What's on the agenda for policymakers.
Agenda
Google is the dominant player in online advertising, a business that accounts for around 85% of its revenues and which allows it to monetize the data it collects through the products it offers for free. Recent consumer complaints and investigations by law enforcement have raised questions about whether Google has acquired or maintained its market power in online advertising in violation of the antitrust laws. News reports indicate this may also be the centerpiece of a forthcoming antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice.
FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for Sept 2020 Open Meeting
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the Sept Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 30, 2020:
A Big Fall Kickoff
The Federal Communications Commission’s Sept agenda looks like a well-balanced fantasy team; we’re rolling out a diverse lineup featuring at least one item from each of the FCC’s seven bureaus.
Chairman Pai Proposes More Critical Mid-Band Spectrum for 5G
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his colleagues a draft proposal which would take decisive steps toward making the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use throughout the contiguous US. This item will be on the agenda of the FCC’s Sept 30 Open Meeting and, if adopted, would position this 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for commercial 5G use.
The agenda for the meeting will include a report from each of the ACDDE working groups. The Access to Capital Working Group will report on its ongoing examination of ways to improve access to capital to encourage management and ownership of broadcast properties by a diverse range of voices, including minorities and women. The Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group will discuss its work assessing access, adoption, and use of broadband and new technologies by under-resourced communities.
An overview of the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), the agency’s largest universal service high-cost program designed to support broadband deployment in unserved areas. One year after the RDOF’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC is preparing for the Phase I auction of up to $16 billion in support on October 29, 2020. This webinar will take listeners through what they need to know ahead of the auction, including the auction structure, performance requirements, deployment obligations, and post-auction considerations. We will cover:
Week 1 (Oct 5-8): three mornings of “in real time” online events including speakers and small group discussion
Weeks 2 and 3 (Oct 9-26): customized programming based on your level of involvement and interest with special sessions, a chance to pilot future programming, a book club, regular online space just to chat, mentor match-making with host of local and national experts arranged by the planning team, a virtual happy hour. You choose your level of involvement. No expectations – only opportunities.
Verizon tries to prevent T-Mobile from getting more 600 MHz spectrum
Verizon is appealing to the Federal Communications Commission to prevent T-Mobile from getting its hands on leases of more 600 MHz spectrum. T-Mobile applied for instant spectrum leases with Channel 51 License Company and LB License Co. to lease 600 MHz spectrum in a number of major markets, including Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, New Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle, among others. Channel 51 and LB License Co. had been lending 600 MHz spectrum to T-Mobile to help the carrier boost its network during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Neutrality Debate We Need to Have
On Sept 2, the Federal Communications Commission will take comments on NTIA’s petition on reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a provision enacted in 1996 to address a narrow set of concerns involving nascent internet platforms that then played only a marginal role in American life. The purpose of the provision made sense at that moment in internet history: Section 230 sought to insulate the newly emerging tech
Trump aides interviewing replacement for embattled FTC chair
The White House is searching for a replacement for Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons, a Republican who has publicly resisted President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on social media companies. Chairman Simons, a veteran antitrust lawyer, hasn’t announced he’s leaving the agency. He is serving a term that doesn’t end until September 2024, and he cannot legally be removed by the president except in cases of gross negligence.