The final episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators will be a roundtable of reporters discussing “tech issues and the future of tech,” a C-SPAN spokesperson emailed. The episode is planned for July 31. C-SPAN didn’t comment on which reporters will participate. The network announced the end of the show’s nearly 800-episode run earlier this month (see 2107020051).

State emergency alert system plans must be filed in the alert reporting system and in compliance with updated FCC requirements by July 5, said the Public Safety Bureau in a public notice posted in docket 15-94 Tuesday.

Dish Network's mobile customers will use AT&T's wireless network in addition to Dish's 5G network under a network services agreement announced by the two companies Monday. The agreement says AT&T will be the primary network services partner for Dish mobile virtual network operator customers. They said AT&T will also provide transport and roaming services to support Dish's 5G network. "Teaming with AT&T on this long-term partnership will allow us to better compete in the retail wireless market and quickly respond to changes in our customers' evolving connectivity needs as we build our own first-of-its kind 5G network," said Dish Chief Operating Officer and Group President-Retail Wireless John Swieringa. Under the terms of the 10-year NSA, Dish will pay AT&T at least $5 billion and AT&T can deploy portions of Dish's spectrum to support Dish customers on the AT&T network. New Street Research's Jonathan Chaplin, in a note to investors, said presumably AT&T would pay Dish for use of the spectrum or Dish would get a reduction in what it's paying AT&T under the MVNO. He said the deal was likely driven by Dish's issues with T-Mobile shutting down the Sprint CDMA network that many of Dish's Boost customers rely on. Chaplin said the Dish/AT&T deal could indicate a DirecTV/Dish DBS deal could be more plausible since it indicates a willingness for AT&T and Dish to work together. He said such an agreement would face regulatory challenges "though we see it as a hurdle; not a barrier."

5G has a role to play in infrastructure and closing the digital divide, FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said on an Axios webinar Friday, as Congress debates whether wireless will be a major part of infrastructure spending plans (see 2107150046). Much of the discussion has been on extending the reach of fiber networks, Rosenworcel said. “We really need to have robust connections to those towers … to make sure our wireless networks can deliver all that 5G has to offer.” About 50 million Americans are on 5G , Rosenworcel said. She noted the importance of 5G to IoT. Next-generation machine learning and artificial intelligence are “where the real 5G revolution comes,” she said. Rosenworcel said the FCC “made a mistake” last administration putting too much emphasis on high-band spectrum, repeating a criticism she made as a minority commissioner. Millimeter-wave 5G requires “lots of ground-based facilities,” which are “really costly” to deploy, she said. Mid-band is “the sweet spot” and “how we’re going to deploy 5G,” she said. “We’re doing a lot to fix where we were.” The FCC started the C-band auction, the first mid-band auction for 5G, under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 2012080040). "The last FCC took unprecedented action to advance American leadership in 5G,” Pai emailed now. “A key part of that plan was freeing up spectrum for the commercial marketplace,” he said, noting the citizens broadband radio service and C-band auction. “Notably, today's leadership voted against each and every one of these measures,” he said: “The agency is now going backward on mid-band by putting on ice the 2.5 GHz auction and the 4.9 GHz initiative." Commissioner Brendan Carr "is proud that he voted in favor of freeing up more than six gigahertz of spectrum for licensed 5G services," a spokesperson emailed: “There is work ahead if this Commission is going to match the pace and cadence it hit with mid-band spectrum over the past few years.” Rosenworcel says the 2.5 GHz auction would come following the 3.45 GHz auction. Mid-band means more 5G outside urban centers, she said now. "That future is not quite here yet.” Broadband is becoming “critical infrastructure,” said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. Governments “should care,” he said. “I have not met a single government that does not worry about how they can build 5G and how fast.” Amon also noted the debate in Congress: “For the first time, you have a cellular technology that can really replace, or augment, fiber deployment,” which will be easier to build in rural areas. Amon predicted most major U.S. cities will have 5G in 2021, and it will cover the “majority of the country” by Dec. 31, 2022. Most Manufacturing Institute members report they hope to use 5G in their plants by year's end, said Executive Director Carolyn Lee: “They also recognize that the speed with which 5G is deployed will really impact their ability to be globally competitive.”

