CTIA representatives met with Chief Alejandro Roark and other officials from the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on a February Further NPRM on whether the Telephone Consumer Protection Act applies to robocalls and robotexts from wireless service providers to subscribers (see 2404220029). CTIA discussed how the current framework for communications by wireless service providers to their subscribers "at no charge facilitates the sending of service-related communications that help ensure consumers’ safety and connectivity and protect consumers against fraud and scams, among other benefits,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 02-278 said. CTIA raised concerns about proposals in the FNPRM “to change or limit the existing framework, including proposals to carve out certain types of communications or require wireless providers to honor opt-out requests for any type of call or text to any wireless subscriber -- prepaid or postpaid alike,” the filing said.
The 5G Automotive Association called for expeditious FCC approval of a long-awaited order finalizing rules for cellular vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band. Representatives of the group met with aides to Commissioners Anna Gomez, Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. 5GAA said that based on Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's statements (see 2407170042), the order “appears to be generally consistent with 5GAA’s most recent advocacy” on C-V2X use of the band. Fremont, California, meanwhile, became the latest city to seek a waiver of the current rules for deploying C-V2X for roadside and on-board units for “a wide range of applications to enhance public safety, efficiency, and overall traffic management.”
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, are urging the FCC and DOJ Antitrust Division to “closely scrutinize” the Venu Sports streaming platform joint venture from Disney subsidiary ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (see 2402070006). “This massive new sports streaming company would be poised to control more than 80% of nationally broadcast sports and more than half of all national sports content, putting it in a position to exercise monopoly power over televised sports,” the lawmakers said in an eight-page letter to DOJ Antitrust Chief Jonathan Kanter and FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel released Wednesday. “The market power of [Venu's] three giant parent companies would enable it to discriminate against competitors and increase prices for consumers.” The streaming deal’s description as a joint venture “should not prevent antitrust and telecommunications regulators from giving it the scrutiny it deserves,” the lawmakers said: The FCC and DOJ Antitrust should “oppose it if it violates antitrust or telecommunications laws or regulations.” They suggested the FCC examine whether the Venu Sports proposal represents “a violation of the national ownership cap” given its “duty to prevent a single entity from reaching more than 39% of households, and its broader mandate to promote competition in the public interest.”
Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's motion before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is "crystal clear" that the group is seeking relief for only the two dockets with pending petitions before the FCC on net neutrality rules, the group said in a reply brief Wednesday night (see 2408070001). "The sole basis for seeking abeyance is the pendency of a recently-filed petition for reconsideration addressing the same issue as that raised here by movants," Benton said (docket 24-7000). It asked that the court act "as expeditiously as possible" because industry groups didn't oppose the targeted request.
Tropical Storm Debby’s disaster information reporting system was deactivated for Florida and activated for 48 counties in North Carolina, the FCC said in Thursday’s report (see 2408070032). The storm left .5% of North Carolina and .1% of South Carolina cellsites down, unchanged from Wednesday; 4,875 cable and wireline subscribers are without service, down from 17,344 Wednesday. No TV or radio stations were reported down.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is maintaining a constant drumbeat about what he calls the slow tempo of the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program rollout. On July 29, he posted on X that it's 987 days since BEAD was enacted and "0 Americans have been connected, 0 Shovels worth of dirt turned." On Aug. 4, it was 993 days. "While there’s time to course correct, the trend line is not good," he posted Aug. 6. In his posts, he frequently lays the blame at the feet of Vice President Kamala Harris. His tweets repeatedly say that in 2021 Harris "agreed to lead a $42 billion plan to expand Internet service," and "no one has been connected."
The rise of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats' presidential nominee should have few implications for FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, industry observers agree. If anything, Rosenworcel’s ties to Harris are likely stronger than they are to President Joe Biden, they said. Biden waited until October 2021, more than nine months after his inauguration, to designate Rosenworcel as the first woman to chair the agency on a permanent basis (see 2110260001).
Danielle Thumann, ex-Crown Castle, returning to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s office as legal adviser ... NARUC selects Tony Clark, Wilkinson Barker, as executive director-elect, effective Oct. 1, to succeed Greg White, retiring Dec. 31 ... Robert Deegan, ex-Array Information Technology, joins Unissant as chief financial officer ... Eric Johnston, ex-Marriott International, joins Comcast’s public policy and digital equity team as executive director-strategic affairs ... Communications and data networking products distributor Graybar names Lauren Baker, ex-Emerson Climate Technologies, as vice president-strategic planning.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Wednesday defended the FCC’s proposal to require disclosures on political ads created with generative AI (see 2407250046). Rosenworcel was asked during a news conference about comments from Commissioner Brendan Carr characterizing the NPRM as part of a Democratic National Committee effort to put a “thumb on the scales” ahead of the 2024 election. “That’s not remotely accurate,” Rosenworcel said of Carr’s characterization. “We came up with this proceeding on our own, because we have familiarity with what a public and political file looks like at our nation’s broadcasters. After all, we’ve been doing this kind of work for decades.” AI is “a technology that is going to show up in so many aspects of our economy, communications technology included,” she said. “So it's smart to wrap our arms around these issues.”
Tropical Storm Debby left .5% of Florida and .1% of South Carolina cellsites down, an improvement from .9% and .4%, respectively, on Tuesday, the FCC said in Wednesday’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2408060053). 17,344 cable and wireline subscribers lack service, down from 22,422 Tuesday. No TV stations were reported down, but one FM station remains down in Florida, along with another FM station redirected. Tuesday’s report listed one TV station down.