Big technology hurdles remain before hybrid constellations of geostationary orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) happen, satellite operators said Monday at the Satellite 2022 conference and trade show in Washington. Systems that are "orbit agnostic" might be "a dreamland," and interoperability between LEO and GEO will take some time to develop, said Arabsat Chief Strategy Officer Hadi Alhassani.
As advocates of FCC action reallocating the 12 GHz band hope they’re nearing the finishing line, officials with the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition told us Monday the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined that group, adding to the push for FCC action. Members of the group said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears to be waiting for the Senate to confirm Gigi Sohn as the third Democrat on the FCC, but if that doesn’t happen soon, they hope the agency will act with the current 2-2 split.
The FCC Precision Ag Task Force met virtually Monday to hear updates from the FCC, NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service on some of the upcoming federal broadband programs funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The group also heard from the working group leaders about items they plan to address during this term.
Bipartisan legislation introduced Friday would authorize the Library of Congress to designate mandatory technical measures for online platforms to combat piracy. Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C., secured a long-sought-after Democratic partner in subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont (see 2109080077 and 2010050061).
Emergency broadband benefit and affordable connectivity program spending often goes more toward upgrading existing wireline ISP subscribers’ services than toward bringing connectivity to the unconnected, ISPs and digital equity interests told us. The FCC didn't comment.
Big Law firms with telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) practices are pulling out of Russia, and whether they will return after the end of Russia's Ukraine invasion is questionable. Some see the one-two punch of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic making it less likely Big Law will return someday. Several TMT companies are also opting to end or limit their Russian presence.
California stepped toward regulating VoIP, broadband and wireless service quality. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 at a virtual meeting Thursday to open a rulemaking sought by consumer advocates to update telecom service-quality standards and enforcement. The Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition warned that states are preempted from regulating interconnected VoIP.
Industry disagreed whether the FCC should pause some of its high-cost Universal Service Fund programs amid the recent $65 billion federal broadband support from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, in reply comments posted Friday in docket 21-476 (see 2202180046). Others debated whether to expand the fund's contribution base or turn to direct congressional appropriations. The FCC sought comments on USF's future as part of its report to Congress due by Aug. 12.
The FCC’s “top-to-bottom” review of communications companies’ ties to Russia, announced by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday (see 2203160031), likely has a broad focus, covering media companies, telecom and infrastructure providers, submarine cable operators and any Russian companies carrying U.S.-international phone traffic, industry experts told us. But compared with China, a recurring focus of the FCC, ties to Russia appear to be minimal.
There’s a “danger of complacency” in the information and communications tech supply chain that the economic risks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will stay confined to Europe, Stephen Minton, IDC program vice president-data and analytics, told an IDC “first look” webinar Thursday on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the global ICT market. Minton estimates $240 billion or more in global ICT spending could be “wiped out” from the war through 2025, and that’s assuming the most “optimistic scenario” of a diplomatic end to the hostilities within three months.