Policymakers should remove barriers and tap market forces to spur rural broadband deployment, said American Enterprise Institute scholar Mark Jamison, who was on President Donald Trump's transition team. He criticized broadband stimulus programs and FCC "moves to limit" rural broadband profitability and "arbitrarily" define broadband. "These failed policies wasted billions of dollars and did little to help rural communities gain broadband connectivity. It is time to let markets lead the way," he wrote in a blog post Thursday. He said policymakers should streamline local permitting processes, encourage nondiscriminatory access to poles and conduits, and facilitate private-sector use of federal lands and properties for wireless antennas and fiber lines. He supports rolling back net neutrality restrictions to allow broadband providers in targeted rural areas to charge content companies for access to consumers, "perhaps making it profitable to provide broadband" without subsidies. To the extent subsidies are needed, he wrote, "providers should compete" for support through auctions, with the FCC "in the best position" to conduct them. Subsidies "come at a cost to other sectors" and consumers who fund them, he said.
Higher education and library groups asked the FCC to adhere to net neutrality principles in reviewing its 2015 open internet and broadband reclassification, to protect free speech and promote educational achievement and economic growth. "The proposed principles call upon the FCC to ban blocking, degradation, and 'paid prioritization'; ensure that the same rules apply to fixed and mobile broadband providers; promote greater transparency of broadband services; and prevent providers from treating similar customers in significantly different ways," said a news release Thursday on a letter sent to Chairman Ajit Pai. The groups sent a similar letter to House and Senate commerce committee chairmen and ranking members (release and letters here). Endorsing the principles were: the American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, American Library Association, Association of College & Research Libraries, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Association of Research Libraries, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, Educause, Modern Language Association and Sacramento Public Library.
Higher education and library groups asked the FCC to adhere to net neutrality principles in reviewing its 2015 open internet and broadband reclassification, to protect free speech and promote educational achievement and economic growth. "The proposed principles call upon the FCC to ban blocking, degradation, and 'paid prioritization'; ensure that the same rules apply to fixed and mobile broadband providers; promote greater transparency of broadband services; and prevent providers from treating similar customers in significantly different ways," said a news release Thursday on a letter sent to Chairman Ajit Pai. The groups sent a similar letter to House and Senate commerce committee chairmen and ranking members (release and letters here). Endorsing the principles were: the American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, American Library Association, Association of College & Research Libraries, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Association of Research Libraries, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, Educause, Modern Language Association and Sacramento Public Library.
Policymakers should remove barriers and tap market forces to spur rural broadband deployment, said American Enterprise Institute scholar Mark Jamison, who was on President Donald Trump's transition team. He criticized broadband stimulus programs and FCC "moves to limit" rural broadband profitability and "arbitrarily" define broadband. "These failed policies wasted billions of dollars and did little to help rural communities gain broadband connectivity. It is time to let markets lead the way," he wrote in a blog post Thursday. He said policymakers should streamline local permitting processes, encourage nondiscriminatory access to poles and conduits, and facilitate private-sector use of federal lands and properties for wireless antennas and fiber lines. He supports rolling back net neutrality restrictions to allow broadband providers in targeted rural areas to charge content companies for access to consumers, "perhaps making it profitable to provide broadband" without subsidies. To the extent subsidies are needed, he wrote, "providers should compete" for support through auctions, with the FCC "in the best position" to conduct them. Subsidies "come at a cost to other sectors" and consumers who fund them, he said.
AT&T was picked to be FirstNet’s partner (see 1703300007) in building the national network for first responders. The news Thursday was hardly a surprise since AT&T had been viewed as the only contender still standing, and we had reported the pick was imminent (see 1703240035). The choice was greeted as net positive for FirstNet. AT&T said it will make a $40 billion investment in FirstNet over the length of the 25-year contract and expects to create 10,000 U.S. jobs. In return, AT&T gets access to 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum to supplement its already significant spectrum holdings.
Established players in the land mobile via satellite market likely won't get major competition from low earth orbit (LEO) high-throughput satellite (HTS) broadband constellations until cheaper, smaller terminals are available, perhaps with electronically steered automatic pointing, said Northern Sky Research analyst Claude Rousseau in an NSR blog post Friday. That LEO HTS competition, however, will force those established players into more alliances and to widen their offerings, NSR said, citing Globalstar and Inmarsat announcing plans to cross-sell their products and services and OneWeb planning to combine with Intelsat.
Established players in the land mobile via satellite market likely won't get major competition from low earth orbit (LEO) high-throughput satellite (HTS) broadband constellations until cheaper, smaller terminals are available, perhaps with electronically steered automatic pointing, said Northern Sky Research analyst Claude Rousseau in an NSR blog post Friday. That LEO HTS competition, however, will force those established players into more alliances and to widen their offerings, NSR said, citing Globalstar and Inmarsat announcing plans to cross-sell their products and services and OneWeb planning to combine with Intelsat.
Lawyers for South Korean exporters slammed a purported attempt by the White House to influence an ongoing Commerce Department antidumping duty administrative review, in several briefs filed with the agency March 16. The emailed memorandum sent March 2 by National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross improperly applied political pressure to what is supposed to be an impartial process, said the lawyers, who represent exporters of oil country tubular goods from South Korea.
Local government groups increasingly are dropping opposition to small-cells bills in state legislatures that would pre-empt the authority of cities and towns. The League of Arizona Cities and Towns this week endorsed that state’s small-cells legislation after negotiating an amendment to keep some local authority. The league's support for the Arizona bill came after three Colorado local groups said they were neutral on their state’s bill that also was negotiated with industry (see 1703010006).
Congress should raise CBP’s overtime pay cap, re-designate the destination for customs user fees, and fix the “broken and segmented” agency hiring process to help fill its current 3,500-officer staffing shortage, National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Anthony Reardon said in remarks (here) submitted to a Senate panel March 22. CBP is running an existing vacancy rate of 1,400 CBP port officers, and its 2016 Workload Staffing Model indicated the need to hire another additional 2,100 officers, said Reardon, who testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on March 22.