NOAA is making plans with NASA for what could result in a high accuracy and robustness service (HARS) that augments GPS, members of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Advisory Board heard Wednesday. Board members also discussed a draft presidential transition issue paper urging the President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration to bolster reliable national PNT capabilities.
Public interest and consumer groups replying to an FCC notice of inquiry (see 2411150025) encouraged the agency to launch a more targeted inquiry on data caps and said ISPs haven’t built a case for caps to continue. Industry groups opposed FCC intervention. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 23-199.
NCTA's argument that the FCC needn't clarify its "all-in" video pricing order on franchise fees (see 2411190065) shows why clarification is necessary, local governments and allies said in a docket 23-203 filing posted Monday. The filers said that while NCTA recognizes what the law says about franchise fees, the FCC incorrectly said otherwise in a footnote in the all-in order. Signing the filing were the Texas Coalition of Cities for Utility Issues, Boston, Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, Fairfax County, Virginia, and NATOA.
It would be a mistake for the Trump administration to undo President Joe Biden’s efforts at establishing a rights-based regulatory framework for AI technology, Democrats told us in interviews before the break.
Clarifying the FCC's "all-in" video pricing order to spell what does or doesn't count as a franchise fee isn't necessary, as the order itself is clear, NCTA said in a docket 23-203 filing posted Tuesday. If the FCC wants clarity, it should ensure that its statement in the order about public, educational and governmental access support fees remains in line with agency precedent on the item, NCTA said. Any clarification could reaffirm that all charges and payments for PEG facilities are excluded from the all-in pricing rule "whether they are characterized as franchise fees or not," it said. NCTA was responding to a local franchise authorities petition seeking the clarification (see 2411140004).
Mercury Wireless Indiana notified the FCC it's unable to meet rural digital opportunity fund commitments to build out its service in 13 census tracts in Indiana. “This was a very difficult decision for Mercury to make, as we continually strive to deploy high-speed broadband throughout rural America,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-126. “Mercury took the time to put forth thoughtful analysis as we endeavored to find a way to make these broadband deployments feasible,” the provider said: “However, deployment costs have increased dramatically since Mercury made its bids in the RDOF reverse auction.”
Brattle Group officials and others representing NextNav met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on NextNav’s plan to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a terrestrial complement to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services (see 2404160043). The Brattle representatives discussed their assessment of the potential economic benefits, said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-240. They “explained the conservative valuation methodology they employed in preparing their analysis, and they reviewed both the economically quantifiable benefits NextNav’s proposal would generate, which figured into their valuation estimate, and the potential for significant benefit in terms of lives saved, which did not,” the filing said.
An AT&T representative met with an aide to Commissioner FCC Geoffrey Starks to oppose a handset unlocking mandate as proposed in a July NPRM (see 2407180037). “This proposal is based on questionable legal authority,” the carrier said in docket 24-186: “AT&T offers an array of affordable options for handsets, including subsidized pricing and zero-interest rate financing” and “handset locking facilitates the offering of such options.” The company previously met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Anna Gomez raising similar concerns (see 2411130008).
Industry groups widely opposed an FCC notice of inquiry seeking comment about the impact of broadband data caps on consumers and potential regulatory steps the agency could take. In comments posted Friday in docket 23-199 (see 2410150069), many warned the proceeding was a step toward rate regulation and potential consumer harm should the FCC limit the use of data caps. Some public interest groups urged the commission to proceed, however.
The Biden administration is making progress on each of the five bands it's studying as part of the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048), Shiva Goel, NTIA senior adviser-spectrum policy, said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar late Thursday. Other speakers said the government must make available more high-powered licensed spectrum to ensure the nation doesn’t fall behind China and other competitors.