Today, the Senate Commerce Committee marked up the “Safe Connections Act,” a bill introduced to help survivors of domestic violence cut ties with their abusers and separate from shared wireless phone plans, which can be exploited to monitor, stalk, or control victims. Public Knowledge urges Congress to pass the bill to make it easier for survivors to escape abuse.

Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai circulated a draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that could potentially leverage spectrum sharing technology to help close the digital divide. Adding the 12 GHz band to the agency’s “5G FAST Plan” would make an additional 500 MHz of contiguous spectrum available for two-way fixed and mobile 5G wireless broadband services, while protecting incumbent satellite uses (including satellite broadband) from harmful interference.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a Report and Order to help close the digital divide by allowing devices that use unlicensed spectrum to provide better broadband coverage in rural and unserved areas.

Today, Public Knowledge joined 15 other public interest, rural, tribal, and consumer advocacy groups in a letter urging Congress to request the Federal Communications Commission extend the 2.5 GHz wireless broadband application deadline for American Indian tribes.

Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Wednesday, January 22 at 10:00 a.m. His testimony in the hearing on “The 5G Workforce and Obstacles To Broadband Deployment” will urge Congress to balance the wireless industry’s goals with the public interest to maintain America’s wireless leadership while equally distributing the benefits of 5G to all Americans. 

Today, Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduced the TRUE Fees Act to ensure that pay TV, cellular service, and broadband providers include “below-the-line” fee items in their advertised price for service.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to publish an annual report on the state of mobile wireless competition. The agency claims that the metrics assessed in the report indicate that there is “effective competition” in the marketplace for mobile wireless services. Public Knowledge disagrees with the report’s conclusion.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission approved a controversial Order deregulating incumbent pricing power in the business data services (“BDS”) market. BDS are high-capacity broadband connections purchased by businesses of all sizes as well as schools, libraries, and government agencies. The Order will permit incumbent telephone carriers to raise prices on business broadband customers across most of the United States.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced a consent decree settling an enforcement action against Straight Path Wireless. The settlement requires a payment of $100 million and returns these valuable licenses to the FCC for use for 5G services.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to open up substantial amounts of spectrum for unlicensed use, including Wi-Fi and next-generation wireless technologies such as 5G. Public Knowledge commends the FCC for working to make sure that our future wireless networks reflect the values of universal access, competition, consumer protection and public safety.