AI will play a large role in the telecom network of the future, but finding the right AI model and aligning it with the network will pose big challenges for carriers, experts said during a Senza Fili “Sparring Partners” webcast Thursday.
A bipartisan bid aimed at attaching $6 billion in stopgap funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and $3.08 billion for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to the FAA reauthorization package appeared likely to fail Thursday amid opposition from Senate leaders (see 2405080047). Amendment co-sponsor Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, conceded in an interview Thursday he and other backers appear to lack the necessary votes to hold up consideration of the FAA package. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and amendment co-sponsor Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., separately confirmed to us that chamber leaders still resisted allowing a floor vote on the proposal because they view it as nongermane to the FAA package.
Challenges remain as companies implement a voluntary cyber-trust mark program based on National Institute of Standards and Technology criteria, speakers said during an FCBA CLE on Thursday. FCC commissioners approved the program 5-0 in March (see 2403180046), but the order has not appeared in the Federal Register and the program's timeline is unclear. The cyber mark label will appear on consumer IoT products with an accompanying QR code. It's comparable to the ENERGY STAR program, which certifies products as energy efficient.
EchoStar's initial move into the postpaid wireless market "was rushed," as the company had spent a lot of focus on its wireless network infrastructure and not as much on its go-to-market strategy, CEO Hamid Akhavan said Wednesday as the company announced results for the quarter ending March 31. He said the prepaid and postpaid wireless businesses will do better in the second half of the year. Raising cash is one of its biggest objectives, given looming debt and lack of sufficient cash on hand, he said. EchoStar shares closed Wednesday at $15.44, down 11%.
Other nations are increasingly interested in regulatory alignment or reciprocity with the U.S. on space sustainability-related issues, leadership at Commerce's Office of Space Commerce told an FCBA audience Wednesday. But a murkier issue is who would handle that harmonization, OSC Director Richard DalBello said.
Industry representatives raised concerns about potential negative effects for consumers should the FCC adopt an NPRM Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated among fellow commissioners last month that bans bulk billing arrangements between ISPs and multi-dwelling unit (MDU) owners (see 2403050069). "We built our business around" MDUs because "there was a gap in the marketplace" and a "demand to provide an alternative to the incumbent providers," said Pavlov Media President-MDU Bryan Rader.
Republican lawmakers blasted NPR CEO Katherine Maher during a House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing Wednesday and suggested that Congress should conduct more regular oversight of NPR and CPB or defund them (see 2405070044).
A new bid by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other senators to attach stopgap funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and additional money for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to the FAA Reauthorization Act (see 2405070083) faces resistance from chamber leaders. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other leaders are skeptical about including nongermane language in the FAA package. A previous proposal to attach ACP money drew opposition during a Tuesday night “hotline” that Senate leaders ran to gauge lawmakers’ support for amendments in the package.
The FCC gave net neutrality supporters some of what they were looking for on 5G network slicing, one of the most contested issues before commissioners, providing further clarity (see 2404190038), a comparison of the order and a draft shows. The FCC posted the order late Tuesday. The commission approved it 3-2 at a contentious meeting last month.
With the federal ban on TikTok, Congress has taken the "unprecedented" step of enacting a law that “bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” TikTok and ByteDance said Tuesday in their petition for review (docket 24-1113) in the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit to invalidate the ban.