Industry groups urged the FCC not to revisit its current rules for the affordable connectivity program's annual data collection, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-450 (see 2301120056). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required the commission to collect data on prices and subscription rates offered by participating providers. Consumer advocacy organizations disagreed and continued to back subscriber-level data collection with additional data points.
An extension of the FCC's auction authority through May 19 isn't yet assured amid hopes for a slightly longer renewal to give lawmakers even more time to negotiate a broader spectrum legislative package, several senators said in interviews Monday and Tuesday. The House passed its bill to temporarily reauthorize the FCC's mandate (HR-1108) Monday on a voice vote. Lawmakers have been wary about the current March 9 expiration of the FCC's remit due to the slow pace of legislative talks since this Congress returned Jan. 3 (see 2302220063).
Broadcasters and internet and advertising groups slammed a proposed digital ad levy in a Connecticut tax overhaul bill (HB-5673), in written testimony Monday. “The proposed tax on digital advertising would represent one of the most serious threats to commercial advertising in the United States in several decades,” said a coalition including NAB, NCTA, NetChoice, TechNet, Internet Coalition, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and Association of National Advertisers.
Public TV will have a difficult time getting additional funding from the Republican-controlled House during the next budget cycle and could face bills to cut or eliminate funding, America’s Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler told the APTS Media Summit Monday. Butler said he plans to seek a $40 million increase in CPB’s funding but conceded that “level funding is a win for the next two years ... And under the House's new rules for debate, an amendment to reduce or eliminate our funding could well come to a vote in the full House.”
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted the FCC’s proposal for the commissioners' March 16 open meeting to approve a mobile satellite service allocation to some terrestrial flexible-use bands (see 2302230059). Speaking Monday to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Rosenworcel also noted the FCC’s work on the 12.7 GHz band, the topic of an October NPRM (see 2210270046).
Standard General Managing Partner Soohyung Kim vowed to continue pursuing the purchase of Tegna and urged the FCC to vote on the deal, in a release Monday, but Tegna’s earnings earnings release that morning said the company is “currently evaluating its options.”
NTIA is close to fully staffing the dozens of federal program officer (FPO) positions that will often be the face to states and broadband providers for the agency's broadband equity, access and deployment efforts, BEAD Program Director Evan Feinman told us. FPO outreach and preparation already underway is getting high marks from broadband provider stakeholders.
Regulators in Europe and elsewhere are mulling what they can do, if anything, to help "green" the telecom sector, they said. Many mobile operators have committed to achieving carbon neutrality in coming years, and EU telecom and spectrum regulators are actively engaged in determining whether they can aid that effort, they said. Mobile operators said they expect regulation but want to set the agenda.
The three largest U.S. tower companies see lots of runway ahead for 5G, based on comments in financial calls as they reported Q4 earnings. American Tower became the last to report Thursday. None of the companies had much to say about COVID-19 pandemic aftereffects or the effects of inflation, big issues in some recent quarters.
A Montana state senator on Friday urged colleagues not to significantly change his comprehensive privacy bill. SB-384 is based on Connecticut’s law and balances consumer protections with industry “functionality,” Sen. Daniel Zolnikov (R) told the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee at a livestreamed hearing. Industry and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supported Zolnikov's bill at the hearing, but Vice Chair Willis Curdy (D) noted a fast-approaching March 3 deadline to transmit bills to the opposite chamber.