NTIA's $5 million capacity and planning grants through the broadband, equity, access and deployment program are “hugely important” and the agency is “going to support them every step of the way," said Evan Feinman, the program's director, during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar Tuesday. Feinman emphasized the need for partnerships among providers, local governments and anchor institutions, saying they should work with their state broadband offices now if they haven't begun.
Bipartisan legislation introduced last week for regulating digital assets is weighted too heavily in favor of industry, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told us Thursday. Various committees are jockeying for position to define digital asset markets, which have drawn White House attention (see 2203090072).
The FCC plans to release details about the affordable connectivity program's outreach grants and pilot program aimed at boosting enrollment among households receiving federal public housing assistance this summer, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during a virtual Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights event Monday.
How well ATSC 3.0 performs commercially “is up to us in this room and the companies we represent,” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro told ATSC’s NextGen Broadcast Conference Thursday in Detroit. “It could be a total flop, or it could be a great success,” he said. He told the conference broadcasters will need to “promote the heck” out of 3.0 for it to become a commercial success (see 2206090065).
NAB urged the FCC to reserve 55 MHz of spectrum for licensed mobile operations, including electronic newsgathering (ENG), as part of the agency’s response to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s remand of part of the FCC’s 6 GHz order. Wi-Fi advocates said the FCC should address the court’s concerns and move on to a further liberalization of the rules (see 2204080042). Replies were posted Thursday and Friday in docket 18-295. The court otherwise upheld the order, which opened the band for sharing with Wi-Fi (see 2112280047).
Seven witnesses representing industry and consumer groups are expected to testify with a former FTC chair at Tuesday’s House Consumer Protection Subcommittee legislative hearing on a bipartisan privacy discussion draft, according to committee materials reviewed Friday.
A tsunami of telemarketing lawsuits is expected as more states add restrictions beyond what’s in the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, warned TCPA defense attorneys. Last year’s Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) already is producing several class-action lawsuits a day, said Manatt attorney Christine Reilly in an interview. Businesses wanting to avoid lawsuits should “just get the express written consent required” before spamming consumers, responded class-action attorney Andrew Shamis of Shamis Gentile.
NTIA will “ultimately measure our success by meaningful adoption” of broadband as the agency implements the broadband, equity, access and deployment program funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, said Administrator Alan Davidson during a virtual USTelecom and AT&T event Friday. Affordability and adoption are “critical” to connecting households, Davidson said, and it “doesn’t help if we have a connection to somebody’s home if they can’t afford to get online or they can’t use it” (see 2206090072).
The FCC is open, as of Thursday, for in-person meetings, but most industry and FCC officials don’t expect a large early wave of visits to the FCC, with many meetings remaining virtual. Aides to the FCC commissioners told us Friday they haven't been getting calls for in-person visits since Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the reopening Wednesday (see 2206080055).
Facing a deluge of federal and state spending aimed at closing the digital divide, broadband internet access service providers and network construction contractors foresee a logjam of work orders. Some tell us they anticipate what could be significant delays in work to extend networks to unserved rural areas.