1. Monthly archive
  2. March 2019

March 2019

Operators face local opposition to 5G small cell deployments

Portland (OR) is suing the Federal Communications Commission for its wireless pre-emption order, which went into effect in Jan 2019 and limits local government authority to regulate how 5G small cell equipment is deployed. In Sept 2018, the FCC passed a wireless pre-emption order that it says will help streamline 5G small cell deployments and ensure that wireless carriers have low-cost access to public rights of way and existing support structures such as city-owned utility poles and street lights.

FCC Commissioner Starks Says Pai Report Needs an Edit

Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the “rosy picture” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai gave on broadband access needs to be reworked before the agency votes on its annual deployment report. Chairman Pai first teased the report in Feb 2019, saying he’d circulated it to his fellow commissioners and hoped to get a vote on it soon (commissioners can vote in favor of adopting the annual report or can dissent if they disagree with its findings).

An Office of Rural Broadband: We’ve Heard This Before

On Feb 12, 2019 Sen Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced The Office of Rural Broadband Act in the Senate (S 454), which would establish an Office of Rural Broadband in the Federal Communications Commission. Sen Cramer’s Office of Rural Broadband Act is the latest effort to coordinate rural broadband planning and policy. As I recently wrote for the New York Times, this Office of Rural Broadband is best placed inside the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the US Dept of Agriculture, rather than the Federal Communications Commission, as S.454 proposes.

Five Steps to Advance Rural Broadband

On March 12, 2019, I was honored to appear before the Senate Communications Subcommittee to testify on “The Impact of Broadband Investments in Rural America.” I provided my personal views, bringing the perspective of a former government official with 22 years of experience at the Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration, with the last decade focused on the FCC’s Connect America Fund. My five-minute opening statement follows:

Democrats leading the Save the Internet Act are pushing for a vote in April, with or without Republicans

A Q&A with House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA).

Attorney General Barr levels state-secrets claim in Twitter suit

Attorney General William Barr has asserted the state secrets privilege for the first known time since he was sworn in in Feb, using the controversial legal tool in a lawsuit brought by the social media company Twitter over its bid to publish a more complete account of government surveillance requests.

Facebook says its local newsgathering service hindered by lack of local news outlets

Facebook’s effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by a lack of outlets where the company’s technicians can find original reporting. The service, called "Today In" and launched in 2018, is available in some 400 cities in the United States. But the social media giant said it has found that 40% of Americans live in places where there weren’t enough local news stories to support it.

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