WilmerHale adds former FTC officials Jennifer Milici, ex-Competition Bureau, and Dominic Vote, ex-Mergers II Division, as partners, Antitrust Group; Milici also joins the Trial Practice; both "anticipate officially beginning at the firm in March" ... SoftBank Group announces Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure departs the company “by mutual agreement,” and moves Michel Combes to replace him as CEO, SoftBank Group International.
California’s net neutrality law survived an appeal by ISP associations at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel’s Friday opinion that the FCC can’t preempt states after giving up its own broadband authority could affect ISP challenges of Vermont net neutrality and New York state affordable broadband laws, said legal experts.
News Media Alliance affiliate American Press Institute hires Michael Bolden as executive director-CEO; he's from the San Francisco Chronicle and starts at API by Feb. 14 ... National Emergency Number Association taps Brooks Shannon as interoperability program manager; he was vice president-geographic information systems, RapidDeploy ... CommScope hires Markus Ogurek from Cisco as senior vice president-segment leader, Venue and Campus Networks business ... Strategic Venue Partners taps former AT&T executive Kevin Hetrick as chief operating officer of the provider of in-building wireless-connectivity-as-a-service.
Jenner & Block elects lawyers to the partnership, including Jacob Tracer, member of Content, Media and Entertainment Practice focusing on "intellectual property and complex commercial disputes," and Camillie Landron, member of Communications, Internet and Technology Practice, working on FCC spectrum and other telecom issues and with the "space and satellite industries."
Low-power TV broadcasters want the FCC to make it easier to switch channels and move markets, and have received indications the agency could show more flexibility toward their service in 2022, said LPTV groups, attorneys and broadcasters in interviews. “The best thing would be to have another LPTV window,” said Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance Executive Director Lee Miller. “I believe that is something the FCC would like to see happen further down the road.”
Government agencies and law firms, like other institutions, appear to be still coming to terms with the new, more infectious COVID-19 omicron variant and what it will mean for work headed into the new year. State commissions so far report few changes.
Interactive Advertising Bureau hires Lartease Tiffith, ex-Amazon, as executive vice president-public policy, "on the heels of news that the Internet Association is dissolving at the end of the year" (see our recent report on IA); IAB also adds Brendan Thomas, ex-Plastics Industry Association, as vice president-public policy communications ... Aimee Meacham, who recently left NTIA (see this section, Dec. 8 issue of this publication), says she's going to BT as vice president-government affairs, U.S. and international.
Winners in the 3.45 GHz auction should be clear by Dec. 31, New Street’s Philip Burnett told investors Wednesday. The first phase ended Tuesday (see 2111160071). The assignment phase is likely to be over in one or two weeks once it starts, he said. AT&T likely spent as much as $9 billion, T-Mobile $8 billion and Dish Network $4 billion-$6 billion, he said: “There is a slim chance that T-Mobile got nothing and Verizon is the [complement], but that would be a big surprise.” NTIA tweeted Wednesday: “The results indicate confidence in the sharing framework for the band, developed by @FCC, @DeptofDefense, and NTIA.” Bidders “have reaffirmed how important it is for the U.S. communications industry to gain access to additional spectrum" for 5G, emailed Wiley’s Richard Engelman: “Bidders demanded 3.45 GHz blocks in every Partial Economic Area and at prices that approached -- or in some cases exceeded -- the prices paid earlier this year” in the C band auction. The level of bidding in the C band and 3.45 GHz auctions “demonstrates the demand for operators to gain spectrum that can help them deliver high-bandwidth, high-capacity connectivity in dense areas -- even if it costs them,” emailed Ronny Haraldsvik, Cohere Technologies chief marketing officer: “Carriers in the US now need to find the best way to leverage this hefty investment. Through the use of software, carriers can do a lot more with their existing and new spectrum assets, effectively doubling the capacity of the spectrum.” The 5Gfor12GHz Coalition said now that the auction is nearly complete, the FCC should take up the 12 GHz band, which offers five times as much spectrum: “This is an important accomplishment but will not satisfy the urgent need for more spectrum. 12 GHz is the only remaining unencumbered 5G spectrum between 6 and 24 GHz that can meet the exploding demand for mobile broadband.”
Wiley promotes Jennifer Hindin to co-chair, Telecom, Media and Technology Practice, along with existing co-Chair Kathleen Kirby; Hindin succeeds David Gross, who remains an active partner in the practice ... Association of National Advertisers Group Executive Vice President Dan Jaffe, who has led ANA’s Government Relations office in Washington for 36 years, retires at year-end and is succeeded by Senior Vice President Christopher Oswald, who ascends to executive vice president in January ... Glen Echo Group adds Andrea O'Neal, ex-National Geographic Society, as a director and Joey Battley, ex-MSB Analytics, and Katelin Murray, who was a fellow at the firm, as associates.
On Track Innovations promotes Amir Eilam to CEO, succeeding Yehuda Holtzman, who previously notified the near-field communication solutions provider of his resignation for personal reasons; Eilam continues as vice president-R&D until there's a replacement ... Velodyne Lidar taps Eta Compute’s Theodore Tewksbury, also ex-Entropic Communications, as CEO ... WWE names board member Frank Riddick CFO and chief administrative officer, succeeding current CFO Kristina Salen, departing the company.