Even considering the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund proceeds SpaceX will receive, the business case for its terminals is iffy, and the company likely will need to rely "on really high-end, bandwidth-hungry subscribers" with particularly low churn rates to amortize those costs, Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm blogged Monday. Lowering end-user terminal costs is the linchpin of SpaceX and all low earth orbit constellations getting into the consumer broadband market, he said. SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday.
Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Intel and Qualcomm proposed an FCC “compromise” for very-low-power portable operations throughout the 6 GHz band. They proposed that devices must meet an out-of-band emissions level of -37 dBm/MHz, measured by root mean square at 5925 MHz and prioritize operations in channels above 6105 MHz, said their filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-183.
Form 477 data from Dec. 31 is due by March 15, an FCC public notice said Monday. The deadline was extended due to "significant" technical issues last week (see 2102230060).
The Agriculture Department seeks comments by April 27 on a rule to simplify eligibility requirements for the ReConnect Program in docket RUS-20-Telecom-0023, a news release said Friday. The rule will eliminate paperwork requirements and let applicants submit a letter of credit as "proof of their financial ability to complete a project."
House Commerce Committee member Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., proposed an amendment to the American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 budget reconciliation package (HR-1319) that allocates $7.6 billion for E-rate remote learning (see 2102100061). It would require the FCC “establish a priority system that prioritizes” the funding for schools and libraries in unserved and rural areas. The House Rules Committee is expected to consider Pence’s amendment and other proposals during a Friday meeting to set floor consideration rules for the package. Pence and other House Commerce Republicans voted against the E-rate money when the committee advanced its portion of HR-1319 earlier this month (see 2102120066).
The FTC scheduled an April 29 virtual workshop on dark patterns, the agency announced Wednesday. Dark patterns “describe a range of potentially manipulative user interface designs used on websites and mobile apps,” it said (see 1904090084). The agency is accepting public comment through June 29.
The FCC Office of Economics and Analytics extended the March 1 filing deadline for Form 477 data due to "significant unanticipated technical issues that have required the site to be inaccessible," a public notice said Tuesday. A new deadline will be announced once the issues are resolved, it said.
Abandoning the current way of reviewing long-form applications for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction would be "disruptive, time-consuming, and litigation-producing," the Wireless ISP Association told the FCC in a letter posted Tuesday in docket 10-90. WISPA argued other filings in recent weeks were "motivated by auction outcomes that they find unfavorable to their constituencies." It said requests to change the process would lead to delays in authorizing support. WISPA singled out NTCA-proposed changes.
Extend Lifeline program waivers from Feb. 28 "to prevent the involuntary de-enrollment of Lifeline subscribers while the public health emergency persists," Free Press and the National Consumer Law Center asked FCC Wireline Bureau staff, per a filing Friday in docket 20-445. They asked the commission to consider an electronic benefit transfer program as a way to confirm eligibility for the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program (see 2102170028).
Let ISPs offer bundled services as part of the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, "Emergency Broadband Benefit Carriers" asked staff for FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, per a filing Friday in docket 20-445. Bundled offerings "that include talk and text is critical to the success of the EBB program"; otherwise it would "unnecessarily complicate matters for mobile carriers," the letter said. It didn't say which carriers participated. Members are UScellular, Smith Bagley, Cellular South and Cellular South Licenses, Union Wireless, Viaero Wireless and East Kentucky Network, according to past filings provided to us by agency officials. Lukas LaFuria, the law firm representing the carriers, didn't comment.