Week of December 9–14, 2024Telecom Intelligence: Week of December 9, 2024
Washington compressed a month of telecom policy into a single Wednesday. On December 11 the Senate Commerce Committee put the Salt Typhoon breach on the public record, with witnesses telling senators that the 3 billion dollars finally headed to the rip-and-replace program was a good start and not a finish. The same day, the FCC voted to open all 1,200 megahertz of the 6 gigahertz band to very low power devices, seeding the next generation of wearables and augmented-reality hardware with unlicensed spectrum. And across the Capitol, the House passed the 895 billion dollar defense bill carrying that rip-and-replace money plus the spectrum studies that will shape the next decade of mid-band auctions.