Echodyne asked the FCC for a five-year extension of its waiver of rules allowing ground-based use of its EchoGuard radar. The radar detects objects on the ground and in the air. The Wireless Bureau approved a waiver in 2019, which expires June 12 (see 1906130051). Since the waiver was granted, the radar “has been successfully deployed by many Federal and non-Federal users without any complaints of interference,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 12-352: “With the product still in high demand, Echodyne seeks a 5-year extension under the same terms and conditions as the original grant.” The radar operates in the 24 GHz band.
An FCC draft order allowing broadcasters to use FM boosters to originate geotargeted radio content would initially require that stations seek special temporary authority grants, agency and industry officials told us. In addition, they said the grants would permit use of the geotargeted content for a maximum of three minutes per broadcast hour. A further notice included with the item seeks comment on rules for a more permanent application process replacing the STA grants, which will need to be renewed every six months.
California could be first in the nation to codify the FCC’s definition of digital discrimination into state law. Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D) introduced AB-2239 on Wednesday, the California Alliance for Digital Equity said Thursday. “This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to adopt subsequent legislation that codifies a definition of ‘digital discrimination of access’ in state law that conforms to the definition adopted by the Federal Communications Commission,” said a legislative digest on the measure. In a November order (see 2311150040), the FCC defined “digital discrimination of access” as “policies or practices, not justified by genuine issues of technical or economic feasibility, that (1) differentially impact consumers' access to broadband internet access service based on their income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin or (2) are intended to have such differential impact.” Defining digital discrimination could help move a proceeding on digital redlining at the California Public Utilities Commission, said Shayna Englin, California Community Foundation director-digital equity initiative, in an interview. The proceeding stalled amid argument about the definition, said Englin. CPUC digital redlining rules would guide the agency in the years ahead as it distributes $8 billion state and federal broadband funding, she said. Englin predicted a fight between digital equity advocates and the telecom industry, which is expected to oppose AB-2239. The California Broadband and Video Association is reviewing the legislation, said a spokesperson for the state cable group. USTelecom declined to comment. The Los Angeles City Council passed a similar law at the local level last month.
The telecom industry pushed back on a Vermont state bill that could shake up state USF contribution and telecom taxation. At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing streamed Wednesday, a wireless industry lobbyist said a proposed shift to connections-based USF contribution mechanism unfairly shifted costs to wireless customers. A New England Connectivity and Telecommunications Association (NECTA) lobbyist, representing the region’s cable industry, condemned a possible $15 annual tax on each pole attachment owned by private communications providers. Community media representatives supported the proposed tax for supporting public, educational and governmental (PEG) channels.
The FCC has issued a cease and desist letter and K4 order against Texas-based Lingo Telecom over robocalls to voters before the New Hampshire primary last month. The calls used voice-cloning tech and spoofed phone numbers to seem to be from President Joe Biden, urging recipients not to vote in the primary, said a news release. “What a bunch of malarkey. We know the value of voting Democratic when our votes count,” the calls allegedly said in Biden’s voice, spoofed to appear to come from a number connected with a Democratic super political action committee. “It’s important that you save your vote for the November election,” the deepfaked Biden voice said. Lingo “is alleged to have originated robocall traffic using AI-generated voice cloning to spread misinformation to voters,” said an FCC news release Tuesday. The cease and desist letter orders Lingo to stop supporting illegal robocall traffic on its networks and the K4 public notice “strongly encourages other providers to refrain from carrying suspicious traffic from Lingo,” the release said. The FCC is acting alongside the Office of the New Hampshire State Attorney General, which also sent a cease and desist Tuesday to another company involved with the calls, the Life Corporation. The Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force also sent a cease and desist letter to the Life Corporation. The New Hampshire letter targets Life over violations of voter suppression laws, the FCC release said. “Each of these parties have been warned about apparent illegal robocall violations in the past,” the FCC release said. “Consumers deserve to know that the person on the other end of the line is exactly who they claim to be,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in the release. “That’s why we’re working closely with State Attorneys General across the country to combat the use of voice cloning technology in robocalls being used to misinform voters and target unwitting victims of fraud.” Law enforcement and regulatory agencies “are working closely together to monitor and investigate any signs of AI being used maliciously to threaten our democratic process,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella in the release. The action stems from an investigation launched last month by the New Hampshire AG, the FCC Enforcement Bureau, the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, and USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group, the release said. Lingo didn’t comment, but the FCC’s letter says the company didn’t dispute the calls' illegality.
