The FCC's floated idea of sunsetting non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite systems' interference protections from other NGSO FSS constellations authorized later faces considerable challenge by some satcom operators, in docket 21-456 comments Monday. Commenters also disagreed about how the FCC should approach band splitting. Commissioners adopted the NGSO sharing NPRM 4-0 at their December meeting (see 2112140062).
Autonomous vehicles aren’t possible without a steady supply of microchips, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said Monday during a field hearing in Detroit on China package implications for the auto industry (see 2203230065).
An upcoming sequel audit of the District of Columbia’s 911 center will be a “deeper dive than we do with most of our audits,” reflecting “the incredible importance of the issues,” D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson said in a Friday interview. Patterson raised questions about the return of Karima Holmes to lead the Office of Unified Communications (OUC). Advocates for D.C. 911 improvements said they want results.
The complexities of the content distribution system, a lack of uniformity among different platforms and absence of regulatory requirements are among the reasons for inconsistency in which online content includes audio description, said panelists from streaming services and consumer groups at the FCC’s Video Programming Accessibility forum Monday.
The FCC and most other tech and telecom-focused federal agencies would get a funding increase in FY 2023 under a budget proposal President Joe Biden released Monday. Five entities -- the DOJ Antitrust Division, Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), NTIA, FTC and National Institute of Standards and Technology -- would get double-digit percentage increases compared with FY 2022. Biden signed off earlier this month on the FY22 omnibus appropriations package, which itself increased funding for the FCC, FTC and other agencies (see 2203150076).
More than 14 months into the Biden administration, the White House hasn't designated anyone in the administration’s inner circle to oversee 5G or other telecom issues. Experts worry that not having anyone assigned to spectrum issues, at either the Office of Science and Technology Policy or National Economic Council, will complicate efforts to target further bands for 5G, and eventually 6G.
Big internet platforms will be subject to tougher competition rules after EU governments and lawmakers reached political agreement on language in the proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA), they said. The deal, if approved by the full EU Council and European Parliament, targets "gatekeepers," large companies that provide core platform services and have annual revenue of at least 75 billion euros ($83 billion), the Council said Thursday.
The EU and U.S. "found an agreement in principle" on trans-Atlantic personal data transfers, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted Friday. The U.S. made "unprecedented" commitments to put in place new safeguards to ensure that signals intelligence activities are "necessary and proportionate in the pursuit of defined national security objectives," and to create a new mechanism for EU individuals to seek redress if they believe they're unlawfully targeted by such activities, said a White House fact sheet. The deal addresses the concerns of the European Court of Justice in Schrems II, it said.
There’s renewed focus on the need for Supreme Court interpretation of Communications Decency Act Section 230 after last week’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson. Legislators and 230 watchers, in interviews, cited the likelihood of active litigation finding its way before the Supreme Court, which hasn't reviewed a Section 230 case.
T-Mobile’s pending shutdown of its 3G/CDMA network Thursday isn’t raising the same level of concerns as when AT&T shuttered its legacy network last month (see 2202240002), experts said. T-Mobile has far fewer security or other alarm systems attached to its network than AT&T. Dish Network raised concerns about 3G handsets used by Boost customers, the prepaid provider it acquired from T-Mobile, but those have been largely addressed, experts said.