The FCC’s final order allowing unlicensed devices to share 1,200 MHz of 6 GHz spectrum has many changes from the draft. They go beyond additional questions mentioned by commissioners voting 5-0 Thursday (see 2004230059), based on our side-by-side analysis. A section on formation of a multistakeholder group to address technical and operational issues with the automated frequency control (AFC) system was moved within the order. Most changes are technical and don’t address concerns raised by 6 GHz incumbents. The item, released Friday, is 26 paragraphs and 11 pages longer than the draft.
As COVID-19 fallout continues, ISPs are extending how long they hold off disconnecting telecom services (see 2004270048). Within minutes of each other Monday, Cox and Verizon made such commitments. Comcast and AT&T followed later. More companies are expected to do the same.
The FCC is seeking to better assess emergency communications reliability by adding data fields to the network outage reporting and 911 reliability certification systems, the Public Safety Bureau said. On an FCBA CLE webinar, also Monday, T-Mobile officials raised some related cautions. North Carolina, meanwhile, hasn’t faced major challenges with emergency-call delivery amid the coronavirus but can't “let our guard down,” the state’s 911 Board Executive Director Pokey Harris said in a Thursday interview.
CTA slashed 2020 unit sales forecasts for core CE categories Friday “as consumers struggle with economic uncertainty” due to COVID-19.
Southern Nevada health authorities confirmed Friday that their existing COVID-19 testing and contact-tracing protocol give them little way of knowing whether the coronavirus was spreading among the 170,000 who attended CES 2020, as an American Public Media report Thursday inferred. CTA is “not aware of any confirmed cases of COVID-19 connected to CES 2020,” said the association.
Verizon withdrew its full-year revenue outlook Friday due to COVID-19 uncertainty, as AT&T did Wednesday. But Verizon updated earnings, with mild reductions from earlier forecasts. As part of its annual shareholder meeting Friday, AT&T announced that CEO Randall Stephenson will be replaced in that role by President John Stankey on July 1. Stephenson will be executive chairman until January (see 2004240027).
Lawyers and judges said widespread use of video and telephone conferences for civil hearings and oral arguments is causing relatively few problems and is a decent replacement for meeting in-person during the pandemic. Many told us they hope or expect such tech to be incorporated more into court proceedings even post-pandemic.
The threat of large fines in European and California privacy law focused the tech industry’s attention on compliance, FTC Chairman Joe Simons said Friday. His remarks to the American Bar Association came the day after U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly approved the agency’s $5 billion privacy settlement with Facebook (see 1912050061).
The FCC issued show cause orders Friday against four companies “ultimately subject to the ownership and control of the Chinese government.” China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks and ComNet were ordered to explain why the FCC shouldn't begin the process of revoking their domestic and international authorizations allowing them to operate in the U.S. The companies have 30 days to respond.
More than 85% of Americans have access to fixed terrestrial broadband at speeds of 250/25 Mbps, said an FCC 2020 broadband deployment report Friday. The number of rural Americans with that access more than tripled from 2016 to 2018, it said. But Democratic commissioners and some consumer advocates question the findings that broadband is deployed in a reasonable and timely manner, saying the COVID-19 pandemic put the digital divide in stark relief.