State government entities and telecom companies braced Wednesday for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Helene. The powerful weather event could become a Category 4 hurricane before reaching Florida's Gulf Coast Thursday, likely damaging buildings and knocking out power in many places, said an AccuWeather advisory Wednesday.
Industry experts expect the FCC will petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiori following the split rulings between the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the 6th and 11th circuits on the Universal Service Fund contribution mechanism, they said during a Schools, Health, Libraries & Broadband Coalition webinar Wednesday. The 5th Circuit sided with Consumers' Research in its challenge of the contribution mechanism and agreed to stay its ruling pending the commission's petition (see 2408270030).
ATLANTA -- The U.S. is taking an increasingly hard line against all connected Chinese and Russian devices, not just those from particular manufacturers such as Huawei, cybersecurity expert Clete Johnson told attendees at SCTE's annual TechExpo Wednesday. Meanwhile, cable providers at TechExpo discussed why it's imperative that there is better convergence in wireline and mobile services.
An order approving Audacy’s request for a temporary exemption from the foreign-ownership rules was adopted but isn’t expected to be released before next week, FCC officials told us. The waiver would allow Audacy to complete foreign-ownership review after it finishes a bankruptcy restructuring that involves control of the broadcaster passing to a fund affiliated with George Soros' family. FCC Republicans hadn’t submitted dissenting statements Wednesday afternoon but indicated they plan to do so, the agency officials said. Broadcast industry officials, attorneys and others told us the Audacy transaction wouldn’t attract as much attention without Soros’ name attached, and that radio broadcasters have long sought increased private equity investment in their industry. “They’re making it a political ax,” said Christopher Terry, University of Minnesota media law professor. “The radio industry has been cash-strapped for 20 years.”
Top executives at Anterix spoke with aides to FCC Commissioner Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the broad support they see for a proposed rulemaking authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2405210041). In 2020, the FCC authorized 3/3 MHz broadband in the spectrum (see 2005130057). “The FCC decision to create a 900 MHz broadband segment has already enabled utilities across the nation, including rural areas, to design, deploy, and operate private broadband networks tailored to their highly demanding specifications,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-99. “These networks are supported by an ecosystem of more than a hundred equipment vendors and other suppliers, an ecosystem launched in response to the FCC’s action and essential for addressing the nation’s need for a reliable, efficient, secure electric grid," Anterix said.
Carolina Dybeck Happe resigns from Ericsson board following her appointment as Microsoft executive vice president-chief operations officer …
A federal judge declared a mistrial in the case of former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza at U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois. The former telecom executive had pleaded not guilty in October 2022 to bribery and racketeering charges, including allegations that he authorized nine $2,500 monthly payments, totaling $22,500, to a close ally of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D). Madigan in return successfully pushed through legislation backed by La Schiazza making it easier for AT&T to terminate its costly carrier of last resort obligation to continue providing landline services to Illinois residents, said the indictment. The trial began earlier this month. But in a Thursday order, Judge Robert Gettleman said the “jury reported they have reached an impasse and cannot reach a unanimous verdict.” Discharging the jury, Gettleman set a court hearing for Tuesday.
The FCC is getting lots of advice on potential changes to its draft order tackling robocalls and robotexts, set for a vote on Thursday (see 2409050045). Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington have mentioned concerns about the order but aren't necessarily expected to dissent on what is usually considered a top consumer priority, industry officials said Friday.
Satellite position, navigation and timing company TrustPoint joined the GPS Innovation Alliance, GPSIA said Thursday. GPSIA Executive Director Lisa Dyer said the company's plan for developing a complementary PNT constellation "offers an innovative new dimension in satellite navigation. They will be a valuable addition in our efforts to heighten awareness of the vital contributions of these technologies to public safety, critical infrastructure, and the global economy.”
SpaceX representatives met with FCC staff to discuss recent studies that found high-power terrestrial operations in the lower or upper 12 GHz band “would cause debilitating interference to Americans who rely on next generation satellite broadband in the 10.7-12.7 GHz band.” Representatives from SpaceX met with staff of the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-443. “SpaceX has once again unveiled [Dish Network’s] efforts to steal high-power spectrum rights to a terrestrial service in the lower 12 GHz band at the expense of millions of Americans who rely on the band for their broadband and broadcast service,” the filing said. An EchoStar executive slammed SpaceX’s earlier filing on lower 12 GHz (see 2409040035), calling it an “unserious and last-ditch effort” to block use of the frequencies for fixed wireless (see 2409050040). EchoStar is Dish’s parent company.