Major wireless carriers have agreed to extend protections for flight operations from some C-band deployments until Jan. 1, 2028. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and UScellular filed the latest voluntary commitments Friday, posted by the FCC Monday in docket 18-122. The development comes as the U.S. wireless industry Monday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first cellphone call, placed by Martin Cooper, then a researcher at Motorola.
Regulators dealing with the growing crush of supplemental coverage from space applications might support trying to help foster SCS business initiatives, but that can't come at the expense of protecting incumbents from interference, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said. In an interview, he discussed with us the genesis of Iridium's SCS partnership with Qualcomm (see 2301050061), on what handset makers and mobile network operators (MNO) are looking for in satellite partners, and what SCS partnerships may be in Iridium's future. Following are Desch's lightly edited responses.
Expect yet more announced partnerships involving supplemental coverage from space (SCS) services in coming months, satellite industry insiders and watchers told us. Agreements announced in recent months include Apple and Globalstar (see 2209070016), Iridium and Qualcomm (see 2301050061), SpaceX and T-Mobile (see 2208260038), Ligado/Viasat/Skylo (see 2303020023) and AST SpaceMobile and Nokia, plus AST and Lynk signing deals with numerous mobile network operators. All MNOs and handset operators will have some kind of satellite-enabled direct-to-handset capability within a handful of years on part of their network, experts said.
Tech and communications companies should prepare themselves for an FTC rulemaking that could significantly affect policies for consumer subscription services, legal experts and consumer advocates said in interviews.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, urged Agriculture Committee leaders Thursday to “consider” making changes to the Agriculture Department's ReConnect program before allocating it “any new funding” as part of the 2023 farm bill. Cruz noted his priority of “rigorous oversight of the massive amounts of federal taxpayer money -- calculated at over $175 billion -- dedicated to broadband over the last five years” via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other legislation. Cruz and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., in recent months repeatedly raised concerns about broadband spending (see 2301260055).
FCC regulations on broadcasting, telephony and accessibility will “become increasingly hollow shells of themselves” unless Congress decides to what degree the FCC should “move into the app ecosystem,” said Commissioner Nathan Simington at this week’s Free State Foundation Conference. Panelists at the event, including Commissioner Brendan Carr, also discussed broadband deployment and definitions, and the agency’s spectrum authority. The FCC “isn’t currently regulating the edge space, but that doesn’t have to last forever,” Simington said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should take up the Standard/Tegna broadcasters’ appeal of the FCC’s HDO, said NAB in an amicus filing Thursday. “This Court should treat this order according to its intent and effect—a de facto final denial of the license application—and hear the appeal,” NAB said in the brief filed late Thursday. Refusal to act is itself an agency final action, said the Standard/Tegna broadcast parties in a filing opposing the FCC’s motion asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to dismiss their appeal (see 2303280072). The FCC Media Bureau’s action “on gossamer evidence” injects “untenable unpredictability into license transfer applications,” NAB said.
Intelsat and SES are talking about combining, as a key area of business for both -- maritime connectivity -- will soon face new low earth orbit (LEO) competitors. Competition and antitrust issues could be a big hurdle for any deal to clear. SES confirmed this week it's in talks with Intelsat about a possible deal.
NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson assured attendees at an NTIA listening session on a national spectrum strategy Thursday the administration understands the need for concrete action and a spectrum pipeline for 5G and 6G. Twenty other speakers signed up to offer comments, which covered all the usual spectrum issues, from the importance of unlicensed and dedicated license spectrum to evolving sharing technologies to the potential role for THz spectrum.
The FCC’s proposed policy statement on receivers lays out core principles to “help inform the Commission’s future actions and stakeholder expectations about interference from spectrally and spatially proximate sources,” according to a draft released Thursday for the commissioners’ April 20 open meeting. The draft draws on recommendations in a 2015 report by the FCC’s Technology Advisory Council.