March 2019

Karl Rove jumps into wireless battle that is dividing Trump world

Karl Rove isn't a registered lobbyist, but he is actively working Capitol Hill on one side of the 5G wireless fight that has split President Donald Trump's advisers. The veteran Republican operative has been contacting congressional offices to warn against bipartisan efforts to ban government control of the super-fast wireless technology. Rove also sat in on meetings with House and Senate Armed Services committee offices organized by a lobbyist for Rivada Networks, a politically connected company that wants the government to manage the sharing of 5G airwaves with wireless providers.

Facebook secretly explored building bird-size drones to ferry data to people with bad internet connections

Facebook explored building bird-size drones to shuttle data for people in areas with slow internet connections. "Catalina" was a secret internal project in Facebook's Connectivity unit, the company's efforts to get people around the world online — and on Facebook. The tiny fixed-wing drones would be fitted with solid-state storage devices capable of storing data-intensive media like videos and photos. A Facebook representative said the project was ended a year ago.

YouTube’s Product Chief on Online Radicalization and Algorithmic Rabbit Holes

A Q&A with Neal Mohan, YouTube’s chief product officer.

Sponsor 

Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee

House Committee on Appropriations

Date 
Wed, 04/03/2019 - 18:30

Witnesses

Ajit Pai 
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission

Jessica Rosenworcel 
Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission

 



Federal Broadband Policy Update

Significant broadband policy continues to take shape: the Save the Internet Act advanced to the full House Committee on Energy & Commerce, the Federal Trade Commission launched a study into the privacy practices of internet service providers, and the Federal Communications Commission circulated a proposal to cap the Universal Service Fund. We take a look at what you may have missed this week.