Spectrum

The 116th Congress is underway. In the background of a partial government shutdown, lawmakers are getting their committee assignments. At Benton, we keep a close eye on two key Congressional panels because of their jurisdiction over many telecommunications issues and oversight of the Federal Communications Commission: 1) the House Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee, and 2) the Senate Commerce Committee. Here's a look at some key telecom policymakers -- and their priorities -- in the 116th Congress. 

On October 25, 2018, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum ordering federal agencies to review their existing spectrum usage, forecast future demands, and prepare a plan for research and development that will enable better use of spectrum in the future.

On April 29, 2018, T-Mobile US and Sprint announced that the boards of the two companies had agreed to enter into an agreement to merge. The companies said they hope to close the deal in the first half of 2019. The most obvious argument in favor the deal?

[Speech] On of the two historic accomplishments of the current Federal Communications Commission is that it is the first FCC to interpret its statutory mandate to say it doesn’t have much legal authority or policy rights to regulate broadcasters, telephone companies, cable companies, or wireless companies. Instead, its principal regulatory mandate is to regulate another set of enterprises: local governments.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to vote on April 25 to restore its authority over the companies we pay to get online, and reinstate federal net neutrality protections that were jettisoned by the Trump administration in 2017.  Net neutrality protections are supposed to ensure that we, not the internet service providers (ISPs) we pay to get online, get to decide what we do online.

Mediacom is proving that even though it's a cable and fiber provider, it's happy to use fixed wireless access (FWA), too. Mediacom will use Tarana’s next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) broadband technology in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina—states where it’s won funding from the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The operator’s required RDOF buildout target is 5,694 locations, said Thomas Larsen, Mediacom’s SVP of government and public relations.

What does future demand for broadband speed and usage mean for last mile technologies? The fastest broadband technology today is fiber, and the most common fiber technology is passive optical network (PON), which brings broadband to local clusters of customers.

They’re calling it a moonshot—akin to sending men to the moon in the 1960s.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared with her colleagues proposed rules to enable wireless communications for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) use in the 5 GHz band.

This report fulfills an Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requirement that the Department of Defense conduct research and development, engineering studies, economic analyses, activities with respect to systems, or other planning activities to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the spectrum use of the Department of Defense in order to make available electromagnetic spectrum in the 3100-3450 MHz band for reallocation for shared Federal and non-Federal commercial licensed use and for auction.