Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J.; and panel ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., floated a discussion draft Friday of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a bid to advance compromise tech-focused privacy legislation before the end of this Congress. The proposal’s chances of advancing before the end of the year could be hampered by a rapidly closing legislative window and a lack of buy-in from Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., lobbyists and officials told us.
Country of origin cases
A draft NPRM on preserving FM6 stations -- low-power channel 6 TV stations receivable by FM radios and focused on audio content -- is expected to be unanimously approved with few changes at Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting, FCC and industry officials told us. The owners of the stations -- sometimes called “Franken FMs” after the fictional Frankenstein's monster -- are optimistic about the FCC allowing them to continue broadcasting but concerned about proposals in the draft to make their licenses nontransferable or bar new entrants. FM6 stations serve underserved communities, said FM6 broadcaster Paul Koplin, CEO of Venture Technologies Group: “Wouldn’t it be in the public interest to let as many people do this as possible?”
Blue state New York could soon join red states Texas and Florida in seeking to regulate social media companies. Despite opposition by tech and civil liberties groups, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is expected to sign a measure, passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the Assembly, to require social platforms to provide reporting mechanisms for hateful conduct. Also, the Assembly was expected to vote later Thursday on a Senate-passed measure that could make New York the first state with a digital right-to-repair law.
IoT satellite operator Astrocast plans to purchase IoT service provider Hiber, it announced Monday. Astrocast said the deal would expand its distribution strategy, speed up its original equipment manufacturing strategy with more development of satellite-enabled IoT devices, increase Astrocast's product portfolio and add coverage of Americas region through Hiber's access to L-band spectrum via an agreement with Inmarsat. It said Hiber's expertise in the oil and gas market will also help Astorcast gain further presence there. "Hiber is recognised as a powerful IoT scale-up within the market" and its "focus on satellite-enabled IoT solutions, innovation and production aligns with Astrocast’s strategic go-to-market priorities for 2022 and beyond," said Astrocast CEO Fabien Jordan. Under the deal's terms, Astrocast will acquire all Hiber shares in exchange for new Astrocast shares, while Hiber's shareholders also will invest $11.2 million in Astrocast's forthcoming public offering.
More California broadband and social media bills passed their chambers of origin Wednesday. The Assembly voted 76-0 for AB-2702 to set a goal for the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) public housing account to provide internet connectivity to all public housing residents by Dec. 31, 2025. They voted 74-0 for AB-2749, opposed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (see 2205240048), to revise the CPUC’s review process for CASF grant applications. Assemblymembers voted 48-18 for AB-2748 to add digital equity requirements to the state’s video franchising law, including a prohibition on “denying equal access to service to any group of potential residential subscribers because of the income of the residents in the local area in which the group resides.” And the Assembly voted 51-18 for AB-2751 to require the California Department of Technology to create a net equality program requiring state agencies to make contracts only with ISPs that offer affordable internet to eligible households. It would define affordable service as at most $40 for 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds. The Senate voted 30-9 for SB-1018, which would require social media platforms with at least 1 million monthly users to annually disclose content moderation efforts.
A Pennsylvania Assembly panel showed appetite for a comprehensive privacy bill at a hearing livestreamed Wednesday. Microsoft supported the measure while other witnesses sought minor edits. Elsewhere, the Louisiana House delayed a floor vote on its state privacy bill for the third straight day. Lawmakers in each state are looking to follow California, Virginia, Colorado, Utah and Connecticut in passing broad privacy laws.
California legislators passed several telecom bills in their chambers of origin Monday. The Assembly voted 73-0 for AB-2750 to require the California Department of Technology to develop a state digital equity plan. The Assembly voted 71-0 for AB-2752 to require the California Public Utilities Commission to maintain an interactive map of all last-mile connections from the state’s middle-mile network. The Assembly voted 51-0, with 27 members not voting, for a bill (AB-2408) that would make social media platforms civilly liable for addicting children to their websites. The Senate voted 36-0 for SB-857 to extend California High-Cost Fund A and B programs, set to expire Jan. 1, until Jan. 1, 2028 (see 2204040040). Senators voted 25-3 for SB-884 to require the CPUC to establish an electric undergrounding program that requires telecom providers to cooperate with the power company to put non-wireless infrastructure underground and pay proportionate costs. Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation opposed a bill (AB-2749) to revise the CPUC’s review process for California Advanced Services Fund grant applications. The bill, ordered Monday to a third and final reading in the Assembly, would amend the state’s last-mile broadband funding program by restricting the CPUC from requiring providers to offer affordable plans to all residents and forcing the state to treat wireless on equal terms as fiber, EFF said Monday.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission deferred deciding if it should rehear or reconsider its 2-1 February decision to deny eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation to LTD broadband. LTD won about $46.6 million in 10-year Rural Digital Opportunity Fund support for South Dakota, one of multiple states where it’s run into obstacles getting ETC designation (see 2205170058). LTD Broadband wants to present new evidence, which wasn’t available at an evidentiary hearing prior to the PUC’s decision, showing that the company can fulfill its RDOF commitment, said its attorney Jason Sutton of Boyce at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday. If granted rehearing, LTD plans to file an amended application “that may withdraw its requests for designation in some of the census blocks that are currently being served or built out,” he said. If the PUC keeps its decision to deny LTD’s application, “we're going to end up with consumers that don't have broadband,” he said. The South Dakota Telecommunications Association doesn’t think additional evidence will show LTD is “getting it done,” said Executive Director Kara Semmler, urging the PSC to deny LTD’s petition. The RDOF winner can always file a new application for the commission to open a new docket, she said. Don't "decide what to do based on an imaginary request" by LTD to amend its application, she said. Commissioner Gary Hanson, who had voted against denying the company’s original application, asked how the commission can object to rehearing when it doesn’t know whether the evidence LTD seeks to submit is valid. Answering a question by Chairman Chris Nelson, South Dakota PUC staff attorney Amanda Reiss said she isn’t sure if the commission has ever allowed an ETC application to be amended. Staff disagrees the commission made any legal error in its initial order, but commission rules allow for a rehearing on additional evidence, she said. Filing a fresh application at the PUC could cause the FCC to decide LTD filed its ETC application too late and deny funding. If the PUC denies rehearing or reconsideration, he warned, LTD will appeal in court. The state commission didn’t specify how long it would defer action, a spokesperson said.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears likely to put less spectrum in play for 5G and unlicensed use during her tenure than did her predecessor Ajit Pai, but she seems determined to address the process for reallocating bands, industry officials said. Rosenworcel shifted much of her attention to changes to process, and that will likely be a theme for the next few years.
Some changes were made to a draft FCC order and Further NPRM targeting gateway providers and foreign-originated robocalls, in the version adopted by commissioners Thursday, as expected, according to our comparison from the draft (see 2205190023). The order maintained the requirement that gateway providers implement a Stir/Shaken C-level attestation, saying "the benefits will be significant, and the sooner we act, the sooner the public will obtain these benefits." The FNPRM included a TransNexus-sought question about whether to allow third-party Stir/Shaken authentication. An NPRM seeking comment on an Alternative Connect America Cost Model Broadband Coalition proposal to extend the program also included some changes. The notice included a question about whether participating providers should be required to participate in the affordable connectivity program. It also seeks comment on "how to address intergovernmental coordination and eligibility for locations on tribal lands."