Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said they are moving closer to a deal with House Commerce Committee leaders to attach language on FCC reauthorization and some spectrum issues to the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill. No deal was yet reached. The lawmakers have been negotiating over provisions from the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization bill (HR-4986) and the Senate-passed Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless (Mobile Now) Act (S-19) spectrum bill (see 1708030060, 1802270055 and 1802280049).
The FCC released a draft order that would streamline wireless infrastructure rules in keeping with the push that started in the early days of the Ajit Pai chairmanship. Pai blogged Thursday that the changes are critical to 5G. Commissioner Brendan Carr, heading the FCC’s wireless infrastructure push, already highlighted many of the changes in a speech Wednesday (see 1802280031). A key American Indian group raised initial concerns. Among other items up for a vote at the March 22 meeting, as expected, are a Further NPRM on the 4.9 GHz band, changes to cell booster rules and deregulation for when satellite stations' parents have ownership changes. The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m., an hour earlier than normal.
FTC members and staffers heard from academics about privacy, security and other risks in a range of connected products and in some of the programming that undergirds parts of the IoT. Many shared parts of their research and published papers Wednesday during the FTC’s PrivacyCon.
The PyeongChang Olympics "were a great success" for Korean broadcasters that showcased ATSC 3.0 for Ultra HD video reception with high dynamic range, said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley on a Wednesday earnings call. The “first iteration” of 3.0 for Korean broadcasters “has just been focused on better resolution, better pictures, which we don’t think is the ultimate best use of that technology, and I think they’ll agree,” said Ripley. He also said Sinclair feels "we're getting close" to landing DOJ and FCC approval of the proposed Tribune buy, but opponents of the deal disagree (see 1802280047).
The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) (HR-1865) the House passed Tuesday evening (see 1802270057) is an example of the need for government intervention in the absence of action from tech companies, said House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. During an appearance Wednesday at an Axios event, he expressed skepticism online platforms couldn't formulate algorithms that weed out malicious actors. If private enterprise isn't responsible and doesn’t actively respond to community needs, regulation is needed, he said. “We passed a law yesterday to deal with it,” he said, while drawing parallels to alleged Russian U.S. election interference. “It’s shocking that this couldn’t have been identified before and managed differently, and that may require additional disclosure requirements,” he said, adding he would like a “light touch” in this space, but people are “demanding accountability.” Consumers want more control over their data and privacy, he said.
The FCC should waive for five years its Section 79.2(b) emergency information accessibility requirement that dynamic image crawls used during breaking news and emergencies be conveyed aurally since there’s no good technology for broadcasters doing so today, its Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) said Wednesday. Instead, voluntary best practices put together by broadcasters and advocacy groups "is the best and only way to pursue this," said NAB Associate General Counsel Larry Walke.
Sinclair's divestiture trust proposal to bring its planned buy of Tribune into compliance with FCC rules (see 1802210062) doesn’t contain enough specifics to merit turning the deal’s paused shot clock back on, opponents said Wednesday in interviews and filings. “Sinclair hasn’t delivered with this filing,” said Brian Thorn, strategic research associate at the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA). “There isn’t enough to assuage our concerns.”
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday he's optimistic President Donald Trump soon will name a nominee for a vacant Democratic seat at the FTC. The committee cleared Trump's four other commission nominees Wednesday on a unanimous voice vote, including antitrust lawyer Joseph Simons, whom Trump plans to designate chairman. The other nominees are former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Rohit Chopra; Noah Phillips, aide to Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas; and Delta Air Lines' Christine Wilson (see 1801250055 and 1801250066). An additional pick has been seen as potentially shortening the timeline for a Senate floor vote on the other four (see 1802060039).
Commissioner Brendan Carr said FCC members will vote at their March 22 meeting on changes to rules on historic and environmental reviews of small cells and larger macro towers. More details will be available Thursday when Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to release items for the meeting. Carr and industry officials discussed 5G at a CTA event Wednesday. Many industry groups applauded the proposed changes.
Revamp, don’t repeal Alaska USF, urged the telecom industry and Alaska’s attorney general in comments this week in docket R-18-001 at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The RCA last month proposed phasing out AUSF by July 31, 2019 (see 1801160014). The Alaska Telephone Association (ATA), Alaska Communications (AC) and the AG office rejected that and pitched alternatives. AUSF surcharges -- 19 percent this year -- “will almost certainly continue to rise,” a lawmaker said. The federal USF contribution factor for Q1 is 19.5 percent.