Lawmakers, Private Sector Hail Senate Passage of Mobile Now Act, Other Bills

Lawmakers and communications sector officials lauded Senate passage Thursday of six long-stalled telecom bills, including the Mobile Now Act (S-19) spectrum bill. The Senate approved the legislation as part of a deal to confirm Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr as FCC commissioners (see 1708030060). The other telecom bills approved were the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (S-88), Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (S-96), Kari’s Law Act (S-123), Spoofing Prevention Act (S-134) and FCC Consolidated Reporting Act (S-174). The bills’ passage “brings us a step closer to increasing access to spectrum that powers our 21st century tech economy, improving the quality and reliability of phone calls in rural communities, removing barriers to dialing 911 in emergencies, and cutting inefficiencies in federal bureaucracy,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. CTA President Gary Shapiro urged the House to “swiftly pass” S-19, saying it would “create better mobile broadband for us all, spurring developments in cellular 5G technologies and securing our wireless future.” S-19 “will help ensure more spectrum is made available,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry. The bill “recognizes the importance of deploying wireless broadband services in rural areas and endeavors to streamline deployment challenges, particularly on federal lands, which unfortunately have oftentimes plagued competitive carriers.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., praised passage of S-123, which addresses direct dialing to 911. S-123 and House companion HR-582, which passed the House in January (see 1701230071), mean "Americans will one day be able to call 911 and reach first responders without having to dial an access code,” said Pai. S-123 “would ensure families can call for the help they need,” said Fischer, who was a main sponsor of that bill, S-88 and S-134.