The House Commerce Committee approved a handful of bipartisan broadband and tech-related bills on a variety of topics, from broadband mapping and network security to freeing up spectrum. “Bills being favorably reported for a vote in the full House were: 

• The Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act or the Broadband DATA Act (HR 4229), which requires the FCC to put out new rules on collecting more granular broadband availability data and verify its accuracy, something the FCC is already in the process of doing under pressure from Congress and others. [see On the Road to Better Broadband Maps?]
• The Mapping Accuracy Promotion Services Act (MAPS Act) (HR 4227), which would make it illegal for carriers to submit inaccurate data on broadband availabilty. 
• The Studying How to Harness Airwave Resources Efficiently Act of 2019 (SHARE Act) (HR 5000), which requires the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, which oversees federal spectrum, to consult with the FCC on a spectrum-sharing program and test bed.  
• The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (HR  4998), which requires the FCC to create and maintain a list of "communications equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security and prohibits the use of funds made available by FCC programs to purchase, rent, lease, or otherwise obtain such equipment and services." It also creates a program for helping smaller providers pay for removing and replacing suspect tech and services from their networks. 
• The Network Security Information Sharing Act of 2019 (HR 4461), which would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, along with the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NTIA, and FCC, to create a program for sharing supply chain security risk information with communications service providers and suppliers.  
• The Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2019 (HR 2881), which would direct the President to develop a "Secure Next Generation Mobile Communications Strategy” in consultation with the heads of FCC, NTIA, and Department of Homeland Security, as well as the DNI and Secretary of Defense." 
• The Promoting United States Wireless Leadership Act of 2019 (HR 4500), which directs NTIA to "encourage participation by trusted American companies and other stakeholders in standards-setting bodies, and to offer technical assistance to stakeholders that do elect to participate, in the course of developing standards for 5G networks and future generations of communications networks." 
• H. Res. 575, "expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that all stakeholders in the deployment of 5G communications infrastructure should carefully consider and adhere to the recommendations adopted at the Prague 5G security conferences. 

In communities where too many people have no access to broadband infrastructure, investing in connections to community anchor institutions is an intermediate step that can pay huge public dividends. Imperial County, located in the sparsely populated desert region of southeastern California, is an exciting example. When relying on a single telecommunications provider and its outdated technology, Imperial County school districts, higher-education institutions, and government agencies had limited access to broadband infrastructure. So they joined forces, forming the Imperial Valley Telecommunications Authority (IVTA ) to create a high-performance data network for a fraction of the cost of standard telecommunications lines.

The Federal Communications Commission's Orwellian-named “Restoring Internet Freedom” order all-but obliterated the FCC’s authority to hold broadband internet access providers accountable for any number of bad behaviors. Instead, it dumped most telecommunications oversight on a Federal Trade Commission that experts say lacks the resources or authority to police the sector and punish bad behavior. With little broadband competition and weakened regulators, big ISPs can now get away with pretty much anything, provided they’re modestly clever about it. For giant telecom monopolies like AT&T and Comcast, the repeal is working just as they intended. “The fight over net neutrality has always been about gutting the FCC’s legal authority to protect consumers and promote competition,” said Gigi Sohn, a former FCC lawyer and advisor who helped craft the agency’s original 2015 net neutrality rules. Sohn and other experts say that thanks to corruption and revolving door regulators, lobbyists have built a system where U.S. telecom consumers are all but powerless in the face of predatory monopolies. The internet may not have immediately imploded after net neutrality was repealed, but that doesn’t mean all is right with the online world.

On Nov 22 the Federal Communications Commission will vote to adopt a rule ensuring that our universal service funds—which provide billions annually to support broadband deployment in rural communities—are not used to purchase insecure network equipment. We also will kick off a rulemaking to identify where this equipment is in networks today and how to help carriers serving rural America replace it. I think with a few changes we can better protect the integrity of our networks and offer more certainty and predictability for carriers.

I’ve asked that we explore the authority we have to expand our efforts to carriers beyond those using universal service funds. Then we need to take the lessons we learned about replacing and reimbursing equipment in the wake of the 600 MHz broadcast incentive auction and apply them to the effort to replace equipment that may be insecure. I’ve asked that we include examples that would give companies the realworld guidance they need to comply with our rules and avoid unnecessary service disruption. I’ve sought to accelerate the agency’s review of the issues posed in the rulemaking regarding a reimbursement program to cover the costs of replacing insecure equipment.

The FCC’s upcoming vote is a first step, but we have many more steps to take for our networks to be secure in the future. So I want to head beyond our near-term efforts regarding equipment and removal and talk about how in the long-term we can make our networks and our digital world more secure:

1. If we want to lead in 5G, we have to secure the 5G supply chain—and think big about the future when we do. 
2. We need to transform the Internet of Things into the Internet of Secure Things. 
3. We need a smarter spectrum policy that supports both security and service in rural communities.

As ownership of mobile phones, especially smartphones, spreads rapidly across the globe, there are still notable numbers of people in emerging economies who do not own a mobile phone, or who share one with others. A Pew Research Center survey in 11 emerging economies finds that a median of 6% of adults do not use phones at all, and a median of 7% do not own phones but instead borrow them from others. The mobile divides are most pronounced in Venezuela (32%), India (30%) and the Philippines (27%), countries where about three-in-ten adults do not own a mobile phone.

At the same time, the new findings show that mobile divides even exist for phone owners. Significant numbers of owners struggle to use their phones to full advantage. A median of 46% in these countries say they frequently or occasionally have difficulties getting reliable phone connections, 37% say it can be a challenge to pay for their phones and 33% report finding places to charge their phones is a problem at least occasionally. In addition, a median of 42% report frequently or occasionally avoiding some activities on their phones because they use too much data.