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson urged leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees Monday night to “provide additional funding” for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program before its original $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April. Lawmakers are eyeing how to allocate as much as $7 billion in stopgap funding to keep ACP running through the end of this year (see 2401250075). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed last week that the Wireline Bureau will freeze new ACP enrollments Thursday as part of winding down the program (see 2402010075). “As more cooperatives, and other internet service providers, work to build broadband networks in hard-to-reach rural and low-income areas, affordability will become increasingly critical to adoption of these essential services,” Matheson said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and their ranking members. “Should programs supporting affordability fail, it could jeopardize access to broadband services for millions of customers.” Ensuring “that there is a consistent, dependable, and effective low-income broadband program, such as the ACP, will allow rural providers to deliver the highest quality broadband service to their communities at an affordable price,” said Matheson, a former House Commerce member who represented Utah as a Democrat. Enacting the ACP Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565), which would infuse $7 billion into the program for FY24 (see 2401100056), “or similar legislation would provide important short-term clarity and certainty ... while Congress works to address questions around the future of the program and develop a permanent funding solution.”
The New Hampshire House Science, Technology and Energy Committee unanimously rejected an RF safety bill, which would have required warnings on 5G towers. In addition, the lawmakers approved a measure 20-0 that addresses public safety agencies’ access to cell towers, dropping a requirement that would give agencies access to towers in favor of more study.
Existing law needs updating to protect artists and individuals from fake AI-generated content, House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Friday during a hearing in Los Angeles.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed to congressional leaders Thursday that the Wireline Bureau will move forward with freezing new affordable connectivity program enrollments Feb. 8 amid the continued push to provide the program stopgap funding to keep it running once its original $14.2 billion allocation runs out in April (see 2401250075). Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., is beginning to cite a recent FCC Office of Inspector General report on its audit of ACP’s 2022 performance (see 2401300090) as vindicating Republicans’ misgivings about the program, which some lobbyists believe may complicate those funding efforts.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a draft order and further notice that would allow FM broadcasters to air geotargeted radio “for a limited period of time during the broadcast hour,” according to a joint statement from Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks endorsing the item. “If radio entrepreneurs want to test new business models and deploy new technologies, the FCC’s rules shouldn’t stand in the way,” said the statement, which thanks Rosenworcel for moving the proceeding to an order. The item stems from a 2020 NPRM that followed a petition from geotargeted radio company GeoBroadcast Solutions. The company’s ZoneCasting tech uses multiple synchronized FM boosters to transmit targeted signals that FM receivers pick up as being a single signal. The tech also requires a change to FCC rules barring boosters from originating content to operate. It's expected stations using the technology would mainly broadcast a single stream of content but briefly shift certain zones to geotargeted, specialized content multiple times daily: usually for localized commercials. GBS has said it could be used for localized weather and emergency alerts as well. NAB and large broadcasters such as iHeart have vigorously opposed the technology, saying it will reduce ad rates, interfere with other stations and affect the FM noise floor. In 2022, NAB filed ex parte letters (see 2209230070) with the FCC accusing GBS founder Chris Devine of “fraudulent and deceitful conduct.” NAB declined to comment Wednesday. Smaller broadcasters and groups such as the Multicultural Media Telecom and the Internet Association have largely supported the proposal, although the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters in 2022 voted to discontinue its support. Last year, NABOB was acquired by the U.S. Black Chambers, which has since endorsed the GBS proposal (see 2311030068."Geotargeting technology is not just about modernization; it's about survival and growth," said NABOB President Jim Winston in a UBC release Wednesday. "It's a tool that can rejuvenate a declining sector while also propelling forward the FCC’s vision of promoting minority broadcasting." “Small and independent broadcasters have repeatedly told us that geo-targeting could be a gamechanger,” said Starks and Carr in the joint statement. "It is a great day for radio innovators and a possible salvation for so many facing new levels of competition, said MMTC President Robert Branson in an email. "Importantly, the new service is another way for radio broadcasters to truly serve their local market."