Howard Buskirk

What the metaverse is, and will mean for consumers, is still evolving, speakers said during a CES discussion Saturday. The metaverse means “we’re going to be able to be anywhere, have anywhere be with us, together,” said David Treat, Accenture senior managing director. “It’s the end of that two-dimensional, highly constrained version of the digital world,” he said. “Screw the metaverse,” said Justin Hochberg, CEO of Virtual Brand Group, a metaverse company: “I am tired of giving Facebook, i.e., Meta, branding over all of the things that we do. I don’t want to call it metaverse anymore.” Hochberg said he agreed with Treat in general, but there are problems. “Right now, it’s a lot of technology, but not a lot of use cases,” he said. Zach Bruch, CEO of non-fungible token company Recur, said when he hears metaverse he doesn’t think about Facebook. Bruch said the definition should be broad. “You can be riding a Peloton, you’re in the metaverse; on a Zoom call, you’re in a metaverse,” he said. “Using the digital world to connect with other people, for all sorts of different things and different use cases, to me that’s what the metaverse is,” he said. “You’re on the metaverse,” said Betty (who uses only her first name), CEO of NFT company Deadfellaz. “We’re already in these digital spaces all day, every day -- I think that’s the metaverse,” she said. “In reality, it’s [gaming platform] Discord, it’s Twitter, it’s where we’re already at,” she said. “I don’t think it’s chaotic, but it can feel chaotic from an outsider’s perspective,” she said: “The tech and the aesthetics don’t line up just yet, but they will.” Every major wave of innovation is “proceeded by a couple of decades worth of work that laid the foundation,” Treat said. The metaverse integrates years of work on blockchain technology and augmented and virtual reality, he said. If you think of the metaverse as decades of innovation converging, “you see a multi-decade, natural progression to an inevitable outcome that will break us away from the digital world [as] something that we experience on a flat plane of glass in the computer we’re sitting in front of or the phone we’re holding up,” Treat said.

The FCC is seeking comment on revised rules for carriers to report data breaches. The NPRM, released Friday and approved 4-0 last month, proposes eliminating the “outdated” seven-business-day mandatory waiting period before notifying customers of a breach and requiring the reporting of inadvertent but harmful breaches to the FCC, FBI and Secret Service.

Digital healthcare offers promise for doctors and their patients, but doctors have to play a role as technology unfolds, physician Bobby Mukkamala, immediate past board chair of the American Medical Association, told CES Friday. Telehealth has been a recurring focus of the FCC under Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, with a telehealth item teed up for a commissioner vote later this month (see 2301050048). Mukkamala and other speakers also noted challenges posed by AI.

The Consumer Technology Association's president sharply criticized FTC merger policy during a Thursday keynote at CES. CTA also released a scorecard on the most innovative countries in the world. In one of the most prominent presentations at CES, John Deere executives described how the autonomous tractor will help feed the world as population continues to expand. The company introduced the fully autonomous tractor at CES a year ago.

CTA warned of potential rocky months ahead as CES got started in Las Vegas Wednesday. Supply chain issues are easing, but labor shortages remain, said Steve Koenig, CTA vice president-research, during his annual tech trends update before formal CES programming begins Thursday. CTA projects in a new report U.S. technology retail revenue of $485 billion in 2023, slightly above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels but down from a record-breaking $512 billion in 2021.

The FCC released a long-expected NPRM Wednesday seeking comment on proposed service rules allowing the use of the 5030-5091 MHz band by drones, which was approved by commissioners Dec. 23 (see 2212230035). Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the NPRM takes a broad look at the use of spectrum by unmanned aircraft systems. It asks more than 160 questions about future use of the band and other spectrum by drones.

The FCC released an NPRM Wednesday seeking comment on rules allowing the use of the 5030-5091 MHz band by drones, which commissioners approved Dec. 23. Comments will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, replies 60 days after publication.

An NPRM on out-of-band emissions limits into the 24 GHz band, proposed by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel a year ago, remains on hold at the FCC. She circulated the NPRM Dec. 27, 2021, but it has yet to get the required four votes. Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks have voted for the item, but Republicans Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington haven’t voted. NTIA endorsed the limits, on behalf of NASA, NOAA and the National Science Foundation.

Providers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands disagreed over whether the FCC should cut transitional support for incumbent providers on the islands, in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 18-143. Puerto Rico's Negociado de Telecomunicaciones (NET) is now calling on the FCC not to slash transitional support, as proposed in an October NPRM (see 2210270046). Initial comments were filed earlier this month (see 2212120053).

Broadcasters and wireless carriers urged the FCC not to impose proposed new rules designed to make the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts more secure. Industry said cybersecurity requirements would be difficult to implement and are unnecessary. FCC commissioners approved an NPRM 4-0 in October (see 2210270058). Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 15-94.