Akin’s Mid-Year TMT Report Provides Important Updates on Regulatory and Policy Developments for TMT Leaders

From the impact of changed congressional and agency leadership to the government’s growing appetite to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and social media platforms and, perhaps, break up Big Tech, this report provides a mid-year assessment of the following:

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) leadership remains in flux, but has new hope with the nomination of Anna Gomez.
• Increasing antitrust focus on Big Tech.
• Proposals to regulate digital platforms and AI.
• Possible content moderation reforms.
• The future of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority.
• Spectrum for drones and advanced aviation.
• Adoption of digital discrimination rules.
• Increased scrutiny on foreign ownership of telecommunications assets.
• The new FCC Space Bureau and evolving satellite and space regulations.
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) kudos for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)-style spectrum sharing among government and industry.
• Revised broadband maps to guide federal broadband investment.
• Billions in funding to improve broadband infrastructure nationwide, and support Open Radio Access Networks and chips.
• Whether social media and Big Tech companies will be included in a new contribution methodology for the Universal Service Fund program.
• The implications of the intersection of technology, media & telecommunications (TMT) and national security on international suppliers, as well as U.S. carriers and networks.
• Potentially industry-shaping mergers in the TMT industry.

A broad cross section of Akin’s Technology team collaborated on this report. Download What to Watch in TMT, Akin’s 2023 mid-year update, to learn more about these and other topics that will influence the direction of the TMT industry for the second half of 2023 and beyond.