Tag Archives: NTIA

House Commerce Committee to Hold Hearing on Broadband Privacy Rules

Legislative Activity House Lawmakers Discuss Movement on Telecom Bills Before Recess and Election During a Federal Communications Bar Association lunch held June 8, House Energy & Commerce Committee (House Commerce Committee) counsel discussed pending communications legislation and the likelihood of seeing movement in the coming months. Majority counsel David Redl expressed interest in advancing H.R.4889, … Continue Reading

FCC Releases Order Approving Charter, Time Warner, Bright House Merger

Legislative Activity Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on FCC’s Proposed Broadband Privacy Rules On May 11, the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing titled “Examining the Proposed FCC Privacy Rules.” The hearing examined the substance and implications of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Notice of … Continue Reading

House Subcommittee Advances Spectrum and Broadband Deployment Bills

Legislative Activity House Subcommittee Advances Spectrum Bill and Broadband Deployment Package On December 2, the Communications and Technology Subcommittee (Communications Subcommittee) of the House Energy & Commerce Committee (House Commerce Committee) advanced two pieces of legislation to the full committee. The first, H.R.1641, the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 2015, was approved by voice vote. … Continue Reading

FCC Announces Final Agenda for November Open Meeting

Legislative Activity Senate Sees Flurry of Proposed Spectrum Legislation Three spectrum-related bills or drafts thereof have been introduced in the Senate. First, on November 3, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced S.2227, the Private Spectrum Relocation Funding Act of 2015. The bill would amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act, (NTIA Act), 47 U.S.C. … Continue Reading

FCC Approves AT&T’s Acquisition of DIRECTV with Conditions

Legislative Activity Senate Appropriations Committee Passes Bill That Would Decrease FCC’s Budget On Thursday, July 23, the Senate Committee on Appropriations (Senate Appropriations Committee) approved the Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill (Appropriations Bill). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would receive $320 million, a cut of $20 million (roughly 6%) … Continue Reading

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for July Open Meeting

Legislative Activity House Passes DOTCOM Act as Senate Considers Companion Bill On June 23, the House of Representatives (House) passed H.R.805, the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2015 (DOTCOM Act), by a vote of 378 to 25. The DOTCOM Act, previously discussed here and here, prohibits the National Telecommunications and Information Administration … Continue Reading

FCC Addresses Petitions Related to Telephone Consumer Protection Act Rules

Legislative Activity DOTCOM Act Approved by House Commerce Committee On June 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R.805, the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2015 (DOTCOM Act) by voice vote. The DOTCOM Act, previously discussed here, prohibits the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) from terminating its contract with the … Continue Reading

Lifeline Reform Before the Senate and the FCC

Legislative Activity House Commerce Committee Advances FCC Transparency Bill On June 3, the House Energy & Commerce Committee (House Commerce Committee) approved, by voice vote, H.R.2583, the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2015. The bill was introduced to the House Commerce Committee on May 29 by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) after having been … Continue Reading

FCC Will Consider Accessibility Items at May 21 Meeting

Legislative Activity FCC Commissioners Testify in Senate Appropriations Hearing on FCC’s Budget On May 12, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai testified before the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations in a hearing concerning the FCC’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16). The … Continue Reading

FCC Process Reform at the Forefront in the House

Legislative Activity House Introduces Three Draft Bills on FCC Transparency On April 21, members of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee (House Commerce Committee) introduced three draft bills aimed at improving transparency at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The first, offered by Communications and Technology Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob … Continue Reading

FCC Adopts Rules for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service that Enable Spectrum Sharing

Legislative Activity House Introduces Joint Resolution to Repeal FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules On April 13, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced a Joint Resolution to invalidate the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) open Internet rules adopted on February 26. The resolution states that Congress disapproves of the FCC’s rules and that those rules will have no effect. … Continue Reading

Senate Holds First Oversight Hearing on FirstNet

Legislative Activity Senate Holds First Oversight Hearing on FirstNet On March 11, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Commerce Committee) held its first ever oversight hearing on the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) titled “Three Years Later: Are We Any Closer to A Nationwide Public Safety Wireless Broadband Network?” Created by the … Continue Reading
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