ANNAPOLIS -- The Maryland Senate Finance Committee heard testimony Wednesday on SB-339, designed to push the state into next-generation 911. Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D) introduced the bill, which honors Carl Henn, who was struck by lightning and died when he couldn’t reach 911. Supporters of the legislation, many of them in uniform, packed a hearing room.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other lawmakers highlighted a range of communications policy issues they see as affecting broadcasters, including the FCC's 2018 quadrennial review proceeding on media ownership rules, during a Tuesday NAB conference. But none offered clear insight into their thinking on a major focus of broadcasters' 2019 policy interest -- the debate over Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization (see 1812280025). STELA is expected to be a top 2019 telecom policy priority for the House and Senate Commerce committees (see 1812060050). The Judiciary committees also are expected to be active in deciding whether and how to reauthorize the law.
A Hawaii net neutrality bill is headed to the Senate floor after the Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Committee unanimously passed an amended measure Tuesday. The State Procurement Office opposed SB-253 that would codify last year’s executive order by Gov. David Ige (D) restricting procurement to ISPs that follow open internet rules. Bills are active in other states where, as in Hawaii, Democrats have a political trifecta. Momentum appeared to slow a net neutrality bill in Maryland, which has a Republican governor, after a hearing earlier this month where industry argued the state should wait for litigation to resolve (see 1902060057).
It makes no sense for Republicans to support a privacy bill that doesn’t pre-empt state law, House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., told us before the committee’s first 2019 privacy hearing. “We should look at what’s best for the country. Maybe it is California’s law. I don’t think so personally, but we should get schooled up on” state laws, he said.
First steps in the ATSC 3.0 switch could be delayed by lack of an FCC license application form for the new standard, said Spectrum Consortium President John Hane at America's Public Television Stations Summit Tuesday, responding to our questions. SpectrumCo has over a dozen markets that could begin to transition by late summer, but that's unlikely if the document isn't released in the next few months, Hane said.
With an appellate court Tuesday deciding DOJ didn't prove the case for stopping AT&T's buy of Time Warner (see 1902260017), Justice threw in the towel on any further challenges (see 1902260067). Experts had widely expected that.
Wireless charging is in the news at Mobile World Congress (see 1902250016) this week, as Energous announced a collaboration with vivo Global to explore integrating WattUp into smartphones that charge wirelessly over the air. Mark Tyndall, general manager-emerging products business group at Dialog Semiconductor, which makes Energous chips, cited vivo’s appeal to younger users and its “innovative approach to solving use pain points” such as charging.
Huawei saw Samsung’s Fold and raised it more than an inch in phone screen size and quite a few dollars in price at Sunday's unveiling of its Mate X foldable phone in Barcelona. The 5G device -- with a 6.6-inch front display, 6.38-inch rear display and 8-inch interior OLED tablet display -- will cost $2,600 when it launches in summer, said the company at its Mobile World Conference news event. Samsung’s Fold -- 4.6 inches in phone mode and 7.3 inches as a tablet -- is slated for availability April 26 at $1,980.
The Supreme Court's decision on the operator of Manhattan's public access channels being sued for allegedly violating the First Amendment rights of content producers banned from it (see 1810170027) could largely depend on the meaning of first come, first served. That was a central issue in oral argument Monday. A decision is likely in May or June, both sides told us. April is possible though that would be notably quick, said respondents' counsel Paul Hughes of Mayer Brown.
America's Public Television Stations will seek an additional $50 million in federal funding for public television in 2019, and is aiming to secure a $100 million total increase over the next 10 years, said APTS President Patrick Butler at the group's Public Media Summit Monday. It will seek $100 million in additional funding from states, and a third tranche of $100 million from renting out spectrum through ATSC 3.0, Butler said.