FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made some of his toughest comments yet on China during Tuesday's Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar. Pai acknowledged he will leave office Jan. 20 and “hand the baton” to a new administration. Others in Washington, including at the FCC, haven't said if they agree that Joe Biden is the next president. That administration “will have to decide the approach that they are going to take to address the issue of security in our communications networks, and I hope that they succeed,” Pai said: “I’m optimistic that there won’t be any turning back.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai continues to hold off advancing the agency's Communications Decency Act Section 230 proceeding (see 2012230065). He has yet to circulate any item on 230, agency officials told us. Observers say this indicates the agency won't act on the section before Pai leaves Jan. 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
The draft order on rules for ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission systems (DTS) has three commissioner votes and is expected to be approved on circulation later this month (see 2012110052), said FCC and broadcast industry officials. The three votes are from the Republicans, and broadcast industry officials think there’s a chance Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks could vote to approve or approve in part. Starks and Rosenworcel voted "concur" last month on another 3.0 item (see 2012100071). The final order is expected to be close to what NAB requested but include concessions to Microsoft’s concerns that the new rules would interfere with unlicensed use of the TV white spaces and rural broadband.
Chairman Ajit Pai may force votes on two spectrum items circulated last month (see 2012290032): a “neutral” 12 GHz NPRM and proposed 2.5 GHz auction rules, said industry and FCC officials. Pai is considering putting them on the agenda Wednesday for the following week’s meeting if he needs to assure a vote, officials said.
It could be a breakout year for augmented reality hardware, said an ABI Research 2021 trends report, as Nreal and Mad Gaze expand their AR efforts, and Facebook is expected to debut its AR smart glasses from the Reality Labs initiative. Google could take another stab at smart glasses after buying North and facing pressure from Facebook and others, said analyst Eric Abbruzzese. Apple, a “wild card,” is expected to have a dedicated AR product launch in 2022.
The C-band auction, the biggest in history, was at $76.5 billion after five rounds Monday. Analysts at New Street told investors it could climb to $80 billion before it ends, which, with clearing costs tacked on, would mean a $93 billion auction. One question is who will come away with the most Category A licenses, the spectrum that will be the first cleared and available for 5G, experts said. Analysts are concerned some could overpay. The Category A licenses are selling at more than $1.50 MHz/POP.
USF is reaching a tipping point, industry experts said in recent interviews. Revenue continues to decline, and the contribution factor is expected to reach a record 31.8% (see 2012150018). As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, there's some hope among broadband advocates that he will nominate someone to the FCC who brings the political will to tackle USF revisions.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is considered the front-runner to be the next chair of the FCC, but others are also lining up support. Among other top candidates are Wiley’s Anna Gomez, Gigi Sohn of the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, and DLA Piper’s Smitty Smith, experts said. All potential contenders' fortunes remain in flux pending the outcome of Tuesday's runoff elections for both Georgia Senate seats, lobbyists told us.
APCO, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council separately asked the FCC to change its September order (see 2009300050) revising how the 4.9 GHz band is allocated. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks dissented then. Industry experts said the FCC could back away from parts of the order in the new administration. Chairman Ajit Pai had some difficulty lining up votes before the meeting (see 2009240039).
The FTC’s recent inquiry into social media company data collection practices could likely result in enforcement action, much like the agency’s 6(b) study that led to its antitrust case against Facebook, an ex-official and attorneys said in interviews. Some said to expect the social media companies to negotiate with the agency over the scope of the latest 6(b) study, which seeks details on how data practices affect younger users and others (see 2012150005).