Privacy and mental health advocates are largely supportive of the privacy protections in the 988 call georouting draft order, which is on the FCC's October meeting agenda (see 2409260047). An FCC official told us 5-0 approval is likely.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
Priorities like network reliability are starting to eclipse cable’s focus on faster broadband speeds, according to cable operators and industry officials. Since most cable subscribers aren’t using the capacity available to them on a daily basis, further speed gains are less a way of differentiating from competitors, CableLabs Chief Technology Officer Mark Bridges told us in an interview.
Space sustainability advocates are pessimistic about the chances that the FCC will require environmental reviews for proposed satellites and constellations anytime soon. Such reviews were a central part of the International Dark-Sky Association's (ISDA) unsuccessful legal challenge of the FCC's approval of SpaceX's second-generation satellite constellation (see 2407120031). Last month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) launched a letter-writing campaign urging environmental reviews of satellite mega constellations (see 2408280002).
Don't expect a DirecTV/Dish Network deal to face the same anticompetitive obstacles as a similar merger attempt did 22 years ago, antitrust and FCC experts tell us. The two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) companies said Monday they reached an agreement where DirecTV would buy EchoStar's Dish and Sling video distribution businesses for $1. DirecTV will also assume an estimated $9.75 billion in Dish DBS debt. The companies said they expect regulatory approval before the end of next year.
The FCC's 988 wireless call georouting draft order on its Oct. 17 open meeting agenda (see 2409250041) opens the possibility of the agency also requiring georouting of text messages. The georouting draft order and the other October agenda item -- a draft order requiring that all wireless handsets be hearing-aid compatible -- were released Thursday. Also on the agenda is an unspecified restricted adjudicatory Media Bureau matter.
ATLANTA -- The U.S. is taking an increasingly hard line against all connected Chinese and Russian devices, not just those from particular manufacturers such as Huawei, cybersecurity expert Clete Johnson told attendees at SCTE's annual TechExpo Wednesday. Meanwhile, cable providers at TechExpo discussed why it's imperative that there is better convergence in wireline and mobile services.
ATLANTA -- The cable industry faces potential workforce struggles in coming years due to employee demographics and federal broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) plan spending, CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney told us Tuesday at SCTE's 2024 TechExpo. At the same time, BEAD is helping generate interest within the construction industry, he said in an interview. Meanwhile, some spectrum experts at TechExpo urged a broad rethinking of how the U.S. approaches spectrum management (see 2409240045).
ATLANTA -- Spectrum experts at SCTE's 2024 TechExpo event Tuesday were upbeat about increased spectrum sharing but said that replicating the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) sharing model in other bands will require better technology first. Some said that the U.S. needs a wholesale rethinking of its spectrum management approach. Also at TechExpo, CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney said the cable industry could face a labor crunch in coming years (see 2409240004).
The FCC gave the green light to extended milestone deadlines for EchoStar's 5G network buildout Friday, three days after the company filed its request (see 2409190050). EchoStar called the approval "a significant step to promote competition in the wireless market."
The FCC gave the go-ahead to EchoStar's request this week for extensions of milestones in its 5G network buildout. In a notation Friday in the FCC's Universal Licensing System, the agency said it granted the extension request contingent on EchoStar fulfilling the conditions it made with its application. EchoStar previously cited issues ranging from the pandemic's impact on supply chains to the cost of moving Boost subscribers from the legacy Sprint CDMA network to the T-Mobile network as reasons for delaying its 5G work. Accordingly, it asked that the FCC extend 2025 milestone deadlines into late 2026.