INCOMPAS News -- May 4, 2026

Vol. 22, No. 18

May 4, 2026

INCOMPAS Blog

Voltage, Fiber and Red Tape: The Infrastructure Gap Standing Between the US and AI Leadership

Last week, INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering published a blog—Voltage, Fiber and Red Tape: The Infrastructure Gap Standing Between America and AI Leadership—in which he wrote:

"Decades from now when historians discuss the AI race, they will talk about AI models and the new companies that entered the marketplace. But more importantly, they will write about whether America built the infrastructure fast enough to matter. The transmission lines, the fiber routes, the data centers and the permitting systems that either enabled deployment at scale or became the reason America fell behind.

That reckoning is not a future problem. It is happening now, in committee rooms, regulatory dockets and local permitting offices across the country. The decisions made in Washington this year on grid modernization, broadband deployment will determine whether American AI leadership holds or erodes."

Read the full blog here.

Navigating the Digital Infrastructure Deal: Key Considerations for Buyers, Sellers and Targets in 2026

If you missed last week's webinar, Navigating the Digital Infrastructure Deal: Key Considerations for Buyers, Sellers and Targets in 2026, you can watch it on demand now.

Morgan Lewis Partners Danielle Burt and Patricia Cave offered insights from Washington on the key regulatory and strategic considerations for companies pursuing transactions as buyers, sellers or targets in 2026.

The webinar featured key points for transaction parties as they diligence, negotiate and seek regulatory approvals for new deals. The webinar also examined what recent regulatory developments—such as the FCC’s new foreign adversary ownership certifications—mean for telecom deal planning, approvals and post-closing compliance.

FCC Issues Tentative Agenda for May 20 Open Meeting

The FCC issued a tentative agenda for its May 20 open meeting, where it will consider:

Enhancing Know-Your-Upstream-Provider Requirements – An FNPRM that would propose to enhance the STIR/SHAKEN framework used by voice providers to combat illegal robocalls by improving know-your-upstream-provider (KYUP) requirements and oversight, raising standards for STIR/SHAKEN attestations and closing implementation loopholes.
Streamlining Broadband Data Processes and Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens – A Report and Order and FNPRM that would take several steps to streamline and improve the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC). This item would alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens on service providers and challenge process participants by streamlining audits and verifications, improving challenge processes, and reducing regulatory burdens that add costs without a corresponding benefit to the quality of provider-reported data, all while ensuring that the data depicted on the National Broadband Map is accurate.
Modernizing the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) – A Third Report and Order that would modernize DIRS by enhancing its capabilities while eliminating unnecessary reporting burdens. These actions would provide better information to emergency managers during disasters and allow communications service providers to focus their resources on service restoration.
Launching "High-Cost" Program Initiative – An NPRM that would seek comment on how a High-Cost Modernization initiative could best ensure that all Americans, particularly those in rural areas, have access to next-generation services in an ever-changing environment.

FCC to Hold Workshop on IP Interconnection, ICC and USF

The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau issued a public notice announcing the FCC will hold a workshop on July 15 and 16, 2026, to discuss the proposed reforms to IP interconnection, intercarrier compensation and related legacy Universal Service Fund (USF) issues. The workshop will identify potential obstacles, share best practices and develop potential solutions that support the FCC’s goal of a smooth and efficient transition.

The workshop will also be streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live.

FCC Launches Broadband Data Coverage Restoration Process

The FCC's Broadband Data Task Force and the Office of Economics and Analytics issued a public notice announcing the launch of the coverage restoration process on May 7, 2026.

The specifications for data required by service providers seeking to restore coverage in the Broadband Data Collection are now available. They also said concurrent with release of the public notice is a draft of the BDC sixth report and order and FNPRM, in which the FCC would seek comment on a variety of additional approaches and evidentiary requirements to further streamline the coverage restoration process.

FCC Files Brief in Equipment Authorization Appeal

The FCC filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a case seeking review of the October 2025 report and order on the equipment authorization program. The FCC said Hikvision has not met its burden to establish standing to pursue the challenge because it has not shown it faced any concrete and impending injury when it initiated this appeal. The FCC also said even if Hikvision has standing, its challenge to the FCC’s authority to consider and address national security risks fails on the merits.

House Passes Farm, Food and National Security Act

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 on April 30. Among other things, the bill would provide funding for Rural Utilities Service programs, including $350 million per year through 2031 for the ReConnect Program. The bill also provides funding for middle-mile infrastructure through 2031 and forbids rate regulation for broadband service.

House Subcommittees Hold Hearings on AI and Energy Needs

On April 29, 2026, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy held a legislative hearing entitled AI and the Grid: Meeting Growing Power Demand While Protecting Ratepayers, which focused on how rapid data center growth is reshaping electricity demand, grid investment and ratepayer protection.

The same day, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing entitled Powering the 21st Century with American Copper, where they discussed the role of domestic copper in meeting rising U.S. demand for electricity, grid expansion, AI-related infrastructure, manufacturing and national security needs.The hearing focused on four main questions:

How urgent the projected copper supply gap is
Whether the U.S. should respond primarily through new domestic mining and permitting reform or through a broader strategy that emphasizes recycling, refining and manufacturing
How to reduce U.S. dependence on China for smelting and processing
How to balance domestic copper development with environmental safeguards and tribal concerns

House Hearing Explores DHS Role Managing Infrastructure Risks

On April 29, 2026, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection held a hearing entitled Data Centers, Telecommunications Networks, and Space-Based Systems: Modernizing DHS’s SRMA Role for the Communications and IT Sectors, during which it examined whether DHS, principally through CISA, has the authorities, staffing, partnerships and sector structure needed to manage risk across communications and information technology infrastructure that now includes hyperscale data centers, telecommunications networks, subsea cables and space-based systems.

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