Carriers worldwide will have to change their focus as 5G evolves, putting more reliance on partnerships with other companies, speakers said during the virtual 5G Monetization Forum Tuesday. Other speakers warned chip shortages could slow deployment of 5G.
NAB President Curtis LeGeyt thinks FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel should prioritize paving the way for ATSC 3.0, and is “100% confident” the 2022 NAB Show in late April will be in person as planned, he said at the Media Institute’s virtual Communications Forum luncheon Tuesday. He also targeted tech companies and performance royalties for radio stations, and said the most difficult part of his new job heading NAB is the lack of in-person contact with members due to COVID-19 restrictions. “We don’t have that intimate relationship with our membership,” LeGeyt said. “The way we really succeed is when we can get back to in-person.”
Aureon will “continue to work with” the FCC Wireline Bureau on developing a potential refund plan, it told bureau staff in recent meetings, per ex parte filings last week in docket 18-60. The centralized equal access provider also discussed the information it would provide to the bureau about its switched transport tariff rate. Commissioners will consider an order during its Friday meeting that would require Aureon to submit certain information the bureau would need to calculate refunds to customers that paid unlawful charges March 1, 2018, through October 14, 2019 (see 2201280065).
NTIA could require states to include public utilities commissions as they decide how to use federal infrastructure funds, said Doug Kinkoph, associate administrator, NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, at NARUC’s partially virtual conference Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the NARUC Telecom Committee axed overbuilding language from a proposed resolution about the coming billions of dollars.
NTIA stakeholders will watch a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee NTIA oversight hearing for any signs of lawmakers’ interest in pursuing legislation to revamp the agency, amid an uneven Senate appetite for such measures. NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, who has led NTIA for just over a month, is likely to face questions about his vision for the agency’s disbursal of connectivity money under its control from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and COVID-19 aid measures. The hearing is likely to also focus on the NTIA-FCC commitment to improve the two agencies’ coordination on spectrum policy (see 2202150001). The hearing will begin at noon EST. It’s House Communications’ first NTIA oversight hearing since 2018 (see 1803060048).
The FCC and NTIA committed Tuesday to update their 2003 memorandum of understanding, among other ways to improve the two agencies’ coordination on spectrum policy matters amid continued congressional ire over federal infighting on those matters that’s extended into the Biden administration (see 2202030081). The FCC-NTIA agreement is likely to be a main focus of a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing with NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, communications officials told us. Lawmakers continue to show interest in pursuing legislation to prevent future policy fracases, though it could be tough to address this year (see 2202070066). NTIA stakeholders will also watch the Wednesday hearing for any signs of lawmakers’ interest in pursuing legislation to revamp the agency (see 2202150075). The hearing will begin at noon EST. It’s House Communications’ first NTIA oversight hearing since 2018 (see 1803060048).
Pressure is growing to revise the EU general data protection regulation as it nears its fourth anniversary, stakeholders told us. A June 16-17 European Data Protection Supervisor conference will examine "constructive improvements that exist within the current framework, but also alternative models of enforcement of the GDPR, including a more centralized approach." Technology sector stakeholders, European publishers, digital rights activists and others want changes. The U.K., no longer part of the EU, is debating how to create its own data protection regime.
MVPD groups and broadcasters disagree whether proposed rule changes designed to ease the ATSC 3.0 transition should come with additional restrictions on the standard, said comments filed by Friday’s deadline on a November further NPRM in docket 16-142 (see 2111050049).
State utility commissioners should get active in broadband funding talks, said NTIA and U.S. Treasury officials at the partially virtual NARUC conference Monday. Each state is to receive at least $200 million combined through Treasury’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund and NTIA's broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. State commissioners may no longer say broadband is “not my jurisdiction,” said former FCC and South Carolina Commissioner Mignon Clyburn: “I’m sorry, you can’t rest on that anymore.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and other Biden administration officials touted the FCC’s $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program Monday as an example of successful implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as the program hit a milestone of enrolling more than 10 million households. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., is holding out hope that Congress could appropriate additional money for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund and other broadband programs by passing it as part of a balkanized chunk of the scuttled Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376) but told us he believes keeping the connectivity money isn't going to make or break his support.