The House Appropriations Committee voted 31-24 Tuesday to advance the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s FY 2023 bill, which includes funding increases for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the DOJ Antitrust Division (see 2206270061). The committee is to vote Thursday on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s FY23 bill, which proposes increasing CPB’s annual funding to $565 million beginning in FY 2025 (see 2206240074). The markup session begins at 9 a.m. in 1100 Longworth.
Arizona Corporation Commission members raised questions Tuesday about Frontier Communications’ urgency in responding to a June 11 fiber cut and other network outages. Frontier officials at the livestreamed ACC meeting defended the company’s speed responding to the June 11 outage, which the company blamed on gunshots by a possible saboteur (see 2206270029). Commissioners and local officials want more network redundancy to prevent future problems.
TikTok has always given company engineers, including those in China, access to U.S. user data on an “as-needed basis” under “strict controls,” the company said Tuesday, amid scrutiny from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Senate Republicans.
Nearly two-thirds of telecom decision-makers in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific think it will take another one to three years before 5G technology becomes mainstream, a Jabil poll found. “Continued growth in 5G complexity and diversity creates a wealth of opportunities as well as obstacles for traditional telco service providers, equipment manufacturers and software developers,” said Emanuele Cavallaro, Jabil president-communications and networking.
Industry groups disagreed whether the FCC should adopt a new cost allocation framework and rules for pole replacements, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 17-84. The proceeding stems from a 2020 NCTA petition asking the FCC to clarify its pole replacement rules. The FCC adopted the Further NPRM in March in lieu of acting on the petition, noting the group “revealed inconsistent practices by utilities" on cost responsibility for pole replacements (see 2203180074).
NTIA supported the FCC’s move to address receivers, in comments posted Tuesday in response to a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and potentially standards adopted by commissioners 4-0 in April (see 2204210049). NTIA noted it already collects receiver data. Other commenters generally support the inquiry, with most opposing regulation.
The California Public Utilities Commission received much feedback from telecom companies, consumer advocates and local governments on possible changes to California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) broadband infrastructure account rules. The CPUC received comments Monday on changes proposed June 7 to the state-funded last-mile program as part of a wider California broadband effort (see 2205250045). The CPUC adopted rules in April for a last-mile program using federal funding (see 2204210046).
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is continuing to oppose advancing Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) over the measure’s proposed 18-month extension of the FCC’s sales authority, complicating efforts to pass a spectrum legislative package this year. Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., meanwhile, is backing language in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act version that proposes “an assessment of the implications of” provisions in the NTIA Organization Act “on DOD's access to the electromagnetic spectrum and resources" (see 2206160077).
Though the global outlook for online video subscriptions remains “very positive,” Netflix projections of losing 2 million more subscribers in Q2 (see 2204190066) is ample warning that online video services “cannot take growth for granted,” reported Omdia Monday. Netflix reports second-quarter results July 19.
The FCC got general support for doing more to address receivers in early responses to a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and potentially standards adopted by commissioners 4-0 in April (see 2204210049). Comments were due Monday in docket 22-137.