SpaceX plans to relocate more than 1,500 satellites to a lower orbit is getting pushback from satellite operators on spectrum interference and orbital congestion grounds. Given the expected boom in satellite traffic, including Amazon acknowledging plans for its own mega constellation (see 1904040034), the industry has "got to figure this out" and coordinate more, with the current status quo insufficient, space consultancy Lquinox President Charity Weeden said.
The California Supreme Court said cities may consider aesthetics of telecom equipment when reviewing permit applications. Thursday's opinion affirmed two lower courts’ decisions supporting a San Francisco ordinance providing the city that discretion. Local governments cheered rejection of the 2016 appeal by T-Mobile West, ExteNet and Crown Castle from the California 1st District Court of Appeal (see 1705170046).
Senate Banking Committee leadership told us they want more involvement in the ongoing privacy debate but, for now, will defer to the Senate Commerce Committee to lead the legislative effort. Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, also expects Senate Judiciary Committee participation, which raises jurisdictional questions for the three panels.
An advisory board to the Pentagon took what some consider an unusual step of encouraging the department that arranged for the group to do more to free up spectrum for commercial use such as for 5G. The U.S. can’t be the world leader in 5G without more spectrum below 6 GHz, the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) reported. The independent federal committee, which advises the secretary of defense, said DOD must share much more mid-band spectrum and the department must revise how it views spectrum. “The current status quo of spectrum allocation is unsustainable," DIB said. Milo Medin, Google vice president-wireless services, and venture capitalist Gilman Louie wrote the report.
The FCC’s upcoming quadrennial review of broadcast rules, the progress of ATSC 3.0, the repacking and FM translator interference are expected to be important topics at the 2019 NAB Show, said radio and TV broadcasters and broadcast attorneys in interviews this week. The initial comment deadline for the QR is April 29, and though radio and TV broadcasters agreed the progress toward actual rule changes is likely to be slow, both media are looking to that process to ease some regulatory burdens. “Deregulation is the No. 1 thing,” said Alpha Media CEO Bob Proffitt. About 93,000 people attended last year’s show, a spokesperson said.
Republicans will actively oppose the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) when it comes up for a House floor vote next week, but there's unlikely to be a repeat of the protracted amendments fight seen during the House Commerce Committee's Wednesday markup, said ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., in a Thursday interview. House Commerce cleared HR-1644 Wednesday night on a 30-22 party-line vote, as expected (see 1904030077). That followed a more than nine-hour, sometimes-heated debate and series of votes on 15 amendments, including 13 sought by Republicans.
That the US is losing on 5G “just is not true,” said Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, at a CTIA 5G summit Thursday. “Basically, we’re winning." Kudlow said he met with President Donald Trump about 5G Wednesday. CTIA President Meredith Baker said the C band (see 1904040076) offers the best opportunity for making more mid-band spectrum available.
A patchwork of 50 conflicting state privacy laws would be “unworkable” for industry, said FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson Wednesday, a day after meeting with industry groups. Speaking at an American Enterprise Institute event, Wilson said she met with a room “full of large companies” Tuesday. She declined to name the companies when asked on the sidelines at Wednesday’s event.
Broadcasters don’t expect an order on changes to FCC kidvid rules until summer. Such an item isn’t slated for the April agenda, and broadcast industry officials don’t expect it in May, either.
The Senate Commerce Committee cleared a trio of telecom and tech bills on voice votes Wednesday, including the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (S-151). S-151 would increase FCC authority, allowing the agency to levy civil penalties of up to $10,000 per call when the caller intentionally flouts the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 1901170039).