Report on past event

Facebook, Google and Twitter on Tuesday sought to defend themselves against accusations from Republican lawmakers who say the tech giants censor conservative news and views during a congressional hearing that devolved into a political sniping match. 

The higher speeds of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks will enable connected cars, telemedicine, and the broader internet of things. Preparing for next-generation networks and their many applications will require upgrading existing wired infrastructure and freeing up wireless spectrum.

Executives from T-Mobile and Sprint pitched their $26 billion merger to the Senate's antitrust subcommittee, saying that the combination would give their companies the ability to develop increased capabilities and catch up with bigger wireless carriers. “When we do this, AT&T and Verizon will be forced to react and follow our lead or we will happily take their customers and give them more value and better price,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said.  “Trust me, the New T-Mobile will not stop, we will be relentless,” he added.

The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), held a hearing to consider draft legislation to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). But the bill was billed as a rural broadband solution, including coordinating funding efforts and getting mroe accurate and granular maps of broadband coverage.

Silicon Valley companies and law enforcement are starting to talk about how to ward off meddling by malicious actors including Russia on social media in the November midterms, an attempt at dialogue and information-sharing that was absent during the 2016 presidential elections.

Federal Communications Commission nominee Geoffrey Starks got a thorough vetting by the Senate Commerce Committee June 20, including a charge from Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), who said the "hyperpartisanship of the last commission must come to an end" and called on Starks to "seek opportunities for common ground." Chairman Thune suggested the model for that was the current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his "spirit of openness, transparency and collaboration" that he encouraged Starks to embrace.

Aleksandr Kogan, the academic researcher who harvested personal data from Facebook for a political consultancy firm said that the idea the data was useful in swaying voters’ decisions was “science fiction.”

The House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee drilled down on targeted digital advertising. Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH) said the idea behind the hearing was to look at the benefits as well as the "emerging, high-profile challenges" of digital advertising, including the Russian election influence ads that have drawn calls, and some action, for better identifying who is placing those digital ads. The use of the word "challenges" was telling. Other legislators have labeled them "scandals" or "problems" in need of government fixes. Subcommittee 

The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), advanced bills to the full committee that improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure and strengthen public safety communications.

The government is sitting on a goldmine of radio spectrum that could be used to accelerate 5G deployment, but crafting a coordinated policy to get there is complicated. One obvious way is to provide incentives for federal agencies to relinquish their spectrum holdings for commercialization. But too often that's presented as a zero sum game rather than a win-win. Agencies are looking for more innovative ways to share their holdings and perhaps get better capabilities too, said experts at a June 12 spectrum meeting in Washington.