Eligible telecom carrier designation is valuable to state commissioners and mustn't be eliminated, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. The committee plans to vote at the state regulator association’s July 20-22 virtual meeting on a proposed resolution that would reject an idea supported by some industry and FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly that raised state alarm (see 2007070057). State commissioners supporting the draft by Chair Karen Charles Peterson of Massachusetts said they haven’t seen the process discouraging providers from seeking USF funding. Two industry groups disagreed.
The vertical location order is expected to be approved largely as proposed by Chairman Ajit Pai, though some concerns are expected to be raised and a few tweaks are likely, FCC and industry officials said in interviews last week. Aides to commissioners have taken numerous meetings and are wading through the arguments made for and against the draft, officials said. Public safety groups have come in with different views.
The 39-month repacking officially ends July 13 and the vast majority of TV outlets have switched channels. That doesn't mean the job is finished.
The FCC’s vertical location accuracy targets will be challenging, AT&T said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-114. Commissioners vote on rules July 16 (see 2006250062). “AT&T would have preferred the adoption of the alternate framework that allowed a phased in approach as suggested by CTIA and its nationwide wireless provider members, but we remain committed to working with our partners to achieve a successful z-axis deployment,” the carrier said. Testing required to demonstrate compliance by April could be difficult because of the pandemic, AT&T said.
Households with children in the 6-11 age group lead technology product and entertainment service purchasing in the U.S., blogged Parks Associates Thursday. About 30% of broadband households have children at home, some 32 million households, and identify as “innovators” who like to buy a new product early in its lifecycle. Possible inhibitors to future tech adoption are the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting financial impact, with 61% of households with children feeling more cost-conscious because of the pandemic, Parks said. Device makers and service providers should emphasize their solution’s value, such as safety and security; entertainment is also important to keep children engaged, said analyst Jennifer Kent.
COVID-19 caused communication service providers to “pause” large-scale fiber installations, including fiber to the home, said Exfo CEO Philippe Morin on a Wednesday investor call. The Quebec City company supplies test equipment and services to wireless carriers. Sales declined 10.1% in fiscal Q3 ended May 31. “As economies are gradually reopening around the world, we are witnessing an increase in our funnel in our opportunities for optical and high-speed test solutions,” said Morin. Exfo’s “advanced optical test solutions” for its manufacturing and lab clients is delivering “healthy growth, mainly in China, where we've seen an acceleration of 5G investment,” he said. It “remains difficult” to forecast the pandemic’s impact on the global economy, he said. “long-term drivers,” including fiber and 5G deployments, “remain intact,” he said. Customers AT&T and Verizon “think it's so critical” to speed their 5G deployments in North America, he said. “In certain countries in Europe, you've seen a bit of delays.” Exfo’s factories are “up and running” and “fully operational,” said Morin. There remain bottlenecks in “the whole logistics side of things,” he said. “There's still some challenges in terms of flights and trucks.”
COVID-19 forced the National Retail Federation to cancel its Jan. 17-19 NRF 2021 expo and conference as a physical show at New York’s Javits Convention Center, said the association Thursday. It’s the first known major trade show in 2021 to fall to the pandemic. NRF 2021 was scheduled to open as an in-person show about a week after CES 2021 closes Jan. 9. NRF will move the physical show to June 6-8, and host a virtual event over five days in January. The online event and the physical show in June will be themed “Forward Together,” said NRF. “Given the understandable concerns among all of our stakeholders regarding the availability and effectiveness of treatments or a vaccine for the coronavirus, we have concluded it is not feasible to maintain our original schedule of an in-person January 2021 trade show,” said NRF CEO Matthew Shay. Another complication is the use of Javits as a 2,500-bed COVID-19 Army field hospital. Those circumstances forced the cancellation last month of the Oct. 21-22 NAB Show New York as a physical event (see 2006090058)
Reallocate at least 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use and consider moving auto safety to the lightly used 4.9 GHz band, New America said in a paper Thursday. Action on 5.9 GHz “is particularly critical for consumers and the economy to the extent that it creates the first unencumbered 160 megahertz channel to support the next generation of Wi-Fi technology that will help Americans everywhere to access gigabit-fast and affordable 5G-capable applications and services,” the group said: Reserving 30 MHz for vehicle-to-everything technology “strikes an appropriate balance.” The FCC is expected to reallocate the band this summer (see 2004300032). Moving V2X to 4.9 GHz or another band would “better harmonize V2X services with 5G networks” and a potential “roadblock” to Wi-Fi in 5.9 GHz, the group said. Auto industry groups didn’t comment. The FCC is also expected to take another look at the 4.9 GHz band (see 2005040061). Fixed wireless networks depend on spectrum and Wireless ISP Association members need more quickly, especially 5.9 GHz, said Louis Peraertz, vice president-policy, during a WifiForward webinar Thursday. WISPs faced sharp increases in demand as a result of the pandemic, up 36% on average based on a member survey, he said. The band used by WISPs under special temporary authority from the FCC has been critical and members hope the STAs will be extended “because losing this spectrum will be too disruptive to their consumers,” he said. TCC Networks relies on unlicensed spectrum in the 5, 24 and 60 GHz bands, said CEO Donald Dawson. The Massachusetts WISP is looking at the citizens broadband radio service band, “but the concern about the level of difficulty there is scaring us a bit,” he said: “What we are in great need for is additional unlicensed spectrum.” Use of 5.9 GHz spectrum allowed TCC to keep up with COVID-19 demands and add bandwidth for all users, Dawson said.
Older customers in its largely rural footprint adopted technologies including broadband "at an alarming rate" during the pandemic, said Astrea Vice President-General Manager Cory Heigl during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Thursday. "We had to provide a lot of education," he said, and customer support conversations with an older demographic can be more complex. The reduced visibility into customers' households during the pandemic presented challenges in providing customer service, he said. Educational tools through social media, website videos and apps help, Heigl said. "We're really excited about call deflection" when customers who resolve problems through online tools don't need to call. The pandemic has prompted such moves at ISPs (see 2004100038).
The FAA is embracing the “new reality” that drones are here to stay, said Ali Bahrami, associate administrator-aviation safety, Thursday at the start of day two of a symposium (see 2007080059) co-sponsored by the agency and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. “We are right where we need to be."