The FCC wrapped up its comment cycle on the future of the 4.9 GHz band. But industry officials told us further agency action likely isn’t imminent, with issues to wade through before recommending a final approach. Commenters disagreed whether there should be a national framework with a nationwide band manager, though there's general support for expanding use of the band. A question is who other than public safety agencies should be given access.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is open to renewing, at least temporarily, an interim change to the state USF contribution method. At a livestreamed meeting Tuesday, OCC members reviewed the state’s November’s shift to a connections-based mechanism. Commissioner Todd Hiett reserved his right to support moving back to revenue-based reporting if he doesn’t see progress on legislative changes.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks will vote “later this week” on draft affordable connectivity program rules, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said during an Information Technology Industry Council webinar Tuesday. “I expect a lot from this program going forward” (see 2201070060). ACP rules must be finalized within 60 days of the law's enactment, which is Friday.
Don’t expect the tech industry to replace the Internet Association, due to a lack of justification for the investment and to duplicative associations, tech officials told us in interviews. IA shuttered at the end of 2021 (see 2112150026).
Senators and industry officials are eyeing a laundry list of policy matters they want Alan Davidson to prioritize once he becomes NTIA administrator. The Senate confirmed Davidson Tuesday on a bipartisan 60-31 vote, as expected (see 2201050056). The chamber voted 64-30 Monday to invoke cloture on Davidson (see 2201100058).
Securus' subscription plans for inmate calling services "benefit incarcerated persons and their loved ones, as feedback on the pilot programs confirms," it said in comments Monday in docket 12-375 on a petition for waiver of FCC rules requiring interstate and indeterminate calls to be charged at per-minute rates (see 2111220049). Others sought additional information and asked the FCC to require that the plans be offered on a per-minute basis.
Expect more cable operators to roll out wireless mobility service in 2022 or 2023, analysts told us. The mobile subscriber growth Comcast, Charter Communications and Altice have had since starting their services likely won't level off for some time, they said.
Communications companies, like those in other sectors, are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 surge brought on by the omicron variant, experts said. How much omicron could slow 5G buildout or have other effects may not be known for several weeks. The U.S. is adding almost 700,000 reported cases daily.
The Senate Commerce Committee’s primary goal is to get the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) signed into law, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Friday during a CES 2022 panel streamed from Las Vegas.
The omicron variant is the latest test for already stretched-thin 911 centers managing with the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency call officials told us last week. Public safety answering point (PSAP) professionals said staff taking sick leave is the main challenge. PSAPs are more prepared than they were at the beginning of the pandemic but are also experiencing higher-than-normal staffing issues amid a national trend of workers quitting jobs in the “Great Resignation,” said National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 911 and PSAP Operations Director April Heinze in an interview.