Bipartisan Legislation Introduced Regarding Technology Threats from China

The Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Committee member Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced bipartisan legislation to help combat tech-specific threats to national security posed by foreign actors like China and ensure U.S. technological supremacy by improving interagency coordination across the U.S. government. To do this, the bill creates an Office of Critical Technologies & Security at the White House responsible for coordinating across agencies and developing a long-term, whole-of-government strategy to protect against state-sponsored technology theft and risks to critical supply chains. 

The Warner-Rubio bill would guarantee that there is a federal entity responsible for proactively coordinating interagency efforts and developing a national strategy to deal with these challenges to our national security and long-term technological competitiveness. Under the bill, the Office of Critical Technologies & Security would be directed to coordinate and consult with federal and state tech and telecom regulators, the private sector, nongovernmental experts and academic stakeholders, and key international partners and U.S. allies to ensure that every available tool is being utilized to safeguard the supply chain and protect emerging, foundational and dual-use technologies.

Click here to see the text of the bill. 

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The Regulatory Mix Today:  Bipartisan Legislation Introduced Regarding Technology Threats from China, FCC January Open Meeting Agenda, NCTA Announces “10G” Broadband Initiative, Vermont Dismisses Petition to Investigate 911 Management

FCC January Open Meeting Agenda

The FCC announced the tentative agenda for its January Open Meeting, which is scheduled for January 30, 2019.  The following items will be considered:

• Anti-Spoofing Provisions of the RAY BAUM’S Act – A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to amend its Truth in Caller ID rules to implement the anti-spoofing provisions of the RAY BAUM’S Act.
• Transitioning to CAF Phase II Auction Support in Price Cap Areas –  A  Report and Order establishing a schedule to end Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase I support in price cap areas where winning bidders in the CAF Phase II auction will begin receiving Phase II support and in areas that were not eligible for the auction, while providing interim support in areas that did not receive any bids.
• Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) –A Report and Order, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Order to adopt measures, and seek comment on others, to enhance program management, prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, and improve emergency call handling in the IP CTS program.
• Licensing Noncommercial Educational Broadcast and Low Power FM Stations –A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes revisions to the Commission’s NCE and LPFM comparative processing and licensing rules.
• Elimination of Form 397 –A Report and Order eliminating the requirement in Section 73.2080(f)(2) of the Commission's rules that certain broadcast television and radio stations file the Broadcast Mid-Term Report (Form 397).

NCTA Announces “10G” Broadband Initiative

The NCTA -  The Internet & Television Association, CableLabs and Cable Europe announced their vision for the future of broadband, 10 gigabit networks (“10G”) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  The initiative plans to ramp up speeds from the 1 gigabit offerings to 10 gigabits per second and more.  The announcement mentioned many of the largest cable providers currently operating in the United States as well as others operating internationally.  The announcement cites that 1 gigabit service is offered over 80% of the U.S. vs. just 5% in 2016.  The announcement stated that “10G’s promise of faster speeds, more capacity, lower latency and greater security will enable and help fully realize a wide variety of new services and applications that will change the way millions of consumers, educators, businesses and innovators interact with the world.” 

Vermont Dismisses Petition to Investigate 911 Management

The Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) dismissed a petition filed to open an investigation into a number of issues concerning the operation and management of the enhanced 911 (“E911”) system network in Vermont, back-up power requirements of cellular and VoIP telephone service systems in Vermont, and the Vermont Ten-Year Telecommunications Plan.  The PUC dismissed the petition because it believes that no issues appropriate for it to resolve were raised.  Some of the issues raised were determined to be outside of the PUC’s jurisdiction, while others were being adequately addressed within other dockets and cases before the PUC. 

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.