Globalstar joined the Satellite Industry Association, the group said Monday.
Space products supplier Ruag Space joined the Satellite Industry Association, the association said Monday.
From mandatory reporting of a satellite failure to revising the FCC's satellite licensing regime, satellite interests and others brought an array of must-dos in docket 18-251 comments due Friday regarding the satellite communications industry (see 1808170024). There were calls for protecting incumbent users of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band.
From encouraging spectrum sharing to ensuring regulatory streamlining, Congress has plenty of levers to promote the commercial space industry, space interests said during a Satellite Industry Association panel Wednesday. To have a bigger voice in spectrum policy issues, the space community needs to be unified, said House Space Subcommittee Chairman Brian Babin, R-Texas. "Without spectrum, there is no space business."
The divide over the state of fixed broadband competition and deployment deepened in comments posted Monday for an FCC communications marketplace report due by year-end under the Ray Baum's Act. Several industry commenters cited robust market rivalry and activity benefiting consumers, but consumer advocates generally noted shortcomings in competition, deployment and the data used to measure progress. Parties also disagreed on policy proposals. NCTA and USTelecom painted a positive picture and Incompas offered a circumspect view, in comments posted Friday in docket 18-231 (see 1808170049).
The divide over the state of fixed broadband competition and deployment deepened in comments posted Monday for an FCC communications marketplace report due by year-end under the Ray Baum's Act. Several industry commenters cited robust market rivalry and activity benefiting consumers, but consumer advocates generally noted shortcomings in competition, deployment and the data used to measure progress. Parties also disagreed on policy proposals. NCTA and USTelecom painted a positive picture and Incompas offered a circumspect view, in comments posted Friday in docket 18-231 (see 1808170049).
Dish Network wants nine tariff lines removed from the proposed third tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 duties on Chinese imports (see 1808010018) because the products they cover “are critical elements of providing our pay-TV service, including to customers in rural America,” said Jeffrey Blum, senior vice president-public policy and government affairs, in a letter Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, posted Friday in docket USTR-2018-0026.
Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken and Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup are among six witnesses set to testify at a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing to re-examine proposals to improve rural broadband deployments following FCC and congressional efforts. CuriosiTees of Pinetops Managing Partner Suzanne Coker Craig, Midco Senior Director-Government Relations Justin Forde, Deere Chief Information Officer John May and Wallowa Memorial Hospital Acting Administrator Jenni Word are also to testify, the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The subcommittee reviewed a raft of broadband infrastructure bills in January and led development of the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986), which included broadband legislative language. President Donald Trump signed HR-4986 into law as part of the $1.3 trillion FY 2018 omnibus spending bill (HR-1625) (see 1803230038). House Communications also cleared the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand Act (HR-3994) during a June markup and later attached it to the draft NTIA Reauthorization Act (see 1806130047 and 1806200038).
Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken and Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup are among six witnesses set to testify at a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing to re-examine proposals to improve rural broadband deployments following FCC and congressional efforts. CuriosiTees of Pinetops Managing Partner Suzanne Coker Craig, Midco Senior Director-Government Relations Justin Forde, Deere Chief Information Officer John May and Wallowa Memorial Hospital Acting Administrator Jenni Word are also to testify, the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The subcommittee reviewed a raft of broadband infrastructure bills in January and led development of the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986), which included broadband legislative language. President Donald Trump signed HR-4986 into law as part of the $1.3 trillion FY 2018 omnibus spending bill (HR-1625) (see 1803230038). House Communications also cleared the Advancing Critical Connectivity Expands Service, Small Business Resources, Opportunities, Access and Data Based on Assessed Need and Demand Act (HR-3994) during a June markup and later attached it to the draft NTIA Reauthorization Act (see 1806130047 and 1806200038).
CTA, the Semiconductor Industry Association and others asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to appear at a July 24 hearing to oppose 25 percent Trade Action Section 301 tariffs on more Chinese-sourced products related to alleged IP practices (see 1806150030), docket USTR-2018-0018 shows. CTA members identified 22 Harmonized Tariffs Schedule codes on the new tariffs list covering $6.6 billion worth of products they imported from China in 2017, said Sage Chandler, vice president-international trade. Chinese companies “export almost no semiconductors to the U.S. market,” said David Isaacs, SIA vice president-government affairs. Most U.S.semiconductor imports from China "are semiconductors designed and manufactured in the United States, and then shipped to China for the final stage of semiconductor fabrication,” accounting for 10-15 percent “of the value of the final product,” he said. Written comments are due July 23, post-hearing rebuttal comments July 31.