The FCC Media Bureau’s latest report on broadcast ownership, based on data from 2019, shows little change in minority and female ownership from the previous version, which was based on 2017 data but released in 2020 (see 2002140048). "It is essential that we identify ways we can encourage more diversity in this market, including reinstatement of the Minority Tax Certificate Program," said Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a release Friday. "Today's results from the FCC media ownership report scream that we need to reinstate the diversity tax certificate program." emailed Nicol Turner-Lee, of the Brookings Institution. Eight former FCC chairs echoed her.
Two years after comments on the 2018 media ownership quadrennial review, positions haven't changed, agreed station groups, MVPD associations, and diversity and trade organizations. They refreshed the record in FCC docket 18-349 by largely restating previous arguments.
Two members of an open radio access network alliance have halted activities over concerns about possible ramifications of the U.S. decision to place three Chinese alliance members on the "entity list" of enterprises deemed security risks. Ericsson and Nokia responded that they remain committed to the project. Resolving the issue could require the O-RAN Alliance to throw out its Chinese members or have the U.S grant an exception, we were told last week.
EchoStar's yearslong planning and investment in S-band services could start bearing fruit late this year or early next when it expects the first devices using the LoRa protocol to be available, Chief Strategy Officer Anders Johnson told us. That opens the door to the satellite operator selling a geostationary orbit-based IoT overlay to terrestrial IoT networks in the EU. He said the company has been talking with satellite manufacturers about possible design of a 5G non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation that could provide S-band services across much the rest of the globe, with launches starting as early as 2024.
Localities will urge Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a California small-cells bill passed Thursday. Local lawyers Friday decried -- as the wireless industry praised -- SB-556 to codify an FCC $270 cap on annual small-cell attachment rates and shorten shot clocks. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed a small-cells bill opposed by localities in 2017 (see 1710170026). Some doubt Newsom will do the same.
Social media legislation advancing in Texas is flagrantly unconstitutional and will meet the same fate as a similar bill in Florida (see 2108310065), Texas Rep. Gene Wu (D) told us last week. One of the plan’s Republican authors said in an interview the legislation is a response to “ubiquitous” social media platforms that have too much sway over user accounts and reputations. Stakeholders expect litigation if this becomes law, as also occurred in Florida.
Streaming service Locast went dark Thursday following U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York finding it violated the copyright of local stations whose content it carried without consent. Locast ally Mitch Stoltz, Electronic Freedom Forum (EFF) senior staff attorney, told us an appeal is likely. See our bulletin on the latest move here and our report on the court ruling against the nonprofit service here.
Local 911 officials and broadcasters blamed AT&T for communication problems during Hurricane Ida. Telecom network issues caused public safety answering point (PSAP) outages and kept stations from communicating with staff and viewers as they face power issues, they said.
Senate Commerce Committee Democrats are considering proposing $45 billion of the $83.1 billion the chamber allocated to the panel for its portion of the coming budget reconciliation package (see 2108100062) be used for next-generation 911 and broadband. House Commerce Committee leaders, meanwhile, are gearing up for a planned Sept. 13 markup of the panel’s reconciliation priorities. That measure is likely to draw from broadband and NG-911 language in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848), lobbyists told us.
Congress should establish a 72-hour window for critical infrastructure entities to report confirmed cyber breaches, industry witnesses told the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee (see 2108310060). A hearing considered draft legislation from Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and House Homeland Security Committee ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y.