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Law360 (June 19, 2020, 4:44 PM EDT ) Two House and Senate Republicans teamed up Thursday to roll out a set of legislative principles designed to expand broadband access, including funding for safer telecom equipment and better mapping initiatives at the Federal Communications Commission.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who respectively chair Senate and House committees that oversee the FCC, said the list of priorities and congressional action items was intended to address gaping connectivity needs during the global health crisis and beyond.
"The coronavirus pandemic has made expanding access to broadband even more urgent," Wicker said in a statement. "This framework would support the delivery of these services by fostering investment, promoting broadband deployment, and enhancing network security and resiliency."
According to a joint statement from the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the framework will put a premium on "authorizing funding to complete accurate broadband mapping efforts" — something to which FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has called attention in recent weeks.
In a letter dated May 27 but released this month, Pai told congressional leaders that without additional funding his agency can't move ahead with the Broadband Data Act's mandate to collect more accurate information on where internet service does and does not exist.
"It is vital for Congress to provide the FCC as soon as possible with the appropriations necessary to implement the Broadband DATA Act. Right now, the FCC does not have the funding to carry out the Act," Pai wrote. "If Congress does not act soon, this well-intentioned legislation will have the unfortunate effect of delaying rather than expediting the development of better broadband maps."
The bicameral framework also highlights the priority of "authorizing funding to fully implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Act," which President Donald Trump signed into law in March. The law blocks equipment-makers deemed national security risks — such as Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE — from receiving infrastructure subsidies and sets up a funding plan to replace such pre-existing equipment.
When the law was passed, Pai told Congress it must "move forward quickly to appropriate the necessary funding to reimburse carriers for replacing any network equipment or services found to be a national security threat."
A spokesperson for Wicker's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what next steps are expected to come out of the framework.
--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.
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