Jeffrey Strenkowski, previously Uniti Group, joins Troutman Pepper as partner-energy practice, with telecom focus ... Mythic, AI processor company, taps Taner Ozcelik, ex-Luminar Technologies, also former On Semiconductor and Nvidia, as its new CEO ... Core4ce, cybersecurity contractor, expands the role of co-founder Todd Harbour to chief technology officer for newly branded innovation incubator The Forge and hires Kim Kok, ex-Human Security, as vice president-sales and emerging technology and Michael Sass, ex-C3 AI, as head-data engineering and analytics ... Primer Technologies, an AI and machine learning company, names Instabase’s Erin Hawley as chief revenue officer and Joe Chang, ex-Uber, as chief technology officer.

Contrary to some expectations, a draft order and Further NPRM allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services wasn’t expanded to include fixed wireless access and partnerships with nontraditional providers, based on the text of the draft released Thursday. Commissioners will vote July 18.

Thursday’s 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision in SEC v. Jarkesy could have large implications for future FCC enforcement actions, with academics, FCC attorneys and the three dissenting justices saying they expect it to prompt a storm of litigation for federal agencies.

Smart city applications are joining the list of factors driving the need for more licensed and unlicensed spectrum, spectrum and smart city experts said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast panel discussion. Beyond more spectrum, smart cities will require a lot of spectrum sharing and maximized use of existing allocations, they said. There isn't one route to smart cities, and the spectrum isn't needed for a single purpose, said Richard Bernhardt, Wireless ISP Association vice president-spectrum and industry. Cities rely particularly heavily on unlicensed spectrum for smart city applications, said Ryan Johnston, Next Century Cities senior policy counsel. He said municipal governments are often left out of spectrum strategy and policy discussions, even though they are becoming big consumers of spectrum. He said they should be at the table for spectrum sharing and allocation discussions.

California and France privacy regulators will collaborate under a declaration the California Privacy Protection Agency announced Tuesday. CPPA Executive Director Ashkan Soltani and Marie-Laure Denis, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) chair, signed the pact in Paris. “We’re excited to collaborate with the CNIL and pave the way for information sharing on areas of mutual interest,” Soltani said in a CPPA news release. Denis said, “We are looking forward to working together on common research projects, to exchanging good practices or to sharing experiences. Data circulation on a global scale requires such an approach to go beyond the national and European framework.”

AI is contributing to the decline of web traffic and the “degradation” of journalism, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Monday in a Brookings column. He noted how generative AI tools have been built using data from websites. He cited research from The Atlantic showing AI-powered searches deliver answers on about 75% of queries, which eliminates the need to navigate to websites for answers. Accordingly, Gartner estimates search engine web traffic will decline 25% by 2026, he said. AI could provide an “almost boundless expansion” of information and knowledge, but the technology shouldn't be used to degrade the "free flow of ideas and journalism that is essential for democracy to function.” A Public Knowledge policy expert, an independent lawyer and a local news publisher executive on Monday spoke against legislative proposals that would force Big Tech companies to pay link fees for news content they host (see 2406240056).

Apple representatives met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the company’s support for a geofenced variable power (GVP) device class in the 6 GHz band (see 2404290035). Apple noted its agreement with commenters “who explained how flexible power levels enabled by adoption of the GVP proposal will greatly improve reliability, performance, and consumer benefits of portable unlicensed devices without creating a significant risk of harmful interference to incumbent licensees,” a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295 said. Apple representatives also joined with executives from Broadcom, Google, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm in a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. They discussed the strong momentum behind Wi-Fi deployment in the 6 GHz band. In 2024, manufacturers expect to ship 147.2 million Wi-Fi 6E access points, 23.12 million Wi-Fi 7 APs, 576.2 million Wi-Fi 6E devices and 231.4 million Wi-Fi 7 devices, the companies said. Both Wi-Fi standards use 6 GHz spectrum. “The Commission has fostered a robust Wi-Fi ecosystem that steadily grows year after year -- as evidenced by the strong demand for Wi-Fi access points,” they said.

The commercial space launch industry should not be sanguine about SpaceX's forthcoming Starship heavy launch rocket's impact on competition, though changes won't be immediate, Arianespace Chief Commercial Officer Steven Rutgers said Tuesday at the Washington Space Business Roundtable. Meanwhile, a notable shakeout in the ranks of new and emerging launch providers is coming, launch executives predicted.

Eleanor Sarpong, ex-Stantec, joins GSMA as director-policy and advocacy-digital inclusion ... Ludovic Ghesquiere, ex-Alphabet, returns to Paul Weiss as partner-anti-trust practice ... MPA hires Larissa Knapp, previously FBI, as executive vice president-global content protection ... Garmin elevates Patrick Desbois and Brad Trenkle to co-chief operating officers, newly created roles, effective July 1 ... Sinclair’s One Media Technologies announces retirement of Jerald Fritz as executive vice president-strategic and legal affairs, effective July 1.

Jamie Kellner, founding president of Fox Broadcasting in 1987, died Friday of cancer. He was 77. Early in his career, Kellner worked for CBS, later becoming a vice president for Viacom and then joining Filmways. At Fox, he also helped create the Fox Children’s Network. Kellner left there in 1993 and joined Warner Bros., helping launch a fifth broadcast network, the WB. He later became chairman-chief executive of Turner Broadcasting in 2001, overseeing TBS, CNN and TNT. Kellner retired in 2004. He also chaired Acme, a station ownership group, from its creation in 1997 until its demise in 2016. A few months before retiring, Kellner, discussing TV recording devices and DVDs, told TV critics that a decade or so earlier, “as cable spread and satellite was introduced, technology worked to the benefit of both the consumer and the business… . Now it’s becoming the enemy” (see 0401150103). Survivors include his wife, Julie Smith; a daughter, Melissa; a son, Christopher; and three grandchildren.