Nexstar and DirecTV signed a deal on retransmission rights for 176 Nexstar stations, ending a 76-day blackout for those stations but leaving behind an open FCC complaint, an ongoing antirust court battle and a continuing blackout for 27 other stations owned by Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting but operated by Nexstar through shared service agreements. DirecTV and Nexstar announced “a comprehensive new multi-year distribution agreement” in a joint release Monday, a day after announcing the return of Nexstar’s programming to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse. Terms of the agreements weren't disclosed.
Dish Network’s first decision in launching a software-centric 5G stand-alone network was to build the network using the public cloud, said Marc Rouanne, Dish Wireless chief network officer, Monday at the Silverlinings Telco Core Strategies Summit. Other speakers warned the move to the cloud isn’t a panacea and poses its own problems.
The FTC and DOJ need to update their merger guidelines to avoid future anticompetitive effects like those from T-Mobile/Sprint (see 2002110026) and to prevent further consolidation in already concentrated markets, antitrust advocates told the agencies in comments closed Monday (see 2309050088). Biden administration opponents accused the agencies of trying to rewrite antitrust law through an ideologically driven guideline revision.
An expected FCC order on the 2020 Further NPRM on the 6 GHz band likely won’t go as far as Wi-Fi advocates hoped (see 2308070060). Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is now expected to seek changes only permitting very-low-power (VLP) devices to operate anywhere without location awareness or automated frequency control, industry experts said. The order is expected to delay a decision on a second part of the FNPRM, on increasing the power at which low-power indoor (LPI) access points may operate.
The FCC has approved a draft order on updating broadcast television rules to reflect the digital transition and post-incentive auction repacking 4-0, according to FCC officials. The item had been set for the September open meeting, but was approved early. FCC Commissioner-designate Anna Gomez didn't vote on the item, FCC officials told us. The agency didn't comment on whether Gomez has been sworn in or taken office. The final order is said to be largely unchanged from the draft version announced earlier this month, and docket 22-227 shows that the item hasn’t drawn any lobbying activity since it was unveiled. The rule changes in the order “are mostly non-substantive and do not materially change the regulatory obligations of full power and Class A stations,” said Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford in a blog post.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recommended Friday that states “that have more than adequate funding through” other federal programs to deploy connectivity in unserved areas “should return unused” funding from NTIA’s $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Cruz warned in his report that NTIA has engaged in what he sees as “unnecessary, duplicative spending and anti-competitive, anti-consumer technology bias” in its BEAD implementation. Cruz has actively participated in the review Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., has been conducting into the Biden administration’s handling of broadband money from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (see 2212060067).
California legislators voted to require wireless eligibility for state broadband funds on the last day of their session Thursday. Wireless is a “reliable substitute … when it’s impossible to use fiber,” said Assembly Communications Committee Vice Chair Jim Patterson (R) in an interview Friday. The Utility Reform Network (TURN) prefers fiber and remains opposed.
Different states could see varying levels of interest from ISPs in bidding on broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program projects due to how they craft project requirements, cable industry experts say. Among these are prevailing wages for subcontractors and middle-class affordability offerings. Unclear is how many BEAD eligible areas end up with just one bidder, or none, we're told.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Thursday that they have the ears of Republican leadership on AI efforts, despite Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., becoming the latest to criticize Schumer’s Wednesday forum on AI regulation (see 2309130061).
AT&T Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches and Verizon CFO Tony Skiadas said at a Bank of America financial conference the companies continue to test soil under the lead-laden wires in their networks and so far have found no evidence of a public health threat (see 2307210004).