The National Hispanic Media Coalition joined Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, United Church of Christ and members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Media/Telecom Task Force in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern over proposed findings in the agency’s upcoming Broadband Deployment Progress Report. They requested the FCC:
I’m constantly meeting with the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) and its members for a very practical reason. Actually, make that two practical reasons: One is the race to 5G and the other is the broadcaster repack stemming from the FCC's incentive auction.
In Nov 2018, Sens Ed Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, asking them to respond to a study that showed possible network neutrality violations on their networks. Specifically, the study, which used data collected by the app “Wehe,” showed numerous instances of bandwidth throttling for certain video providers. In response to the Sens’ letters, the four major mobile carriers denied Wehe’s findings that they selectively impair or degrade video streaming.
House Commcerce Committee Vice Chair Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and Rep John Curtis (R-UT) spoke at The Hil event titled "Boundless: Building a 5G World". They touted the potential benefits from emerging 5G technology, but warned that Congress must act quickly in a bipartisan fashion before the US falls behind. "We've got to remember to keep 5G nonpartisan, because the moment it becomes owned by a single party, then that's when it loses,” said Rep Curtis.
The Senate Commerce Committee drilled down on the 5G rollout in a hearing titled "Winning the Race to 5G and the Next Era of Technology Innovation in the United States." It was the first hearing of the committee in the 116th Congress, and the shadow of Chinese tech in US telecom loomed large over the proceedings.
I believe it is no longer enough to be first to 5G—the networks we deploy must also be secure. And to build 5G security effectively, we must build a market for more secure 5G equipment. That means making sure our companies can continue to innovate and encouraging other countries to invest in 5G security, too. This is a big task. As with all significant endeavors, the hard part is where to start. But I have some ideas—about where the Federal Communications Commission should begin.
The hearing will focus on opportunities for infrastructure improvement, including federal funding, financing programs, and permitting and regulatory streamlining.
Witnesses:
© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.
