Today: US Congress MAP Broadband Act, US Congress Privacy Resolution
Have a safe and memorable Memorial Day
US Congress MAP Broadband Act
U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., today introduced S. 2955, the “Mobile Accuracy and Precision Broadband Act” (MAP Broadband Act). If enacted, the bill would help improve the accuracy of the FCC’s mobile broadband coverage map and ensure that federal resources are targeted to unserved communities that do not have access to reliable mobile broadband service. According to its sponsors the legislation would address problems with the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase II (MF-II) presumptive eligibility maps which: (1) misrepresent the existence of 4G LTE wireless broadband service in many areas based on on-the-ground experience; and (2) if left uncorrected, would exclude many areas that lack sufficient wireless broadband access from being eligible for MF-II funding, which is expected to be $4.53 billion over 10 years. The legislation would also address concerns with the time frame for FCC’s challenge process for the presumptive eligibility map.
Specifically, the “MAP Broadband Act” would require the FCC to:
More information is available here.
US Congress Privacy Resolution
Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced a Senate Resolution 523 calling for U.S. companies and institutions covered by the European Union’s new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), to provide Americans with privacy protections included in the European law. That law is set to take effect May 25, 20018. The robust EU privacy protections include clear opt-in consent before users’ information is used; notification to users about all collection, use, and sharing of users’ personal information; data security requirements; notification to affected individuals in the event of a data breach; and requiring companies to implement special protections for children’s data, among other rules.
Protections in the European privacy law include, but are not limited to, the following requirements and rights:
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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily 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.