ACA Connects praised the FCC FY 2021 regulatory fee order for setting satellite MVPD fees to the same rate paid by other MVPDs (see 2108270072). “The FCC finally has made the regulatory fee amount it charges DIRECTV and DISH Network per subscriber equal to that imposed on cable and IPTV providers, closing the book on its seven-year phase-in process,” said President Matthew Polka Monday. Information Technology Industry Council Director-Policy Joel Miller expressed concern about the agency’s look at possible future changes to regulatory fees. “The law and process undergirding how the Commission allocates the burden of reg fees among regulated entities has been well-established,” Miller emailed Friday. “Any changes to this model of regulation could have far-reaching negative consequences and should be carefully considered.”
Over-the-top video subscriptions will rise from about 230 million this year to 277 million in 2026, blogged Parks Associates Tuesday. In Q1, the average OTT subscription in U.S. broadband households was roughly 2.5 years. Subscriptions had a strong correlation with age, with younger consumers holding on to a subscription for a much shorter time. Younger consumers may subscribe to a larger number of services “but are more likely to churn through them,” said the report. “Information providers can design support services that appeal to consumers at different life stages, who prefer different channels, and adapt as their needs evolve,” said Everise President Dave Palmer.
OneWeb launched another 34 satellites Saturday, bringing its total in-orbit constellation to 288, it said Monday. Those 288 are part of its plans for a 648-satellite broadband fleet, it said, saying it remains on target to start offering global service in 2022.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology delayed a comment deadline on the development of AI risk management guidance, from Thursday (see 2107290065) to Sept. 15, the agency said Thursday. “The framework is being developed through a consensus-driven, open, transparent, and collaborative process that will include workshops and other opportunities to provide input,” NIST said. An initial virtual worship is set for Oct. 19-21.
YouTube will start adjusting the default upload setting for users ages 13-17 to the most private option available, over the coming weeks as part of new safety and digital well-being options it announced Tuesday for YouTube and YouTube Kids. "Take a break" and "bedtime" reminders, plus autoplay set to off, will be by default, it said. James Beser, director-product management, kids and family, blogged that the company will begin to remove overly commercial content from YouTube Kids such as videos that directly encourage children to spend money.
Broadcom, Cisco and Facebook announced the launch of the Open Automated Frequency Coordination Software Group, as part of the Telecom Infra Project, to spur the commercialization of 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices. The group hopes to “develop a common reference open source software for an AFC system,” said a Tuesday news release: “The AFC will be used by unlicensed devices in the newly available 6 GHz band to operate outdoor and increased range indoor while ensuring incumbent services are protected.” Many applications and use cases “we’re just beginning to dream up with the introduction of Wi-Fi 6 and the 6 GHz spectrum will rely on standard power, greater range and reliability,” said Rakesh Thaker, Cisco vice president-wireless engineering: “This software group will play an important role in ensuring those applications can become reality, while also protecting important incumbent services.”
It’s critical for Facebook to allow independent research of its platform, a group of Democratic senators wrote CEO Mark Zuckerberg after the company terminated New York University’s Ad Observatory Project’s access. It’s imperative for Facebook to “allow credible academic researchers and journalists” to “conduct independent research that will help illuminate how the company can better tackle misinformation, disinformation, and other harmful activity that is proliferating on its platforms,” wrote Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Minn.; Chris Coons, Del.; and Mark Warner, Va., Friday. The company didn’t comment Monday.
The FCC posted mobile coverage maps Friday, based on information from providers. The maps show different coverage levels among the three major carriers and UScellular, with Verizon’s data coverage appearing to surpass AT&T and T-Mobile's. An FCC spokesperson said the maps are preliminary. “This preview of a mobile broadband and voice coverage map is the first produced under the criteria established by the Broadband DATA Act and reflects data voluntarily provided to the FCC,” a spokesperson emailed. “As the FCC builds its systems and continues to develop these maps, it will integrate into the process consumer and other stakeholder feedback intended to challenge and eventually verify the coverage.” Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel acknowledged “much work remains.” The maps, by the Broadband Data Task Force, are available here. “Using improved systems and data, we can provide better information about where broadband service is and is not,” Rosenworcel said. Spokespersons for consumer groups said they were studying the materials. “Coverage maps are an endless battle that never seems to get solved,” said Summit Ridge Group’s Armand Musey. The coverage likely reflects areas with line of sight to a tower and are only preliminary, he said. Rural Wireless Association counsel Carri Bennet told us it’s not clear why the maps used data from only four providers. The FCC didn’t “share how the data was developed or what underlying formulas were used,” she said: The agency says it’s based on theoretical propagation modeling and not “real world coverage.” It's “a helpful first step towards generating more reliable coverage maps,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry: “We look forward to reviewing the maps to assess whether they improve the reliability of the coverage predictions.” Detailed, granular maps "are critical to accurately identifying where there are gaps in broadband service and efficiently targeting public and private investment dollars,” emailed Joan Marsh, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations. “The LTE voice and data maps that Verizon provided and that the FCC published today are a first step toward better understanding the state of wireless broadband coverage in the country,” a Verizon spokesperson emailed. "As the wireless industry invested $30 billion in 2020 alone to deploy the infrastructure that powered our networks through the pandemic, CTIA and our member companies are continuing to work with our federal partners to help close the digital divide," the group said in a statement.
NAB told the FCC it should allocate the costs of implementing the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act to bureaus associated with broadband mapping instead of raising regulatory fees for broadcasters. President Gordon Smith spoke with acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday, per a filing posted in docket 21-90 Thursday: The proposed regulatory fee increase would lead to broadcasters subsidizing 16% of the costs of the mapping effort. The increase is “not only unfair and contrary to the statute, but extremely difficult for radio broadcasters in particular to absorb” with the pandemic, the filing said. NAB asked the FCC to remove the Media Bureau from its calculation of the cost of the mapping effort and distribute the costs to licensees associated with the International, Wireless and Wireline bureaus.
Akamai had “de minimis” financial impact from the two service disruptions in as many months that cost some customers their connectivity (see 2107300039), said CEO Tom Leighton on a Q2 call Tuesday. “We lost, at the peak, about 2% of our traffic for up to one hour,” he said. “We care a lot about reliability at Akamai. It is core to everything we want to do, and we've put a ton of effort into making our solutions be reliable over the last 10-plus years.” Akamai had a “disastrous” outcome in 2004 when “we actually took the entire platform down for about an hour,” said Leighton. “That didn't happen in this case, but we did hurt hundreds of our customers, and we deeply regret that.” In both the recent outages, an update “caused a problem,” he said: “We are taking a fresh look at how we release updates to make sure that something like this won't happen again.”