Telecom providers worldwide vary widely on how far they have gone toward a goal of building networks with zero carbon emissions, speakers said at a TelecomTV virtual green network summit, which ended Thursday. European providers, on average, appear further along than those in the U.S., speakers said.
Senate Commerce Committee Republicans want to delay a third FCC confirmation hearing for Gigi Sohn until March, Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., told us Thursday. Thune and other Republicans seek a complete re-vetting of Sohn. President Joe Biden renominated her earlier this month (see 2301030060). Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., confirmed she’s continuing to pursue a February date for the hearing in hopes of swiftly advancing Sohn to the floor after more than a year of delay (see 2212300044).
Citing “serious flaws” in the rates database for the FCC’s rural healthcare telecom program, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday the agency is fixing the issue "for good" (see 2301230045). Commissioners during their open meeting adopted an order on reconsideration and NPRM on streamlining and improving the program's funding mechanism. Commissioners also denied several petitions for reconsideration as moot. Also approved 4-0 was an NPRM about extending 911-like outage reporting requirements to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The House Commerce Committee will explore ways to combat illegal online drug sales and the liability protections potentially facilitating the activity, said Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Wednesday.
Minnesota is seeking to end its digital divide with incoming support from NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation and state government officials at a partially virtual workshop Wednesday. More money and state legislation will probably be required to finish the job, said local government and workers’ union officials on a panel.
AT&T added 656,000 net postpaid phone customers in Q4, closing the year with 69.6 million subscribers, it said Wednesday. Verizon reported 217,000 net post-paid phone adds Tuesday (see 2301240053). T-Mobile said before its release it added 927,000 postpaid phone net adds in Q4. The earnings report sent AT&T’s stock price up 6.34% to close at $20.42.
Broadcasters are united in their opposition to proposed retooling of the FCC’s foreign-sponsored content rules, according to reply comments posted by Tuesday’s deadline in docket 20-299.
The FCC's adoption of gender-neutral "chairperson" in its rules and regulations when referring to the agency's head (see 2301100009) makes it the latest regulatory agency to change word usage, regulatory experts told us. Agencies occasionally do updates like this to bring older language into conformity with modern language standards, though it's not clear how often they have gender-specific terms in their regulations to begin with, emailed Bridget Dooling, George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center research professor.
Incoming Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, objects to a proposal from panel Democratic leaders to have a third confirmation hearing on FCC nominee Gigi Sohn almost immediately after the committee formally organizes, Hill aides and lobbyists told us. Sohn’s supporters want Senate Commerce to expedite its handling of Sohn’s confirmation process as much as possible, but Republicans want a full re-vetting of the nominee (see 2301030060). Senate Commerce’s organization itself is unlikely until sometime next week given expectations Wednesday that the chamber won’t be able to vote on an overall organizing resolution until Tuesday at the earliest.
Verizon returned to positive postpaid phone adds in Q4, with net adds of 217,000, after losing subscribers in recent quarters. It reported retail postpaid net adds of 1.4 million, its “best single quarter performance in seven years.” Analysts said questions remain as Verizon fights for customers with AT&T, which reports Wednesday, and T-Mobile, which reports next week.