Symmetrical broadband is a "focus" for Comcast "for the next several years," Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said Thursday as the company detailed progress toward offering multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds while announcing Q1 results. Company CEO Brian Roberts said it's moving toward trials on offloading mobile traffic in dense areas using its spectrum: "That really will prove to be a cost savings if we get it right."
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
SpaceX's license modification approval, released Tuesday, has conditions including requirements it coordinate with radio astronomy observatories and regularly report close passes in orbit involving, in addition to restrictions on how it uses the 12 GHz band. These was as expected (see 2104260044). Some critics of the license mod saw good news in the terms.
Approval on circulation Monday of SpaceX's pending license modification for relocating more than 2,800 planned satellites to a lower orbit (see 2007140001) has conditions limiting its use of the 12 GHz band and on spectrum sharing, parties involved in the proceeding told us. The license mod got heavy opposition (see 2102120033). Parties told us litigation challenging the approval is a strong possibility.
Approval on circulation Monday of SpaceX's pending license modification for relocating more than 2,800 planned satellites to a lower orbit has conditions limiting its use of the 12 GHz band and on spectrum sharing, parties involved in the proceeding said in interviews. The license mod had gotten heavy opposition from other satellite companies. Parties told us litigation challenging the approval is a strong possibility.
Investors trying to push better lobbying disclosures at communications, media and tech companies through shareholder proxy proposals face a steep uphill climb. Annual reports detailing lobbying spending and strategy were put on the yearly shareholder meeting agendas for Amazon, Boeing, Charter and Disney. They were rejected at Boeing and Disney. Experts told us odds of approval generally are slim.
The FCC text-to-988 Further NPRM adopted unanimously Thursday (see 2104220036) cites somewhat different legal authority to justify the proposed rules, per our side-by-side comparison of the draft and the approved FNPRM released Friday. The draft cited the Communications Act Title III and Section 251(e). The adopted version cites Title III and the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.
Noting the high use of texting by populations particularly at risk to suicide, such as kids and minorities, the four FCC members on Thursday approved a Further NPRM on a mandate that carriers provide capabilities to text the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (see 2103310030). Also getting unanimous approvals at the commissioners' meeting were an order allocating spectrum for commercial space launches and an NPRM on setting a framework for informing 911 centers of network outages affecting them, as well as an NPRM on wireless mics in the TV and other bands and an order ending the 800 MHz rebranding process (see 2104220056). Commissioners also OK'd a $4.1 million slamming fine.
SES/O3b asked the FCC to treat SpaceX's pending license modification as newly filed in the 2020 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) processing round, impose an aggregate collision risk limit and limit the Starlink constellation's orbital tolerance, said an International Bureau filing Wednesday. SES/O3b joined others in suggesting conditions for license mod approval (see 2104190002). Viasat, speaking with aides to Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr about its proposed conditions, said NGSO replacement satellites must be technically identical, but SpaceX hasn't made clear if its replacements will be, and the agency should expressly exclude giving replacement authority from any action on the modification application. Giving SpaceX permission "could open the international floodgates," said University of Edinburgh astronomy professor Andy Lawrence. Pause it and similar proposals until a worldwide group of stakeholders "debate a new and improved co-ordinated regulatory framework," said Lawrence. He said the light pollution mitigation steps SpaceX took with Starlink "make only a modest difference, and we cannot guarantee that other companies and countries will be as co-operative." SpaceX didn't comment Thursday.
Foreign-flagged satellite operators challenging FCC regulatory fees approved last year (see 2012300046) faced apparently dubious judges in oral argument Friday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The three-judge panel appeared dismissive of petitioner arguments that there wasn't requisite notice and that the FCC's interpretation of the Communications Act allowing it to charge such fees is inconsistent with how it's written. A decision could come around June or July, we were told.
A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel seemed skeptical both of aspects of the FCC's 2019 local franchise authority order and of LFAs' ability to charge separate fees for cable operators' right-of-way access for their cable and broadband services, during oral argument Thursday. The timing of a decision on the challenge, primarily by localities, of the FCC's 2019 local franchise authority order (see 1909120028) isn't clear, we're told.