Broadband nutrition labels, proposed by the FCC last month, would help the states to ensure consumers get the connections they’re paying for, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel during a Silicon Flatirons webinar Thursday. Weiser, a former White House telecom official, interviewed Rosenworcel at the start of the program.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks urged industry to start preparing for 6G, during a Thursday virtual meeting of ATIS’ Next G Alliance. The group released a "Roadmap to 6G," seeking increased collaboration between industry and government, and proposing areas for future research. The report projects a 2030 start for 6G.
Ohio lawmakers skipped a planned vote on a privacy bill Wednesday, but comprehensive measures continued to advance in other legislatures. Oklahoma and Indiana committees teed up privacy bills for floor votes.
Fixed wireless connections will have a major role in closing the digital divide, said Peter Linder, Ericsson North America head-5G marketing, and other speakers during an Ericsson webinar Wednesday. 5G makes fixed more attractive since it means a carrier can supply mobile and fixed service using the same wireless facilities, he said.
Expect the Senate Commerce Committee to mark up bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday that’s meant to improve child safety online, Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and ranking member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told reporters.
A draft order on updating technical rules for radio set for the FCC’s Feb. 18 meeting is considered uncontroversial and is expected to be unanimously approved, said broadcast industry and FCC officials in interviews (see 2201280065).
The U.S. doesn’t need to regulate all commercial activities in space, said House Space Subcommittee ranking member Brian Babin, R-Texas, Wednesday at the annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington, urging regulatory agencies to back off. He questioned the FCC’s jurisdiction in updating its orbital debris rules.
NTIA’s new spectrum coordination agreement with the FCC shows the two agencies are committed to building up an “evidence-based” approach to evaluating the potential that future wireless industry use of spectrum bands will cause harmful interference to users of adjacent frequencies, said Administrator Alan Davidson during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Many subcommittee members focused on whether the FCC-NTIA agreement announced Tuesday will effectively quell the interagency spectrum infighting that plagued the Trump administration and extended into the Biden administration’s first year in office (see 2202150001). Lawmakers also questioned Davidson’s vision for NTIA implementing programs to distribute $48 billion in broadband money included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Customer choice is driving subscription and release strategies at HBO Max, said Jason Press, WarnerMedia global executive vice president-direct-to-consumer technology and program management, on a virtual Streaming Media event Tuesday. WarnerMedia continues to experiment with "the right strategy at the right time" after last year releasing feature films theatrically and on HBO Max simultaneously amid COVID-19 theater closures.
Georgia’s Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee passed a social media bill Tuesday modeled after Texas and Florida laws that were enjoined by federal district courts (see 2202100068). SB-393 advanced 6-5 and now goes to the Rules Committee.