FCC officials are discussing tweaking a Connect America Fund Phase I draft order on commissioners' meeting agenda Thursday, we're told. But the agency may not back off very much planned dismissal of a USTelecom proposal for interim ILEC voice service support in currently unsubsidized areas.
The FCC warned staff it lacks reserve funds to stay open in the event of another partial federal shutdown. Trade groups said they're hopeful government stays open, with some concerns if it doesn't. The agency confirmed Wednesday (see 1902130018) it sent memo to all workers saying most FCC operations would shut down at midnight Friday absent a budget agreement.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure faced no outright opposition to the carriers' proposed combination during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing. Many Democrats registered varying degrees of skepticism regarding the executives' claims. Questions tilted toward focus on antitrust aspects of T-Mobile/Sprint, as expected (see 1902120056). Some probed the carriers' claims about the transaction's benefits for deploying 5G. Legere and other executives from the two carriers met FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Friday, they said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-197.
Universal Service Administrative Co. will do all Lifeline de-enrollments itself, after some providers of the government-subsidized broadband and phone service for the poor and others said they might need to yank recipients whose eligibility wasn't newly verified. The Lifeline administrator's reminder was about a reverification process that has caused provider confusion as an FCC-mandated national verifier (NV) is rolled out in states.
The Mozilla Foundation aligned with the Internet Society’s Online Trust Alliance and nine other organizations to petition major retailers to adopt minimum privacy and security guidelines for IoT products they carry. A Tuesday letter to Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart referenced “serious concerns regarding standards of privacy and security” with connected consumer products.
Predictions of ramped-up space launch activity stem from the assumption satellite mega-constellations will get licensed, but “that is not an easy assumption” given heated competition for spectrum, said National Space Council Executive Secretary Scott Pace at a commercial spaceflight conference Tuesday. FCC members in April approved licensing for SpaceX's planned mega-constellation (see 1803300014). The agency didn't comment now.
Repacking delays won’t get worse in later phases as broadcast gear manufacturers claimed, said FCC Media Bureau Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman at an FCBA Mass Media Committee event Tuesday. She said the FCC has been doing all things representatives from Dielectric, Stainless and other companies suggested, and the agency’s actions will prevent delays from snowballing down the line. “All their suggestions for flexibility are things we’re already being flexible on,” Kreisman said.
Expect to hear from consumer groups, industry and privacy law experts at the Feb. 27 data privacy hearing (see 1902080051), Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us. A tech lobbyist and two industry officials said the committee is considering the Internet Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau for testimony. The industry people said a potential third witness is former FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, part of a group that discussed privacy with committee members in January (see 1901240036). The committee hasn't confirmed witnesses, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
A caller ID spoofing NPRM set for a vote at the Thursday commissioners’ meeting is expected to be approved unanimously, industry and FCC officials said. That's especially important given consumer and Capitol Hill concerns about robocalls, officials said. The provisions implement part of the Ray Baum's Act legislative package, signed last March (see 1803230038)
Both upcoming House hearings on T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint are likely to tackle antitrust-related issues even though the Communications and Judiciary Antitrust subcommittees will convene separate panels (see 1902060062), lawmakers and communications sector officials said in interviews. Communications' hearing is 10 a.m. Wednesday in 2123 Rayburn. The Judiciary Committee confirmed it's postponing Antitrust's planned Thursday hearing, as expected (see 1902110046). The committee is said to be eyeing a March makeup date.