Geography and topography could be a big hurdle for states in NTIA's broadband equity, deployment and access (BEAD) program. In draft five-year action plans, many states cited terrain as a chief challenge for getting service to high-cost areas, with several looking at options including satellite broadband and fixed wireless to serve high-cost areas. Numerous states also cited challenges such as labor shortages and affordability, longer supply chain lead times and regulatory hurdles, according to our review of draft plans made public so far.

Charter Communications has fully rolled out use of citizens broadband radio service band spectrum in one market for offloading mobile traffic from its mobile virtual network operator agreement with Verizon, with plans for a broader CBRS rollout next year, CEO Chris Winfrey said Friday as the company announced Q2 earnings. Charter ended the quarter with 6.6 million residential and small-business mobile lines. Winfrey said more than 11% of its internet customers have its mobile service, and the mobile penetration should sizably grow over the next several years. It ended Q2 2022 with 4.3 million total mobile lines. Charter hopes to land "significant" broadband equity, access and deployment program funding, Winfrey said. BEAD rules are notably different from broadband programs in states where Charter operates, and the company will work with governments on rules "still conducive to private investment," he said. Charter is doing trials of its Xumo video platform, offering unified search across linear and direct-to-consumer offerings, with deployment later this year, Winfrey said. Chief Financial Officer Jessica Fischer said Charter remains on track for 300,000 additional state-subsidized rural passings this year. She said Charter expects to spend $4 billion this year on line extension work, with similar spending likely in 2024 and 2025. Charter had Q2 revenue of $13.7 billion, essentially flat year over year, with internet and mobile service revenue growth offset by declines in video and voice service revenue. It ended the quarter with 28.5 million residential internet customers, up about 300,000 from the same quarter a year earlier; 14.1 million residential video subs, down 780,000; and 7.2 million residential voice subs, down 1 million.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in a July opinion, reversed a California district court's decision acquitting Yi-Chi Shih, an employee at China-based firm Chengdu RML, of conspiracy to violate export control laws via his export of semiconductors to China. Judges Andrew Hurwitz and Ryan Nelson said "a rational factfinder could find that the exported [monolithic microwave integrated circuits] were not exempt from the [Export Administration Regulations] as fundamental research."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in a July opinion, reversed a California district court's decision acquitting Yi-Chi Shih, an employee at China-based firm Chengdu RML, of conspiracy to violate export control laws via his export of semiconductors to China. Judges Andrew Hurwitz and Ryan Nelson said "a rational factfinder could find that the exported [monolithic microwave integrated circuits] were not exempt from the [Export Administration Regulations] as fundamental research."

Linear network revenue is down, but Comcast is offsetting that via Peacock subscription and advertising growth, Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said as the company announced its Q2 results Thursday. He said Comcast is reallocating some linear network resources to the streaming service. The ad market is likely to remain soft in the second half of the year, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said. Advertising revenue for the quarter was $993 million, down 10.7% from the same quarter in 2022, Comcast said.

Sayari, a firm that sells risk intelligence to companies with international trade compliance needs, demonstrated how its ability to find and analyze data can help an importer of laminates, flooring or timber evaluate the risk that the wood was harvested illegally in Brazil.

NTIA issued its second notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the tribal broadband connectivity program Thursday, making nearly $1 billion available for Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. The agency made $980 million available for high-speed infrastructure deployment, telehealth and distance learning, and use and adoption efforts on tribal lands. Eligible entities have until Jan. 23 to apply for the new funding.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mustafa Kasubhai for Oregon in Eugene scheduled oral argument via videoconference Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. PDT on the June 1 motions for summary judgment filed by plaintiff AT&T and defendant Lane County, Oregon, said the judge’s text-only entry Tuesday (docket 6:22-cv-01635). AT&T wants the court to say Lane County’s denial of its application for a wireless telecommunications facility “amounted to an effective prohibition” in violation of the Telecommunications Act, said its motion for summary judgment. AT&T also asks the court to order the county to approve the application and “any and all other authorizations necessary” for construction and operation of the proposed facility, it said. But AT&T “is barred from seeking redress” from the Oregon District Court because it failed to file an appeal of the county’s application denial with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, said the county's motion. Lane County also denies it effectively prohibited AT&T from providing personal wireless services or telecommunications services, as AT&T alleges, said the motion.

RJ’s International Trading asserts U.S. District Court for Southern Florida erred when it denied the property owner’s motion for a permanent injunction enjoining Crown Castle South from digging long trenches beyond its easement, filling them with fiber cables and disrupting “the land surface above,” said RJ’s opening appellant's brief Friday (docket 23-10453) in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The excavation for the trenches resulted in uneven surfaces and flooding in the parking lot, preventing RJ’s from developing the property for a high-rise, multi-use project, it said.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Lear Co., a multinational auto parts supplier, to defend its leather supply chain from Brazil, and, in a footnote in the letter, cited a Reuters story that said 1,324 workers had been rescued from slavery-like conditions while cutting down forests in Brazil from 1995 to 2021. However, that article also said Brazil defines slave labor as not just forced labor -- where workers are not free to leave jobs -- but also working in degrading work conditions, or working such long hours that it's a health risk.