With the FCC 27-month-and-counting freeze on new C-band fixed satellite service earth station registrations (see 1804200003), operators with stations not on the list -- particularly operators who never had a chance to register earth stations they bought after the freeze -- are concerned they'll have to shoulder the expense of the relocation. The commission hasn't said how it will handle the dozens of filings it received this month after it solicited corrections (see 2007070037). That public notice said the International Bureau won't take applications seeking to qualify for incumbent status but instead is looking for "minor corrections" such as site address or GPS coordinate fixes. The FCC didn't comment Monday.
A Thursday Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on the FCC and NTIA roles in spectrum policymaking is likely to at least partially focus on the dispute between the two agencies over Ligado’s L-band plan, lawmakers and officials said in interviews. The hearing is also likely to be a venue for lawmakers to address other related policy matters, including FCC disputes with other federal agencies on the 24 GHz auction and other frequencies, and bids to allocate proceeds from the coming auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band, lobbyists said. The panel begins at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell (see 2007160054).
Excluding integrated receiver/decoders costs from lump-sum payments to C-band earth station receiver operators could cause legal challenges that delay the C-band transition, ACA Connects President Matt Polka told FCC acting General Counsel Ashley Boizelle, according to a docket 18-122 posting Monday. It said the agency's order requires IRD costs be included in the lump sum since it requires calculating the payment on estimated costs of relocating all earth stations in a class and IRDs are among tech upgrades needed to maintain satellite reception.
NAB, the Internet Association and IBM reported Q2 decreases in lobbying spending Monday, while NCTA, Charter and Microsoft had increases. Other major telecom and tech companies hadn’t reported their quarterly spending by our deadline. IA said it spent $340,000, down more than 50% from the same period in 2019. IBM said it spent $1.04 million, down 35%. NAB spent $2.31 million, down almost 22%. NCTA expended $3.65 million, up almost 9%. Microsoft laid out $2.91 million, a 6% increase. Charter spent $2.59 million, up 6%. Cox shelled out $930,000, up 2%. Disney spent $890,000, an almost 6% increase. BSA|The Software Alliance spent $420,000, a 16% decrease. The Wireless Infrastructure Association devoted $180,000, down 10%. ACA Connects' $160,000 was little changed. The Computer & Communications Industry Association spent $40,000, down 20%. Viacom CBS spent $1.15 million. In the year-ago quarter, Viacom and CBS as separate entities spent a combined $1.52 million.
The National Cable Television Cooperative and ACA Connects will put on a virtual Independent Show Sept. 29-Oct. 1 for discussion of policy and technical issues for broadband and video service for independent providers, they said Wednesday. CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein will keynote, they said. The event is invite-only.
The broadband mapping data collection order and Further NPRM proposed by Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to get some changes before a commissioner vote Thursday, FCC and industry officials told us. Foremost among them is a change to the maximum buffers for fiber deployments. Groups and companies told the FCC the 6,660-foot maximum buffer may not be appropriate for all technologies, especially in rural areas, and that for fiber deployments the distances are frequently much larger.
Seeing it could get a bigger incentive payment for C-band accelerated clearing than SES, Intelsat ditched its obligations as a C-Band Alliance member, leaving fellow CBAer SES with $1.8 billion in potential damages, SES said in a claim Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond. That's according to a summary of the document that wasn't public.
Phone industry trade groups want the FCC to expand call blocking safe harbor protections to allow network level blocking of robocalls deemed illegal or unwanted. Calling originators with ongoing customer relationships urge commissioners to take a more cautious approach when they vote on an order at Thursday’s meeting (see 2006250062), according to interviews and filings in docket 17-59. The rulemaking stems from the Traced Act.
The Utilities Technology Council raised similar questions as USTelecom and NTCA (see 2007080047) on the draft broadband mapping order and Further NPRM set for a commissioner vote Thursday (see 2006250062). The maximum buffers proposed “are not appropriate for fiber to the premises networks in rural unserved areas,” UTC said: “Instead, the Commission should increase the maximum buffer distance for fiber to the home technologies to 20-60 kilometers (km) from the aggregation point.” In rural areas, “many homes and businesses are located miles apart from each other, which is why fiber runs are typically longer than in suburban or urban environments,” UTC said. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association expressed similar in a call with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. In markets today, providers are “consistently seeing” gigabit passive optical network equipment serve customers at distances of 40 km to 45 km or more,” NRECA said. ACA Connects said it “takes issue” with the buffer distances.
States and privacy advocates hailed a federal court ruling Tuesday that said Maine’s ISP privacy law isn’t preempted by Congress or the FCC. The U.S. District Court of Maine order (in Pacer) is a preliminary win for Maine’s 2019 law countering Congress’ 2017 Congressional Review Act (CRA) repeal of 2016 FCC broadband privacy rules. It could pave the way for more state privacy laws and may have implications for state net neutrality laws, said the state law's supporters.