Legislators, broadcasters, cable groups, the Heritage Foundation and civil rights groups disagree on whether the FCC can or should require disclosures for political ads created with generative AI, according to comments filed in docket 24-211 by Thursday’s deadline.
The FCC gave the green light to extended milestone deadlines for EchoStar's 5G network buildout Friday, three days after the company filed its request (see 2409190050). EchoStar called the approval "a significant step to promote competition in the wireless market."
CostQuest will offer NTCA members its broadband fabric data location "at exclusive member pricing" for the FCC's broadband maps and NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program, the group announced Thursday. NTCA members will receive a "10% discount off list pricing," it said. In addition, CostQuest will provide data on network cost, competition and demographics for each broadband serviceable location (see 2211180062). NTCA and CostQuest will host a webinar for the group's members Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. EDT.
T-Mobile and UScellular jointly filed data at the FCC about their spectrum holdings, broken down on a cellular market area (CMA) basis. The filings were posted Tuesday in docket 24-286, one day after the companies filed a public interest statement and other documents about T-Mobile’s proposed buy of “substantially all” of the smaller carrier’s wireless operations, including some spectrum (see 2409160029). “Based on the FCC’s criterion, out of these 157 CMAs, there are 33 CMAs where T-Mobile or UScellular (or both) are considered to lack a competitive presence,” they said. AT&T has a “competitive presence” in each of the 124 CMAs T-Mobile or UScellular serve and Verizon [has] a competitive presence in 116, according to the filings (see here and here). “Based on this analysis, it should be evident that robust competition will continue to exist in all CMAs overlapped by the proposed transaction.”
Charter Communications is making a series of service commitments and benchmarks for its Spectrum broadband service. It said Monday that those commitments include a full-day credit for any neighborhood outage that lasts more than two hours and no annual contracts for any residential service. Within 15 minutes of identifying a neighborhood outage, the company said, it will notify affected customers and give an estimated restoration time. It said it would provide full refunds for any service within 30 days if a subscriber isn't completely satisfied. Charter rolled out Spectrum internet packages with guaranteed pricing for up to three years.
T-Mobile and UScellular made the case why T-Mobile’s proposed buy of “substantially all” of the smaller carrier’s wireless operations, including some of its spectrum (see 2405280047), makes sense for customers. In a public interest statement on the proposed transaction, they wrote, “The Transaction will increase competition across the UScellular footprint and not result in any competitive harm.” T-Mobile has “a well-established track record of using improvements in network performance and increased capacity to deliver greater value to consumers and enhance competition." The statement was posted Monday in docket 24-286, which the FCC created last week (see 2409110059). “Customers of both companies will experience significant benefits from increased network capacity, higher speeds, and reduced congestion within the UScellular footprint,” the companies said: “UScellular customers will have the choice to switch to a lower-cost T-Mobile plan or remain on their current UScellular rate plan, all while enjoying a world-class 5G network.” The filing said the deal won’t affect T-Mobile pricing, “which is generally lower than prices for comparable UScellular plans.” It emphasizes that about 40% of UScellular subscribers live in rural markets and the buy “will result in an enhanced user experience and faster and better 5G service for the rural customers of both companies.” Nearly all of UScellular’s customer devices are compatible with T-Mobile’s network and “migration of the vast majority of UScellular customers can be accomplished almost immediately after closing via an over-the-air software update,” the filing said. Much of the data was redacted from the public filing, including estimated monthly savings for UScellular customers, the combined capacity of the network that will be available to those subscribers and the number of households expected to gain access to T-Mobile’s Home Internet service. The companies told the FCC they don’t “have an overlapping competitive presence” in 74 of the cellular market areas (CMAs) affected, which is 37% of the markets involved in the transaction. “Both before and after the Transaction, at least three nationwide facilities-based carriers (including T-Mobile) will provide competition in almost all CMAs in the UScellular footprint.” The filing comes ahead of T-Mobile’s Capital Markets Day, scheduled for Wednesday.
Title I or Title II of the Communications Act would bar the New York Affordable Broadband Act (ABA), said amici supporting ISP groups in briefs Friday at the U.S. Supreme Court. NCTA, a cable industry group that didn’t join the original May 2021 challenge that several national telecom associations filed in a district court, said the ABA “would impose unprecedented and unlawful rate regulation on broadband services.” The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) also condemned the state law. “If the ABA becomes effective, it will achieve the opposite of what it purports to accomplish, making it harder for communities of color to subscribe to broadband.”
The FCC defended its decision to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act in a reply brief to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday (docket 24-7000). It argued the court's decision staying the order pending review was done "without showing adequate statutory support." Moreover, the motions panel lacked "the benefit of the full briefing presented here" (see 2408130001).
NCTA told the FCC that giving wireless providers six months to unlock handsets after they’re activated, not the FCC’s proposed 60 days, would allow providers time to “ascertain whether a handset has been subject to fraud.” Comments were filed this week in docket 24-186, on an NPRM commissioners approved 5-0 in July (see 2409100048). A six-month mandate would mean “increased competition among providers, and, in turn, lower service prices and more competitive offerings than under existing unlocking policies,” NCTA said. Comcast also urged a six-month unlocking requirement. The longer period “would give wireless providers a sufficient opportunity to detect and combat handset fraud as well as a greater opportunity to identify other payment issues, while promoting increased competition and consumer choice in the wireless marketplace,” Comcast said. The Cloud Communications Alliance supported an order requiring unlocking by default when a phone is activated. That would “further enhance competition, avoid any consumer confusion, and prevent wireless providers from interposing delays or objections,” the alliance said: Unlocking by default "is the rule in several other countries and has long been supported by consumer advocates.” The Coalition of Rural Wireless Carriers said the mandate should apply only to handsets customers buy outright. “The proposed rule will interfere with contractual arrangements in ways that will disproportionately harm financially vulnerable consumers,” the coalition said. For smaller providers, “the incentive to offer device installment contracts to credit-challenged consumers will likely decrease if consumers can more easily break these agreements and take devices -- without paying for them -- to other carriers,” the group said. But EchoStar backed a requirement that applies to all devices “whether prepaid or postpaid and regardless of financing status.” It also called on the FCC to issue a Further NPRM on porting practices. “Carriers today impose varied and often onerous requirements on consumers seeking to port their phone numbers to new carriers that -- like unlocking rules -- may hinder their ability to switch providers,” the company said. The Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute at New York Law School advised the FCC not to “micromanage” handset policy. “Unfortunately, the Commission, notwithstanding its confidence in the need for prophylactic regulation, fails to offer persuasive data, analysis, or legal justification for its proposed handset unlocking rules,” the institute said: “In reality, the U.S. wireless sector is robustly competitive, vibrantly innovative, and incredibly responsive to consumer demands, including those related to handset unlocking.”
Carriers clashed over whether the FCC should move forward on an order that generally imposes industry-wide handset unlocking rules, requiring all mobile wireless providers to unlock handsets 60 days after they’re activated. Groups representing low-income consumers warned the rules could mean ending subsidies for purchasing phones. Comments were due Monday in docket 24-186, on an NPRM commissioners approved 5-0 in July (see 2407180037).