The FCC is expected to make broadband deployment on federal lands a top infrastructure focus in coming months, building on infrastructure work overseen by Commissioner Brendan Carr over the past year, industry officials said. FCC officials are starting to quietly ask about the lay of the land and what steps the agency can take to fill in gaps. The FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee made a number of recommendations last year in a report on streamlining siting on federal lands (see 1801240033) .
Connecticut carriers and business groups lined up against proposed net neutrality and ISP privacy rules in written testimony for a Tuesday hearing of the Connecticut Joint Committee on Energy and Technology. But the Senate majority leader and two state officials backed legislation that could have momentum this year after Democrats gained a political trifecta in the 2018 election. Nobody wrote in against a separate bill before the committee to curb caller ID spoofing.
Faced with overlapping basic cable rate regulation proceedings -- proposed changes to basic tier regulation by local franchise authorities (LFAs) (see 1810230037) and Charter Communications' effective competition petition in Massachusetts and Hawaii (see 1809170020) -- the FCC is likely to handle them separately, though timing and order isn't clear, experts tell us.
CTIA urged the FCC to launch an additional NPRM to look at reserving the 6 GHz band's upper part for exclusive use licenses, while opening other parts for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. While many other commenters in docket 18-295 emphasized the importance of unlicensed spectrum and the need for mid-band alternatives, some 6 GHz incumbents said the FCC should drop the proposal completely, saying nothing it would mandate would eliminate the risk posed by widespread unlicensed use of the band. Comments were due midnight Friday.
Windstream suffered a court setback in a bond fight with a hedge fund that caused the telco's stock to plunge 61 percent Tuesday to $1.31 per share, cutting its market capitalization to $56 million and increasing bankruptcy speculation. Holding company Windstream Services breached Aurelius Capital Master's bondholder contract (indenture) by "engaging in an impermissible Sale and Leaseback Transaction," ruled Judge Jesse Furman, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Friday in U.S. Bank National Association v. Windstream v. Aurelius, No. 17-cv-7857. He ruled Aurelius was entitled to the relief it seeks, including a monetary judgment of $310.5 million, plus interest since July 23.
Communications Workers of America President Chris Shelton sees T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint as having equal shot of being approved or denied by regulators, Shelton said Tuesday during a taping of C-SPAN's The Communicators. “We think it's a very bad idea,” he said. But Shelton acknowledged CWA has no relationship with the DOJ or FCC officials reviewing the deal. T-Mobile has made no effort to offer concessions to the unions, he said: “I’m always open to talk.”
The FCC will vote on a repacking reimbursement order for low-power TV, FM stations and TV translators at its March 15 commissioners’ meeting, an FCC official told us. A media modernization item on broadcast satellite stations is also expected to be on the agenda (see 1803220027), the officials said.
With a flood of comments expected, some nontraditional players have started to weigh in on an NPRM on unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band. Among them is an education-focused group in North Carolina and a group that builds new homes. Commissioners launched a rulemaking on Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band in October (see 1810230038) and comments were due midnight Friday in docket 18-295.
Democratic and GOP lawmakers are linking arms to support state bills to combat caller ID spoofing, with some measures getting nearly unanimous floor votes this session. Lawmakers in at least 10 states including California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Mississippi and Virginia are trying to combat robocalls through legislation (see map). Spoofing is “completely irritating” and is happening with increasing frequency, said Minnesota state Rep. Julie Sandstede (D) in an interview.
TV broadcasters and NAB apparently resolved differences over what should happen to the national ownership cap and asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to pursue the association's proposal (see 1811270062) to keep the current 50 percent cap for UHF stations and extend it to VHF's, said an ex parte filing. NAB President Gordon Smith and representatives from factions that previously offered differing national cap plans -- including Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and Graham Media CEO Emily Barr -- brought the consensus to Pai Feb. 11, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-318. Lack of industry consensus was making it difficult for the FCC to act (see 1811010041).