A senior research analyst from Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology cautioned Thursday that in some locations the cost of replacing Chinese hardware in information technology networks with more expensive alternatives outweighs the benefits. Jack Corrigan told the China Economic and Security Review Commission at a Thursday hearing that procurement bans should be targeted at "high-risk sectors, networks and use cases."
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed to congressional leaders Thursday that the Wireline Bureau will move forward with freezing new affordable connectivity program enrollments Feb. 8 amid the continued push to provide the program stopgap funding to keep it running once its original $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April (see 2401250075). Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., is beginning to cite a recent FCC Office of Inspector General report on its audit of ACP’s 2022 performance (see 2401300090) as vindicating Republicans’ misgivings about the program, which some lobbyists believe may complicate those funding efforts.
Comcast should drop "10G" from the name of its Xfinity 10G Network, the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Review Board recommended Wednesday. The board upheld a Comcast-appealed decision by BBB's National Advertising Division against the use of "10G." The board said using 10G, which Verizon challenged, "expressly communicates ... that users of the Xfinity network will experience significantly faster speeds than are available on 5G networks," but there's no data comparing Xfinity network speeds with speeds 5G network subscribers experience. The board said Comcast agreed to modify its advertising.
The FCC Wednesday extended deadlines for four carriers to remove, replace and dispose of Huawei and ZTE equipment from their networks. The deadline for Mediacom Communications was extended from Jan. 15 to April 15, for NfinityLink Communications from Feb. 15 to Aug. 15, for Vitelcom Cellular from Jan. 11 to July 11 and for Country Wireless from Feb. 24 to Aug. 23. The Wireline Bureau evaluated the need for an extension as presented in each petition. In the case of Country Wireless, the provider said completing the process by the deadline was “materially affected by the lack of full funding for the required work, coupled with its status as a small rural provider with limited financial resources to spare for this work," the notice said. The FCC encouraged submitting petitions as soon as providers realized they needed an extension: “Recipients should fully explain and support their assertions with specific facts showing why they cannot meet their existing removal, replacement, and disposal term, so that the Bureau can review the sufficiency of the request.” Lawmakers are evaluating legislative vehicles to allocate an additional $3.1 billion, ensuring full reimbursement of rip-and-replace participants' costs (see 2401240001).
The FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force met Wednesday, welcoming new members and discussing the group's mandate as it kicked off its third and final term (see 2308210069). The commission gave it the task of identifying gaps in broadband availability on agricultural land, as well as providing recommendations for rapid deployment and data collection.
SpaceX and Dish Network continue lobbing broadsides at one another on SpaceX's plans for limited supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service in the G-block spectrum. In a docket 23-135 filing Tuesday, SpaceX labeled Dish criticisms "baseless fearmongering" and part of its "standard fare of misdirection and misinformation." Dish has petitioned the FCC to reconsider its Space Bureau decision allowing SpaceX to conduct limited SCS operations over the G block (see 2401040005). SpaceX said while Dish attacks its out-of-band emissions, SpaceX operations have been proven to readily fall below the noise floor of adjacent band users. Dish said SpaceX's response to the petition (see 2401180061) reinforced rather than countered concerns about harmful interference to Dish's adjacent H-block operations and to mobile satellite service uplinks worldwide. Pointing to SpaceX statements that testing will show its SCS service won't cause interference, Dish said the need for "a bespoke test" as proof "demonstrates all by itself that the risk of interference is likely too high."
Rural Wireless Association representatives spoke with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff on the group’s concerns about the commission’s proposal for a 5G Fund (see 2309110053). If carriers lose USF high-cost support for their service areas because of a 5G Fund reverse auction, “significant investments in their network and their communities will be forever stranded without support, which is a severe waste of taxpayer dollars that are being used to build out these 5G networks,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-32. “These are the same carriers that have been using their legacy high-cost support to upgrade and maintain their networks from analog to 2G to 3G to 4G and now 5G over many decades,” RWA said.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel warned the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee Tuesday that despite the FCC’s best efforts, the affordability connectivity program will run out of funding in April (see 2401250075). DAC approved a report from its Audio Description File Transmittal to IP Video Programming Working Group. The other four commissioners also spoke Tuesday.
FCC Enforcement Bureau announces Alice Suh Jou, ex-DOJ, as assistant bureau chief and Jolina Cuaresma, former Common Sense Media, as senior policy counsel, with both to participate on Enforcement Bureau-led Privacy and Data Protection Task Force … Future of Privacy Forum appoints Anne Flanagan, ex-World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as vice president-AI … Incompas hires Keith Matthews, Mortgage Bankers Association, as digital media manager.
The Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division halted investigating a Verizon ad campaign that disparaged rivals' 5G Home Internet services after the company agreed it will stop it, NAD said Monday. The ads were part of a holiday promotion. Charter argued that in promoting fixed wireless service “Verizon made unsupported disparaging claims about the Wi-Fi service provided by competitors, such as Charter,” NAD said: “Verizon informed NAD that it had permanently discontinued the challenged claims. Therefore, NAD did not review the claims on their merits and will treat the claims, for compliance purposes, as though NAD recommended they be discontinued.”