TV station owners fear the FCC is leaning toward a national cap lower than they want, and are seeking to characterize a 78 percent cap as maintaining “the status quo.” That's according to interviews with broadcasters, broadcast attorneys and a letter to all five commissioners filed Monday. “Nothing in the record provides any basis for tightening the national ownership cap,” said Ion, Nexstar, Tribune, Univision and others that in total represent almost 500 stations.
John Oliver Sunday warned viewers of HBO’s Last Week Tonight that the FCC could soon weaken robocalling protections, by tweaking Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules. Oliver targeted the FCC in 2015 and 2017 over net neutrality rules. This time, Oliver said the FCC hasn’t done enough to curb robocalls and may soon weaken its rules. Experts said action mightn't happen soon.
Data privacy issues can’t be fully addressed using antitrust tools, Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us separately. The Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss the intersection of antitrust and privacy policies Tuesday, with Google, Intel and Mapbox among those invited to testify (see 1903070072). Intel confirmed Friday that Global Privacy Director David Hoffman will testify.
A growing number of cable operators are lined up against the C-Band Alliance 3.7-4.2 GHz band clearing plan, but opinions differ on whether the opposition is hurting CBA. With CBA seen having Verizon support (see here) and potentially close to also getting AT&T backing, "that's usually been quite convincing to the FCC to move forward," said telecom and satellite consultant Tim Farrar. AT&T said it continues to support the idea of CBA crafting and running an FCC-approved auction (see 1812120010).
The rollout of a Lifeline national verifier (NV) continues to spark concerns that many eligible low-income consumers will be thwarted from signing up for the program or de-enrolled if already subscribing, though there are signs of progress. The Universal Service Administrative Co., charged by the FCC with implementing the NV, lacks application programming interfaces (APIs) for providers and electronic access to many key government databases. That undermines automated verification of consumer eligibility, and manual processes are cumbersome, stakeholders told us.
Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Tom Carper, D-Del., are developing legislative proposals on data security and privacy and want to collaborate with the Senate Commerce Committee, Portman and Carper said Thursday. Thursday’s Senate Investigations Subcommittee hearing should help refine data security legislation, Portman told reporters. Earlier, he questioned Equifax, Marriott and the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau chief.
Difficulties minorities and women face accessing funds to buy and keep afloat media companies was a theme of every panel of broadcasters, programmers, investors and attorneys at Thursday's FCC broadcast symposium on media diversity. Broadcast incubation programs, the defunct minority tax certificate and a “raised eyebrow” from the agency encouraging companies to pursue diversity were broached as possible solutions. The agency should hold a diversity symposium for large media companies, because the largely minority attendees now are mostly “talking to ourselves,” said Bayou City Broadcasting CEO DuJuan McCoy. Companies wouldn't turn down an invitation to such an event from Chairman Ajit Pai, said Beasley Media CEO Caroline Beasely.
The FCC paused the informal 180-day shot clock on its review of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint Thursday and asked for additional comment on new data submitted by the companies. On Feb. 21 and March 6, “the Applicants filed significant additional information regarding their network integration plans for 2019-2021, an extension of their previously filed merger simulation analysis to cover the years 2019-2021, and additional information regarding their claims related to fixed wireless broadband services,” said a public notice in docket 18-197. The FCC sought comment on just the new submissions, due March 28.
Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei sued the U.S. government Wednesday over language in the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that bars U.S. agencies from using “risky” technology produced by the company or fellow Chinese firm ZTE. The lawsuit itself didn't come up during a Thursday-Senate Commerce Security Subcommittee hearing on security implications of China's market activities. Members repeatedly returned to concerns about Huawei and major tech sector issues, including the U.S. race against China to dominate 5G.
A big part of the administration’s spectrum plan requires all federal agencies to submit planning documents, which include estimates of their needs 15 years in the future. Government and industry officials said the plan could be helpful in assessing future spectrum bands for licensed and unlicensed use, but acknowledge agencies have a big challenge.