The FCC approval Friday of AT&T's spinoff of its North American video distribution business came with no conditions. See also our news bulletin here. The International and Wireless bureaus order approving transfer of some satellite, earth station and private land mobile radio licenses said that since TPG Capital, which is buying a 30% stake in the spinoff, has no significant video programming or distribution assets, New DirecTV poses "no adverse effect on market concentration or likely competitive or public interest harms." Staff said no one had challenged AT&T and TPG assertions that the $7.8 billion deal announced in February (see 2102240046) would make New DirecTV more competitive through dedicated management, an ability to focus solely on the video business and the addition of capital and resources. Network affiliates had sought a condition requiring provide local-into-local service into all designated market areas (see 2105040055). The bureaus' order said nothing in the record points to New DirecTV having any less incentive to carry local broadcast channels and the affiliates didn't put forward evidence or a good theory showing New DirecTV would have different competitive pressures in those markets post transaction. Indie programmer RMG had urged that New DirecTV be required to allocate at least 1% of its channel lineup for rural-focused programming and be barred from removing rural content from its post-spinoff programming lineup. The order said the spinoff doesn't raise vertical integration concerns that New DirecTV would discriminate against unaffiliated programmers or change the incentives behind DirecTV program carriage decisions. AT&T said it "appreciate[s] the FCC’s prompt review and approval."

The FCC order modifying rules for the $1.9 billion program for removing Huawei and ZTE from carrier networks, which cleared 4-0 on Tuesday, got changes from the draft. The order was listed in Thursday’s Daily Digest. One change, discussed Tuesday (see 2107130058), is new language on possible federal siting permit delays raised by Union Wireless. “We direct the Wireline Competition Bureau to consider delays in federal permitting as one potential factor to consider when reviewing requests for extensions of time,” the order said. It included new language rejecting requests for a blanket six-month extension of program deadlines: “Such requests to extend a deadline that is not yet established are premature, and run counter to the intent of Congress of having a one-year removal, replacement, and disposal term.” The order added language to not prioritize eligible telecom carriers over non-ETCs. “This scheme is most consistent with congressional intent and it will allow, as Congress intended, all providers of advanced communications services to begin the necessary work of removing insecure communications equipment and services from their networks,” the order now says. The final version added clarifying language on one type of upgrade permissible under the program, voice over LTE, which will be “treated as a comparable replacement for an older mobile wireless network.”

OneWeb and advocates for opening 12 GHz to 5G butted heads Wednesday whether there's wireless demand here. “Where is CTIA [support], where is Verizon [support]?" said OneWeb North American Director-Government and Regulatory Engagement Eric Graham in a Broadband Breakfast virtual panel Wednesday. He said their silence and AT&T opposition to opening the band indicate a relative lack of wireless interest. Replied RS Access CEO Noah Campbell, NCTA says its members want access, and AT&T shows interest in an auction if there's a mobile allocation. Dish Network Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Jeff Blum said it's "telling" that non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite interests didn't offer their own technical study in the docket 20-443 comment cycle (see 2107080055) refuting the RS Access-commissioned study showing satellite/terrestrial sharing of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band is feasible. Graham said the burden of proof is on 5G petitioners to make the case for sharing. Blum and Campbell focused on the need for the spectrum for 5G. Graham argued terrestrial service is a harmful interference risk to NGSO fixed satellite service (FSS) downlinks to user terminals. Graham said the 12 GHz swath is part of a 2 GHz-wide band of Ku spectrum available for satellite use, but terrestrial uses in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band makes it more difficult if not impossible for NGSO FSS constellations. Blum said the band isn't inherently needed for NGSO-provided broadband, citing Amazon's planned Kuiper constellation not using that spectrum. He and Campbell disputed the interference threat. Now that the record's closed, 5G interests will seek to engage with NGSO interests, said Blum.

