Federal next-generation 911 funding has a slim chance of making it into a final infrastructure spending package, but Congress has other viable paths to enact the money this year, supportive lawmakers and officials said in recent interviews. The Senate passed its amended Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684) with $65 billion for broadband but no NG-911 funding (see 2108100062). Some 911 stakeholders hope House Commerce Committee Democratic leaders will push to add at least some of the $15 billion they proposed in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848) when the chamber considers HR-3684 or via a coming budget reconciliation package.
A New Hampshire RF safety bill in development for next year would seek 1,600-foot wireless equipment setbacks and periodic measurements of wireless emissions, said author Rep. Patrick Abrami (R) in an interview. The possible bill follows a November report by Abrami and others on a state 5G commission that said the FCC could be ignoring wireless RF dangers due to industry influence (see 2011020046). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently remanded 2019 RF safety rules to the FCC.
Employers and students gave high marks to FCBA’s new diversity pipeline program. The program offers first-year law students a tech, media and telecom (TMT) law and policy certificate and matches them with employers for internship programs. This summer, it placed 19 students into paid internships with eight law firms, five companies, four trade associations and one nonprofit advocacy group-law firm partnership. FCBA members Rudy Brioche and Celia Lewis initiated the project. Participants said they hope FCBA will place more interns in the future.
Consumers are overloaded with content, and it has become difficult to manage, said TiVo executives on a Thursday webcast for the company’s biannual video trends report, based on a Q2 survey of 4,500 respondents 18 and older in the U.S. and Canada.
Apollo’s purchase of Lumen’s ILEC assets is likely to close without any major conditions from the FCC, experts said in recent interviews (see 2108030077). Both companies said they expect the $7.5 billion deal to close in the second half of 2022.
The Alarm Industry Communications Committee and alarm companies asked the FCC to direct AT&T to pause a planned 3G data termination sunset, now planned for Feb. 22, until the end of next year. AICC and members said they won’t be ready for the change next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chip shortage and other issues. The FCC said initial comments are due Aug. 30.
The FCC “absolutely” still has a role in interpreting Communications Decency Act Section 230, Commissioner Brendan Carr told us last week on the sidelines at the Technology Policy Institute conference in Aspen. He believes ISP-like transparency rules can be used “as a foundation” for increasing social media content moderation transparency.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington set a Sept. 30 deadline for Apple to complete production of some 1.5 million documents DOJ requested in its antitrust case against Google in docket 1:20-cv-03010 (in Pacer) (see 2107300035).
After repeated failure to “develop innovative mobile features,” Facebook “resorted to an illegal buy-or-bury scheme to maintain its dominance,” alleged the FTC Thursday in an amended complaint in its antitrust case against the company in docket 1:20-cv-03590. The commission 3-2 authorized filing of the complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
California Public Utilities Commission members unanimously supported reducing inmate calling services rates, at a virtual Thursday meeting. Commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt a proposed interim ICS order capping intrastate rates at 7 cents per minute for debit, prepaid and collect calls, and prohibiting some fees. ICS providers will have 45 days to reduce rates. A day earlier, at the first meeting of the California Middle-Mile Advisory Committee, state legislators questioned the CPUC’s approach to locating nodes of an upcoming open-access network.