s annual policy conference Friday. Panelists also urged close coordination among agencies throughout the implementation of broadband programs funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Open internet supporters cheered ISPs dropping their challenge of California’s net neutrality law. National telecom associations indicated Wednesday they won’t appeal to the Supreme Court after the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rehear their case (see 2204200061). Whether states may regulate broadband might still not be settled. Some opponents of state net neutrality laws said to watch out for the 2nd Circuit to perhaps differ on federal preemption questions.
The FCC should require licensees to collect and report diversity data from the companies that provide their media content, including on streaming services, said a petition Thursday from programmer Fuse Media and several public interest groups including the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and Common Cause. The petition doesn’t limit the proposal to companies overseen by the Media Bureau, but loops in broadband licensees such as Google and Amazon. “Collecting data from all of the regulatee’s services will not only provide a fuller picture of the regulatee’s overall commitment to diversity but would allow the Commission to compare viewpoint diversity and competition across different services,” said the petition.