What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
Big Telecom's sweet summer of revenge
After years of frustration that Silicon Valley companies seemed to get special treatment in Washington, telecommunications giants are finally (re)gaining the upper hand. They are now starting to feel more able to compete with tech giants as they all jockey to dominate how we communicate and access information.
This hearing will examine the innovations high-speed broadband services bring to rural America in a variety of sectors such as agriculture, education, health care, and small business. The hearing will also explore the need to bring additional reliable broadband connectivity to rural America.
Witnesses:
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
Pre-Conference Session
10:30 am Graduate Student Consortium (by invitation)
11:30 am Capitol Hill Briefing
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019
8:00 am Registration
9-10:40 am Paper Session I
(Five simultaneous tracks of 3 papers per session.)
BDAC will receive status reports and updates from its three working groups: Disaster Response and Recovery, Increasing Broadband Investment in Low-Income Communities, and Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Job Skills and Training Opportunities.
9:30 AM – CALL TO ORDER AND ANNOUNCEMENTS BDAC
- Chair Elizabeth Bowles | DFO Justin Faulb
9:35 AM – OPENING REMARKS Commissioner Brendan Carr
9:40 AM – DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY WORKING GROUP PRESENTATION
The Summit will bring together leaders from government, business, and higher education to explore trends in technology and to stimulate discussions about technology-related needs in industry and education.
Guest of Honor
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker
Chairman, Senate Commerce Committee
Keynote Speaker
David Cohen
Senior Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation
Guest Speaker
Ajit Pai
Chairman, United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
AT&T, FTC reach settlement over data throttling lawsuit
AT&T has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over a 2014 lawsuit related to the carrier’s data throttling practices and disclosures. A court filing shows AT&T has approved final terms of the deal, and the parties are requesting a 90-day stay through November 21 so FTC Commissioners can vote on the settlement.
The purpose of the Workshop is to engage the public and stakeholders with information to accelerate broadband connectivity, improve digital inclusion, and support local priorities. The Workshop will provide information on topics including local broadband planning, funding, and engagement with service providers. Speakers and attendees from Nevada, federal agencies, and across the country will come together to explore ways to facilitate the expansion of broadband capacity, access, and utilization.
FCC's Pai targets Lifeline fraudsters, but doesn't propose a funding cap
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is looking to root out waste, fraud and abuse in Lifeline, the FCC's phone subsidy program for the poor. But he's not ready to cap the budget on the program just yet. His office began circulating its latest proposal for cleaning up the program. The latest proposed action is what the FCC is calling an "administrative clean-up" but it doesn't tackle some of the more controversial items on the agency's to-do list, such as instituting a funding cap and excluding wireless resellers from participating in the program.
The digital economy accounted for 6.9 percent of the U.S.
The CAC is expected to consider a recommendation presented by its Critical Calls List/Robocall Blocking Working Group relative to the Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls; Call Authentication Trust Anchor.