The U.S. Senate panel will hold a hearing on December 1 on the FCC nominee

by David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s pick for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will face a hearing on Dec. 1 before the Senate Commerce Committee, as will Biden’s nominee for another key telecommunications post, committee officials said.

The committee will consider nominating Gigi Sohn, a former senior adviser to Tom Wheeler who served as FCC chairman under President Barack Obama, to fill the vacant seat and Alan Davidson, a senior adviser at Mozilla, to head the Telecommunications and Domestic Telecommunications Division at the Commerce Department. Information Administration (NTIA).

In October, Biden nominated FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel for a new term on the five-member commission and named its chairwoman. The Commerce Committee also plans to vote on her nomination on December 1, following a hearing last week.

Biden has waited more than nine months for nominations to the FCC, which has been unable to deal with some key issues because it currently has one vacancy and is split 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans.

The FCC, chaired by Obama, Donald Trump’s predecessor, adopted net neutrality rules in 2015, prohibiting ISPs from blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid high-speed connections.

“Now more than ever, Americans truly need net neutrality,” said Democratic Senator Ed Markey.

Without confirmation of a new term, Rosenworcel will have to leave the FCC next month.

Rosenworcel told senators last week that she supports net neutrality rules but provided few details on how she might take steps to reverse the 2017 phase-out.

NTIA, the executive agency primarily responsible for advising the White House on telecommunications and information policy issues, will oversee more than $42 billion in funding approved this month by Congress to expand Internet access.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Alex Richardson)