On August 25, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) adopted an Order on Reconsideration (“Reconsideration Order”) that addressed three petitions requesting that the agency reconsider its broadband label requirements. Among other things, the FCC affirmed its requirement that broadband Internet service providers (“ISPs”) display on the label all monthly fees with respect to the service.
Biden Administration Presses Forward with $42.5 Billion Broadband Program
On June 26, 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) announced how it has allocated funding from the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) program to all U.S. States, the District of Columbia, and five territories to deploy affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service. Marking the occasion in a White House ceremony, President Biden declared that this investment will “connect everyone in America to [affordable] high-speed Internet. . . by 2030.”
By way of background, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) became law in 2021 and directed NTIA to oversee distribution of the single greatest public investment in broadband in U.S. history. The cornerstone of that investment is the BEAD program, which we detailed here. In 2022, the NTIA released its Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”) for the BEAD program, marking the beginning of the program’s implementation, which we detailed here.
According to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the announced investments will increase competitiveness and spur economic growth by “connecting people to the digital economy, manufacturing fiber-optic cable in America, or creating good paying jobs building Internet infrastructure in the states.” The NTIA announcement states that BEAD funding will be used to “deploy or upgrade broadband networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.” After meeting deployment goals, any remaining funds “can be used to pursue eligible access-, adoption-, and equity-related uses.”
The BEAD program is different from past federal broadband investments in that it will be administered by the States, D.C., and the five territories (each referred to as an “Eligible Entity”), with each jurisdiction running its own competitive process for determining the specific projects to be funded. Under the IIJA, each Eligible Entity will have until the end of this year to submit an “initial proposal,” which will be a detailed roadmap explaining how they intend to run their grant programs in a manner consistent with the requirements of the IIJA and NTIA’s NOFO. After approval of this initial proposal, an Eligible Entity can request access to at least 20 percent of its allocated funds.
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FCC Proposes “All-In” Pricing Rules for Cable/Satellite TV
On June 20, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to require cable operators and direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) providers to display an “all-in” price for their video programming services in their billing and marketing materials. The White House issued a press release that same day expressing its support for the proposed new rules, noting that the proposal is consistent with the Administration’s efforts “to crack down on junk fees in order to increase transparency.”
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White House Announces New Efforts to Advance Responsible AI Practices
On May 23, 2023, the White House announced that it took the following steps to further advance responsible Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) practices in the U.S.:
- the Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) released an updated strategic plan that focuses on federal investments in AI research and development (“R&D”);
- OSTP issued a new request for information (“RFI”) on critical AI issues; and
- the Department of Education issued a new report on risks and opportunities related to AI in education.
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U.S. AI, IoT, CAV, and Privacy & Cybersecurity Legislative & Regulatory Update – First Quarter 2023
This quarterly update summarizes key legislative and regulatory developments in the first quarter of 2023 related to Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and autonomous vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity.
NTIA Seeks Public Comment on the Development of a National Spectrum Strategy and Spectrum-Sharing “Pipeline”
Yesterday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Request for Comment that seeks input on a “National Spectrum Strategy,” which would include a plan to study federal spectrum usage to identify spectrum that could be reallocated or repurposed to commercial or shared federal/commercial use. This National Spectrum Strategy also would include a process for identifying the spectrum bands best suited for repurposing (a “Spectrum Pipeline”). NTIA seeks input in creating a Spectrum Pipeline for the next decade, with the goal of identifying at least 1,500 megahertz of spectrum to study for potential repurposing to meet the future requirements of both commercial and federal users.
Roundup of January 2023 Artificial Intelligence Developments
U.S. federal agencies and working groups have promulgated a number of issuances in January 2023 related to the development and use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) systems. These updates join proposals in Congress to pass legislation related to AI. Specifically, in January 2023, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) updated Department of Defense Directive 3000.09 and the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (“NAIRR”) Task Force Final Report on AI; the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) released its AI Risk Management Framework, each discussed below.
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NIST Releases New Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework
On January 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (the “Framework”) guidance document, alongside a companion AI RMF Playbook that suggests ways to navigate and use the Framework. The goal of the Framework is to provide a resource to organizations “designing, developing, deploying, or using AI systems to help manage the many risks of AI and promote trustworthy and responsible development and use of AI systems.” NIST aims for the Framework to offer a practical resource that can be adapted as the AI technologies continue to develop. The release of the Framework follows the release of previous drafts and opportunities for public comment. An initial draft of the Framework was released in March 2022 and a second draft was released in August 2022, prior to the official launch of version 1.0 of the Framework (NIST AI 100-1).
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U.S. AI, IoT, CAV, and Privacy Legislative Update – Fourth Quarter 2022
This quarterly update summarizes key legislative and regulatory developments in the fourth quarter of 2022 related to Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), the Internet of Things (“IoT”), connected and autonomous vehicles (“CAVs”), and data privacy and cybersecurity.
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President Biden Signs Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act
In the final days of 2022, President Biden signed into law the “Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act”. The Act recognizes that current encryption protocols used by the federal government might one day be vulnerable to compromise as a result of quantum computing, which could allow adversaries of the United States to steal sensitive encrypted data. To address these concerns, the Act will require an inventory and prioritization of vulnerable information technology in use by federal agencies; a plan to migrate existing information technology systems; and reports to Congress on the progress of the migration and funding required.
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