The House Commerce Committee on Thursday canceled its scheduled privacy bill markup amid tensions with Republican leadership over the viability of a bipartisan bill from Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J.
5G fixed wireless access will experience continuing growth in the U.S. and expand globally, panelists said during an Opensignal webinar Thursday. While FWA took off in the U.S. first, led by T-Mobile and Verizon, it’s spreading worldwide.
A top California communications lawmaker pushed back on industry opposition to a bill that would require $30 affordable internet plans as a condition of receiving California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) infrastructure grants. The Assembly Communications Committee voted 8-2, with two Republicans voting no, to advance SB-424 at a Wednesday hearing. In addition, the committee voted 10-0 for bills that set broadband labor standards (SB-1460) and expand eligibility for CASF public housing broadband grants (SB-1383). All three pieces of legislation, previously passed by the Senate, will go to the Appropriations Committee.
Contrary to some expectations, a draft order and Further NPRM allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services wasn’t expanded to include fixed wireless access and partnerships with nontraditional providers, based on the text of the draft released Thursday. Commissioners will vote July 18.
House lawmakers dealt a pair of potentially temporary setbacks Thursday to CPB and commercial broadcasting legislative interests. The House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee advanced its FY25 bill without advance FY 2027 funding for CPB, as expected (see 2406250056). Meanwhile, the House Commerce Committee abruptly canceled a planned Thursday markup of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449). The American Privacy Rights Act (HR-8818) and Kids Online Safety Act (HR-7891) were expected to draw contentious debate during the markup (see 2406260062).
Thursday’s 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision in SEC v. Jarkesy could have large implications for future FCC enforcement actions, with academics, FCC attorneys and the three dissenting justices saying they expect it to prompt a storm of litigation for federal agencies.
California’s Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-2 Tuesday to advance a bill that would force tech platforms to pay news publishers for the news content they carry, similar to approaches seen in Australia, Canada and Europe.
It appears House Republican leadership isn’t willing to bring the House Commerce Committee’s bipartisan privacy bill to the floor because it lacks the necessary votes to pass, members and sources close to discussions told us Wednesday.
The century-long congressional impasse on radio performance rights didn’t appear close to changing at a House Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee hearing Wednesday on the proposed American Music Fairness Act. “We are here once again to ask why it is the U.S. joins the likes of North Korea, Iran and Cuba in not recognizing public performance right in radio music broadcast,” said Subcommittee Chair Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. “We need to guard against unintended outcomes,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. “What impact would this legislation have on the critical role of radio stations in providing emergency broadcasts?”
Smart city applications are joining the list of factors driving the need for more licensed and unlicensed spectrum, spectrum and smart city experts said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast panel discussion. Beyond more spectrum, smart cities will require a lot of spectrum sharing and maximized use of existing allocations, they said. There isn't one route to smart cities, and the spectrum isn't needed for a single purpose, said Richard Bernhardt, Wireless ISP Association vice president-spectrum and industry. Cities rely particularly heavily on unlicensed spectrum for smart city applications, said Ryan Johnston, Next Century Cities senior policy counsel. He said municipal governments are often left out of spectrum strategy and policy discussions, even though they are becoming big consumers of spectrum. He said they should be at the table for spectrum sharing and allocation discussions.