What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
The public airwaves, also called spectrum, are a natural resource owned by the American people. Last year alone, the FCC raised more than $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury by auctioning spectrum licenses to mobile broadband providers—costs that will increase the prices consumers pay for wireless services for years to come.
Google Creates $100 Million Fund for Skills Training Program
Google is creating a $100 million fund to sponsor an ambitious project to expand effective skills training and job placement programs for low-income Americans. The initiative is targeting a big problem: how to find, train and create paths to good jobs in the modern economy for the nearly two-thirds of American workers who do not have a four-year college degree.
USDA Extends to March 9 the Application Deadline for ReConnect Program Funding
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending to March 9, 2022, the application deadline for funding to expand access to high-speed internet for millions of rural Americans nationwide.
National Economic Council's Tim Wu on President Biden's 'New Direction' on Antitrust
National Economic Councilmember Tim Wu said the Biden administration has adopted a different perspective on how to promote innovation — while previous White Houses might’ve said “trust the giants,” this one believes “small is beautiful.” Wu, Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy, pushed back on what he termed the “monopoly innovation” theory that he says has dominated antitrust thinking for several decades. According to that view, he said, the high prices a monopoly can charge encourages it to innovate and develop new technologies.
Federal and State Entities Should Collaborate, Share Data, and Track Progress on Closing the Digital Divide
Resolution on Ensuring that Federal and State Entities Collaborate, Share Data, and Track Progress on Closing the Digital Divide Utilizing Various Federal Programs including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
On February 4, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) received comments on how to distribute more than $48 billion in broadband funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). With the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the Digital Equity Act, and the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure (MMBI) Grant Program all in the mix, there’s a lot to discuss.
The conference will gather activists, public servants, academics and other experts together for a series of discussions that will explore historic and contemporary racial discrimination in all modalities of modern media. Scheduled speakers include Cathy Hughes (Urban One, Inc.) former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Antoine Haywood, Ph.D., MediaJustice founder Malkia Devich Cyril, UCLA Professor and MacArthur Fellow Safiya Noble, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and so many more.
NTIA Oversight Hearing
The House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held an oversight hearing on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
FCC Announces Effective Dates for Affordable Connectivity Program Rules and Comment and Reply Comment Deadlines for Related Further Notice
On January 21, 2022, the Federal Communications Commission released the Affordable Connectivity Program Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ACP Order and Further Notice) providing the final rules to implement the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP Order and Further Notice was published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2022. As set forth in the ACP Order and Further Notice, all adopted rules have the effective dates listed here.
Rules that will become effective on March 16, 2022:
Big changes coming to House Commerce Committee in 2023
Change is coming to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress, a pattern of turnover that has become a staple of the powerful panel over the past 15 years. The list of those leaving is already significant. Five Democrats on the committee won’t be back for the 118th Congress. Among Republicans, Rep Billy Long (R-MO) is making his own Senate run. Other committee members are in real danger of losing their seats, including Reps David McKinley (R-WV) and Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), both of whom are locked in tough reelection fights after redistricting.