House Communications Subcommittee Hearing 'Legislating to Secure America's Wireless Future'

The House Communications Subcommittee considered a handful of bills Sept. 27 at the hearing "Legislating to Secure America's Wireless Future" -- the thrust of which were to protect 5G networks from foreign intruders looking to spy on the US, as well as to efficiently manage spectrum. Bills being considered at the hearing were: 

• The "Studying How to Harness Airwave Resources Efficiently Act of 2019" (HR 4462)
• The "Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019" (HR 4459)
• The "Network Security Information Sharing Act of 2019" (HR 4461)
• The "Eliminate From Regulators Opportunities to Nationalize The Internet in Every Respect [E-FRONTIER] Act"  (HR 2063)
• The "Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2019" (HR 2881)
• The "Promoting United States Wireless Leadership Act of 2019" (HR 4500)
• H. Res. 575, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all stakeholders in the deployment of 5G communications infrastructure should carefully consider and adhere to the recommendations of "The Prague Proposals" [5G security recommendations]

The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR 4459), which would prohibit spending federal dollars on suspect communications equipment, an issue that has been in the spotlight given concerns about Chinese telecoms. Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge, testified and had some modifications for HR 4459, including not limiting reimbursement to equipment purchased before Aug 2018, "especially if new providers are added to the covered list." One big issue Congress is wrestling with is how to "rip and replace"--or preferably replace first, then rip, said witness John Nettles with Pine Belt Wireless--the tech in those smaller systems, which includes hardware and software. Another problem is that virtually all of the network equipment suppliers are foreign companies, so it becomes a challenge to figure out who to go to for replacement tech, pointed out Rep Marc Veasey (D-TX). Nettles said that was definitely an issue, but depended on what tech they would have to replace. He said there were some niche vendors, but that would add a level of complexity in terms of equipment working together that makes it almost unmanageable.