The Democratic rosters for the Senate Commerce Committee and House Commerce Committee subpanels are changing only slightly for this Congress, after the House shift to a GOP majority and the Senate to outright Democratic control. Rep. Doris Matsui of California will be lead House Communications Subcommittee Democrat and former Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois will be Innovation Subcommittee ranking member, as expected (see 2211210058), said House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey. Republicans previously announced Rep. Bob Latta of Ohio will chair House Communications and Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida will chair Innovation (see 2301250066).
Indiana should hasten to join other states with privacy laws, said state legislators and the attorney general’s office at a hearing livestreamed Thursday. Two Democrats raised concerns that an opt-out privacy bill based on Virginia’s law might not go far enough, but the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee voted 11-0 to clear the comprehensive data protection bill. SB-5’s low bill number shows it’s a priority this legislative session, said Chair Chip Perfect (R).
Telecom providers worldwide vary widely on how far they have gone toward a goal of building networks with zero carbon emissions, speakers said at a TelecomTV virtual green network summit, which ended Thursday. European providers, on average, appear further along than those in the U.S., speakers said.
Senate Commerce Committee Republicans want to delay a third FCC confirmation hearing for Gigi Sohn until March, Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., told us Thursday. Thune and other Republicans seek a complete re-vetting of Sohn. President Joe Biden renominated her earlier this month (see 2301030060). Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., confirmed she’s continuing to pursue a February date for the hearing in hopes of swiftly advancing Sohn to the floor after more than a year of delay (see 2212300044).
Citing “serious flaws” in the rates database for the FCC’s rural healthcare telecom program, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday the agency is fixing the issue "for good" (see 2301230045). Commissioners during their open meeting adopted an order on reconsideration and NPRM on streamlining and improving the program's funding mechanism. Commissioners also denied several petitions for reconsideration as moot. Also approved 4-0 was an NPRM about extending 911-like outage reporting requirements to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The House Commerce Committee will explore ways to combat illegal online drug sales and the liability protections potentially facilitating the activity, said Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Wednesday.
Minnesota is seeking to end its digital divide with incoming support from NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation and state government officials at a partially virtual workshop Wednesday. More money and state legislation will probably be required to finish the job, said local government and workers’ union officials on a panel.
AT&T added 656,000 net postpaid phone customers in Q4, closing the year with 69.6 million subscribers, it said Wednesday. Verizon reported 217,000 net post-paid phone adds Tuesday (see 2301240053). T-Mobile said before its release it added 927,000 postpaid phone net adds in Q4. The earnings report sent AT&T’s stock price up 6.34% to close at $20.42.
Broadcasters are united in their opposition to proposed retooling of the FCC’s foreign-sponsored content rules, according to reply comments posted by Tuesday’s deadline in docket 20-299.
The FCC's adoption of gender-neutral "chairperson" in its rules and regulations when referring to the agency's head (see 2301100009) makes it the latest regulatory agency to change word usage, regulatory experts told us. Agencies occasionally do updates like this to bring older language into conformity with modern language standards, though it's not clear how often they have gender-specific terms in their regulations to begin with, emailed Bridget Dooling, George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center research professor.