House Communications Subcommittee members are increasingly at ease with the trajectory of the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition, since ICANN's approval last week of two transition-related plans, they said Thursday. They indicated they'll continue to exercise their oversight of the IANA transition process until its completion. ICANN sent NTIA its finalized IANA transition plan and a related set of recommended changes to ICANN's accountability mechanisms after the board passed both plans during its meeting in Marrakech, Morocco (see 1603100070). ICANN stakeholders strongly endorsed the IANA transition plan and the recommendations from the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability), saying during the hearing that the plans collectively meet NTIA criteria for the IANA transition.
CINCINNATI -- Two federal judges questioned both FCC and state arguments on North Carolina and Tennessee challenges to a commission order pre-empting their municipal broadband limits (Tennessee v. FCC, No. 15-3291, North Carolina v. FCC, No. 15-3555). At oral argument Thursday in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge John Rogers pressed an FCC attorney particularly hard, suggesting the agency intruded on state authority to regulate its localities, while Judge Helene White pushed both sides more evenly to justify their positions. A third judge, Joseph Hood, who wore a green bow tie, didn't say anything other than to wish one of the attorneys a happy St. Patrick's Day.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., dropped his presidential bid Tuesday after another primary contest loss to GOP front-runner Donald Trump, this time in Rubio's home state of Florida. Rubio is a member of the Commerce Committee fiercely opposed to the FCC net neutrality order and focused on spectrum legislation. He has been largely absent from Commerce and the Capitol in recent months while on the campaign trail. His Senate term continues through the end of this year. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is the other Commerce Committee member running for president, and he is continuing his campaign. Rubio received a mix of high-profile endorsements in the telecom space. Backers included former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now with Wiley Rein; CTA President Gary Shapiro; and AT&T Vice Chairman Ralph de La Vega.
ICANN sent NTIA its finalized Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition plan and a related set of recommended changes to ICANN’s accountability mechanisms Thursday, after ICANN’s board approved both proposals, as expected (see 1603040065). IANA Transition Coordination Group Chairwoman Alissa Cooper told the board the IANA transition plan will provide “continuity with how the Internet works today. The proposal keeps in place the same operational realities that have been working on the Internet since the 1990s.” If the IANA transition moves forward as planned, “Internet users should experience no change,” Cooper said during an ICANN news conference Thursday.
The ascendency of Donald Trump as the favorite to be the Republican nominee for president is raising the same kinds of questions in communications circles as it has on many other fronts. Few major communications players have rallied to his support, just as he has tallied few endorsements among Republican officials nationwide. Industry officials express uneasiness with Trump. They said it's unclear who he would pick for his transition teams on the FCC and communications issues, or who he would tap to lead the FTC or FCC, as NTIA administrator, or for the other key positions overseeing communications policy.
Telecommunications Industry Association hires Ashley Simmons, ex-ITS America, as communications director, effective March 15, succeeding April Ward, who moved to FirstNet as senior media adviser ... Zynga names board member Frank Gibeau CEO, succeeding Mark Pincus, who will be executive chairman ... Sprint hires Robert Hackl, ex-Vodafone, as chief experience officer/president-national sales, effective April 1; at end of that month, Chief Experience Officer Bob Johnson will leave ... AT&T moves Bill O’Hern to senior vice president-chief security officer ... Maxwell Technologies hires Jörg Buchheim, ex-Hella KGaA Hueck, as senior vice president-chief sales officer, succeeding Michael Finger, leaving for personal reasons ... Millennium Space Systems hires Bob Newberry, ex-U.S. Air Force, as executive vice president-chief marketing officer ... IDC promotes Phil Carter to chief analyst, IDC Europe.
Satellite operators inevitably will have to cede some of the 28 GHz band to 5G applications, and the key question is how best to do that, industry speakers said Tuesday at an FCBA CLE. "The first step is to accept these terrestrial services … are important and they'll get spectrum," said communications lawyer Scott Blake Harris of Harris Wiltshire, saying a majority of FCC commissioners seem committed to allocating some of the band to 5G. So industry priorities have to focus instead on "how to work this process … to have space to flourish," he said. "You have to look at spectrum sharing," he said. "'No' is not an acceptable answer."
Senate Republicans revived the year-old charge the White House unduly influenced the FCC net neutrality order. They cited new documents showing the internal agency discussions in November and December 2014 and the “pause” in developing the order after President Barack Obama’s Nov. 10 message urging the FCC to develop strong net neutrality rules under Communications Act Title II. They slammed the agency for what they called violations of the Administrative Procedure Act.
A year after the FCC approved its net neutrality order in a contentious 3-2 vote, tensions remain high. Commissioner Ajit Pai, who voted against the order, said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation Friday that the order has led to a reduction in spending by ISPs on their networks, a result he said he had predicted. Small ISPs in particular have cut investments, he said.
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could slow the timeline and alter the outcome of litigation over the FCC net neutrality and Communications Act Title II broadband reclassification order, industry observers told us Tuesday. Some said there are many unknowns, including about who will replace him on the court and when. Scalia was remembered as a justice who deferred to the commission’s judgment on some other key cases and had a long, deep interest in communications policy.