Senate Commerce Committee leaders are still eyeing a vote on FCC nominee Gigi Sohn during mid-to-late March, but the situation remains in doubt amid questions about whether undecided panel Democrats Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Jon Tester of Montana will reach a decision on backing the embattled nominee, said lawmakers and others in interviews. Other Commerce Democrats remain strongly supportive of Sohn and believe she effectively countered GOP criticism during her Feb. 14 confirmation hearing (see 2302140077). Sohn’s Capitol Hill supporters believe it’s important that Senate Commerce swiftly advance her out of the committee, with some arguing any further delay could lead to her confirmation process stalling again as it did in 2021 and 2022 (see 2212300044).
Country of origin cases
Alondra Nelson, a former top tech adviser to President Joe Biden, said Thursday she expects continuing administration focus on tech regulation, though she warned that focusing on keeping up with the pace of change is a mistake. Other speakers at an event by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and Public Knowledge said the time is ripe to start looking at a new agency to oversee privacy and other technology issues. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler warned that the U.S. in danger of defaulting on leadership in favor of other countries.
The Washington state House voted 96-0 Monday to pass a robocalls bill to expand state protections. Lawmakers supported HB-1051, which would ban automatically dialed calls to any telephone number on the federal do not call list that has a Washington area code or is registered to a state resident. Also, the bill would create a private right of action and would “extend liability to those persons who provide substantial assistance or support in the origination and transmission of robocalls.” The bill goes to the Senate.
Providers signaled a note of caution in response to letters from FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asking the nation’s nine largest providers of wireless emergency alerts about sending alerts in languages beyond English and Spanish (see 2302140059). “If alert originators and FEMA originate and hand off multilingual alert information in a format consistent with Commission rules and relevant technical standards, Verizon could support them,” the carrier said, posted Tuesday in docket 15-91. Revisions in the alerting process “will require collaboration and consensus among stakeholders responsible for originating, delivering and presenting alerts to consumers, and a feasible period of time to incorporate the new capability into networks and handsets,” Verizon said. “Any modifications to the current, broadcast-based model of WEA must be made under structured conditions and rigorously hashed out through technical standards bodies, otherwise the FCC risks fragmenting a well-functioning international alerting system,” AT&T said: “Further, the more significant the modification, the less likely that current and legacy handsets will be able to support it.” T-Mobile urged the FCC to work with its Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) and the ATIS Wireless Technologies and Systems Committee (WTSC) on any changes. “With regard to potential modifications to the WEA system and WEA-capable wireless devices referenced in your letter, T-Mobile supports CSRIC and WTSC evaluating whether these solutions are compatible with the cell-broadcast technology that underpins the successful WEA system,” the company said. “While technical evaluations about the issues raised in your letter are on-going” the FCC and FEMA “should encourage alert originators to use the embedded link capabilities of WEA to ensure that emergency information is accessible to as many language communities as possible,” T-Mobile said. The FCC must “engage device manufacturers to effectively enhance WEA messaging,” C Spire said. The company “is not aware of existing machine translation technologies that are sufficiently reliable for use in emergency situations,” it said: “To make such functionality a reality, C Spire believes that the FCC must initiate a proceeding prompting a designated standards body, … vendors, and device manufacturers to develop standards for such technologies.” Google Fi said as an mobile virtual network operator it “relies upon underlying network partners to provide WEA capabilities. The network partners push WEA notifications directly to Fi users without any modification by Google Fi.”
The FCC released the drafts of items scheduled for votes at the commissioners' March 16 open meeting, headlined by new rules for robotexts and a draft NPRM that would create a supplemental coverage from space (SCS) FCC authorization that would let satellite operators use flexible-use spectrum allocated to terrestrial services. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also proposed rules designed to strengthen Stir/Shaken aimed at blocking more robocalls. The agenda is the biggest for an FCC meeting in many months (see 2302060035).
Noting the rocketing interest in satellite direct-to-handset mobile service tied to terrestrial mobile networks, the FCC will vote at its March meeting on a framework for collaboration between terrestrial and satellite service providers, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote Wednesday, announcing the March meeting agenda. That meeting also will have votes on rules requiring mobile wireless carriers to block robotext messages considered “highly likely to be illegal," and an inmate calling NPRM and order, she said. The agency will also seek comment on expanding audio description requirements “to all remaining broadcast markets” and on “whether the costs of further expansion would be reasonable,” wrote Rosenworcel.
A new report by the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) recommends “urgent action” and presidential-level focus on cyberthreats. NSTAC members approved the “Strategy for Increasing Trust in the Information and Communications Technology and Services Ecosystem” during a telephone meeting Tuesday. Administration officials said they will soon release an updated national cybersecurity strategy.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau sent a cease and desist order to alleged robocaller One Eye Wednesday, saying the company was the successor to PZ/Illum, which the agency had already targeted. One Eye’s owner, Prince Anand, “explained that he shut down PZ/Illum” because of a letter from the FCC, but "he then launched One Eye LLC to originate calls, leaving his name off the paperwork while remaining the only owner,” said an FCC news release. “Illegal robocallers cannot hide,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “So we’re cutting them off at the source. We have an all hands-on-deck approach to combatting this problem with teams across the agency and partnerships in states across the country.” The bureau also issued a notice warning all U.S.-based voice service providers “about substantial amounts of apparently unlawful robocalls transmitted by One Eye.” The company didn’t comment.
The Kansas House Legislative Modernization Committee passed by voice vote Monday a bill to codify an executive order from Gov. Laura Kelly (D) banning TikTok on state-owned devices and networks.
NARUC draft resolutions on FCC spectrum auction authority and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) got support from some industry and other groups ahead of this week’s state utilities regulators’ meeting in Washington, D.C. In an interview last week, Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Tim Schram (R) said it’s critical to use auction revenue to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, which repays federally funded carriers required to “rip and replace” equipment from Chinese vendors that may pose a security risk.