Changes from the drafts of a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and a Further NPRM on wireless emergency alerts appear to follow changes highlighted by FCC staff Thursday, based on side-by-side comparisons. Both were approved 4-0 and were listed in Friday’s Daily Digest. The NOI had more changes, focused on promoting innovation (see 2204210049). The final version uses the word innovation 48 times, compared with 38 in the draft. In one change, a question on how the FCC could “assess voluntary approaches in the context of innovation and the marketplace” now includes the words “and which approaches would be most or least effective when it comes to facilitating innovation while promoting improved receiver performance.” The FNPRM now asks how various approaches on receivers “might affect innovation in spectrum utilization.” The FCC asks: “How might these measures affect the development and costs and benefits of innovation associated with new wireless use cases? Compared to the Commission’s approach to receiver performance to date, how might any of the approaches … potentially serve to promote innovation in spectrum use, including not only in receiver but in transmitter design and performance as well?” The final version also raises new public safety and national security concerns. “Would improvements in receiver interference immunity performance (e.g., selectivity to reject unwanted emissions) enhance the ability of receivers to reject jamming and spoofing attempts?” it asks: “How might the Commission best consider the trade-offs concerning potentially affected stakeholders?” The FNPRM also adds a paragraph on the life cycle of devices. “Should receivers that may meet a standard when they are deployed be upgraded or replaced in the future to merit interference protection under the Commission’s rules if new receiver standards are developed that provide increased interference immunity?” it asks: “We note that different systems have different expected lifecycles. We request comment on whether the Commission should consider a specified time frame from the date a receiver was deployed after which it should be expected to meet newer standards.” The biggest change to the FNPRM from the draft addresses questions raised by CTIA on the technical feasibility of new requirements in light of current cell-broadcast technology, as officials indicated Thursday (see 2204210050). “If it is not feasible for Participating CMS [commercial mobile service] Providers to collect this information from WEA networks and devices as currently designed, then what network or device firmware or software changes would be needed for Participating CMS Providers to comply with the proposed reporting requirements?” the FNPRM asks: “How much time would be necessary to complete these steps?” The FNPRM also updates numbers, noting that as of April 7 “639 emergency management agencies across the nation have issued 62,819 WEA alerts,” compared with 619 agencies and 61,764 alerts tabulated earlier.
The 2022 NAB Show is projected to have about 55% of the attendance of the last in-person show in 2019, but broadcasters told us it feels like a step toward the industry getting back to where it was pre-COVID-19. The show runs April 23-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter Thursday and take it private, saying he wants to transform the platform and defend free speech. The Tesla CEO and Twitter shareholder announced his bid through an SEC filing, in which he offered to buy 100% of Twitter at $54.20 per share, estimating the value of the company at $43.4 billion.
The FCC will boost staffing of its International Bureau's Satellite Division by 38%, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in docket 12-1 letters to two House Communications and Technology Subcommittee members dated March 30 and posted Thursday. She said she also is accelerating the agency's satellite regulatory review process. The letters to Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., were in response to their joint March 14 letter encouraging Rosenworcel "to work with Congress to update the FCC’s rules and authorities to support new [satellite] entrants and to increase competition and consumer choice while protecting the operations and significant investments of existing operators." Matsui and Guthrie also urged sunsetting interference protections for earlier-round systems from later-round ones "after a reasonable time period" as a means of encouraging more efficient spectrum use while preventing "the creation of entrenched incumbents." The FCC "should also sunset more protections, especially those for outdated technologies, in order to encourage continuous innovation and spectrum efficiency," they said.
Amazon signed contracts for up to 83 launches over five years with Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance to put up its Project Kuiper broadband constellation, it said Tuesday. The launches would be the majority of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation, it said. Amazon said it has contracts for 18 Ariane 6 rockets; 12 launches using Blue Origin's New Glenn, with options for up to 15 more; and 38 launches on ULA's Vulcan Centaur. The agreement is atop Project Kuiper’s existing deal to secure nine Atlas V vehicles from ULA, it said.
Cross-border e-commerce will be 38% of all online transactions globally by value in 2023, when it exceeds $2 trillion for the first time, reported Juniper Research Monday. The more than 13% growth in a single year to $2.1 trillion in 2023 reflects the increasing success of marketplaces that offer goods across borders, plus the “rising viability” of cross-border sales as an e-commerce model, said Juniper. Physical goods will generate more than 97% of the cross-border e-commerce spend in 2023, it said.
The House was set to vote late Wednesday on an FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package that includes funding increases for the FCC, FTC, NTIA and other tech-related federal agencies. Preliminary votes on the measure, filed as an amendment to shell bill HR-2471, hadn't happened by our deadline as chamber leaders worked out a deal to cut COVID-19 aid language from the measure after some members objected earlier in the day. The chamber was also expected to vote on a short-term continuing resolution (House Joint Resolution 75) to extend federal funding through Tuesday in a bid to give the Senate extra time to also consider HR-2471. The current CR would otherwise expire Friday night.
Every major change to expand audience measurement, including adding cable to broadcast in the 1990s and adding delayed DVR viewing in 2006, “has been met with resistance and headlines,” said Nielsen CEO David Kenny on a Q4 earnings call Monday. The current move to “reconcile” streaming and linear TV “is perhaps the biggest change in the history of media,” he said. “Friction can be expected, and we are seeing it.” Nielsen data showed streaming reached an all-time high in January, at 38% of viewing within the 18 to 54 age demographic, he said. Kenny admits “there is more noise on the traditional TV side as our clients adjust their business models from linear to streaming,” he said. “But privately, the conversations we have with clients and their contracts with us show that our business with them is much more productive than the noise suggests.”
Privacy attorneys and consumer advocates are closely watching rulemakings and possible legislative tweaks to three state laws taking effect in the next year and half, they said in interviews. The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) will become law Jan. 1, and the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) takes effect July 1, 2023. More state laws are expected soon.
Social media entered 2022 with 4.62 billion users globally, equaling more than 58% of the world’s population, with 424 million new users added since Jan. 1, 2021, said a Digital 2022 report released Wednesday by social media management platform Hootsuite and creative agency We Are Social. Facebook remains the world’s most used social platform, followed by YouTube and WhatsApp. Other findings: (1) Instagram’s ad reach jumped by 21% in the past year to nearly 1.5 billion monthly users; (2) People who own cryptocurrency jumped nearly 38%; (3) The COVID-19 pandemic-induced surge in e-commerce adoption rates shows no signs of abating, with nearly six in 10 “working-age internet users” now buying something online weekly.