House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told us Wednesday that there may be some minor changes to the draft First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act (see 2601280054), but bipartisan subpanel members’ apparent support for the measure during a hearing that day makes it unlikely he will make more sweeping revisions in response to criticisms from the Fraternal Order of Police and other groups. FOP said Tuesday that elements of the draft legislation “could foster unnecessary administrative hurdles that slow down FirstNet's functionality” and urged lawmakers to instead consider a clean reauthorization of the public safety broadband network (see 2602030047).
Industry groups urged the FCC to take a careful approach in imposing new rules in response to a further NPRM that was approved in October as part of a broader order that tightens the agency's equipment authorization rules (see 2510280024). Reply comments were due this week in docket 21-232, but many of those filed can’t be opened because of a glitch that occurred during the brief federal government shutdown. FCC officials said they're investigating the problem.
NTIA isn't worried about state laws that tangentially touch on AI but is instead focused on those that are seen as directly affecting the development and success of the technology, Chief of Staff Brooke Donilon said Wednesday. A White House executive order in December directed NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from BEAD for states that have AI laws that are considered overly burdensome (see 2512120048). Donilon said the report due March 11 from NTIA listing onerous laws will highlight a handful of states.
The roughly $20 billion in BEAD non-deployment funds should go foremost toward helping pay for counties' next-generation 911 transition, U.S. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson said Wednesday. Speaking at Incompas’ policy conference in Washington, Hudson, R-N.C., said building consensus with committee Democrats about using the money to pay for NG911 is a top priority.
Western nations need to collaborate rather than compete over critical communications and tech network infrastructure in the face of adversary nations clearly trying to control them, Ericsson Americas CEO Yossi Cohen said Tuesday. Speaking at the Information Technology Industry Council’s annual Intersect policy event in Washington, Cohen said Ericsson competitors in those nations are making business moves that are “not rational” unless they're viewed as part of a geopolitical strategy of control.
Texting is “only the beginning” of what will be available to wireless consumers through direct-to-device (D2D) satellite service, Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner said Tuesday during a Technology Policy Institute webinar, the first in the group's winter spectrum series. Other experts said evolving D2D rules show that the FCC is allowing long-desired flexibility in spectrum rules.
Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Republicans expressed concerns during a hearing Tuesday about the competitive effects of a Netflix/Warner Bros. Discovery merger and grilled Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos about promoting diversity and sexualized content on the streaming service. “It seems as though you have engaged in creating not only a monopoly of content, potentially, but the wokest content in the history of the world,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
The Senate Commerce Committee postponed planned votes Tuesday on the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (S-3639) and three other communications policy bills after the panel lost the member quorum needed to mark up any legislation. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed the FY 2026 appropriations package (HR-7148), ending a short government funding lapse that saw the FCC continue to operate as normal (see 2602020060). The House earlier in the day voted 217-214 to pass the package, which allocated the FCC $416.1 million for FY 2026, including $13.5 million for its Office of Inspector General, and the FTC $383.6 million (see 2601120056).
The FCC appears likely to release a rulemaking in March or April further exploring issues raised by NextNav as part of a request that the agency reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services. Industry experts told us they expect the NPRM to take a neutral stance on NextNav’s use of the lower 900 MHz band and to be the next step following last year’s notice of inquiry on GPS issues.
Members of the House and Senate Commerce committees told us they’re aware that some public safety stakeholders’ have concerns about using legislation to renew the FirstNet Authority as a vehicle for making changes to its governance. But thus far, they said, that hasn’t dissuaded them from continuing on that path. The issue is likely to come into focus again at Wednesday's House Communications Subcommittee hearing, which will examine the draft First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act (see 2601280054). The bill would renew FirstNet’s mandate through Sept. 30, 2037.