Some lawmakers and advocates believe Capitol Hill’s inability to agree on an additional COVID-19 aid bill that includes broadband funding presents an opening for the issue to become a focus during the presidential and congressional campaigns this fall, they told us. Congress provided some related funding in March via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (see 2003250046).
Commissioner Mike O’Rielly's departure from the FCC, likely in January, could cause delays in FCC action on rules on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act if President Donald Trump is re-elected in November. Unless another Republican is approved by January, the FCC would be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Even if Chairman Ajit Pai were determined to move an NPRM he wouldn’t have the votes to do so, given the almost certain opposition of Democrats, industry officials said.
The COVID-19 pandemic “shined a spotlight” on the broadband divide and the digital “skills gap” in the U.S., neither showing signs of abating, Microsoft President Brad Smith told an Axios webinar Thursday. Both were “here last year,” but their impact “is even greater in the current economic climate,” he said. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten joined Smith on the webinar, urging deploying and regulating universal broadband as “a fact of life.”
The fiber business is different from the power business and complications are sometimes hard to anticipate, electric co-op and public utility members of the Utilities Telecom Council were told at a virtual broadband summit Thursday. Speakers said their focus on customer service in providing power is an advantage in competing on broadband.
The New York Public Service Commission will hold Altice to a “higher standard” on disaster resiliency, after problems in the cable company’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias, Chairman John Rhodes said Thursday at a Senate-Assembly joint hearing on utility and communications failures. In California, where wildfires are blazing, the wireless industry sought rehearing Wednesday of a California Public Utilities Commission order requiring 72-hour backup power in certain high-threat fire areas (see 2007160065).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to push forward an aggressive agenda on spectrum during the last part of 2020, which could be the end of his tenure as chairman depending on the results of the November election. The FCC will likely take up the 3.45-3.55 GHz NPRM at the Sept. 30 meeting, and 5.9 GHz at the Oct. 27 meeting. A follow-up order on 6 GHz rules would probably follow in November.
C-band incumbent earth station operators got more time to choose whether to take the lump-sum reimbursement option as part of the FCC's band-clearing, as some had expected. The Wireless Bureau's moving the lump sum election deadline to Sept. 14 in response to a Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) extension request left hanging a stay sought by ACA Connects and thus ACA's possible legal challenge to the FCC's lump-sum formula, we were told. ACA didn't comment.
The FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program, which ends in October, has been a success and led to “some of the most advanced drone operations in the world,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Wednesday during a virtual conference sponsored by the agency and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. An FAA official downplayed the need for more spectrum for drones, which is being examined by the FCC.
The FCC's local franchise authority (LFA) order 12 months ago (see 1908010011) opened the door for cable operators to renegotiate their cable LFA agreements to account for the expense of in-kind services they provide, but few have done so, lawyers and localities interests told us. Some expect cable operators will try to come up with valuations for such services as institutional networks (I-Net) and free service to public buildings, while others wonder if the industry isn't that interested in getting into what could be protracted fights with local communities over cable franchise fee amounts.
Qualcomm’s victory before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals strengthens the hand of patent holders like Huawei, which could create national security risks, tech industry officials and antitrust attorneys said in interviews. A Qualcomm proponent said the FTC shouldn’t seek an appeal in a case that would put “more bad law on the books against” the agency (see 2008110065).