Bill to Address National Security Threats, Reactions to Sohn Withdrawal, Need for 5G Spectrum

March 8, 2023 – Senators introduced Tuesday legislation that would empower the Commerce Department to create procedures to identify and intercept “transactions involving information and communications technology products” involving a foreign adversary that poses a national security threat, according to a press release Tuesday.

Under the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act (RESTRICT Act), the department will need to examine critical infrastructure products, including those that go toward telecommunications networks, and to ensure “comprehensive actions to address risks of untrusted foreign information communications and technology products by requiring the Secretary to take up consideration of concerning activity identified by other government entities,” the release added.

The legislation, introduced by Mark Warner, D-VA, and John Thune, R-SD, and supported by a dozen bipartisan senators, is the latest effort by Washington to choke off any possible foreign interference in the U.S.’s critical infrastructure.

“Protecting national security is one of our top priorities at the Department of Commerce, and I commend Senator Warner, Senator Thune, and the bipartisan group of senators who announced the RESTRICT Act today for working together and proposing a mechanism to address technology-based threats to our country from certain foreign adversaries,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “Commerce welcomes this legislative framework for addressing these threats and protecting Americans’ safety and national security. I look forward to working with these senators and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance this legislation through Congress and to the President’s desk.”

Last month, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget required agencies to identify a banned application, such as TikTok, remove it and disallow installation on devices, and prohibit internet traffic within 30 days, as part of the governments’ efforts to rid security threats on government devices.

Sohn withdrawal draws responses

The news Tuesday that Gigi Sohn was withdrawing her nomination for the fifth commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission drew disappointing reactions from industry.

“We at Public Knowledge are obviously disappointed with this result. Gigi Sohn has been a tireless advocate and is a well-recognized expert in telecommunications policy. To not be able to find a path forward for her to serve at the Commission is a great loss,” Chris Lewis, president and CEO of Public Knowledge, an advocacy organization co-founded by Sohn, said in a statement. “The hard work of the Commission to prevent digital discrimination, to curb media consolidation, and to reinstate the FCC as the agency with authority over broadband is lost by this failure.”

The Rural Wireless Association added in its own statement that, “the FCC will now continue to remain deadlocked for an indefinite time period while our country is on the cusp of implementing various broadband programs that will serve as the foundation of our broadband infrastructure for several decades. Rural Americans will also continue to wait for broadband as the FCC sits gridlocked in attempting to fix its maps and Universal Service Programs.”

Paloma Perez, the press secretary of the FCC, told Broadband Breakfast in a statement: “Gigi Sohn is a talented and public-spirited lawyer and while she is not joining the Federal Communications Commission, she will continue to be a strong voice in communications policy.”

FCC commissioner emphasizes need for more 5G spectrum

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington said at the INCOMPAS Policy Summit on Tuesday that there needs to be more 5G-suitable spectrum released to the private sector to keep up with advances in technology.

“The federal government must remain amenable to a changing landscape in the face of a spectrum shortage and evolving technology uses, and we must continue to engage with the private sector to make sure that we aren’t irrelevant,” said Simington.

Simington noted that 5G fixed wireless for industrial use, such as for agriculture and mining, is something that is “just over the horizon” where spectrum sharing is the only feasible option.

Spectrum sharing is one way FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed some gaps in coverage could be filled. Last month, the chairwoman proposed that a process by which satellite and ground wireless service providers could share spectrum to cover the latter’s dead zones.