The FCC extended by up to six years a freeze on federal-state jurisdictional separations -- of telco costs and revenue -- set to expire Dec. 31. That's longer than recent extensions but shorter than apparently proposed in a draft order (see 1811140033). It was a compromise sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr after Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, federal-state joint board chairman, pushed a 15-year extension proposed in an NPRM that state regulators opposed (see 1807180059).
The C-Band Alliance (CBA) proposal for that spectrum may be gaining steam, but questions remain about what’s next for the FCC on this key mid-band swath. Any approach likely will face significant opposition, based on replies last week that show no emerging consensus (see 1812120010). The alliance has some optimism.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh likely will participate if the Supreme Court is asked to review the FCC net neutrality rollback, said court watchers, noting justices have wide leeway on recusals. They recused themselves without explanation from a November decision not to consider the prior commission's 2015 Communications Act Title II net neutrality order (see 1811050008). Their apparent reasons -- possible conflicts over Roberts' shares and Kavanaugh's lower court participation -- aren't expected to be repeated if the current Republican-run FCC's Title I order comes before them.
The three rounds of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs imposed since July on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods are costing the tech industry more than $1 billion a month in added fees, reported CTA Friday. CTA released its estimates as the Trump administration officially delayed to March 2 its plan to raise the third tranche of 10 percent tariffs to 25 percent.
Supreme Court review of a federal appeals court ruling that interconnected VoIP is an information service is no sure thing. But petitioning the highest court may be the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s only remaining option if the agency wants to continue arguing the state may regulate Charter Communications cable VoIP, said experts in interviews last week. The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals earlier this month denied the PUC’s petition for en banc rehearing (see 1812040045) of a panel’s September ruling (see 1809070030). If it stands, the decision would affect a Vermont VoIP proceeding and any other state that sees traditional and VoIP services as functionally equivalent, experts said.
Political maneuvering to allow Senate confirmation of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full five-year term appeared to take that process one step forward and one step back, with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., placing his own hold on the nominee and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai working to end an existing hold from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. Pai committed in letters released Friday to a series of steps to resolve USF Rural Health Care Program concerns that led Sullivan to place the hold earlier this year (see 1809130059). Manchin placed his own hold Thursday on Carr, citing the FCC’s decision this month to suspend the window for responding to Mobility Fund Phase II challenges while the agency investigates whether top wireless carriers submitted incorrect broadband coverage maps in violation of MF-II rules (see 1812070048).
Gray and Raycom -- in the process of selling TV stations in nine designated market areas as part of their $3.6 billion deal announced in June (see 1808270038) -- now also have DOJ requiring the same as terms for OK. In a complaint filed Friday with U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Justice said the deal minus the divestitures would leave New Gray with increased power to charge MVPDs higher fees for its programming and advertisers more to reach audiences in those markets.
Tech/telecom-minded Sen.-elect Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., will likely sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2019, lobbyists and industry officials told us. Republican leadership is seeking a female member given the criticism it took for an all-white-male majority reviewing Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. Blackburn declined comment.
The FCC is looking at all possibilities in the 5.9 GHz band, including reallocating it for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, Chairman Ajit Pai said on an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators, set for telecast over the weekend. Pai confirmed that, as expected, he plans to take a broader look at the band, which is now allocated to dedicated short-range communications (see 1811140061). Pai didn’t offer a time frame or other details. Industry officials said his comments go further than anything he previously has said on the topic.
Europe's net neutrality rules are working well but could be tweaked, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) said in an opinion Wednesday. Stakeholders are primarily concerned about being allowed to innovate and having harmonized, clear and flexible application of the EU open internet regulation and BEREC's guidelines, it said. Consumers generally agreed the system is working but said national regulators should be harder on zero rating. One academic said the EU's regulatory approach, unlike that of the U.S., stifles innovation.