At the SEC's insistence, tech media and telecom (TMT) companies are increasingly warning investors and the public about cyberattack risks, as well as steps they're taking when incidents are discovered. The SEC began requiring that companies report on cybersecurity practices and incidents in 2023. And TMT companies’ cybersecurity disclosures in their 2024 10-K annual reports varied widely in depth and detail: TDS' totaled a little more than 300 words; Lumen's was more than 1,400.

The NAB’s ATSC 3.0 task force, The Future of TV Initiative (see 2408300030), is expected to produce a final report “soon” members said, but broadcasters told us much of the impetus behind the effort has faded due to the coming leadership change at the FCC. Commissioner Brendan Carr, the agency's chairman-designate, is seen as more favorable to the 3.0 transition, broadcasters said. The task force first met in June 2023, and members said it would issue a final report in fall 2024. “It is a daunting effort to put that report together in a way that everyone can sign off on the language,” said Robert Folliard, a task force member and Gray Media senior vice president-government relations and distribution. “We expect the report to come out very soon,” an NAB spokesperson said.

The FCC in a U.S. Supreme Court filing defended the USF in general, and the contribution factor more specifically, as the justices prepared to hear what could be the most consequential FCC case in years (see 2412100060). SCOTUS agreed in November to review the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 9-7 en banc decision, which sided with Consumers' Research and found that the USF contribution factor is a "misbegotten tax.”

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.

Meta's chief AI scientist warned against overoptimism about AI's role in the immediate future. During a presentation Wednesday at CES in Las Vegas, Yann LeCun said making new technology work “is always harder than we think.” Telecom carriers have invested heavily in AI, which they see as a network management tool (see 2411190057).

New Street’s Blair Levin on Wednesday slammed the $20 billion rural digital opportunity fund, calling it a huge failure, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. Approved under former President Donald Trump, RDOF has its defenders, including FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who has called it a bigger success than the BEAD program, which President Joe Biden approved (see 2409270032).

CTA CEO Gary Shapiro used his annual state of the industry address Tuesday to warn against the threat from tariffs expected under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, other speakers highlighted challenges consumers and industry will face as AI is added to smartphones and becomes a part of daily life.

Lawmakers and officials expect that long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies will remain a flashpoint in negotiations during the new Congress as GOP leaders eye using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation. Observers eyed potential friction from Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., if she succeeds in her bid to become Senate Communications Subcommittee chair (see 2412180052) given her well-known disagreement with new Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on DOD spectrum issues.

CTA urged President-elect Donald Trump's administration to move with care on proposals for imposing higher tariffs on imports, warning they could result in sharp declines in the purchases of smartphones and other devices. With CES beginning in Las Vegas, CTA also projected retail revenue in the consumer tech industry of $537 billion this year, up 3.2% over 2024.

Ligado will partner with AST SpaceMobile on direct-to-device (D2D) service, with AST compensating Ligado for access to Ligado spectrum. The arrangement comes as part of a Ligado restructuring of its debt announced Monday, a day after Ligado filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.