Wireless Telecommunications

The Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, chaired by Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), advanced by voice vote H.R. 6032, the SMART IoT Act, to the full committee for consideration. The SMART IoT Act, authored by Subcommittee Chairman Latta and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), will direct the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a study on the state of the internet-connected devices industry.

California’s network neutrality bill, SB 822, is often referred to as the “gold standard” of state-based net neutrality laws. The bill tackles the full array of issues the Federal Communications Commission had addressed right up until the end of 2016 before it began repealing net neutrality. One such issue is the discriminatory use of zero rating, where Internet service providers could choose to give users access to certain content for “free”—that is, without digging into their data plans.

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.

In a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump, Republican Senate leaders set up a vote for the week of June 11 that would undo the White House deal to revive Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was on Capitol Hill late June 11 to lobby against the move. But Democratic and Republican lawmakers said that an agreement had been reached to wrap into the National Defense Authorization Act an amendment that would ban ZTE from buying components from US suppliers.

In the cities and municipalities of America, people's fears and misunderstandings about the onset of 5G wireless come to a head. Now, lawmakers and public officials are being prompted to make sudden moves that could change everything.

An overhaul of Europe’s telecoms laws, aimed at stimulating investment in new networks, has been branded a missed opportunity for the industry. The new European electronic communications code, the biggest shake-up in the sector’s governance since 2009, was approved on June 6. The agreement coincided with the release of a European Court of Auditors report that showed the European Union’s goal of connecting half of the region’s households to ultrafast broadband with speeds of 100 Mbps by 2020 was well behind target.

The Federal Communications Commission took steps to establish clear, strong, and consistent safeguards to prevent the fraudulent use of toll free numbers in text messaging. In a Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC:
Clarified that a text messaging provider may not text-enable a toll free number without first obtaining authorization from the subscriber for that number

Even as the Commerce Department was confirming a deal to remove an export ban affecting ZTE, Congress was moving to prevent government money to be used to buy ZTE equipment.

Apparently, the US Department of Justice is examining how the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint could affect prices for smaller wireless operators.  A T-Mobile and Sprint merger would eliminate competition between the two carriers that have been the dominant players in selling network access to wireless companies that often serve pre-paid or price-conscious consumers, and could lead to higher prices for those users.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation, of Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Corporation”) and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. of Hi-New Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Kangxun”) (collectively, “ZTE”) has agreed to severe additional penalties and compliance measures to replace the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) denial order imposed as a result of ZTE’s violations of its March 2017 settlement agreement.