House Commerce Advances USA Telecom Act, T-Band Mandate Repeal
The House Commerce Committee approved 10 telecom bills Wednesday, including the Utilizing Strategic Allied (USA) Telecom Act (HR-6624), as expected (see 2007140062). Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., emphasized that the measures up for votes Wednesday were "all consensus bills, which are truly bipartisan, and the details of which have been worked out with myself and" ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. The committee is known to have excluded (see 2007130054) some high-profile bills the House Communications Subcommittee advanced in March that had drawn Republican criticism, including the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926).
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Pallone and Walden highlighted HR-6624 during markup. The bill aims to fund creation of an NTIA-managed open radio access network R&D fund to spur movement to open-architecture, software-based wireless technologies (see 2001140067). The Senate version of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (S-4049) includes modified USA Telecom Act language that would repurpose $75 million from the FCC DTV transition and public safety fund for R&D (see 2007020053). HR-6624 “has the promise to provide us with trusted, cost-effective alternatives to” Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE, Walden said. He and other House Commerce Republicans lauded the U.K. government’s decision to ban Huawei equipment from its 5G infrastructure (see 2007140023). BSA|The Software Alliance, Dish Network and Mavenir praised advancing HR-6624.
Other measures House Commerce advanced include the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (HR-451), an amended version of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (HR-4194) and Spectrum IT Modernization Act (HR-7310). For more details, see 1908200070; HR-7310's Senate version is S-3717 (see 2005140057). Language from HR-7310/S-3717 is included in both S-4049 and the House’s FY21 NDAA (HR-6395).
Lead HR-451 sponsor Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said “we cannot let” the T-band auction happen given it would cost more to move public safety off the band than the planned auction would make in proceeds. “I don’t usually agree with” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, “but we agree on this issue,” Engel said.
Also approved: HR-549, the Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act (HR-4564), an amended version of the Telemental Health Expansion Act (HR-5201), Measuring the Economics Driving Investments and Access for Diversity Act (HR-5567), an amended version of the Emergency Reporting Act (HR-5918) and the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act (HR-6096). HR-549 would reaffirm the House’s “commitment to diversity as a core tenet of the public interest standard in media policy.”
Walden strongly supported HR-5567, which would require the FCC “consider market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged individuals in the communications marketplace” in video competition reports. "I couldn't agree more" with the need to get "more diverse voices not only on the air, but also as owners," he said. Getting information out "as explained by people who come from different backgrounds" is "really important for the strength of our democracy."
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said HR-5918 is needed to prevent a repeat of the telecom impact of 2019 California wildfires (see 1911010039). HR-5918 would direct the FCC to issue reports after activating the disaster information reporting system and to make improvements to network outage reporting. "Without good policy changes at the federal and state level, I worry that communications failures will once again worsen the impacts of these disasters," she said. Public Knowledge praised advancement.