Today's Regulatory Mix:  US Congress Hearing on 5G, FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel's New "Broadband Conversations" Podcast, FCC's Pai on Cross Sector Resiliency Forum

US Congress Hearing on 5G 

Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced the committee will convene a hearing titled, “5G Supply Chain Security: Threats and Solutions,” at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The hearing will examine the security and integrity of the telecommunications supply chain and efforts to secure networks from exploitation in the transition to 5G. The hearing will also examine the federal government’s role in mitigating risks to telecommunications equipment and services in the U.S. and abroad. The following witnesses are currently scheduled to testify: 

• Mr. Steven Berry, President and Chief Executive Officer, Competitive Carriers Association 
• Mr. Rick Corker, President of Customer Operations for the Americas, Nokia 
• Mr. Jason Boswell, Head of Security, Network Product Solutions, North America, Ericsson 
• Dr. James Lewis, Senior Vice President and Director of the Technology Policy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies 

FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel's New "Broadband Conversations" Podcast 

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced the release of the latest episode of her podcast, Broadband Conversations. The podcast was created in 2018 to amplify the voices of leading women from across the technology, innovation, and media sectors. The most recent episode features New York Congresswoman Grace Meng. She is the first and only Asian-American member of Congress from the state of New York.  Rosenworcel said: “We’ve got big problems to tackle when it comes to connecting everyone, everywhere. For me, the cruelest part of the digital divide is what I call the Homework Gap. As many as 12 million children from rural, urban, and suburban communities fall into the Homework Gap because they go home at night to households without broadband access. That makes it tough to get regular schoolwork done because in the digital age schools everywhere are assigning homework that requires internet service. Listeners will hear the Congresswoman discuss her bill to create lending programs at libraries and schools for mobile hotspots for students. If we’re going to close the Homework Gap, I’m glad we have women like Congresswoman Meng who are developing creative solutions to some of our toughest challenges.”  

FCC’s Pai on Cross Sector Resiliency Forum 

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued following statement in response to news that CTIA—The Wireless Association and the Edison Electric Institute are establishing a cross-sector resiliency forum to improve coordination between the wireless and electric power sectors to strengthen disaster response:  

“Americans need reliable communications service during emergencies. But as the FCC’s investigation into the slow pace of wireless service restoration after Hurricane Michael revealed, and last fall’s power shutoffs in California underscored, a lack of effective coordination between the electric power and communications sectors prolongs and increases the scope of communications outages. This coordination problem was also starkly evident in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, when the electric utility did not provide needed information to the communications sector for disaster recovery.   

I therefore commend CTIA and the Edison Electric Institute for heeding my call for greater coordination and announcing an initiative to address this challenge before the next wildfire and hurricane seasons begin. I look forward to monitoring the progress of this necessary and important effort in the coming months.” 

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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.