Some states have fairly sharp pencils for estimated awards from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD), but others are working with wide ranges. States were mixed on whether it's challenging to plan their broadband programs without knowing the award amount. NTIA is expected to make funding allocation announcements June 30.
The politicization of Newsmax's blackout on DirecTV isn't considered likely to change cable carriage practices, experts told us. Conservatives cheered the end of the blackout this week, with the right-leaning cable network returning to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse Thursday (see 2303220080).
U.S. District Judge Robert Payne seemed open multiple times in oral argument Monday to deciding U.S. Bankruptcy Court erred in dismissing SES claims against Intelsat over the collapse of the C-Band Alliance (CBA) (see 2210030050). Oral argument before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond (docket 3:22-cv-668) lasted nearly four hours. Payne said he might require additional briefing.
FCC action on Newsmax's January blackout on DirecTV (see 2301250042) is unlikely, though it generated a brief burst of complaints filed with the FCC plus House GOP lawmaker ire, media industry officials said in interviews. There also have been almost no signals a congressional hearing is likely in the near future, lawmakers and media observers told us. Newsmax and DirecTV didn't comment.
FCC commissioners unanimously approved a supplemental coverage from space (SCS) NPRM at their March open meeting Thursday, but Republican commissioners sounded alarms about the proceeding potentially slowing agency processing of pending applications regarding satellite connectivity to smartphones. The NPRM's approval was expected (see 2303090047). Also getting 4-0 OK was an inmate calling services (ICS) NPRM on implementing the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act and a Further NPRM on expanding the number of broadcast TV markets required to provide audio description (see 2303100043). The approved items weren't released.
DirecTV litigation accusing Nexstar and its broadcast sidecars Mission and White Knight of colluding to set retransmission consent fee prices is likely more a retrans consent negotiation tactic than a direct attack on sidecar operations, broadcast lawyers told us.
A growing number of space operators are going to face difficulty meeting their milestone deadlines for deployment, and the FCC needs to craft a policy response, said space lawyer Patrick Campbell of Milbank Tuesday at Satellite 2023. The problem is licenses given before the pandemic facing delays due to COVID-19 and supply chain issues, plus a launch supply bottleneck and needing more time, Campbell said. The ITU’s deployment milestones similarly will likely come up at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23), said Audrey Allison, senior project leader, Aerospace Center for Space Policy and Strategy.
The government and some major customers are going to start pushing for more standardization for satellite connectivity providers, constellation executives said Monday at Satellite 2023. Several said an open network architecture and interoperability is the route to tying into mobile networks. However, Mangata Networks CEO Brian Holz said there's never satellite industry agreement on standards, and systems have to be designed instead to be adaptable.
Both Iridium and Lynk target the direct-to-handset universe, but they're seemingly worlds apart on their appraisal of potential market size for the service, with CEOs of the two companies frequently disagreeing during a panel Monday at Satellite 2023. The scant mobile network operator (MNO) investment in such supplemental coverage from space (SCS), and almost no one from the wireless industry attending the panel, is telling, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said.
The FCC's single network future NPRM on its March agenda (see 2302230059) is expected to get 4-0 commissioner support, we were told.