Key Points - On Thursday, April 25, the FCC voted 3–2 to reinstate the Commission’s net neutrality framework by reclassifying broadband Internet access service as a Telecommunications Service, which is regulated under Title...more
2024 is shaping up to be a busy year in Washington for telecom, media and technology (TMT) companies. A number of notable topics will require public comment this year, including net neutrality, digital discrimination, data...more
2/9/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Broadband ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
FCC ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
NDAA ,
Outer Space ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Spectrum ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications
We are excited to share with you the second edition of the International Space Law and Policy Update, Akin’s quarterly newsletter focused on developments in international space law and policy. This newsletter takes a longer...more
1/23/2024
/ China ,
Egypt ,
EU ,
India ,
International Organization for Standardization ,
Japan ,
OECD ,
Outer Space ,
Satellites ,
Telecommunications ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
At the end of 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “the Commission”) adopted updates to its existing 16-year-old data breach notification rules (“prior rules”) designed to ensure that sensitive customer...more
Key Points -
On November 13, the Biden administration released its National Spectrum Strategy through a Presidential Memorandum. The Spectrum Strategy, seeking to modernize spectrum policy and coordination and identify...more
The legal battles over the constitutionality of Universal Service Fund (USF) contributions continue as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has granted a request for the full court to re-hear a challenge to the...more
Key Points -
The FCC has launched a new “Privacy and Data Protection” Task Force to coordinate rulemaking and enforcement across the agency.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel called on her fellow Commissioners to finalize...more
Late last year, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) released a Report and Order (the “Order”) promulgating new disclosure requirements for broadband providers in the form of a label to be visible...more
Key Points - This morning, the FCC released a pre-production draft of the new nationwide broadband map, which will drive allocation of $42 billion in BEAD grants next summer. Interested parties have until January 13, 2023 to...more
Congress passed the Broadband DATA Act in 2020, directing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect more granular data regarding broadband service availability in order to create a publicly accessible, nationwide...more
Key Points -
NTIA at the Department of Commerce has released its first report on federal broadband funding required under the ACCESS BROADBAND Act.
The report tracks broadband spending across the federal government...more
Last week, two organizations hosted a White House briefing on President Biden’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure package, the American Jobs Plan (the “Plan”). The organizations were Small Business for America’s Future and...more
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, comprised of a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package to fund the U.S. government in Fiscal Year 2021 and a $900 billion coronavirus relief...more
On September 30, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted an order establishing new rules with respect to Executive Branch review of certain types of FCC applications and petitions that reveal foreign...more
- NTIA presents framework to accommodate commercial use of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band, including reduced federal use and limited exclusion zones around military installations.
- NTIA states that unlicensed operations and...more
The House Democrats recently unveiled their fourth COVID-19 bill, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act.) The HEROES Act, which will be negotiated with the Senate, contains a number of...more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is refreshing its record regarding executive branch review of certain FCC applications that reveal foreign ownership in the applicants—informally known as the “Team Telecom” review...more
Funding initiatives to advance telehealth or connected care initiatives have been moving quickly through Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). The application process for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program...more
On April 4, the White House released an Executive Order establishing the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (the “Committee”) to assess foreign...more
- Congress and federal agencies are taking action to ensure that Americans stay connected during the COVID-19 crisis, including the CARES Act. The CARES Act provides $200 million to the FCC for telehealth services and...more
4/6/2020
/ Broadcasting ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
FCC ,
Financial Stimulus ,
New Guidance ,
Relief Measures ,
Telecommunications ,
Telehealth
The technology on everyone’s mind at this year’s CES was 5G. So named because it is the fifth-generation wireless networking technology, offering more than just incremental performance improvements over 4G—some experts are...more
1/31/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Augmented Reality ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Internet Streaming ,
Online Gaming ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
Television Service Providers ,
Virtual Reality ,
Wireless Devices ,
Wireless Industry
• Companies across industries have been facing TCPA litigation based upon calls and text messages to reassigned telephone numbers.
• On December 12, 2018, the FCC—with the support of many parties and industry groups—voted...more
• Companies across industries continue to face TCPA litigation and address compliance challenges.
• The FCC will soon be addressing key TCPA issues in the wake of the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in ACA International.
• One...more
On Monday, September 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) implemented amendments to the Cuban...more
9/23/2015
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Cuba ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Economic Development ,
Educational Institutions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Obama Administration ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Sanctions ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
Travel ,
U.S. Treasury
Wednesday the advisory committee charged by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with providing critical assistance to the communications industry with a sector-specific implementation of cybersecurity risk management...more