The FCC was right to eliminate programs that provided school bus Wi-Fi and internet hot spots to schools and libraries because they went beyond the agency's authority, wrote Daniel Lyons, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in a blog post Thursday. Supporters of the programs say that on a practical level, halting the programs puts schools and libraries in a financial bind (see 2510150047).
The advent of AI means that everything is changing for the telecom industry, Qualcomm Chief Information Officer Atilla Tinic said Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. AI was again the main topic of keynote discussions on the second day of the conference (see 2510140041), which is co-sponsored by CTIA and GSMA.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is proving to be “a very consequential chairman,” New Street’s Blair Levin said in a new webcast with former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, part of a series for the Free State Foundation. Levin also said he doesn’t view President Donald Trump as a true advocate of free markets.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s use of agency threats against Disney, ABC and local broadcasters on Wednesday led to Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled from the air within hours, and Carr is widely expected to keep repeating the tactic, academics and attorneys said in interviews Thursday.
Competitive Carriers Association membership is shrinking, but the remainder are hopeful about future spectrum auctions and policy calls that could mean the difference between life and death for many small players, CEO Tim Donovan said in an interview Thursday.
Cox Communications didn't do anything affirmative to further online piracy by its broadband subscribers, and holding it liable for contributory copyright infringement flouts decades of U.S. Supreme Court case law, the cable ISP told SCOTUS on Friday. In a docket 24-171 petitioners' brief, Cox said the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "defies common law and common sense" in its finding that ISPs are liable when they continue offering service after getting notifications accusing an unknown user of infringing copyright. Cox is challenging the 4th Circuit upholding a lower court's copyright infringement finding against Cox for piracy by some of its internet subscribers (see 2408160034).
The Department of Commerce's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released summaries of two reports Thursday that were sharply critical of actions by the FirstNet Authority. One found that some FirstNet officials worked to block an OIG investigation, while the second found incidents of retaliation against a FirstNet employee who cooperated with OIG.
The FCC on Monday removed 1,203 additional voice providers from the Robocall Mitigation Database, following a recent order removing 185 (see 2508060041). The removals come after warnings were issued to 2,411 providers in December, ordering them to show why they shouldn’t be taken off the list (see 2412180015).
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).
The U.S. and the E.U. agreed to address digital trade barriers as part of a joint statement released Thursday. The agreement laid out in more detail the informal arrangement made between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at an impromptu summit in July.