Disaster information reporting system data shows 415,640 cable and wireline subscribers without service in areas affected by Hurricane Ian, said Tuesday’s report. That’s an improvement from Monday’s 474,706. The report also shows 3.1% of cellsites down, along with 5 FM stations and two AM stations. In a news release Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the deployment of five SpaceX Starlinks to provide communications access in the affected areas. The Media Bureau extended online public file deadlines for broadcasters in Florida and South Carolina from Oct. 11 to Dec. 12, said a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. The Wireline Bureau is also waiving certain provisions of the rules for E-Rate, the Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rural Health Care, COVID-19 Telehealth, Lifeline, High Cost, and Affordable Connectivity Program participants in Florida and the Carolinas affected by Ian, said a public notice Tuesday.
The new Coalition for Coordinated Sharing filed a petition for rulemaking at the FCC Tuesday, asking the agency to develop rules to open the 10-10.5 GHz band for point-to-point use on a shared basis. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find greenfield spectrum below the 12 GHz spectrum band to connect tower sites, enterprises and devices,” the group said in a news release: “Sharing spectrum in the 10 GHz band represents the most viable means to solve congestion and meet consumer demand for more robust broadband and IoT services with incumbents.” The coalition's members are the Wireless ISP Association, Cambium Networks, the Open Technology Institute at New America and Public Knowledge. An official with the coalition told us it builds on a 2013 proposal by Mimosa asking that the band be set aside for outdoor and long-distance backhaul links at the power levels allowed under Part 90, subpart Z, of commission rules. The commission took comment in 2014 (see 1404150034). CTIA previously supported use of the 10 GHz band for licensed use (see 2011030051). Bipartisan lawmakers in the House and Senate urged an exam of the band in 2015 (see 1503030029). The coalition said sharing would be easier than the sharing in the citizens broadband radio service band, similar to the frequency coordination being developed for the 6 GHz band. “Over the last several years, the Commission has made thousands of megahertz of spectrum available for last-mile service,” the group said. “While those allocations have created significant public benefits, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need for more point-to-point spectrum to relieve congestion in other bands and help meet the increased demand for fixed broadband service,” it said: “This is particularly true in rural areas and for other applications where devices are not proximate to available or affordable fiber.” The spectrum is currently occupied by DOD and possibly other federal incumbents in many areas, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “Using a geographic coordination system, this underutilized band could also accommodate shared use with broadband providers in many rural, tribal and other underserved areas,” he said.
The Supreme Court will consider two appeals of appellate court decisions on social media companies' legal protections when their platforms are used in conjunction with terror attacks. On Monday, SCOTUS granted certiorari in docket 21-1333 in an appeal of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision tossing out a suit against Google's YouTube for hosting and recommending ISIS proselytizing and recruitment videos. Plaintiff in the litigation and SCOTUS petitioner is the estate of Nohemi Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen who was killed in ISIS attacks there in 2015. The petitioner asked SCOTUS to revisit the 9th Circuit's holding that the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 protects YouTube's algorithm for recommending videos. Google didn't comment. The court also granted cert Monday in docket 21-1496, in which Twitter is appealing another 9th Circuit decision. In that decision, the appellate court found Twitter and co-defendants Facebook and Google could be held liable for aiding and abetting an act of terrorism. Twitter and the others were sued by American relatives of Nawras Alassaf, a Jordanian killed in an ISIS attack in Istanbul in 2017. “These cases underscore how important it is that digital services have the resources and the legal certainty to deal with dangerous content online," Computer and Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers said in a statement. “Section 230 is critical to enabling the digital sector’s efforts to respond to extremist and violent rhetoric online, and these cases illustrate why it is essential that those efforts continue.” SCOTUS "can really do something useful by constraining Section 230 protections to hosting content instead of targeting content," tweeted Matt Stoller, American Economic Liberties Project research director.
Hurricane Ian cellsite outages sharply declined over the weekend, the FCC reported Monday in disaster information reporting system data. The DIRS report said 3.8% of cellsites were out of service in affected Florida counties, down from 7.7% in Friday’s report (see 2209300053). Counties experiencing the highest outage rates were Hardee (20.5%), Charlotte (18.4%) and Lee (17.8%). Cable and wireline companies reported 474,706 subscribers without service. One TV, six FM and two AM stations were down. On Sunday, the FCC deactivated DIRS for Hurricane Ian in many South Carolina counties. The agency deactivated Hurricane Fiona DIRS reporting Friday.
Fortune 100 companies are giving the public more information about how they're dealing with cybersecurity challenges, but the gaps in information remain big, said Chuck Seets, Ernst and Young EY Americas Assurance principal, and Pat Nieman, EY Americas audit committee forum leader, in a Sunday blog at the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. They said only 9% of proxy statements and Form 10-Ks analyzed disclosed any use of response readiness simulations. With cybersecurity near "an inflection point" due to bigger risks and looming regulation, companies lagging in disclosures and in tackling cyberthreats "should foster a culture of cooperation while elevating the tone at the top," they said.
The FCC's updated emergency alert system rules adopted last week give cable operators 15 months to complete the transition to emergency action notification text displays when that EAN change requires upgrading set-top box software and head-end equipment, said the order released Friday. The draft version of the order didn't include the 15-month deadline. "We find that 15 months is more than adequate to account for these software-related complexities, including any unexpected difficulties," the commission said in the adopted order. The EAS rules update passed 4-0 at the agency's September meeting (see 2209290017).
Global tech spending will exceed $4 trillion in 2023, “as two-thirds of technology decision-makers increase their tech budgets, despite increasing economic uncertainty,” reported Forrester Thursday. It projects 80% of companies “will pivot their innovation efforts from creativity to resilience” by next year, it said. Forrester research found 65% of tech professionals expect their organizations will increase spending on emerging technologies over the next 12 months.
Disaster information reporting system data for Hurricane Fiona showed 132,400 cable and wireline subscribers without service and 11.7% of cellsites down in Puerto Rico Wednesday. A DIRS report was also generated for Hurricane Ian but showed minimal damage since Wednesday’s report was based on information gathered before the storm’s landfall. The Ian report shows 1.4% of cellsites down and 26,716 subscribers out of service in the affected area, which includes all of Florida.
The FCC extended the deadline for regulatory fee filings from Wednesday to Friday for all payors due to Hurricane Ian, said a public notice Wednesday. The storm “may cause substantial damage to the communications network, resulting in service disruptions and outages throughout areas in Florida,” the PN said. “The Commission is mindful of the effect of this hurricane on regulatory fee payors located in affected areas,” the PN said. “Additionally, we are aware of other technical challenges entities are currently facing in paying their regulatory fees.”
Nearly a fifth of U.S. workers report having seen or been contacted about a “suspicious job opportunity” this year, an Allstate-sponsored survey found. Allstate hired Morning Consult to canvass 2,200 U.S. adults Aug. 27-28, finding that workers in the 18-34 age group “were the most targeted for remote job scams,” it said. “The findings come as bad actors take advantage of increasing numbers of remote job listings,” it said, citing FTC data that nearly 21,600 fake business and job opportunities were reported in Q2 alone, costing Americans $86 million in losses.