Rep. April McClain Delaney of Maryland and nine other House Democrats pressed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth this week to give states more “clarity” about how the agency's June 6 policy restructuring notice for the $42.5 billion BEAD program affects how they can spend grants on non-broadband deployment projects (see 2506060052). “We urge NTIA to issue formal clarification elucidating how States may use remaining BEAD funds [on] parallel investments in the foundational non-deployment activities that enable effective implementation and adoption,” said McClain Delaney, a former deputy NTIA administrator during the Biden administration, and her colleagues in a Monday letter to Lutnick and Roth. They want a response by Tuesday.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Nexstar’s profitability and plans to acquire Tegna undercut broadcaster arguments for doing away with the national ownership cap, said MVPDs, civil rights groups, Newsmax and others in comment filings in docket 17-318. Replies were due Friday.
NTCA, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and other commenters told the FCC last week that they dislike a proposal to deregulate telephone access charges more now than they did five years ago, when the agency last sought comment (see 2008050030).
New questions in the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s previously routine equal employment opportunity (EEO) audit letters appear to be aimed at seeking out broadcaster diversity hiring programs and grievances against them.
Shifting federal priorities away from fiber toward newer technologies like low earth orbit (LEO) satellites is creating uncertainty for states' broadband plans and funding, experts and local officials warned Thursday at the National Association of Telecom Officers and Advisors' (NATOA) annual conference (see 2508200037). Panelists said the move has rattled the industry, left local governments scrambling for resources, and raised questions about how states will balance cost, access and long-term reliability without the possibility of new federal support.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
States face a challenge getting their BEAD final proposals to NTIA by the Sept. 4, but most will meet the deadline, Colorado Broadband Office Executive Director Brandy Reitter said Tuesday at the Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum. Large states like Texas and California will probably need extensions, she told us. Reitter said she was fairly confident NTIA in turn would meet its deadline for reviewing the final proposals within 90 days of receiving them.
Industry groups pressed the FCC to avoid imposing new rules designed to close a “gap” in the commission’s Stir/Shaken authentication rules, making it harder for scammers to hide their identities. Some said the wrong rules could slow the IP transition. Commissioners in April approved an NPRM (see 2504280038) addressing the issue. Reply comments were due Friday in docket 17-97.
While traditional and virtual MVPDs will always be "a critical pathway" for distributing its sports content, Monumental Sports & Entertainment sees the clear cord-cutting trend and has to be able to go direct-to-consumer (DTC) as well, according to Zach Leonsis, its president of media and new enterprises. The company, which had a 33% stake in NBC Sports Washington, D.C., bought out Comcast's 67% stake in the regional sports network (RSN) in 2022. A year ago, it launched its Monumental+ app.