State broadband officials are eager to move forward on NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program following the agency's announcement Monday of each state's funding totals (see 2306260007). Industry and advocates also emphasized the need for more participation in the FCC's affordable connectivity program so households can take advantage of new or upgraded infrastructure in their communities.
NTIA announced funding allocations for its broadband, equity, access, and deployment program Monday. All entities will receive a formal notice of their allocations Friday, the agency said. The $42.5 billion program will be used for broadband deployment efforts, adoption and workforce development. Initial proposals may be submitted from July 1 through Dec. 1. States and territories will have access to 20% of their allocated funds once their proposal is approved by NTIA. Texas is receiving by far the largest BEAD award, at more than $3.3 billion.
ACA Connects names Bill Tortoriello, ex-UScellular and AT&T, director-regulatory affairs … Aviatrix cloud networking company hires Splunk CEO Doug Merritt as CEO-president, succeeding Steve Mullaney; Merritt also becomes board chairman … Dish announces resignation of Executive Vice President-Chief Operating Officer Narayan Iyengar, saying he will provide “transition support for a brief period of time” … Communications security platform Pavion promotes Alan Rosenkoff to chief marketing officer ... PCTel elects Ocolo’s Anthony Rossabi, also ex-Recovery Point Systems CEO, to its board ... Postmedia names lead director Peter Sharpe interim chair, replacing departed Executive Chair Jamie Irving.
The FCC's proposed "all-in" video pricing rules for cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators' bills and promotional materials wouldn't cover other MVPDs, though the agency in the NPRM adopted last week and released Tuesday seeks comment on whether such rules should also cover them, and whether it has the authority to do so. Consumer advocates expected the item on circulation to pass (see 2303270043). NCTA, ACA Connects, DirecTV and Dish Network didn't comment.
The NAB-stewarded, FCC-involved task force intended to iron out the ATSC 3.0 transition -- The Future of TV Initiative – kicks off Monday at NAB’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The meetings (see 2304170056) are closed to the press, and neither NAB nor the FCC would say who from the agency is participating or in what capacity, but the entities invited to attend seem optimistic, if scant on details. “I don’t think we know enough to say how it will go, but we’re cautiously intrigued,” said Kathleen Burke, task force participant and Public Knowledge policy counsel. “We are hoping that the process clears the way for the FCC to resolve any outstanding regulatory issues so that the NEXTGEN TV transition is accomplished in an expedited manner," emailed Lonna Thompson, general counsel for task force participant America’s Public Television Stations.
Industry, state officials and advocacy organizations welcomed FCC proposals aimed at closing a loophole in robocall rules and addressing Stir/Shaken caller ID authentication, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 17-97 (see 2303160061). Most commenters agreed the commission should allow use of third-party authentication solutions without minimal restrictions.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) appoints Wesley Bennett, commissioner-Department of Local Government Finance, to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, effective June 26; replacing Stefanie Krevda, who stepped down … Public Service Commission of West Virginia promotes Andy Gallagher to communications director … Alan Chartock retires as WAMC Albany president-CEO; Operations and Engineering Director Stacey Rosenberry is interim CEO … CBS Stations promotes Kari Patey to vice president-producer development for 14 CBS local newsrooms across country, new position; she remains vice president-news director, CBS News Minnesota, until successor is found.
Expect more cable providers, particularly smaller ones, to follow Wideopenwest's model and drop linear video service in the near future, cable executives and observers told us. WOW said Monday it will begin transitioning its residential video subscribers to YouTube TV subscriptions starting this summer.
Broadcasters shouldn’t wait for the FCC to gradually phase in audio description requirements in all markets over the next 10 years, said consumer groups in comments filed in docket 11-43 by Friday’s deadline. Broadcasters should “voluntarily advance the rollout of audio description for people who want and need to access audio description now and not in five, ten, or twelve years,” said the American Council of the Blind. “There is no reason why some communities must wait more than a decade to benefit from technology that already exists and is in use elsewhere.”
FCC proposals for improving emergency alert system reliability “are not tailored to the size, resources, or capabilities of EAS Participants,” said NCTA, ACA Connects, National Public Radio and NAB in meetings this week with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, said an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 15-94. The FCC “relies on fairly scant evidence of cybersecurity incidents or EAS equipment failures to justify the far-reaching proposals,” the filing said. The agency also underestimated the resources required for entities to comply with the proposals, the filing said. “Most EAS Participants have no in-house cybersecurity expertise, and therefore would likely require extensive -- and expensive -- assistance from outside consultants to translate the FCC’s broad and vague requirements into an actionable plan,” the filing said. The recently enacted Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 designated the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) as the lead federal agency on cybersecurity incident reporting, the filing said. “It would be premature, and potentially duplicative and counter-productive for the Commission to create a cyber-related incident reporting scheme before CISA completes its proceeding,” the groups said.