Telecom interests disagree about the feasibility of texting the 988 suicide prevention hotline by July 16, 2022, in docket 18-336 comments due Monday. Text-to-988 can be instituted by that implementation deadline for 988 voice service or within six months of when Lifeline is technically prepped to receive and handle texts, whichever is later, CTIA said. It said the FCC should rely on the text-to-911 definitions of 'covered providers" and "covered services" here. It said the FCC should keep evaluating the feasibility and policy considerations of such issues as a broader scope of supported messaging services and the provisioning of location information. Calling the 2022 deadline feasible, ATIS said covered text providers should have to route 988 text messages to Lifeline's current 10-digit number instead of a Lifeline local crisis center, because a text-to-911-type architecture "would require significantly more time to implement." ATIS said modeling text-to-988 after text-to-911 would mean nine to 12 months of updating specifications, and 12 to 18 months of implementation. Voice on the Net Coalition said text-to-988 should have the same exemptions as text-to-911 from non-interconnected texting applications and covered text providers in Wi-Fi-only locations requirements. It said new routing and technical standards for text-to-988 could make meeting the 2022 deadline difficult. It said the FCC instead should look at an implementation deadline of 12 months after the effective date of the order. Support enhanced funding and resources for 988 and the network of crisis centers answering those calls to ensure it has the capacity to respond to texts, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention commented. Lack of support to receive, address and respond to text messages "will set [the texting] capacity up for failure," it said. Also citing funding concerns, the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness said the FCC should collaborate with providers and payers on structuring operational functionality of the crisis line. An array of mental health organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, American Association of Suicidology and National Alliance on Mental Illness urged requiring automated bounceback messages when text-to-988 isn't answerable and that texting be available by the July 2022 988 voice call deadline. The National Association of the Deaf, National Disability Rights Network and others urged expanding the scope of the order to include real-time text, rich communications service and other successor formats and to cover all interconnected texting service providers.

The $565 million the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee is proposing to give CPB in FY 2024 is well above the $475 million President Joe Biden wants to spend (see 2107120068).

The FCC released an order and Further NPRM Tuesday requiring the disabling of contraband wireless devices detected in correctional facilities. The order addresses oversight, carrier liability and how 911 calls are handled. It was OK’d 4-0 Monday. It establishes a two-phase process for authorizing contraband interdiction systems (CISs) to detect contraband devices and establishes a “rule-based process” for disabling contraband devices. “Although wireless providers continue to prefer a court order process, more recently they acknowledged certain jurisdictions don't have the time or resources to issue court orders and that a rule-based framework could be designed in a way that is efficient, straightforward, and that replicates the accuracy and accountability of the court order process,” the order said. The framework provides rules for certifying CIS providers and for testing systems. The FCC said it decided against reporting requirements for stakeholders: “The two-step certification process we adopt … will provide the Commission with a substantial amount of information on the general operating design of CISs as well as the specific deployment plans for particular correctional facilities.” The FCC said carriers won't be reimbursed for disabling devices, as had been urged by T-Mobile, saying the costs should be minimal. The FNPRM asked about “quiet zones” in and around prisons “in which wireless communications are not authorized such that contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities would not receive service.” It asked about geofencing. It asked about the efficacy of using beacon systems to disable contraband devices. “Addressing this problem is not easy,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “The incentive to bring these devices into prisons and jails will not simply go away with better contraband interdiction." Commissioner Brendan Carr told reporters he witnessed “truckloads” of contraband devices pulled out of one prison. “Any time we’re making even any progress," he said, "it’s something that gets my support.” The wireless industry "has a longstanding commitment to collaborating with all stakeholders to find effective solutions," a CTIA spokesperson emailed. "An FCC process for terminating service to contraband phones can further that goal.”