INCOMPAS Policy Summit 2021
Schedule
All Policy Summit activities will take place virtually. Keynotes and sessions will debut at the times listed below, and be available on-demand after the event.
| Monday, February 8 Note: All times are Eastern Standard Time |
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| 11:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. | Opening Remarks Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS Kurt Van Wagenen, President & CEO, FirstLight Fiber, and Chair, INCOMPAS Board of Directors |
| Noon | Keynote Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) |
| 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Delivering Connectivity: How Amazon Will Bring Broadband to America’s Heartland In early 2020, Amazon announced Project Kuiper – a new initiative and approach to delivering reliable, affordable broadband service to unserved and underserved communities. During the past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic shined a bright light on the need for broadband access, progress has been made to allow Amazon to move forward with its $10 billion investment in satellites that deliver broadband services to America’s heartland. Learn more about Amazon's commitment to keeping space safe, as well as their work with both the public and private sector to make the company's vision of delivering broadband to communities across our country and around the world a reality. Speaker: Darren Achord, Head of Public Policy, Project Kuiper, Amazon |
| 2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Section 230 - Cooling to Consensus: Maintaining the Competition Constitution In recent years, no policy has been more attacked and misunderstood than Section 230 of the Communications Act, which was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This year, the landmark law turns 25. This panel will examine the impact Section 230 has had on our economy, and the ability for start-ups and small businesses to continue to compete and innovate. The panel will also address the process and principles that help us reach a new consensus on Section 230. Moderator: Speakers: |
| 3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. | 12 GHz: How Competition and Innovation Can Expand our 5G Future Winning the race to 5G means finding new ways to expand competition. In a bi-partisan vote the FCC has launched an important Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that will bring all voices to the table on future use of the 12 GHz band of spectrum. Our expert panel will detail the issues at stake, and the opportunity of bringing all voices to the table on 12 GHz. Moderator: Speakers: |
| 4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. | Connecting Our Kids and Solving the Homework Gap As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1996 Telecom Act and continue to face the challenges of a global pandemic, the role of broadband in education has never been more critical. Join former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn during the Obama Administration and Larry Irving, former NTIA official in the Clinton Administration, as they discuss solving the digital divide and the homework gap for underserved communities during the pandemic and beyond. Moderator: Speakers: |
| Tuesday, February 9 | |
| 10:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS |
| 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Promoting Broadband Deployment through Federal Block Grants Federal blocks grants provided to the states have proven to be a fast and effective means to promote and deliver universal broadband. Many states used funding provided through the CARES Act to rapidly deploy broadband in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, which provided a trial of this approach. As a company that advised stated governments on the funding blocks, designed and built networks for grant recipients, and was itself a grant recipient, Tilson will share what it learned through the process, and provide recommendations about the advantages of using the federal block grant approach to fund broadband networks, and how to communicate about it in your advocacy work. Speaker: Joshua Broder, CEO, Tilson |
| 11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Keynote FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks |
| Noon – 12:30 p.m. | Keynote Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) |
| 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Keynote |
| 1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. | Meeting the Mark Part 1: Robocall Compliance - FCC Panel 2021 will likely culminate years of work by both the FCC and industry on Robocall mitigation policy. Please join us for two panels to address: 1) Progress towards the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN and call authentication solutions for non-IP portions of voice service providers’ networks and upcoming compliance requirements related to provider certifications, robocall mitigation plans, and extensions; 2) A look ahead at how the FCC and the Industry Traceback Group (ITG) will address enforcement and traceback requests, now that the ITG has been selected as the single industry consortium; 3) The thought process behind illegal robocall mitigation issues, such as call blocking, redress, notification and safe harbors; and 4) FCC actions in the call authentication and robocall mitigation dockets, including items recently adopted by the FCC. Moderator: Speakers: |
| 2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. | Meeting the Mark Part 2: Robocall Compliance - Industry Panel 2021 will likely culminate years of work by both the FCC and industry on Robocall mitigation policy. Please join us for two panels to address: 1) Progress towards the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN and call authentication solutions for non-IP portions of voice service providers’ networks and upcoming compliance requirements related to provider certifications, robocall mitigation plans, and extensions; 2) A look ahead at how the FCC and the Industry Traceback Group (ITG) will address enforcement and traceback requests, now that the ITG has been selected as the single industry consortium; 3) The thought process behind illegal robocall mitigation issues, such as call blocking, redress, notification and safe harbors; and 4) FCC actions in the call authentication and robocall mitigation dockets, including items recently adopted by the FCC. Moderator: Speakers: |
| 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Keynote |
| 4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Mapping a Faster Future for Rural America: RDOF Next Steps Extending the power of broadband to rural communities depends on our nation’s ability to effectively use better data and maps, and to set faster speed goals that encourage new network growth. The recent RDOF auction results have generated a great deal of interest, and our panel of experts will detail their observations and what steps are needed to ensure faster deployment and future success. Moderator: Speakers: |
| Wednesday, February 10 | |
| 10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks Chip Pickering, CEO, INCOMPAS |
| 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. | The Great Broadband Build Out City by city, town by town, our nation’s local leaders will be on the front lines of deploying new networks of the future. Massive federal investment is critical, but so are smart local solutions that attract competition and investment. This panel will present solutions, and warn against monopoly roadblocks, that impact our nation’s ability to deploy fiber and gigabit speed services that will define the future of the internet economy. Moderator: Speakers: |
| 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Internet for All: The Role of the Public and Private Sector in Delivering Universal Broadband Broadband is at the center of our nation’s economic recovery. To continue to lead the world in tech and industries of the future, we must deliver faster and more affordable broadband choices to all Americans. Universal broadband means we need more fiber and more 5G. Both the public and private sector have a huge role to play in meeting faster gigabit speed goals that promote greater equity, opportunity and economic growth. Moderator: Speakers: |
| 3:45 p.m. – 4 p.m. | Wrap Up The INCOMPAS Policy Team |