A Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on 5G deployment is likely to be a first indicator of the direction members want to take on related legislation this Congress, said lawmakers and officials in interviews. Senators may opine on a range of related issues, including T-Mobile's proposed buy of Sprint (see 1902050050) and 5G equipment supply chain security. Any comments President Donald Trump makes during his Tuesday evening State of the Union about infrastructure legislation could also be fodder for discussion. The hearing begins immediately after a Commerce executive session in Dirksen G50.
Nebraska needs a small-cells law even though the FCC adopted fee limits in September, Nebraska legislators heard. “We need consistent and clear rates, terms and conditions that will apply across the state to all the municipalities rather than having to go city by city … to deal with interpretations of the FCC order that will just slow down deployment,” said AT&T Associate General Counsel David Tate Monday. Cities and the cable industry opposed LB-184 at the livestreamed hearing of the Transportation and Telecom Committee in the unicameral legislature.
House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Hank Johnson, D-Ga., can hold copyright hearings at the subcommittee level in 2019, but the House Judiciary Committee will handle markups, his office told us. That's a shift from then-subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who didn’t have copyright hearings or markups in 2018 at the direction of then-committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. (see 1901080033). Both men have retired.
Wi-Fi advocates tell us that with the IoT growing daily, the FCC needs to act quickly to allocate other bands for unlicensed use, especially the 6 GHz band. A check of vendors at January's CES found the same dynamic as in previous years. Most devices rely on the same unlicensed bands, particularly 2.4 and 5.8 GHz. Wi-Fi exhaustion looms as an issue federal policymakers must address, Wi-Fi advocates said.
Amazon shares sank 5.4 percent Friday to $1,626.53 after its Q4 call suggested soft revenue guidance, slowing gross margin expansion, falling physical store sales and lingering questions about India's e-commerce market. The stock was up as much as 3.4 percent in post-market trading Thursday after a 20 percent year-over-year revenue jump to $72.4 billion, but fell 4.6 percent during the call on revenue guidance.
Experts doubt the partial federal shutdown and looming threat of another will mean more worker turnover in coming months at the FCC and other agencies. That's especially among professionals ranks such as engineers and lawyers. Others are less sure.
Gear up for nearly a year of privacy debate over possible legislative edits to the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act, said a top state senator and business and privacy advocates in interviews. The law will be enforced from Jan. 1, though the attorney general has until July 1, 2021, to adopt rules and guidance interpreting CCPA. Final text will be “incredibly important” even for those outside the state because California is the No. 5 economy, said Mintz Levin's Cynthia Larose.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected FCC tribal Lifeline support limits and procedures Friday. The 2017 order was vacated and remanded for a new rulemaking in a potential win for wireless resellers like TracFone (see 1902010017). It's a clean win for the order's opponents and the biggest loss for Chairman Ajit Pai so far in court, lawyers said Friday. Others said the FCC likely won’t try a do-over on the order or pursue removal non-facilities-based providers in general from the program.
Federal judges pressed both sides on the FCC's net neutrality rollback case in oral argument (audio) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Friday. It ran almost four-and-a-half hours, almost twice what was scheduled, plus a break. All three judges questioned challenger contentions the FCC erred in reclassifying broadband internet access as a Communications Act Title I information service, particularly given Chevron deference to reasonable agency decisions on ambiguous statutes, including 2005 Brand X affirmation of Title I cable modem service. Two judges questioned FCC decisions, including to scrap net neutrality rules -- particularly for public safety operations -- pre-empt state and local governments, and use Section 257 authority for transparency rules.
Dolby is “reaping the benefits of growing momentum” behind its Atmos, Cinema, Vision and Mobile businesses, wrote Dougherty & Co. analyst Steven Frankel Thursday after the company’s Wednesday earnings call. Concerns Dolby was facing “stiff headwinds” from a slowing smartphone market, China slowdown and tariffs “proved to be for naught,” as Dolby’s $302.4 million fiscal Q1 revenue, and $98.2 million profit, beat guidance. Repeating a “buy” rating, Frankel cited Dolby’s “dominant competitive position, strong cash flow and increased traction with new revenue initiatives.”