Communications and Technology Alert: House Communications Bills; Broadband Labels Report and Order; C-Band Auction Rules, BEAD Dashboard Legislation [Vol. XXIII, Issue 30]

House Holds Hearing to Address Illegal Robocalls; Broadband Data Legislation

Last Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications held a hearing to address illegal robocalls, improvements to rural broadband programs, artificial intelligence and national security measures to protect domestic communications networks. The hearing discussed six House bills, including the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act (H.R. 6152), which directs the Commission to establish a taskforce on unlawful robocalls, and the QUIET Act (H.R. 1027), which would require companies to disclose the use of artificial intelligence to emulate a human being in robocalls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The hearing also included discussion of measures to improve management of broadband programs under the PLAN for Broadband Act (H.R. 2805) and updates of existing broadband map data. For more information, please contact Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202.434.4271) or Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239). 

Commission Adopts Broadband Labels Report and Order

At the July Open Commission Meeting held on Wednesday, July 22nd, the Commission adopted a Report and Order which streamlines the broadband label requirements under Section 8.1(a) of the Commission’s rules. Specifically, the Report and Order reduces administrative and compliance burdens by permitting companies to provide broadband label information in “a natural, conversational style over the phone,” easily remove outdated information from labels, and eliminate requirements that go outside the scope of the Commission’s rules. The purpose of the Report and Order is to provide consumers with easier accessibility to broadband plans while ensuring providers are still making required disclosures. For more information, please contact Casey Lide (lide@khlaw.com; 202.434.4186) or Sean Stokes (stokes@khlaw.com; 202.434.4193).

Commission Adopts C-Band Auction Rules

Last Wednesday, the Commission adopted final rules to auction 160 megahertz of Upper C-Band spectrum (3.98–4.14 GHz) by July 2027, building on the 2020 Lower C-Band auction with the aim of supporting 5G and future wireless services. The auction will create a contiguous 440 megahertz “super band” spanning 3.70–4.14 GHz, giving wireless carriers access to one of the largest blocks of licensed mid-band spectrum in the world while requiring existing satellite operators to transition out of the portion being repurposed. The Commission states that it coordinated closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other federal agencies to address concerns about aviation safety systems operating in adjacent spectrum and has included provisions to support equipment upgrades where needed. With the rules now adopted, the next step is for Commission staff to seek comment on auction procedures and finalize the bidding framework, after which the auction is expected to proceed before the statutory July 2027 deadline, with winning bidders able to begin deploying service in the band starting in late 2030. For more information, please contact Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202.434.4271) or Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).  

BEAD Dashboard Bill Clears Senate Committee 

Last Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to send the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act of 2026 (S. 4448) to the main body of the Senate for consideration. The bill would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to create a public dashboard showing each state or territory’s progress under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, including funding spent and the number of locations served. It would also require NTIA to develop tools that help BEAD recipients identify federal permitting requirements and track permit approvals for broadband projects. Finally, the bill seeks to speed up broadband deployment by requiring better tracking of federal communications-use permit applications, analysis of delay factors, annual reporting to Congress, and systems to alert agencies when applications are at risk of missing statutory deadlines. For more information, please contact Casey Lide (lide@khlaw.com; 202.434.4186) or Sean Stokes (stokes@khlaw.com; 202.434.4193).

To sign up for our weekly alert, please send us an email at CommTechLawAlert@khlaw.com and provide us with your name and email.