BROADBAND BREAKFAST, MIKE OGUNJI

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday voted to advance a series of cybersecurity bills. 

“These bipartisan bills will educate the public, smaller providers, and small businesses on how best to protect their telecommunications networks and supply chains,” said committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-New Jersey.

The bills approved in the session includes the Understanding Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks Act, or H.R. 2685, which was introduced by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-California, and Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois. That bill would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to conduct examination reports on the vulnerability of networks and mobile service devices to cyberattacks.

Other legislation passed in the committee Wednesday deals with the cooperation of enterprises and educational institutions working with federal agencies to promote secure networks and supply chains. 

The Information and Communication Technology Strategy Act, or H.R. 4028, was introduced reps. Billy Long, R-Missouri, Abigail Spanberger, D-Virginia, Buddy Carter, R-Georgia, and Jerry McNerney, D-California, and would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to submit a report analyzing the economic competitiveness of vendors within the information and communication technology supply chain.

“I think this bill is critically important to ensure that we are thinking about our supply chain security and do what we can to aid a robust marketplace for com equipment,” said McNerney.  

To assure that small telecommunications operators would receive assistance from the federal government, H.R. 4032, the Open RAN Outreach Act, introduced by reps. Colin Allred, D-Texas, Tom O’Halleran, D-Arizona, Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, and Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina, directs the NTIA to provide outreach to providers with regard to open radio access networks.

With the future moving toward 6G networks, H.R. 4045 – the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhanced Networks Act or the FUTURE Networks Act, and introduced by reps. Mike Doyle, D-Pennsylvania, Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Lucy McBath, D-Georgia – serves to authorize the FCC to create a task force on this matter.

Members of the task force will comprise representatives from the telecommunications industry, public interest organizations, academic institutions, and federal, state and local governments. 

The committee also moved forward the American Cybersecurity Literacy Act, or H.R. 4055, to raise public awareness of cyberattacks. This bill requires the NTIA develop a cyber literacy campaign to educate the public about cybersecurity risks and prevention measures.