Vodafone’s goal is for 30% of its network in Europe to be open in 2030, said Francisco Pignatelli, Vodafone head-ORAN, Tuesday at Fierce Wireless’s virtual European open radio access network conference. Other speakers said ORAN is getting more use but warned of continuing confusion over what constitutes an open network.
Radio interests and allies are both left and right of the dial on GeoBroadcast Solutions tests supposedly showing its ZoneCasting technology enables safe geo-targeted radio advertising (see 2204180046). The sides in docket 20-401 comments this week called the GBS studies either solid or cherry-picking scenarios to hide interference risks. Replies are due June 21.
The Senate’s continued stall in considering FCC nominee Gigi Sohn is prompting some of her supporters to eye ways to break the logjam, including pressing chamber leaders to seek an initial discharge vote to bring her to the floor even if Democratic senators who remain publicly undecided on her candidacy (see 2205050050) don’t commit to a position beforehand. Some supporters believe it’s worth the risk such a vote would fail given chatter about Sohn or the White House withdrawing her nomination, though top Senate Democratic backers believe it’s unlikely the White House would take such an action. Observers also see a White House recess appointment of Sohn as an increasingly feasible route to at least temporarily set up a Democratic FCC majority given the commission’s year-plus 2-2 deadlock.
The Biden administration appears set on changing the State Department position in charge of communications policy, moving the coordinator for international communications and information policy from a Senate-confirmed political post to one held by a foreign service officer. That's raising concerns the appointee will no longer have the political standing to meet on an equivalent basis with counterparts from other nations or within the federal government, former government officials said.
The anemic number of Black-owned radio stations in the U.S. show a need for lawmakers to reinstate the FCC's long-defunct minority tax certificate program and for advertisers to better recognize best routes for reaching Black consumers, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters President Jim Winston told us. NABOB put out its inaugural report on Black-owned station ownership and revenue Monday.
An FCC record refresh on improving how wireless 911 calls are routed to the appropriate first responders is expected to be approved 4-0 by commissioners at their monthly meeting Wednesday. The final version is likely to incorporate some language sought by APCO (see 2206010027), said FCC and industry officials. The National Emergency Number Association doesn’t support those changes. APCO was the lone party to file comments in docket 18-62 after the FCC posted the draft.
New York state could soon have the nation’s first digital electronics right-to-repair law, after the legislature passed on a bipartisan basis a proposal (S-4104/A-7006) Friday to require OEMs to provide parts, tools and repair documentation to consumers and independent repair shops. Advocates celebrated their first state victory on an electronics repair bill after years of trying to overcome tech industry lobbying against the legislation.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J.; and panel ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., floated a discussion draft Friday of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a bid to advance compromise tech-focused privacy legislation before the end of this Congress. The proposal’s chances of advancing before the end of the year could be hampered by a rapidly closing legislative window and a lack of buy-in from Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., lobbyists and officials told us.
The FCC’s notice of inquiry on offshore spectrum issues is expected to be approved 4-0 at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday with few changes to the draft circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2205180065), industry and FCC officials said. Industry experts said it makes sense for the FCC to ask questions, but market interest in licenses for offshore areas is likely to be low.
Blue state New York could soon join red states Texas and Florida in seeking to regulate social media companies. Despite opposition by tech and civil liberties groups, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is expected to sign a measure, passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the Assembly, to require social platforms to provide reporting mechanisms for hateful conduct. Also, the Assembly was expected to vote later Thursday on a Senate-passed measure that could make New York the first state with a digital right-to-repair law.