With help from Leah Nylen and Rebecca Kern
Editor’s Note: Morning Tech is a free version of POLITICO Pro Technology’s morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
— The bumpy road to 5G: Flights have still been canceled today as AT&T and Verizon fire up their 5G service near aviation safety equipment, despite an agreement that staved off the worst of the chaos.
— Microsoft’s big bet: The fate of the Xbox-maker’s acquisition of game titan Activision-Blizzard rests on how antitrust regulators look at the future of gaming.
— Targeting tech’s ads: Lawmakers know that they have to move fast on tech legislation and are now out with a new measure to ban online platforms from targeting users with ultra-specific personalized ads.
CONGRATS ON MAKING IT TO MIDWEEK! John Hendel in the driver’s seat today and set to steer MT the rest of this week. Here’s hoping these 5G headlines don’t nix my international travel plans for next month.
Any good travel recommendations for Colombia? Nomination gossip? Send it all my way on Twitter at @JohnHendel or by email at [email protected]. Got an event for our calendar? Send details to [email protected]. Anything else? Team info below. And don’t forget: Add @MorningTech and @PoliticoPro on Twitter.
TODAY: SAY HELLO TO 5G (AND RESCHEDULE THAT FLIGHT?) — AT&T and Verizon are today planning to activate faster 5G wireless service using C-band airwaves, despite ongoing rancor from aviation industry officials and a renewed round of concessions from the two carriers Tuesday. The rollout had initially been envisioned as a triumphant moment for U.S. wireless.
— Cue the travel headaches: Despite weeks of White House effort, some airlines are still panicking over the 5G service, which they fear operates too close to frequencies that some altimeters, a kind of aviation equipment, rely on. Delta suggested cancellations are possible. “Apology for Flight Cancellations,” reads a note from All Nippon Airways’ CEO. Air India was tweeting out cancellations of certain flights planned for today.
Wireless carriers had paid $80 billion to obtain this C-band spectrum in a high-profile FCC auction that Trump officials viewed as part of the administration’s legacy. These additional airwaves were meant to make 5G (a longtime marketing buzzword) finally fulfill the promise of lightning-fast internet for consumers and help overcome Chinese tech advances. But here we are.
— The White House is owning the situation, issuing its second 5G statement of the month on Tuesday and describing “non-stop” coordination. President Joe Biden touted the latest compromise as key to avoiding “potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations, and our economic recovery, while allowing more than 90 percent of wireless tower deployment to occur.”
MT will listen for any 5G shoutouts at Biden’s first press conference of 2022, set for today.
— Playing the blame game: AT&T said it’s “frustrated by the FAA’s inability to do what nearly 40 countries have done” in balancing 5G and aviation safety. House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) disputed that characterization in a CNN appearance, instead blaming the Trump-era FCC for holding an FCC spectrum sale despite aviation concerns, as well as the wireless industry for not providing deployment data sooner. (Ajit Pai, the FCC chair under former President Donald Trump, has defended FCC analysis from the time that dismissed these safety concerns).
“Today I was talking to the head of United,” DeFazio told CNN, warning of the airline’s cancelation of overseas flights.
— FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, meanwhile, emphasized the the need for the FAA to review how much 5G will really disrupt aviation equipment. “It is essential that the FAA now complete this process with both care and speed,” she said, touting 5G’s economic significance.
— And how did we get here?: The spat is the latest high-profile spectrum turf war and continues a Trump-era trend, even as the Biden administration seeks to end its predecessor’s interagency chaos. Republican leaders on the House Energy and Commerce and Transportation committees accused the White House of having “sleepwalked through” recent interagency negotiations. And GOP Commissioner Brendan Carr argued the White House should have “sided with the science” of earlier FCC safety assurances.
“It’s too important to have a trustworthy, credible spectrum process that gets this spectrum out there,” Tom Power, general counsel for wireless trade group CTIA, told MT, saying policymakers “need to empower the experts to do their jobs.”
MICROSOFT, ACTIVISION AND THE FUTURE OF GAMING — How much antitrust scrutiny Microsoft’s newly announced $69 billion deal to buy Activision-Blizzard gets may well depend on how antitrust enforcers define “gaming.” If the merger goes through, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in the world, after China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony, and gain control of some of the world’s most popular games, like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush.
— As in the antitrust battle between Apple and Epic Games, the big question for regulators revolves around the contours of the gaming market. Apple, the current No. 3 in gaming, argued that smartphones and mobile games compete with consoles like the Xbox, Sony’s Playstation and Nintendo’s Switch. Epic (and the Microsoft exec who testified at last year’s trial) argued that mobile and console gaming are distinct, largely catering to different audiences.
Today, Microsoft operates mainly on the console side of that divide, but the Activision-Blizzard deal would help the computing giant expand its mobile gaming portfolio. In addition to lucrative titles like Candy Crush, Activision-Blizzard has a mobile version of Call of Duty and is launching a mobile version of another popular console title, Diablo. That fits in with Microsoft’s move into streaming games with Xbox Cloud.
