A wave of retirements has hit the FCC, likely owing to a combination of early retirement offers, the transition in administrations, return-to-office requirements and increased pressure on federal workers, according to interviews with FCC employees and union officials.
Regulatory fees assessed on all authorized satellites and earth stations, not just operational ones, help better distribute the fee burden to everyone benefiting from FCC Space Bureau employee resources, the Satellite Industry Association said. In docket 24-85 comments posted Wednesday, SIA said this would also mean lower per-station and per-satellite fees. The group backs assessing satellite regulatory fees based on how much a particular type of operator likely benefits from "full-time employee resources" and constellation size. But it opposes alternative approaches that use a subjective analysis of a system's design and operations, it said. If the FCC takes a fee approach that looks at the number of authorized satellites in a fleet, it must use consistent methodology across satellite operators for what constitutes an authorized satellite, SIA added.
Viewers now rely on streaming platforms' suggestions more than recommendations from friends and family in deciding what to watch, Ampere Analysis blogged Tuesday. It said its study of 56,000 consumers across 30 markets globally found that 26% use the streaming platforms' algorithm picks, vs. 23% relying on word-of-mouth suggestions.
President Donald Trump’s executive order putting independent regulatory agencies under greater White House control (see 2502190075) should result in stronger regulatory analysis by those agencies and better evidence supporting their arguments, said George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center Director Susan Dudley. Speaking Wednesday at an administrative law panel discussion by the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Program of Regulation, Dudley said the order also should lead to those independent agencies better coordinating their work across the government.
Greater adoption of AI could result in sizable benefits for communications networks, and various policy approaches could facilitate that effort, Analysys Mason's Andrew Daly said Tuesday. The consultancy this week issued a Cisco-commissioned paper that laid out a variety of AI policy opportunities. It urged ongoing tracking of AI developments in communications, assistance in coming up with AI frameworks and standards, investment in AI-related R&D, and incentives such as tax breaks.
The Phoenix Center on Monday disputed findings in a Brattle Group study from last year that found fiber deployment through BEAD and other programs could generate about $3.24 trillion "in terms of net present value (NPV) in incremental economic impact.” The study was the “first to show that fiber deployment has significant incremental economic benefits even in the presence of other high-speed broadband technologies,” Brattle said at the time (see 2411200025).
Deceptive negative-option contracts -- where consumers pay monthly for a subscription unless they opt out -- are ballooning, despite regulators' efforts, backers of the FTC's "click-to-cancel" rule told the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. NCTA and others are challenging the rule (see 2411220029). Last week, amicus briefs were filed for both sides in docket 24-3137.
Questions from judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit appeared particularly pointed Monday, aimed at T-Mobile lawyer Helgi Walker of Gibson Dunn, as the court heard the carrier’s challenge of an $80 million FCC fine for allegedly not safeguarding data on customers' real-time location (see 2502190029). T-Mobile was also fined $12.2 million for violations by Sprint, which it later acquired.
WISPA CEO David Zumwalt wrote Senate Commerce Committee leaders Friday in “strong support” of NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth ahead of her planned Thursday confirmation hearing (see 2503200066). Roth, who is Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, “has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing U.S. economic growth and technological leadership,” Zumwalt said in a letter to panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “She has played a leading role in crafting policies to address spectrum demand, among other matters, which are essential to the development and innovation of the broadband marketplace.”
Grain Management will buy all of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio, the companies announced Thursday night. Grain confirmed it plans to make the spectrum available “to U.S. utilities to support mission-critical communications, improve grid resilience, and enhance emergency response capabilities.”