Today:  ACT 5G White Paper: Implications for 5G as an Engine of Job Growth, Pennsylvania PUC Announces New Office of Cybersecurity and Appoints Director 

ACT 5G White Paper: Implications for 5G as an Engine of Job Growth

ACT, the App Association released a white paper urging local governments to adjust their rules so that small cell deployment can be further simplified.  The white paper cited that the current app economy is valued at $950.6 billion and employs 4.7 million Americans.  “The combination of network infrastructure changes and new applications is the key to success for the fifth-generation new mobile infrastructure known as ‘5G.’”  The paper went on to discuss how “[o]ne key aspect that differentiates 5G from our current environment is the concept of 5G as a ‘network of networks.’ It employs sophisticated network management to more efficiently transmit a high volume of data using different bands of spectrum utilizing new software and devices.  5G is leveraging network virtualization, software defined networking, network slicing, and cloud-based radio networks to update and innovate faster than traditional networks.” The paper also included an infographic that depicted the generations of wireless mobile tech from 1G to 5G.  Additionally, the paper listed areas that would benefit from 5G in the cloud including: manufacturing; the office workspace; and healthcare.  To assist state and local governments, ACT will be releasing, in 2019, an economic study that will show the impact of 5G beyond merely consumer benefits. 

Pennsylvania PUC Announces New Office of Cybersecurity and Appoints Director

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission announced that it has appointed Michael C. Holko, of Dauphin County, as the Director of the Office of Cybersecurity Compliance and Oversight (OCCO), a new position created by the PUC to direct the Commission’s cybersecurity and regulatory oversight program in helping to ensure that the Commonwealth’s regulated utilities are protected from cyber-attacks and ensuring adequate, safe and reliable public utility service to consumers.  As the Director of the Office of Cybersecurity Compliance and Oversight, Holko will advise the Executive Director and Commissioners on policy issues and procedural improvements involving cybersecurity oversight functions of regulated utilities; draft proposed cyber-related regulations; and oversee the preparation of orders, rulemakings, policy statements, Secretarial Letters and memoranda related to cybersecurity policies and procedures of those regulated utilities. 

Chairman Brown also noted that October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and discussed how the PUC is working with utilities, state agencies such as the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, emergency responders, and other organizations to better prepare for cyber and physical attacks, strengthen critical systems, share information about current and future threats, and ensure that essential services are as resilient as possible. Last summer, those entities joined other stakeholders around the world in EARTH EX 2017, a first-ever transnational exercise to test responses to a large-scale power outage event.

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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.