FCC nominee Gigi Sohn’s Senate confirmation process may remain indefinitely in limbo despite recent heightened pressure from the nominee’s supporters and opponents on three undecided Democratic senators, said political experts and communications policy observers in interviews. The three Democrats -- Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia -- remained firmly on the fence Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security’s disinformation board isn’t the “truth police,” Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers Wednesday. The board’s goal is to establish long overdue standards for DHS’ disinformation campaigns to protect speech, privacy and civil liberties, he told the Senate Homeland Security Committee during a hearing (see 2205030065).
Dish Network went live with its 5G network in Las Vegas Wednesday, it confirmed. In another 5G development, the FCC awarded 4,041 flexible-use licenses won in the $22.5 billion 3.45 GHz auction, which ended in January, including to AT&T. The carrier has said it’s waiting for those licenses to clear before concurrently deploying 3.45 GHz and C band on towers (see 2204210061).
Industry urged California’s fledgling privacy agency to narrow the scope of automated decision-making (ADM) protections under the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). On the first of three days scheduled for virtual stakeholder sessions, multiple tech groups Wednesday urged the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) to focus regulation on fully automated systems that could have “legal or similarly significant effects” for consumers. A consumer privacy advocate said that’s too narrow, and others urged CPPA to specifically tackle unfair bias and discrimination.
The U.S. federal spectrum governance system needs revamping, GPS advocates were told at Wednesday's Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Bradford Parkinson, board vice chairman and frequent critic of the FCC's Ligado approval (see 1801170028), said interference testing shows the company's planned L-band terrestrial rollout will cause harmful GPS interference and the board needs to urge the FCC to swap out Ligado's spectrum or "just say no" to Ligado's deployment plans. The agency didn't comment.
The FirstNet board approved a resolution Wednesday that requires AT&T, which is building the network, to beef up indoor coverage by adding small cells. The meeting, streamed from New Hampshire, was the last for Executive Director Ed Parkinson, who's exiting the authority for a job at vendor RapidSOS (see 2204280049).
The California Assembly’s Judiciary Committee unanimously passed legislation Tuesday to make social media platforms liable for addiction- and design-related harm to children. AB-2408 would impose penalties on major social media platforms for negligent design.
Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety members and industry representatives used a Tuesday hearing to promote apprenticeship programs to bolster the broadband workforce. Several panelists and members cited the need for a skilled workforce as states prepare to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday he “had dialogue” with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson on collaborating to ensure there aren’t future interagency spectrum policy disputes on the scale of the 5G C-band rollout fracas earlier this year among the FCC, FAA, NTIA, wireless carriers and the aviation industry. Senate Commerce members focused almost no attention on the issue, which also came up during a Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee hearing last week (see 2204280064). Buttigieg repeatedly backed Senate Commerce members’ calls for legislation to set up a national autonomous vehicle regulatory framework, which has been on the backburner in recent years.
Sixteen months into the Biden administration, several key communications policy positions remain unfilled, including the State Department official who oversees communications. Another gap is a federal chief technology officer, or anyone within the White House specifically charged with overseeing communications policy. On the positive side, Jessica Rosenworcel has been permanent chair of the FCC since December and Alan Davidson NTIA administrator since January.