Cable operators told a New Jersey regulator their "entertainment services" shouldn’t face stricter service-quality rules than telephone -- especially since competitive over-the-top providers are unregulated. At a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities virtual hearing Wednesday, Altice, Comcast and the New Jersey Cable Telecommunications Association (NJCTA) ticked off a laundry list of legal and practical objections to BPU’s proposal to readopt the state’s Administrative Code Title 14 Chapter 18 rules for cable TV with substantial changes, including new required metrics and reports and tougher enforcement.
The FCC’s new Communications Equity and Diversity Council will meet more often and act more quickly than preceding diversity committees, said Chair Heather Gate at the CEDC's first virtual meeting. Previous diversity committees voted on most recommendations at the end of their terms, but the new group should aim at being “part of the solution as things are happening right now," said Gate, the Connected Nation vice president-digital inclusion: "Waiting until 2023 to drop all of our recommendations, we may miss a window that is open right now.”
Nascent satellite operators are planning low earth orbit (LEO) IoT constellations, but experts told us to expect many to abandon constellation plans and industry consolidation. An FCC official said there's no apparent opposition among any commissioners to a draft order on Nov. 18's agenda granting U.S. market access for French IoT operator Kineis (see 2110280065). Its 25-satellite LEO constellation is scheduled to go into orbit via five launches starting in Q2 2023.
The FCC is likely to act soon on the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates’ petition for reconsideration of the scheduled Dec. 1 phasedown of Lifeline voice-only support, experts said in recent interviews. The service's backers anticipate the agency will at least pause, if not reverse, its 2016 decision (see 1603310056).
The FAA's air safety warning about 5G use on the C band (see 2110290065) is unlikely to cause delays to planned deployments on the frequency, experts told us. They still expect AT&T and Verizon to start deployments in 2021, as both work to close to their 5G spectrum gap with T-Mobile. CTIA now has a webpage addressing the issue. Observers noted the first spectrum deployed isn’t close to that used by radio altimeters.
Backers of two bills aimed at mandating improvements to spectrum policy coordination between the FCC and other federal agencies are hopeful President Joe Biden’s recent FCC and NTIA nominations (see 2110260076) will mean a clearer path to those measures’ enactment. The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously advanced one of the measures, the Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-2501), during a Wednesday markup. The subpanel also unanimously cleared the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act (HR-1218).
Commenters debated the need for more unlicensed versus licensed spectrum to promote the IoT, in comments posted Tuesday in response to an FCC notice of inquiry, in docket 21-353. Commissioners approved a broad NOI 4-0 last summer, looking at the broader spectrum needs of the IoT (see 2110010046). Multiple satellite operators offering or planning to offer IoT service argued against additional spectrum being allocated specifically for satellite IoT, instead saying there should be access to sufficient spectrum for satellite services overall.
A U.K. proposal for reining in tech companies could affect intermediary liability protections and set up a conflict with a similar measure moving through the EU legislative process, experts said. The draft Online Safety Bill (OSB) establishes a new regulatory regime to address content harmful to children and illegal online content. The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) seeks to boost user trust in online services by countering illegal content and by making platforms, especially very large ones, more accountable (see 2012150022). But unlike the OSB, the DSA builds on existing "safe harbor" rules for intermediaries. It also addresses only illegal content, while the U.K. measure gets into the murky area of harmful material.
Proponents of using the 12 GHz band for 5G said Tuesday they see room for compromise with satellite incumbents. The remarks came during a New America/Public Knowledge webinar Tuesday. Speakers were hopeful for action once the FCC has a full slate of commissioners.
Legislation to require online marketplaces like Amazon to verify third-party sellers got strong bipartisan support from the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. But leadership needs to confer with the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction, said Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill.