Industry urged the FCC to give providers more time to honor requests from consumers to revoke prior express consent through any reasonable means under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 02-278 (see 2308010071). Some commenters sought clarity on what would constitute "reasonable means" for a consumer to make an opt-out request.
Former ACA Connects Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Michael Jacobs joins Lumen as assistant general counsel-federal regulatory affairs … Ngrok, application programming interface-first ingress-as-a-service platform, names Zubin Tavaria, ex-F5, chief marketing officer; Heather McLinden, ex-HoneyBook and ex-Twilio, chief people officer; and Chad Tindel, ex-Amazon, field chief technology officer and vice president-worldwide solution architecture … BDx Data Centers names Manish Prakash, ex-Microsoft, president-chief business officer ... Legal tech company Litify names Davisware’s Curtis Brewer CEO.
Cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) interests are all out against the FCC's proposed "all-in" video pricing disclosure rules for video service providers, while local franchise authorities and allies are all in, per docket 23-203 comments posted Tuesday. The all-in pricing NPRM was adopted in June (see 2306200042).
The FCC and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are partnering on a trial of georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the commission said Thursday as commissioners approved 988 outage reporting requirements 4-0, as expected (see 2307130010). Commissioners also unanimously approved an order allowing 14 FM6 stations to broadcast analog signals as an ancillary service and an order giving tribal libraries and other E-rate participants greater access to funding.
ACA Connects has issued an updated version of its broadband equity, access and deployment framework, incorporating actual NTIA BEAD funding amounts. The latest version estimates the number of locations eligible for BEAD funding and how many of those can be covered with fiber and other broadband technologies, ACA said.
Industry groups supported a March petition by the Competitive Carriers Association seeking tweaks to the FCC’s 911 outage reporting rules, approved 4-0 by commissioners last year (see 2211170051). APCO and the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA) opposed the petition in the initial comment round (see 2306270045). But most groups waited for the reply round to weigh in.
NTIA released final guidance Wednesday for the broadband, equity, access and deployment program's state challenge process (see 2306260007). States and territories are required to include a challenge process in their initial proposals where other entities can "challenge whether a location or community anchor institution is eligible for BEAD funding," said a news release. The agency sought comment on its proposed guidance template and made some revisions based on feedback from 61 stakeholders. “ACA Connects appreciates NTIA’s diligence in reviewing the many comments and revising the proposed guidance," commented CEO Grant Spellmeyer: "All stakeholders agree that this process is critical to ensure that the limited BEAD funds are targeted to bringing high-performance broadband to locations that are truly unserved and underserved."
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.