Broadband and housing advocates want more FCC scrutiny over multi-tenant environments and the deals MTE building owners make with providers, said replies posted Monday in docket 17-142 (see 2110210053). Some said exclusivity agreements could hamper enrollment efforts in the upcoming $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). MTE trade groups rejected additional regulation.
Pointing to enterprise traffic increasingly being wireless, Ericsson plans to boost its presence in related cloud-based offerings with buying Vonage for $6.2 billion, announced Monday. Analysts evinced some skepticism about the deal, which Ericsson said should conclude in the first half of 2022.
House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., remains hopeful House leadership will allow floor time for the Judiciary Committee’s antitrust legislation before the end of the year, he told us last week. A Democratic aide said Monday that caucus negotiations are ongoing.
Verizon expects to close on buying Tracfone this week following FCC OK Monday, the carrier’s spokesperson said. Three commissioners approved and Commissioner Brendan Carr concurred with the order clearing the wireless deal with consumer protection conditions. The California Public Utilities Commission last week conditionally approved the takeover (see 2111180068).
As demand and prices for IP version 4 addresses rise, cybersecurity threats are also increasing, IPv4 marketplace IPXO said. The price surge likely leads to increased cybercrime as crooks hijack and sell unused addresses in underground markets, said CEO Vincentas Grinius. The answer isn't to adopt IPv6 but to look to a more sustainable form of internet governance such as leasing IPv4 addresses, he said. IPv4 addresses are a problem if they're made available via carrier-grade network address translation (NAT), which uses a single address for multiple subscribers and can hide cybercriminals, said IPv6 Forum President Latif Ladid. Key industries use IPv6, he said.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., seeks bipartisan recommendations for updating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, she told us last week. Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said they’re trying to reach bipartisan consensus.
One temporary solution that could allow Verizon and AT&T to turn on their C-band base stations in January, as now planned, would be to provide protection near airports, industry and government officials told us. But it’s unclear whether that would be enough to address FAA and aviation industry concerns.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., told us he still intends to wait (see 2106300077) to hold an FCC oversight hearing until after the Senate confirms Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Democratic commission nominee Gigi Sohn, amid renewed pressure from House Commerce Committee GOP leaders. Panel ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, argue it has “been over one year” since commissioners testified before the subcommittee. The most recent hearing was in September 2020 (see 2009170068).
House Democratic leaders were optimistic Thursday they were on the cusp of holding a final vote that night or Friday on the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376) amid expectations that the Congressional Budget Office would publish a final cost estimate that afternoon. The CBO released its estimate earlier in the day for the House Commerce Committee’s portion of HR-5376, which includes $500 million for a new FTC data privacy and security bureau, $500 million for NTIA connected device vouchers, $490 million for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and $300 million for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund.
A unanimous FTC agreed to a Republican proposal to delay voting on whether to issue orders to large retailers and consumer-goods suppliers to study anti-competitive effects of supply chain disruptions (see 2111100084). Despite Chair Lina Khan’s desire to “expeditiously” begin research, the commission, which recently lost its Democratic majority, agreed 4-0 to table the vote until Wednesday, after a motion from Commissioner Christine Wilson.