Many questions remain about the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band and how many carriers will bid in June’s auction of priority access licenses, industry officials said. FCC officials remain optimistic. One wild card is the regulator's looking at a private C-band auction before the PALs auction, which could siphon interest in the shared band (see 1910100052).
South Korea launched an emergency alert system using ATSC 3.0, similar to enhanced alerts advocated by the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance, said executives from South Korean firm DigiCap and AWARN Executive Director John Lawson at NAB New York. The system has been in place for a month and so far transmits emergency messages similar to those using established technology. Lawson and DigiCap CEO Peter Han were optimistic it will lead to further developments in the U.S. and South Korea. “Beginning is halfway done,” said Han, quoting a Korean proverb. “If you never start, you never finish.”
Top regulatory officials from T-Mobile and Sprint spoke with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about the “public interest benefits” of their deal, the same day he voted to reject it (see 1910160058), said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-197. The filing describes a flurry of activity in recent days. DLA Piper lawyer Nancy Victory said she spoke with aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr Friday and FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry Tuesday “to inquire about the status of the merger order.” The order was approved 3-2 Wednesday, with dissents by Starks and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.
Minnesota commissioners debated the effectiveness of a proposed settlement between Frontier Communications and the state Commerce Department to fix reported problems and improve service. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 at its Thursday meeting, livestreamed from St. Paul, to approve a tweaked version of a proposed settlement to resolve a service-quality probe in docket 18-122 (see 1910070049). Meanwhile, Consolidated Communications at a recent Vermont Public Utility Commission hearing defended service and opposed automatic bill credits for problems.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wants more healthcare providers to contribute to a docket on a proposed Connected Care pilot program before it moves from NPRM to order. Carr touted the pilot Thursday at a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition conference.
USF stakeholders should make more improvements to broadband mapping, especially before the FCC begins awarding some $20 billion over about 10 years in the next version of its USF high-cost fund. That's the consensus in Q&A with us at a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition panel (see 9:45 a.m.) Thursday and from audience members. Stakeholders targeted telcos, which some said don't always know down to a small-geographic level what areas they serve with internet service, and the FCC. The commission has been improving its mapping, working with others in the federal government including the Rural Utilities Service, said RUS Assistant Administrator-Telecom Programs Chad Parker.
Broadcasters aren't expected to have to make sweeping changes to how they maintain political files after an FCC order made clearer what information needs to be in them. The clarification could make it easier to get compliance from advertising agencies that sometimes provide incomplete information. That order and a related one were ostensibly released Wednesday afternoon but not available online that night. The agency said at a little past noon Thursday that the links were working.
Lead supporters and opponents of Senate Appropriations Committee-backed pro-public 3.7-4.2 GHz C-band auction language (see 1909190079) in the chamber's version of the FY 2020 FCC-FTC budget bill (S-2524) say they're not budging and expect a long fight. The dispute, which began last month, continued Thursday as Senate Appropriations Financial Services Committee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and others grilled FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on whether he favors a private auction similar to what the C-Band Alliance proposes. Kennedy and some other lawmakers favor public auction (see 1908230049). Pai is expected to propose a private auction plan for a vote at commissioners' Dec. 12 meeting (see 1910100052).
Co-chairs of the Department of Homeland Security Information and Communications Technology Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force urged House Homeland Security Committee members to consider enacting new liability protections and incentives to encourage companies and foreign governments to share information on threats to the supply chain. Committee leaders appeared interested during a Wednesday hearing in further protections. They invoked perceived supply-chain threats posed by Kaspersky Lab and Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE.
Pearl TV has an ATSC 3.0 “rollout plan for 2020” that includes launching services in 61 markets by the end of next year, and has “shared that” with TV makers LG, Samsung and Sony, Managing Director Anne Schelle told the TV2020 conference at NAB Show New York Wednesday. “We are meeting our mark in terms of enabling these services on a market-to-market basis."