The FCC plans to release details about the affordable connectivity program's outreach grants and pilot program aimed at boosting enrollment among households receiving federal public housing assistance this summer, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during a virtual Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights event Monday.
How well ATSC 3.0 performs commercially “is up to us in this room and the companies we represent,” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro told ATSC’s NextGen Broadcast Conference Thursday in Detroit. “It could be a total flop, or it could be a great success,” he said. He told the conference broadcasters will need to “promote the heck” out of 3.0 for it to become a commercial success (see 2206090065).
NAB urged the FCC to reserve 55 MHz of spectrum for licensed mobile operations, including electronic newsgathering (ENG), as part of the agency’s response to U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s remand of part of the FCC’s 6 GHz order. Wi-Fi advocates said the FCC should address the court’s concerns and move on to a further liberalization of the rules (see 2204080042). Replies were posted Thursday and Friday in docket 18-295. The court otherwise upheld the order, which opened the band for sharing with Wi-Fi (see 2112280047).
Seven witnesses representing industry and consumer groups are expected to testify with a former FTC chair at Tuesday’s House Consumer Protection Subcommittee legislative hearing on a bipartisan privacy discussion draft, according to committee materials reviewed Friday.
A tsunami of telemarketing lawsuits is expected as more states add restrictions beyond what’s in the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, warned TCPA defense attorneys. Last year’s Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) already is producing several class-action lawsuits a day, said Manatt attorney Christine Reilly in an interview. Businesses wanting to avoid lawsuits should “just get the express written consent required” before spamming consumers, responded class-action attorney Andrew Shamis of Shamis Gentile.
NTIA will “ultimately measure our success by meaningful adoption” of broadband as the agency implements the broadband, equity, access and deployment program funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, said Administrator Alan Davidson during a virtual USTelecom and AT&T event Friday. Affordability and adoption are “critical” to connecting households, Davidson said, and it “doesn’t help if we have a connection to somebody’s home if they can’t afford to get online or they can’t use it” (see 2206090072).
The FCC is open, as of Thursday, for in-person meetings, but most industry and FCC officials don’t expect a large early wave of visits to the FCC, with many meetings remaining virtual. Aides to the FCC commissioners told us Friday they haven't been getting calls for in-person visits since Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the reopening Wednesday (see 2206080055).
Facing a deluge of federal and state spending aimed at closing the digital divide, broadband internet access service providers and network construction contractors foresee a logjam of work orders. Some tell us they anticipate what could be significant delays in work to extend networks to unserved rural areas.
Top members of the House and Senate Commerce committees are having varying levels of success in moving forward in the coming weeks on spectrum legislation. The House Communications Subcommittee plans to mark up a revised version of the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) Wednesday along with other legislation, subpanel Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said in an interview. Senate Commerce leaders, meanwhile, told us they're still grappling with how to move forward on the Improving Spectrum Coordination Act (S-1472) after an amendment fight prompted them to remove it from a markup last month (see 2205250063).
For ATSC 3.0 to become a commercial success, broadcasters “have to promote the heck out of it,” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro told the NextGen Broadcast Conference Thursday in Detroit. Shapiro spoke in person on a panel with NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt, who participated via Zoom because, he said, his wife tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday. Shapiro said he tested positive a few weeks ago.