Welcome to the Tech & Telecom Weekly, an e-newsletter keeping you apprised of the latest developments in the telecommunications and high-tech industries.
Broadband News
FCC Acting Chair Rosenworcel has established a Broadband Data Task Force, chaired by Jean Kiddoo, devoted to “implementing long-overdue improvements to the agency’s broadband data and mapping tools.” The Task Force will coordinate activity across almost every Bureau and Office of the FCC. Its goal is providing a centralized repository of granular, accurate information on the availability and quality of broadband services throughout the country. For more information, please contact Stephanie Joyce.
Compliance Alerts
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) will host two webinars to aid carriers and other providers with the preparation of their annual FCC Form 499-A submissions. The first webinar is geared toward resellers and will take place on February 23, 2021, at 2:00pm ET; the second webinar applies to all other service providers and will take place on February 25, 2021, at 2:00pm ET. Registrations for both webinars can be found here. For more information about USAC reporting requirements, please contact Katherine Barker Marshall. The FCC Managing Director has modifiedthe fee schedule that the agency will charge for Freedom of Information Act responses. The fees are assessed on an hourly rate that increases with the GS level of the agency employee handling the request. For more information, please contact Katherine Barker Marshall.
Legislative Affairs
The House Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media” on February 24, 2021, at 12:30pm ET. The hearing will be conducted via Cisco Webex. For more information, please contact Stephanie Joyce. The Senate Commerce Committee has announced Subcommittee leadership for the 117th Congress. The Communications Subcommittee will be chaired by Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), with Rep. John Thune (R-SD) serving as Ranking Member. For more information, please contact Stephanie Joyce.
In the Courts Last week a federal judge in California rejected Robinhood’s motion to dismiss a putative class action filed in August 2020 by retail stock traders who claim they suffered losses as a result of their inability to trade when Robinhood’s systems “repeatedly crashed.” The court ruled that the amended complaint sufficiently alleges harm even though it does not list any specific unexecuted trades. The judge ordered the parties to mediation, citing Robinhood’s acknowledgement of responsibility and the plaintiffs’ challenges in constructing a damages model. For more information about the case, In re Robinhood Outage Litigation, No. 3:20-cv-01626 (N.D. Cal.), please contact Susan Metcalfe.
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