FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s future remains in limbo more than a month after President Donald Trump withdrew his renomination (see 2008030072), officials and lobbyists told us. Republican senators returned Tuesday from the August recess without a clear outcome from their push for Trump to reverse course (see 2008060062). Officials we spoke with indicated the White House hasn’t settled on a new candidate for the GOP seat.
A draft order on the Lifeline minimum service standard is based partly on two petitions for reconsideration filed by entities that uniformly oppose the current draft (see 2008240024), said FCC and industry officials in recent interviews. The text of the draft order and the MSS formula it uses haven’t been released. Officials confirmed it partially grants petitions filed in docket 11-42 by CTIA and many wireless eligible telecom carriers that sought changes to the way the MSS is calculated.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai outlined a busy agenda Tuesday for commissioners’ Sept. 30 meeting. It includes votes on 3.45-3.55 and 4.9 GHz, in what he described as a “Big Fall Kickoff.” Another order would slash IP captioned telephone service rates. Also on the agenda are two cable TV rules revisions, a draft order on secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) implementation, and a notice of inquiry on tackling 911 fee diversion by states.
The draft order on circulation revising who pays to move toll-free traffic and who gets paid (see here) hews fairly closely in many areas to the USTelecom consensus proposal (see 2006080002), FCC and industry officials and representatives said in interviews last week. Agency and company representatives said it's unlikely to be voted out soon because it's not a high-priority item. The regulator didn't comment Friday.
Getting Congress to fund the estimated $1.62 billion it would cost to rip and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment in U.S. networks could be a heavy lift this year, but industry is hopeful lawmakers will act. The FCC released cost estimates Friday and a list of some 50 carriers that use the gear (see 2009040022). The agency noted some may not have participated in the data collection. With the Trump administration focusing more generally on China, the commission in June barred the two Chinese vendors from participating in the USF (see 2006300078).
The 2021 introduction of 5G functionality in Qualcomm’s 4 Series of Snapdragon processors will speed the mass scaling of entry-level 5G smartphones globally, said Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon in an opening IFA 2020 keynote Thursday. Amon spoke via prerecorded video before a physical audience in a Messe Berlin exhibition hall. The hybrid physical/virtual IFA 2020, the first tech trade show in the COVID-19 era with in-person attendance (see 2008310024), opened with the theme “Tech is Back.”
The COVID-19 pandemic brought “so many people into the online economy, from shopping to working to learning,” creating industry opportunities to innovate for the new shelter-in-place reality, I.P. Park, LG Electronics president-chief technology officer, told an IFA 2020 news conference Thursday. The conference was held before journalists assembled in person at the Messe Berlin fairgrounds. Park spoke via prerecorded holographic video and on a live videoconference feed from Seoul.
Communications is playing a bigger role for electric utilities as they move to a smarter grid, Vivian Bouet, chief information officer at San Antonio’s CPS Energy, told the Utilities Technology Council virtual conference on its final day Thursday. UTC also took a deep dive in a panel on a project by Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) to bring fiber service to its customers.
Adopt NTIA’s petition for rulemaking on Communications Decency Act Section 230, Republican state attorneys general commented to the FCC posted Thursday in RM-11862 (see 2009020064). Tech, telecom and consumer groups again largely said the FCC shouldn't consider the petition, saying the FCC and NTIA are exceeding their jurisdiction and expertise. The AG group was formed by Texas’ Ken Paxton, Indiana’s Curtis Hill, Louisiana’s Jeff Landy and Missouri’s Eric Schmitt. The petition clarifies 230's scope and empowers states without undermining protections for moderation of “traditionally regulated content,” they wrote: It promotes freedom of speech by “ensuring competition through transparency.”
COVID-19 required local governments step up to expand internet access and broadcast critical information, NATOA President Brian Roberts and General Counsel Nancy Werner told us. NATOA hopes “to spend less time responding to FCC preemptive orders” next year, and more time supporting local effort to fill gaps shown by the pandemic, Werner said during the group's virtual meeting this week.