Latta Concerned Potential Regs Under Biden Hurting 5G

If presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the November election, there’s a danger “you’ll see the heavy-handedness of government” make a resurgence and stifle tech sector innovation, posing a risk the U.S. bid to dominate 5G development, House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said on C-SPAN’s The Communicators set to be televised this weekend. The U.S. needs to prevail in the 5G race against China and Russia, but tech sector officials have repeatedly told lawmakers that can happen only if the federal government continues to emphasize “soft-touch regulation,” as it has over the course of President Donald Trump’s administration, Latta said. He noted the importance of ensuring cybersecurity “is a major priority” given national security threats posed by Chinese equipment makers Huawei and ZTE and concerns about TikTok. Latta said consensus on appropriations via infrastructure legislation for broadband funding requires buy-in from both parties. The lawmaker pointed to an amended version of the 5G Spectrum Act (S-2881) as a potential compromise. The measure, which the Senate Commerce Committee cleared in December, would allocate 10% of proceeds from the FCC’s upcoming auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band for broadband (see 1912110038). Latta believes it’s going to be tougher to include broadband money in the next COVID-19 aid bill given other priorities. A final bill is likely to be a “much more scaled-down piece of legislation,” he said. Senate Republican proposals for the next aid legislation include few telecom and tech provisions (see 2007280059). Latta believes compromise and bipartisanship are required to advance any legislation to revamp Communications Decency Act Section 230. NTIA petitioned the FCC earlier this week to clarify Section 230, as President Donald Trump directed (see 2007270070).