More state commissions should consider strong ethics policies, including about campaign contributions, said Arizona Commissioner Boyd Dunn and government transparency advocates in interviews. While agreeing it's important, some state commissioners said they want to avoid unintended consequences.
FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks said they have been frozen out of the process on changes to the order approving T-Mobile buying Sprint, circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai in August (see 1908140052). FCC officials told us only Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly have voted to approve. Commissioner Brendan Carr’s office has had a series of meetings on the deal (see 1909240017).
FTC Chairman Joe Simons wants to double the size of his agency’s tech task force (see 1902280077), supplement privacy and enforcement efforts, and hire more technologists and economists, he told the House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Wednesday. The House’s FY 2020 budget bill includes $349.7 million for the FTC (see 1906260081 and 1906240061), up about $40 million from what Congress allocated in the FY 2019 spending bill passed in February. More than half of the additional $40 million might be needed to cover mandatory compensation increases and other agency operations, Simons said. The rest could fund the priorities he listed. Simons and Chopra didn't take questions after the hearing.
Telecom, fiber and satellite parties interested in expanding their broadband footprints in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands met with aides to FCC commissioners and officials at the agency's Wireline Bureau over the past few weeks to share their concerns over a new wave of awards in the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund in docket 18-143. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a draft order this month on how the agency will allocate $950 million in USF dollars to providers for rebuilding and strengthening broadband networks in those territories after the devastating hurricanes Maria and Irma hit within a two-week period in 2017 (see 1909050043).
The biggest hurdles to independent programming getting on MVPD platforms are the retransmission consent rules regime and the skyrocketing retrans fees being paid to broadcasters, indie programmers and MVPDs said at a Multicultural Media Caucus Hill briefing Wednesday. Fixes could include the Modern TV Act (HR-3994) and using the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act renewal (STELAR) to change the video marketplace, some said.
TAMPA -- Public, educational and governmental access programmers should get creative in how they raise money and in other parts of their operations, amid revenue and other challenges, NATOA was told Wednesday. There's declining cable revenue in many localities, as the number of traditional pay-TV subscribers shrinks and cable ISPs focus more on broadband, plus uncertainty about what regulators including the FCC might do next. To seek alternative ways of getting money means turning to concepts in other sectors: branding, fundraising, working with IRS-deemed 501(c)(3) affiliates, getting corporate and other sponsorships, and asking people to make donations.
Widespread 5G will mean many more Americans will have another choice of broadband provider, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Wednesday. Carr said the FCC needs to continue its push to get the rules right for broadband deployment. But Carr didn’t discuss next steps or comment on regulatory changes sought by CTIA and the Wireless Infrastructure Association, which the FCC put out for comment (see 1909130062).
Leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees are optimistic about the potential for progress on several of their top telecom policy priorities when Congress returns in mid-October from its upcoming two-week recess, including work to marry House and Senate-passed anti-robocall bills and an upcoming House package of broadband mapping legislation. And Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., voiced his willingness to compromise on some aspects of Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization. Congress is to recess at the end of this week and both chambers will reconvene Oct. 15.
DALLAS -- Broadcasters and broadcast attorneys are pinning their hopes on the FCC's appeal of Monday's 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion (see 1909230067) to undo the “monkey wrench” the ruling threw into broadcast ownership deregulation, according to panel discussions and interviews at the 2019 Radio Show.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote to the FTC Tuesday asking it to release a complete version of its 2012 report on potential anti-competitive behavior at Google. Half the report was inadvertently released in 2015, but the remaining pages are important for knowing whether the platform deceived consumers, he said during a Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.