COVID-19 amplified the need to address broadband gaps, said members of NARUC’s broadband task force in interviews Tuesday. Cable, wireline and wireless networks are holding up to the surge in traffic during the pandemic, but industry agrees with policymakers on the heightened need to expand access, NCTA, CTIA and USTelecom panelists told state regulators' virtual summer meeting.
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly would "give due consideration to a stay” of the order approving Ligado’s L-band plan “if such an item is circulated by” Chairman Ajit Pai, he told Senate Commerce Committee members in response to follow-up questions from his recent reconfirmation hearing. O’Rielly defended the FCC’s approval of the Ligado plan during that hearing (see 2006160062). The committee posted O’Rielly’s responses Monday. Senate Commerce votes Wednesday whether to advance O’Rielly’s renomination to a term ending in 2024. The meeting begins at 9:45 a.m. in G50 Dirksen.
Advanced communications allowed by 900 MHz spectrum cleared by the FCC for broadband 5-0 in May (see 2005130057) will be only one part of the answer for electric utilities as they move toward smarter grids, speakers said during a panel Monday at NARUC. The FCC approved 6 MHz in the band for broadband, reserving 4 MHz for narrowband.
The House began considering its FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395) Monday, with anti-Ligado language intact. The House Rules Committee didn’t allow floor consideration of three proposed amendments trying to advance and stop efforts to hinder Ligado’s L-band plan, despite support from committee member Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas (see 2007170059). The panel ultimately agreed to allow votes on several other tech and telecom amendments, including ones aimed at Chinese companies ByteDance and ZTE (see 2007150062).
NAACP President Derrick Johnson challenged state utility commissioners to increase diversity and be more inclusive, in a Monday keynote at NARUC’s virtual summer meeting. NARUC President Brandon Presley pledged “intentional actions” to end systemic racism, backing up the association’s June 4 statement amid a national reckoning. Another major crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, drove broadband discussions Monday.
The FCC will start the priority access license (PAL) auction Thursday. Among the 271 qualified bidders are AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile; and the biggest MVPDs including Comcast, Charter and Cox, Dish Network. Also qualified are electric utilities, wireless ISPs and enterprise customers including various universities and John Deere.
The House Rules Committee considered proposed amendments to the chamber’s FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395) Friday, including those trying to advance and stop efforts to hinder Ligado’s L-band plan. HR-6395 and Senate NDAA version S-4049 have anti-Ligado language (see 2007010070). Most telecom and tech-related amendments (see 2007150062) lawmakers proposed to attach to HR-6395 hadn’t come up by early evening.
Twitter’s human-enabled hack is another example of why the White House needs a national cyber director and the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s (CSC) recommendations should be implemented (see 2007150065), said House Cybersecurity Subcommittee members during a hearing Friday. “It doesn’t take much imagination to see what chaos one could sow with such access on election day if a bad actor was pushing out disinformation,” said Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., of the Twitter hack.
Talk among consumer electronics and tech executives about strategies for launching the first virtual CEDIA Expo Sept. 15-17 (see Ref:2007090070]), instead of the physical one previously planned for Denver, highlight event challenges faced in the COVID-19. Last week, we interviewed about a dozen such representatives.
The newly formed Independent Broadcasters Association (see 2007100040) is intended to let independent radio stations cooperate to get some of the financial advantages the largest station groups enjoy, not as a lobbying group or alternative to NAB or RAB, said the group’s members in interviews last week. The IBA will be a buying group and one-stop shop for national advertisers, not a lobbying organization, said founder Ron Stone, CEO of Adams Radio Group. NAB and RAB “do an outstanding job,” said IBA member and Renda Broadcasting CEO Tony Renda. “Why reinvent the cow?”