State broadband leaders asked the FCC and NTIA to extend deadlines for the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) grant program. The National Governors’ Association is participating in the effort to seek more time for broadband map challenges, said Maine Connectivity Authority President Andrew Butcher at an MCA board virtual meeting Friday. “The maps are far from accurate.”
The communications market doesn’t need affordability metrics, telecom industry groups told the California Public Utilities Commission in comments this week. The CPUC received feedback Wednesday on a 2020 affordability report released last month and possibly applying the agency’s metrics to communications (see 2210140036). In a separate docket, the state commission received mixed reviews on a proposed pilot program for stacking federal affordable connectivity program (ACP) funds on state LifeLine support (see 2210140068).
Trying to ensure that broadband, equity, access and deployment program money doesn't end up paying for overbuilding of existing broadband networks is a big cable priority, industry and company officials told us. ACA Connects' advocacy, which has focused on NTIA, will increasingly turn toward states in coming weeks as they lay out their challenge processes to, and seek OK from, NTIA, said Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Mike Jacobs.
The FCC will consider an NPRM that would define digital discrimination and adopt best practices for states and local governments to combat it, during the commissioners' Dec. 21 meeting. Also on the agenda are an Enforcement Bureau action and NPRMs seeking comment on ways the FCC can facilitate acceptance of satellite and earth station applications under its Part 25 rules, on a proposal to require wireless carriers and text providers to use location-based routing to avoid misrouting wireless 911 calls and texts, and on proposed modifications to the Telecom Relay Service Fund.
Senate Commerce Committee leaders told us Wednesday they’re moving closer to agreement on some elements of a spectrum legislative package that goes beyond simply renewing the FCC’s auction authority but haven’t reached a deal to move such a measure during the lame-duck session. Meanwhile, the prospects for Senate confirmation of FCC nominee Gigi Sohn before the end of this Congress are further diminishing (see 2211180076) as leaders define legislative priorities before House control flips to the GOP in January, Commerce leaders said.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency shouldn’t write rules that rush ISPs and network providers reporting cyber incidents, said representatives from Comcast, Oracle and Palo Alto Networks Tuesday.
Having heard the spectrum and regulatory needs of in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing companies, the FCC now needs to move quickly on an NPRM to address them, ISAM operators said in docket 22-271 reply comments Tuesday. The commission received comments last month in its notice of inquiry about ways to aid nascent ISAM operations (see 2211010025). NTIA said it and federal agencies "support and commend" FCC efforts toward ensuring ISAM industry activities have access to spectrum and helping drive ISAM growth.
The FCC will consider "specific proposals for preventing and eliminating digital discrimination" during the commissioners' Dec. 21 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday. Commissioners will also consider changes to satellite application processing rules, a proposal on wireless 911 call routing, and a proposal to modify the Telecom Relay Service Fund compensation formula.
Google and iHeartMedia violated the FTC Act when they aired some 29,000 “deceptive endorsements by radio personalities promoting their use of and experience with Google’s Pixel 4 phone” in 2019 and 2020, the FTC and seven state attorneys general said Monday in a settlement for $9.4 million.
MVPD and telecom groups don’t agree with broadcasters on the practicality of revamping the FCC’s regulatory fee system, said reply comments filed in docket 22-301. NAB, a group of 57 smaller broadcasters and nearly all state broadcast associations filed replies in support of proposals from NAB and the Satellite Industry Association to rethink how the FCC parcels out the fees, but the Wireless ISP Association, NCTA and CTIA panned the idea. “The proposals of NAB and SIA are self-serving, impracticable, and would be unmanageable,” said NCTA.