Large indoor industry conventions will be high-risk situations if the ongoing rise of the delta variant of COVID-19 continues, said infectious disease doctors in interviews. Further complicating matters, they said it's unclear what the landscape of variants and vaccinations will be by October's NAB Show and Incompas Show.
FCC 911 Strike Force working groups are nearing completion of a report to Congress, due Sept. 23. Members told their Monday meeting some tough issues remain to be worked out. This was the strike force’s second meeting, with the last to come next month. Members said despite the FCC push, fee diversion continues. The report is mandated by 2020's Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act.
Senate Intelligence Committee leaders are negotiating with the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) over a cyber legislative package in response to the recent flurry of high-profile attacks on U.S. businesses and government, leaders from both committees said in recent interviews. They are discussing potential inclusion of a bill that would require agencies, contractors and critical infrastructure operators to report cyberhacks within 24 hours of discovery (see 2107210023), said lead sponsor and Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va. He’s in conversation with HSGAC Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and ranking member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, “in support” of their cyber work, he told us.
The Biden administration is working behind the scenes on plans to name Mozilla Foundation Senior Adviser Alan Davidson its nominee for NTIA administrator, former government officials and communications sector lobbyists told us. The White House is facing increased pressure to quickly fill the post since the agency is on course to administer the bulk of $65 billion in broadband money if Congress enacts an infrastructure spending package that a bipartisan Senate group formally filed Sunday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., swiftly filed amendments aimed at addressing anti-digital redlining and consumer protection provisions in the broadband title he sees as a potential back door to rate regulation, as expected (see 2107300054).
The number of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satcom satellites is rocketing, but space operators and experts don't see geostationary-provided broadband becoming obsolete. But many expect low earth orbit satellites and constellations to elbow geostationary orbit (GSO) satellites out of some markets and applications in coming years.
FCC commissioners are expected to OK 4-0 an order on secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) rules and an NPRM on certification requirements for VoIP providers seeking numbering access. They could potentially have tweaks sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr, said industry and agency officials in interviews last week. Both are set for a vote at Thursday’s meeting (see 2107150066).
Senators voted 66-28 Friday to proceed to debate on a vehicle (HR-3684) for the bipartisan infrastructure spending package, even as a pair of telecom-focused GOP leaders in the chamber said they’re continuing to pursue alterations to the developing measure’s broadband title (see 2107290061). Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., got a deal from Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to address some of her concerns. Leaders of the bipartisan effort hoped final language, to be filed as a substitute amendment, would have been ready Friday night.
Qualcomm continues to be “positively impacted” by the growth in 5G and the “changing OEM landscape, resulting in the expansion of our addressable handset opportunity,” said CEO Cristiano Amon on a fiscal Q3 earnings call Wednesday, his first as chief executive. “We see the shifts in OEM market share create an incredible opportunity for us,” he said: “This quarter, Xiaomi is now the No. 2 OEM.”
Comcast's Peacock, with 54 million signups, is rolling out to Europe later this year to Sky's 20 million customers, and the next aim is global availability of the streaming service, said the company Thursday. Comcast executives waved off the need for more mergers and acquisitions as a prerequisite to become a viable international streaming power, during a call with analysts. "I love the company we have," and more organic growth is ahead without further acquisitions, said CEO Brian Roberts. "I think we do have the scale. We don't need M&A."
Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Bush repeatedly raised red flags during oral argument Thursday about the different liabilities government and private sector robocallers face under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and how that seems to run afoul of the First Amendment. He twice said he was "bother[ed]" by what appears to be speakers treated differently due to the content of their speech. It's an appeal of a lower court's tossing TCPA litigation against Realgy Energy on grounds the act was unconstitutional until the Supreme Court severed the government-debt exception from the general robocall ban last year, with severance retroactive to 2015 (see 2102020068).