House Commerce Leaders Applaud Signing of 5G Security and Broadband Mapping Legislation

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House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) released the following statement today after President Trump signed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020 (S. 893) and the Broadband DATA Act (S. 1822) into law:

“The bills signed into law today by the President are critical to ensuring that all Americans can access broadband and that our networks are secure and trusted.  The need for connectivity is even more critical now that millions of Americans are teleworking and learning from home in response to the coronavirus pandemic. We must prepare our networks for the 5G future and ensure federal agencies work together on a comprehensive plan to identify and address security risks in 5G and future wireless technologies — the Secure 5G and Beyond Act requires exactly that....It’s also long past time to fix our nation’s faulty broadband maps.  Accurately mapping unserved and underserved communities is essential to promoting the deployment of high-speed service to all Americans and ensuring our investments have maximum impact.  The Broadband DATA Act will help tremendously with those efforts....We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure our nation’s telecommunications networks are safe and secure, and that Americans across the country can access the internet.”

S. 893 was the companion bill to the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2019 (HR 2881) which was passed by the House in Jan. This legislation requires the President to develop the "Secure Next Generation Mobile Communications Strategy” with the heads of the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Department of Homeland Security, as well as the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Defense. The legislation then requires the President to develop a separate implementation plan for the strategy for the President and NTIA to carry out.

S. 1822 includes the following two bills that passed the House in Dec: The “Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act” or the “Broadband DATA Act,” (HR 4229), which requires the FCC to issue new rules to require the collection and dissemination of granular broadband availability data, to establish a process to verify the accuracy of such data and more; and, the “Mapping Accuracy Promotes Services Act” or the “MAPS Act,” (HR 4227) which specifies that it is unlawful for a person to willfully, knowingly or recklessly submit inaccurate broadband service data.


House Commerce Leaders Applaud Signing of 5G Security and Broadband Mapping Legislation