FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel acknowledged Friday that the agency’s definition of AI may need fine-tuning and rejected the idea of a dedicated AI regulatory agency. Speaking at the 7th Annual Berkeley Law AI Institute, she also discussed the end of Chevron deference.
The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council on Friday heard initial reports from its three working groups, which are just starting. Speakers warned that the assigned topics are challenging. Focusing on AI and 6G, CSRIC held its initial meeting in June (see 2406280050). Friday's was the first meeting of substance under the new cycle.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr again took aim at how the Biden administration and NTIA have implemented the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, a concern Republicans on Capitol Hill have amplified (see 2409190063). BEAD is “a program worth fighting for,” but it must change, Carr said Friday during an American Enterprise Institute webinar.
Carriers are moving to AI-native networks but are still determining what the new technology's capabilities could mean for them, speakers said Thursday during an RCR Wireless webinar. A consensus emerged that AI success requires that different parts of a company collaborate more closely than in the past.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to approve the FCC’s December changes to pole attachment replacement rules, which clarified transparency requirements for pole owners and established an intra-agency “rapid broadband assessment team” to review pole attachment disputes and recommend solutions (see 2312130044). The California Public Utilities Commission voted 4-0 later in the day to approve state rules implementing volume 2 of its plan for rolling out the $1.86 billion allocation from NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program (see 2408260027).
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should lift a district court injunction against Texas’ social media law and remand the case to assess the tech industry’s First Amendment challenge at a more granular level, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) argued Wednesday (docket 21-51178).
The FCC's 988 wireless call georouting draft order on its Oct. 17 open meeting agenda (see 2409250041) opens the possibility of the agency also requiring georouting of text messages. The georouting draft order and the other October agenda item -- a draft order requiring that all wireless handsets be hearing-aid compatible -- were released Thursday. Also on the agenda is an unspecified restricted adjudicatory Media Bureau matter.
The FCC's digital discrimination rules "pile overreach on overreach," said attorney Morgan Ratner on behalf of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) and other industry groups challenging the commission's rules Wednesday during oral argument in the 8th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court (see 2407300048). The rules are based on an "unprecedented disparate impact scheme that is in many ways the broadest the federal government has ever seen," the lawyer added. None of the FCC's decisions in its order is based on a "plausible understanding" of Congress' intention.
FCC commissioners on Thursday approved an order expanding the range of accessibility features that must be included in videoconferencing platforms (see 2409040053). In addition, multiple commissioners at the open meeting said allowing non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlinks in the 17.2-17.8 GHz bandwidth should be a sizable boon to U.S. competitiveness in commercial space.
“Shoveling more spectrum” into the pool of available frequencies for unlicensed use won’t necessarily mean faster Wi-Fi speeds, Richard Bennett, High Tech Forum founder, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Bennett, who worked on the initial Wi-Fi standard, also questioned whether 6 GHz is taking off as a Wi-Fi band. It's expected he will lay out his arguments in a paper next week.