NTIA Brings On 29 Experts, Multi-Tenant Rules Final, Facebook Settles Cookies Suit
The recruiting of 29 outside experts at the NTIA comes a day before the agency announced a new spectrum coordination initiative with the FCC.
Ashlan Gruwell
February 16, 2022 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Monday it has brought on 29 outside experts who will be appointed to the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee.
The move came a day before the NTIA and the Federal Communications Commission announced a commitment to working together on spectrum policy and coordination, including adding formal and regular monthly meetings on spectrum planning, collaborating on a national spectrum strategy, committing to evidence-based policymaking, engaging with industry on technical information exchange and engagement, and updating a decades-old memorandum of understanding between both agencies.
According to an NTIA press release Monday, the committee will be headed by two co-chairs, Charla Rath, who works as an independent consultant, Jennifer Manner, the senior vice president of regulatory affairs at EchoStar Corporation.
The 29 experts appointed by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo include Michael Calabrese, director of The New American Foundation, Louis Peraertz, the vice president of policy at the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, Glenn Reynolds, the vice president of technology policy and government relations at the Alliance for Telecommunications Solutions, and Steve Sharkey, the vice president of government affairs, technology and engineering policy at T-Mobile.
Each expert is set to serve for two years and was selected “based on their technical background and experience, as well as diversity and balance in points of view,” the release said. In addition, NTIA makes it a point to clarify that the experts do not represent their organization and are just serving as field experts.
FCC approves new rules on exclusive multi-tenant agreements
The Federal Communication Commission approved Tuesday new rules that that prohibit internet service providers from entering into certain exclusive arrangements with landlords of multi-tenant buildings.
The rules ban exclusive revenue sharing agreements, in which the landlord gets a share of service provider contracts; require providers disclose to tenants “in plain language” the existence of exclusive marketing arrangements; and clarifies rules to allow for multiple service providers to use building wires to deliver service.
The vote to approve comes less than a month after Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed the new set of rules. Rosenworcel reiterating the importance of these new rules at an INCOMPAS policy summit event last week.
Facebook settles a decade long lawsuit by paying $90 Million
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has settled a lawsuit that alleged is used cookies to track users’ internet use even after they logged off, according to The Hill.
The social media giant reportedly settled for $90 million and agreed to delete all the data included in the case.
Drew Pusateri, a Meta spokesperson, stated that “reaching a settlement in this case, which is more than a decade old, is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders and we’re glad to move past this issue.”
Editor’s correction: A previous subhead to this story referred to the “hiring” of 29 outside experts, rather than their recruiting. The subhead has been corrected.
