Verance landed adoption of its ATSC 3.0-specified Aspect watermarking for HbbTV’s “application discovery over broadband” platform, said the technology supplier Tuesday. The move will “facilitate” interoperability and give manufacturers and programmers “global scale and cost efficiencies,” said Verance.

USTelecom said ISP standoffs with Vermont and California will continue, even as those and other states seeking to enforce net neutrality rules repealed by the FCC said they're heartened by a Tuesday decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court largely upheld the FCC’s 2018 order but ruled that the federal agency couldn’t pre-empt states (see 1910010018). The ruling also put the spotlight back on Congress’ net neutrality debate, gridlocked for months. Legislative leaders didn’t stray Tuesday from their existing positions. Some see that as a sign there’s unlikely to be much progress before the presidential election.

Lifeline service provider Smith Bagley Inc. asked the FCC to exempt elderly customers on tribal lands from having to provide paperwork proving their eligibility if they're 60 or older when recertification checks through the national verifier no longer show them as eligible, in a filing posted Monday in docket 11-42. "If an elderly customer on Tribal lands can no longer be verified as a Medicaid participant," SBI said, "it is statistically likely that they also qualify via household income" or as a Social Security beneficiary. "Requiring documents in these cases would not only be unnecessary to prevent fraud, it would impose undue burdens on seniors." The company suggests elderly customers in tribal areas should be allowed to self-certify. Its counsel met with Wireline Deputy Bureau Chief Trent Harkrader and other staff Wednesday.

The FCC Office of Economics and Analytics projects three auctions from now through Sept. 30, 2020. Two are already scheduled and a third was promised by Chairman Ajit Pai. The notice doesn’t mention any auctions tied to the USF, including a Mobility Fund II auction. A C-band auction didn’t make the list. The first auction listed is that of the 37, 39, 47 GHz bands, to start Dec. 10 (see 1904120065) and the second is the 3.5 GHz priority access licenses auction, to start June 25 (see 1909260040). The third hasn’t been scheduled, for 2.5 GHz educational broadband service licenses.

BlackBerry’s recent announcement of an intelligent-vehicles partnership with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) “demonstrates our thought leadership in the automotive software market,” said BlackBerry CEO John Chen on a fiscal Q2 call Tuesday. BlackBerry agreed to supply the automaker with “cybersecurity consulting” services through the artificial intelligence-based security capability it acquired when it bought Cylance for $1.4 billion (see 1811160024). The JLR partnership gives BlackBerry “the opportunity to provide the first cybersecurity platform for the auto market,” said Chen. “JLR is the first to collaborate with us.” BlackBerry is working with others in the automotive industry, and the potential for additional collaborations “looks promising,” he said. The company plans to demonstrate the “combined” BlackBerry/Cylance cybersecurity solution at CES, he said. “We have a great opportunity to gain share in this $11-billion-plus end-point security market currently led by legacy antivirus vendors. The collective market share for all the next-generation end-point security players, which includes Cylance, is currently less than 10 percent, so there’s lots of room to grow there."

BlackBerry’s recent announcement of an intelligent-vehicles partnership with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) “demonstrates our thought leadership in the automotive software market,” said BlackBerry CEO John Chen on a fiscal Q2 call Tuesday. BlackBerry agreed to supply the automaker with “cybersecurity consulting” services through the artificial intelligence-based security capability it acquired when it bought Cylance for $1.4 billion (see 1811160024). The JLR partnership gives BlackBerry “the opportunity to provide the first cybersecurity platform for the auto market,” said Chen. “JLR is the first to collaborate with us.” BlackBerry is working with others in the automotive industry, and the potential for additional collaborations “looks promising,” he said. The company plans to demonstrate the “combined” BlackBerry/Cylance cybersecurity solution at CES, he said. “We have a great opportunity to gain share in this $11-billion-plus end-point security market currently led by legacy antivirus vendors. The collective market share for all the next-generation end-point security players, which includes Cylance, is currently less than 10 percent, so there’s lots of room to grow there."

BlackBerry’s recent announcement of an intelligent-vehicles partnership with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) “demonstrates our thought leadership in the automotive software market,” said BlackBerry CEO John Chen on a fiscal Q2 call Tuesday. BlackBerry agreed to supply the automaker with “cybersecurity consulting” services through the artificial intelligence-based security capability it acquired when it bought Cylance for $1.4 billion (see 1811160024). The JLR partnership gives BlackBerry “the opportunity to provide the first cybersecurity platform for the auto market,” said Chen. “JLR is the first to collaborate with us.” BlackBerry is working with others in the automotive industry, and the potential for additional collaborations “looks promising,” he said. The company plans to demonstrate the “combined” BlackBerry/Cylance cybersecurity solution at CES, he said. “We have a great opportunity to gain share in this $11-billion-plus end-point security market currently led by legacy antivirus vendors. The collective market share for all the next-generation end-point security players, which includes Cylance, is currently less than 10 percent, so there’s lots of room to grow there."

Groups differ over how much broadband deployment data the FCC should collect from providers, in what form, and how others should be able to challenge its accuracy. Comments posted through Tuesday on docket 19-195 weighed in on the agency's plans to update its Form 477 broadband mapping reporting requirements (see 1908210008). Parties mostly agree more granular information is needed to ensure USF dollars are allocated properly in upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auctions (see 1906280059), but some say holding out for detailed location fabrics that attempt to pinpoint every serviceable structure in the nation could slow the program.

Groups differ over how much broadband deployment data the FCC should collect from providers, in what form, and how others should be able to challenge its accuracy. Comments posted through Tuesday on docket 19-195 weighed in on the agency's plans to update its Form 477 broadband mapping reporting requirements (see 1908210008). Parties mostly agree more granular information is needed to ensure USF dollars are allocated properly in upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auctions (see 1906280059), but some say holding out for detailed location fabrics that attempt to pinpoint every serviceable structure in the nation could slow the program.

Local governments and their advocates want more FCC action related to RF safety and wireless including 5G, they told a conference in Tampa Monday. General Counsel Nancy Werner of meeting sponsor NATOA noted that federal law bars towns from considering cellular structures based on such emissions, even though communities may want such power. "For years now," NATOA been asking for an FCC update about RF safety, she noted, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has an item circulating (see 1908080061). "I don’t think that what we will get from the FCC will appease the concerns of residents," Werner said. "I suspect that the wireless industry knows that isn’t going to be good enough." It’s unclear it's "going to address the specific concerns" of small cells, said the lawyer, who nonetheless hopes it does. "There's an opportunity for us to educate on what 5G is" that could include safety considerations, said T-Mobile Principal Corporate Counsel-Land Use Dylan Fuge. "In explaining what it can do and sort of the transformation, I think there’s the perception that it’s really different" and this generation "came out of the ether," Fuge said. "I think there’s the feeling that it’s the ‘other,'" he added. "There’s an opportunity to do some work there." Government can hold public events on this issue, said Austin Telecom and Regulatory Affairs Officer Rondella Hawkins. An official from another city, speaking from the audience, said that "we just feel like our hands are tied under current law." The FCC declined to comment. CTIA's "pleased" Pai's item "would preserve the existing guidance for health and safety, in keeping with the international scientific consensus," emailed a spokesperson for that association. "We look forward to the FCC completing the proceeding soon."