NTIA is close to fully staffing the dozens of federal program officer (FPO) positions that will often be the face to states and broadband providers for the agency's broadband equity, access and deployment efforts, BEAD Program Director Evan Feinman told us. FPO outreach and preparation already underway is getting high marks from broadband provider stakeholders.
The Tax Injunction Act (TIA) precludes federal courts from reviewing Maryland’s digital ad tax, the state said Thursday in a brief (docket 22-2275) at the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The 4th Circuit should dismiss entirely a U.S. Chamber of Commerce appeal from the U.S. District Court for Maryland, the state said. "Plaintiffs’ suit is the sort of action Congress sought to prevent when it enacted the TIA.”
The NARUC board passed telecom resolutions Wednesday on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and extending FCC spectrum auction authority. The RDOF resolution recommends a referral to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, but that body’s state members told us at NARUC’s meeting this week the joint board hasn’t met in several years. The FCC’s continuing lack of five commissioners could be a big reason, they said.
Library groups welcomed a draft FCC NPRM on barriers for tribal libraries seeking to participate in the E-rate program. Commissioners will consider the item during their meeting Thursday, after amending the definition of library last year to clarify tribal libraries' eligibility (see 2301260050).
Commissioner Chris Nelson isn’t convinced eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation is no longer necessary, the South Dakota Republican said at NARUC’s winter conference Tuesday. Telecom association officials on Nelson’s panel said Congress sees that the ETC process has run its course. Nelson and a District of Columbia consumer advocate raised concerns about possible impacts to service quality as telcos abandon state-regulated copper networks.
Neville Ray plans to retire as T-Mobile president-technology by fall; current Executive Vice President-Chief Network Officer Ulf Ewaldsson will assume the role after Ray departs ... Electric vehicle company Rivian Automotive names Stanford University’s Michael Callahan, also former LinkedIn general counsel, chief legal officer ... Security automation company Torq taps Splunk’s Josh Morris as senior vice president-worldwide sales and Pax8's Don Jeter as chief marketing officer ... USIC, provider of utility damage prevention services, names Lumen’s Richard Batelaan, also ex-AT&T, chief operating officer ... Smart access solutions company Chamberlain Group names Dan Phillips, ex-Hulu, chief technology officer ... NTIA promotes Russ Hanser to associate administrator-policy analysis and development, and hires DOD's Amanda Toman to head new Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund.
The NARUC Telecom Committee unanimously agreed Monday to proposed resolutions on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and extending FCC spectrum authority. It’s critical to keep RDOF awards in the location that won them even if the FCC rejected the winning bidder, said Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chair Gladys Brown Dutrieuille in an interview Sunday. The draft resolutions, passed at the state utility regulator association’s winter meeting, need NARUC board approval.
Satellite-provided emergency SOS messaging is just the starting point for satellite operators looking to provide direct-to-handset service, but it won't be the business plan for anyone, said Iridium Director-Legal and Regulatory Coral Faradjian Tuesday in a Smallsat Symposium panel. She said the real revenue, and business plans, seamless transitions between terrestrial mobile and satellite-enabled services.
FCC media ownership data shows little growth in diversity, but federal broadband infrastructure funds and advertiser and lender commitments to diversity make this a time of opportunity for minority- and women-owned media companies, said panelists Tuesday at the Communications Equity and Diversity Council’s Media Ownership Diversity Symposium. Meruelo Media CEO Otto Padron called the FCC’s biennial media ownership data “an extinction report,” but Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins said “this is the first time being a minority-owned company or black-owned company has netted us a positive economic opportunity.”
U.S policymakers should further study the extent to which U.S. investors support China’s artificial intelligence industry and should revise the scope of a Treasury Department list that restricts investments in Chinese military companies, experts from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology said in a new report. The report also said the U.S. should consider imposing investment restrictions on certain companies added to the Entity List.