State telecom regulation is needed to reach rural areas, two Democrats running for utility commissions in red states said in interviews ahead of Nov. 8 elections. Facing one such challenge, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chair Chris Nelson (R) told us his state has made “tremendous progress” rolling out broadband in recent years. Alabama, New Mexico and some Colorado voters will have ballot questions on broadband next month.
The Wireless ISP Association asked the FCC to expand the new enhanced competition incentive program (ECIP) to include WISPs and other providers not classified as common carriers, in comments posted through Friday in docket 19-38. Commissioners approved the program in July (see 2207140055), and the rules formally took effect Thursday, but commissioners also asked follow-up questions in a Further NPRM. The order was approved in response to provisions in the Mobile Now Act, which became law in 2018 (see 2203310036).
AT&T continues to grow its subscriber base, adding a net 708,000 postpaid phone customers in Q3, the company reported Thursday. AT&T was the first of the big three wireless carriers to report. The company also said its 5G mid-band spectrum now covers 100 million POPs, with 130 million expected year-end. AT&T’s stock price rose 7.72% Thursday to close at $16.74, the company's best day on Wall Street in two years.
The FTC voted 3-1 Thursday to explore issuing rules combating fake online reviews. Commissioner Christine Wilson dissented, saying the FTC’s “avalanche” of rulemakings risks the agency becoming more of a legislature than a law enforcer.
Cleanup of existing orbital debris could be complicated by lack of clear international norms on how to handle small objects, space law experts told us. Many said clean-up efforts will almost surely focus on big objects in space since technology to deal with small debris is still under development.
California will shift to a connections-based state USF contribution method and adopt one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) rules for pole attachments, utility commissioners decided at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. Also, the California Public Utilities Commission denied -- at least for now -- eligible telecom carrier designation for Starlink, needed for federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support.
NTIA intends to open a planned request for comment as part of its work to move forward on a national spectrum strategy (see 2209190061) “sooner rather than later,” but there’s no specific timeline, Senior Spectrum Adviser Scott Harris said Wednesday during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy event. House Communications Subcommittee Chief GOP Counsel Kate O’Connor, meanwhile, urged the Senate Commerce Committee to advance the House-passed Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) and faulted the House Commerce Committee's recent oversight of interagency spectrum policy infighting.
The FTC likely needs to intervene on multiple fronts to protect children against increasingly blurred lines between social media advertising and organic content, Chair Lina Khan said Wednesday.
Carriers are deploying stand-alone 5G, but there are challenges carriers are struggling with in early deployments, speakers said Wednesday during a TelecomTV virtual summit. So far, there have been only about 30 deployments of stand-alone 5G worldwide, said Robert Curran, Appledore consulting analyst. That’s “not that large of a number, but it is a start,” he said.
At a Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS) conference Wednesday.