January 7, 2022

Drone Safety Team

NATE UAS Committee Chairman Sam McGuire has been designated as NATE’s Point of Contact (POC) for the Drone Safety Team, an industry-government partnership committee to ensuring the safety of UAS operations. Todd Washam is NATE’s secondary POC.

Aviation-5G Standoff

A month-long hold on the rollout of 5G was due to expire on January 5, but Verizon and AT&T agreed this week to delay the launch of their upgraded 5G networks for two weeks. 

The FAA had asked mobile carriers to delay the deployment of C-Band wireless spectrum part of their 5G rollout plans amid concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters that could disrupt flights. The agreement pushes back the deployment date to January 19.

President Joe Biden praised the decision by AT&T and Verizon, and thanked them along with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for reaching the agreement.

Congress

The Second Session of the 117th Congress commenced this week. The Constitution mandates that a new congressional session must begin at noon on January 3 unless a different day is designated by the House or the Senate. Any legislation introduced in 2021 or 2022 that is not enacted into law by December 31 dies, and would have to be reintroduced in the 118th Congress that begins next January.

Nominations

On Tuesday, President Biden renominated Gigi Sohn to be an FCC Commissioner, which you may recall had stalled last year. The nomination technically expired when the first session of the 117th Congress ended on December 31.

The renomination enables the Senate Democratic leadership to take steps to advance her candidacy, including consideration by the Senate Commerce Committee.

The committee is also expected to reconsider the nomination of Alan Davidson to lead the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) once President Biden renominates him. The panel had approved his nomination last month. NATE had endorsed Davidson and congratulated Senate Commerce for the affirmative vote. The job is key because NTIA will have the lead role in distributing to states more than $40 billion in broadband infrastructure investments included in the recently enacted infrastructure package. 

Rep. Crenshaw and FCC Commissioner Carr Site Visit in Texas

NATE issued a press release this week about the recent visit to a communications tower in Huffman, Texas by U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. The tour was facilitated by NATE and Enertech Holdings Company.

Crenshaw, whose 2nd Congressional District includes the Houston area, is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he has sponsored communications and workforce development legislation.

Vaccine Mandate

On January 7, the Supreme Court is scheduled to review two challenges to the Biden administration’s vaccine policies affecting nearly 100 million workers.

One measure requires large private companies to implement a vaccination requirement or impose a masking and weekly testing regime. The second applies to health-care workers at facilities that receive certain federal funding.

The Supreme Court must decide whether to block the requirements while legal battles continue, or to let them be implemented during that time.