FTC or DOJ? The Justice Department often handles Microsoft’s transactions, since it’s monitored the company for a decade. But the FTC has generally handled the gaming industry and is currently probing Meta’s (then Facebook’s) acquisitions in the virtual reality space, including some related to gaming, according to The Information and Bloomberg.
One person who isn’t worried: Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who said he’s received “encouraging” assurances from Microsoft. “They’ve suggested that they’re going to emphasize access to titles and competition in the marketplace as well as the individual gaming experience,” he said.
AND SPEAKING OF FTC — CNBC co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin will interview FTC Chair Lina Khan this morning (and this acquisition is top of mind). CNBC has billed the appearance as Khan’s “first on-camera sit-down since assuming” her role as chair.
NEW BILL WOULD CRACK DOWN ON TARGETED ADS: Congress has tech back in its sights, and one bill to watch is Democrats’ attempt to go after online platforms targeting advertisements to consumers based on their personal data.
— Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Jan Schakowsky, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act Tuesday to prohibit tech platforms from using information such as a user’s race, gender, religion — as well as information from data brokers — to target them with digital ads. This bill comes amid increased momentum to regulate large tech platforms, with expected Senate Judiciary antitrust tech hearings later this month and state lawsuits on secret ad deals between Facebook and Google.
— The measure would specifically block companies like Facebook and Google from “microtargeting” users with ads, but would allow broad location targeting and contextual advertising. It would also empower the FTC and state attorneys general to enforce the measure and provide a private right of action for consumers to sue over “reckless, willful or intentional” violations.
— Schakowsky wants this bill to be part of bigger bipartisan privacy legislation. And as chair of the House Energy and Commerce consumer protection subcommittee, she said she’ll work on both sides of the aisle to get support. Schakowsky did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— The bill has the backing of several smaller tech companies that also support the Senate antitrust bill, including DuckDuckGo and Proton, and privacy advocacy groups.
— Lawmakers know they have a limited window in which to act. The recent flurry of activity — from antitrust to algorithms to privacy — suggests an anxiousness among Democrats to move their tech agenda ahead of the November midterms, which could upend key dynamics in both chambers. Per Bloomberg, the White House is also holding a meeting about possibly supporting the Senate antitrust legislation under consideration.
HISPANIC CAUCUS TO TECH CEOS: LET’S TALK — Congressional Hispanic Caucus members are asking the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok to discuss Spanish-language misinformation, the caucus announced.
— An election issue? Election-related misinformation could tick up ahead of November’s midterms. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) previously led a letter on the topic and is among those who could convene hearings. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), another signer, has suggested it’s a “huge factor” affecting voting.
Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), who co-chairs the Artificial Intelligence Caucus and is a member of House Energy and Commerce’s telecom subcommittee, announced he’s not seeking reelection, as did Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee’s cybersecurity subcommittee … Jennifer Milici, the FTC’s former chief trial counsel, and Dominic Vote, the former head of FTC’s Mergers II unit, which oversees computer hardware and software mergers, have joined the law firm WilmerHale … Stephanie E. Minnock, who worked in the FCC’s Wireline Bureau, has joined Lumen Technologies’ Washington office as assistant general counsel focused on FCC subsidies … Salesforce named Lori Castillo Martinez as chief equality officer … Public Knowledge hired Lisa Macpherson, who’s worked in consumer marketing, as a senior policy analyst to work on content moderation and protecting democratic information systems. The organization also promoted Courtney Lee to chief operating officer and Sara Collins to senior policy counsel on data privacy and consumer protection … Uber is expanding its Washington federal affairs team, hiring Erin Reif, who’s worked as a Hill staffer, as senior manager for federal affairs and Punya Krishnappa, who’s worked as a Democratic campaign official, as manager for federal campaigns. … Doha Mekki has been promoted to principal deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust on a permanent basis. She had been serving in the role on an acting basis since December. Before that, she was previously assistant chief of the antitrust division’s defense, industrials and aerospace section and special counsel for labor.
Hit the brakes: Google and Amazon are urging caution as lawmakers take up key antitrust measures, Axios reports.
Hit the gas: “More than three dozen small tech companies are urging the Senate to move forward with antitrust legislation, countering lobbying by tech giants like Amazon and Google,” Leah reports for Pros.
With great power comes great oversight: The NTIA’s big broadband buildout mandate will inevitably come with a lot of scrutiny, per Washington Post.
Calling all frustrated broadband customers: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) wants her constituents to tell her what their internet connection is like ahead of this planned federal broadband expansion, per West Virginia’s MetroNews.
Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Bob King ([email protected]), Heidi Vogt ([email protected]), Emily Birnbaum ([email protected]), John Hendel ([email protected]), Rebecca Kern ([email protected]), Alexandra S. Levine ([email protected]) and Leah Nylen ([email protected]). Got an event for our calendar? Send details to [email protected]. And don’t forget: Add @MorningTech and @PoliticoPro on Twitter.
TTYL!
Discover more from Today Headline
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.