FCC commissioners will consider a proposal to create an enhanced alternative Connect America model program to bring "faster, better broadband to rural America" at the agency's May 19 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a meeting preview Wednesday. Commissioners will also consider an order targeting gateway providers and illegal robocalls originating abroad, updates to priority services rules, and regulatory relief for FM radio broadcasters.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and some Senate Commerce Committee members used a Wednesday hearing on the Commerce Department's FY 2023 budget goals (see 2204210059) as a platform to press Congress to quickly reach agreement marrying elements of the House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260). Committee members also pressed Raimondo on NTIA’s plans for distributing $48 billion in broadband money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and how to improve interagency spectrum coordination.
Warner Bros. Discovery is “positioned to win” as one of the “true content makers,” with its ability to produce and control intellectual property “vs. those that just write checks,” said CEO David Zaslav Tuesday on a Q1 earnings call, its first as a combined company after AT&T’s spinoff of WarnerMedia was finalized April 8.
LAS VEGAS -- No nationwide test of the emergency alert system will be held in 2022 to allow Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a comprehensive survey instrument to gauge the effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts, announced FEMA officials on an NAB Show 2022 panel Monday. “We are planning for that in the early part of 2023,” said Antwane Johnson, acting deputy assistant administrator-FEMA National Continuity Programs Directorate. Gathering data on previous nationwide WEA tests has been difficult, necessitating the survey effort, said Al Kenyon, FEMA customer support branch chief-integrated public alert warning system, in an interview Tuesday.
With "astounding" amounts of money being allocated for subsidization of broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, a big challenge for agencies and providers is ensuring the funding isn't wasted, NCTA President Michael Powell said at a Media Institute talk (password required) Tuesday. He said there's a sizable implantation risk stemming from federal oversight centering on Commerce and the NTIA rather than the FCC, and oversight expertise is a challenge both for Commerce and the industry. Compounding that is the funding being focused on state grants rather than federal programs, he said.
The ITU has switched to mostly in-person meetings for its study groups and working sessions as final preparations are underway for the World Radiocommunications Conference next year, said Mario Maniewicz, director of the ITU-Radiocommunications Bureau, at the Asia-Pacific Spectrum Management Conference Tuesday. The conference itself was hybrid, with some speakers participating live in Bangkok and others, like Maniewicz, participating virtually.
The FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee members approved its consumer broadband labels working group’s recommendations on disclosure. All members at Tuesday's virtual meeting (see 2203110064) voted in favor, with Next Century Cities being the sole abstention. NCC didn’t comment on why it abstained.
The cable industry is alerting operators that the FCC may move the goalposts of what defines broadband to 100 Mbps download, 20 upload, but operators and advocacy groups think that target is well within cable ISPs' capabilities already. Some see a move to 100/20 providing cover when better FCC broadband maps show less broadband availability than maps now show.
Pandemic-related Senate absences could mean further delay in Democrats' bid to confirm FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya to the FTC, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Tuesday they’re determined to move forward. Three Democratic senators, meanwhile, still hadn’t committed Tuesday to supporting or opposing FCC nominee Gigi Sohn. The lack of unified Democratic Senate support for Sohn means the nominee’s confirmation prospects remain murky since all 50 caucus members will need to vote to overcome what’s expected to be unified GOP opposition.
Consumer hours spent streaming will continue to swell, but consumers' approach to subscription VOD services is becoming more “discriminating,” Parks Associates Research Director Paul Erickson told us Friday.