Speech

In 2018, I talked about our 5G FAST plan. The plan has three central planks: freeing up spectrum, promoting wireless infrastructure, and modernizing our regulations to promote more fiber deployment. We’ve been active on all three fronts, and there’s mounting evidence that our efforts are working.  We’re working on the complicated task of freeing up spectrum for 5G in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, commonly called the C-Band. This is a critical band for 5G, and I’m optimistic that we will have results to show on this front this fall.

The US broadband and media industries are increasingly becoming consolidated, deregulated and freed of accountability, with little attention either from policymakers or the media. While Mexico is moving forward -- having recently developed new institutions and regulations intended to promote competition and accountability in telecommunications and media, the US is moving backwards. Competition in broadband and media in the US is vanishing as a result of decisions, big and small, by the Trump Administration. 

I’m proud to have launched several Federal Communications Commission initiatives to expand broadband access on Tribal lands, which complement the efforts of our federal partners. One new policy I’m particularly excited about will give Tribes priority access to spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. We removed obsolete restrictions on this band, allowing greater flexibility in how the spectrum can be used. We’re giving rural Indian tribes an exclusive window to obtain this spectrum to serve rural Tribal lands. That’s right.

The Charles Benton Early Career Scholar Committee has awarded Burcu Baykurt the 2019 TPRC Charles Benton Early Career Scholar Award Winner and Jacob Manlove the runner up. Burcu Baykurt wrote (Dis)connecting the Digital City which examines how the connectivity infrastructures of the digital city are laid over uneven terrains and the ways residents react to those changes. Assessing the Need for a Measure of Broadband Adoption Inequality, written by Jacob Manlove, proposes the use of the absolute value index which distinguishes between no mobile use, mobile only, fixed only,

[The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference] is a time to highlight our policy priorities and develop collaborative solutions so that when we return to our communities, whether Brooklyn (NY), Southeast DC, or Jackson (MS) we’re better equipped to “bend the arc of the moral universe” toward a greater measure of justice through our work.

This tech summit is focusing on an important topic: improving the lives of Mississippians through communications technologies. Already today, you’ve heard discussions about the next generation of wireless connectivity and the new applications and services that they’ll enable.

I’m pleased to see the expansion of the Internet Essentials program throughout the Comcast footprint to include low-income households that receive government assistance like SNAP, Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). But a good program doesn’t execute itself. Community problems require community solutions. That’s why I’m also happy to see the list of 10,000 non-profit partners enlisted to help with outreach and training on Internet Essentials throughout the country. Access to the internet impacts almost every social, political, and economic facet of our lives.

I look at the agenda for this conference [Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO) 2019], and there are sessions on promoting 5G, artificial intelligence, and machine learning across the region.  There are discussions on creating safer communities where our citizens are protected from risks ranging from natural disasters to cyberattacks.

Thank you to OneWeb Satellites for inviting me to the opening of the world’s first facility to manufacture satellites using industrial-scale mass production techniques. I’m particularly pleased to be here this morning because the Federal Communications Commission under my leadership has been focused on promoting innovation in space.  Among other things, we’ve approved many proposals for low-Earth orbit, non-geostationary satellite orbit constellations. Indeed, in June 2017, OneWeb’s constellation was the first to receive the FCC’s signoff.

Let me touch on a few Federal Communications Commission-related issues that may be relevant and hopefully of interest to you. Children’s Television Regulations: We worked with those on either side of the debate to come up with a new framework that  both preserves existing shows for those who watch—no matter how small the audience—and gives stations more flexibility in meeting their requirements, both of which reflect the priorities I laid out when we started this process. Pirate Radio: Expect the FCC to take advantage of new technology to better pinpoint violations.