FAA’s examination of interference risks from C-band deployments could “dramatically slow” 5G buildouts, Alex Gellman, CEO of tower company Vertical Bridge, warned Wednesday. After Verizon and AT&T agreed to put off the start of deployments until January, analysts said last week the risks for the carriers are minimal, if questions are addressed by early 2022 (see 2111040042). Gellman said the agency is now asking a battery of unprecedented questions as it probes potential interference to air safety systems.
The FCC’s pause on the phasedown for voice-only Lifeline support won't stop the Oregon Public Utility Commission from seeking to make permanent its increase to the state subsidy next week, a PUC spokesperson told us Monday. The PUC temporarily increased the state’s Lifeline subsidy July 28 to $10 from $7 for Sept. 1-Jan. 31 to offset the reduction in federal support and opened a rulemaking that would make it permanent (see 2109160028). “Staff will petition the Oregon PUC at the” Nov. 16 meeting “to issue a notice of permanent rulemaking in which the Oregon subsidy is permanently set at $10.00, effective” Feb. 1, the spokesperson said. The FCC paused the phasedown Friday for one year (see 2111050058).
The FCC Wireline Bureau paused phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support until Dec. 1, 2022, said an order Friday (see 2111050051). Staff waived the increase of minimum service standards for mobile broadband until then, as expected (see 2111030038). The bureau didn't address the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration and instead acted on its own motion.
AT&T and Verizon agreed to postpone deploying in the first phase of the C band for a month, until Jan. 5, to give the FAA and FCC time to look more closely at the safety implications for radio altimeters. Industry experts told us the National Economic Council asked the two agencies to work together, looking at the 40 or so nations that made the spectrum available for wireless broadband. One area of frustration is that studies haven’t been released and the FCC will seek additional data, officials said. Analysts said if the two big carriers can start deploying in January it won’t be a huge problem for either.
The FCC Wireline Bureau paused phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support until Dec. 1, 2022, said an order Friday, in a move that some had expected (see here). Staff waived the increase of minimum service standards for mobile broadband until then. The bureau didn't address the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration and instead acted on its own motion.
The FCC is likely to act soon on the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration of the scheduled Dec. 1 phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support, experts said in recent interviews. The service's backers anticipate the agency will at least pause, if not reverse, its 2016 decision (see 1603310056).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should reverse a Court of International Trade decision that found that CBP's "indirect method" for weighing importer New Image Global's tobacco wraps that included the weight of additives was legally and scientifically valid, New Image argued in its Nov. 1 opening brief. The Federal Circuit should remand the case to instruct the trade court that the original test for weighing the tobacco wraps was valid, the importer said.
Spending on influencer marketing in the U.S. will rise 33.6% this year to $3.7 billion, almost $1 billion more than in 2020, said an eMarketer report. Growth will continue in double digits until 2023, approaching $5 billion. That compares with estimated spending of $58.66 billion on social network ads, which are seen growing 26.9% over 2020. Both are social media-based.
Waive the scheduled Dec. 1 increase to Lifeline minimum service standards for mobile broadband and the phase down of voice-only support, the National Lifeline Association asked staff to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a filing posted Monday in docket 11-42. "The need for action is urgent," NaLa said: The FCC "has known for years that the voice phase-out was coming and has been unanimously opposed by stakeholders" (see 2110290057).
Reconsider phasing down Lifeline voice-only support, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society asked the FCC in a letter posted Friday in docket 11-42. Benton backed the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates' petition for reconsideration of the scheduled Dec. 1 phase down. Don't "risk the potential disconnection of thousands of Lifeline households during the pandemic" (see 2108030072), Benton said.