The FCC is eyeing undertaking its first major comprehensive review of its submarine cable rules in 23 years, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted Wednesday as she announced the agency's Nov. 21 meeting agenda. Also on the agenda are additional robocall steps and a permanent process for authorizing geotargeted FM radio broadcasts, she said. While the technology, economics and security challenges involving submarine cables have changed notably since 2001, "FCC oversight has not," she said. That year saw the agency adopt procedures for streamlining the processing of landing licenses. The Stir/Shaken caller ID authentication framework is one of the FCC's most effective tools for mitigating deceptive robocalls, Rosenworcel said. With third parties used for Stir/Shaken implementation, Rosenworcel noted there have been "concerns about improperly authenticated calls and diminished accountability." The FCC will "vote to establish clear rules of the road for the use of third parties in the caller ID authentication process," she said. Industry groups urged the commission to allow third-party caller ID authentication last year (see 2307060045). In April, the FCC unanimously approved an order creating a temporary authorization process for broadcasters to use FM boosters to offer geotargeted ads. Along with that order, the agency sought comment on a more permanent process, which seems the focus of the November order. Geobroadcast Solutions, the primary company offering geotargeted FM tech to broadcasters, has pushed for the permanent authorization process to loosen restrictions on broadcasters offering geotargeting. GBS has called for the FCC to raise the number of commonly owned booster stations allowed to originate content and to increase the amount of time per hour the geotargeted content can be broadcast. The current limit is three minutes per hour. NAB and NPR have called for the FCC to closely monitor geotargeted radio users and impose additional interference protections. Two entities, Press Communications and REC Networks, have petitioned the agency to reconsider the original radio geotargeting order. The November agenda also has an unspecified enforcement item scheduled.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Commerce’s proposed restrictions on sales or imports of connected vehicles using hardware or software tied to Russia or China (see 2409220001) is seeing pushback from communications and tech industry and adjacent groups over the compliance deadlines. Comments in the NPRM (docket 240919-0245) were due Monday. Some see the Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) NPRM as pointing toward a wider eventual campaign against all connected Chinese and Russian devices (see 2409250006).
A small, but steady stream of defaults is hitting the rural deployment opportunity fund program, with many providers citing inflation as the cause, program watchers and participants tell us. A small burst of RDOF defaults occurred in recent days, including Cable One telling the FCC it's dropping 902 census block group projects in Idaho and Missouri (see 2410180033) and Mercury Broadband defaulting in 129 census block groups across four states. Since Sept. 1, Pinpoint Communications announced defaults of three census block groups, RiverStreet Communications had six and Lumen nine. It's unclear whether RDOF default locations will receive connectivity elsewhere, such as with NTIA's broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
A bipartisan group of 51 attorneys general warned iDentidad Telecom Friday that they could take enforcement action should the company continue transmitting illegal robocalls. The FCC sent iDentidad a cease-and-desist letter the same day. iDentidad should immediately stop transmitting illegal traffic, said the AGs' Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force in a letter. It warned of possible violations of state consumer protection laws and the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule, Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Truth in Caller ID Act. The FCC and FTC sent similar warnings in November (see 2401300066). Call traffic data from USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group “shows that it issued at least 190 traceback notices to iDentidad since 2021 … for calls it originated, accepted, and/or transmitted onto and across the U.S. telephone network,” including more than 60 after the FCC and FTC warnings, wrote North Carolina Special Deputy AG Tracy Nayer in the task force letter: The notices “cited recurrent high-volume illegal and/or suspicious robocalling campaigns concerning, in part, IRS/SSA government imposters, tax relief, financial impersonation, private entity imposters, Chinese-language delivery and impersonations, and utilities disconnect scams, with iDentidad serving as the gateway provider for almost 90% of this call traffic.” Also, the company reported receiving illegal or suspicious robocalls directly from foreign service providers not listed in the FCC robocall mitigation database, said Nayer. The FCC Enforcement Bureau warned iDentidad that failure to comply “may result in downstream voice service providers permanently blocking all of Identidad’s traffic.” Also, the commission notified all U.S.-based voice providers that they are permitted to block robocalls transmitted from iDentidad if the company fails to mitigate the traffic. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said, “Federal and state cooperation is critical for protecting consumers. We cannot allow scammers to target families with fake ‘transaction alerts’ from credit card companies and money transfer services.” Separately, North Carolina AG Josh Stein (D) sued Club Exploria in state court for allegedly spamming more than 1 million people without consent. “Club Exploria broke the law to bombard North Carolinians with robocalls,” said Stein Friday.
In talks with corporate governance lawyers, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington has begun promoting how the FCC's cyber-trust mark could help reduce operations costs, making suppliers from trusted nations more competitive against Chinese suppliers. In an extensive interview with Communications Daily last month, Simington also discussed "smart and targeted" reforms of linear video distribution regulation (see 2409120059), his new practice of dissenting from monetary forfeitures (see 2409060054) and how he sees U.S. industrial policy in the context of China (see 2408200041). In addition, he touched on incentivizing commercial orbital debris removal. The following transcript was edited for length and clarity.
Autos and trucks with built-in satellite-delivered connectivity will reach 30 million by 2034, ABI Research said Wednesday. Some Chinese original equipment manufacturers are shipping vehicles with the technology already, it added. Ubiquitous connectivity to drivers is a value proposition OEMs have lacked due to limits in cellular network coverage, but it provides a reliable after-sales revenue stream for OEMs. Satellite connectivity is particularly appealing in the U.S., China and the EU, given their strong markets for premium and SUV vehicles, it said. Collaboration between the European Space Agency, 5G Automotive Association and Third Generation Partnership Project will be key to unlocking satellite-connectivity capabilities.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Don't expect major changes soon in the cable franchise fees regime, former cable lawyer Burt Cohen said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. During the event, localities lawyer Cheryl Leanza of Best Best argued localities still must maintain public infrastructure while revenue from cable franchise fees dries up and thus need to target broadband service. Conversely, Jenner & Block's Jessica Ring Amunson, who has represented NCTA, said the law is clear that those franchise fees can be levied on cable service only. Cohen, now Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel broadband policy coordinator, said that while a collaborative understanding of cable local franchise authority regarding fees is needed, "I'm not sure we are there yet."