A White House directive on a non-satellite backup of GPS positioning, navigation and timing services could affect plans for that terrestrial version, or at least muddy a related issue, PNT experts told us. White House officials told reporters, on condition they not be identified, about the PNT executive order issued Wednesday. It said the Department of Transportation is testing 11 commercial terrestrial backup technologies for GPS. Testing's to be completed by May and a recommendation for a backup system issued by year's end.
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
The space economy is growing rapidly, but that means increased potential problems with orbital debris and the need for space traffic management (STM), speakers said at a Space Foundation event Tuesday. Rep. Kendra Horn, D-Okla., co-chairwoman of the House Space Power Caucus, said with looming satellite mega constellations, there's a need to "set some lanes" for STM.
A set of FTC Act Section 6(b) orders to Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft aren't a warning to big tech, though the agency could start a criminal investigation if it finds something problematic in its analysis of their mergers and acquisitions, Chairman Joe Simons said Tuesday. He said the agency will look at "hundreds" of unreported transactions by the companies in 2010-2019 as it tries to decide if deals that fall outside Hart-Scott-Rodino Act reporting requirements nonetheless affect competition, and if those HSR thresholds should change. The FTC announced the 6(b) orders Tuesday (see 2002110020).
The public notice setting up application and bidding procedures for citizens broadband radio service licenses to be voted on at the Feb. 28 meeting (see here) sets up the agency for a long-awaited CBRS auction, but still Ieaves some issues unaddressed, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly blogged Friday. The agency also released the other draft items. O'Rielly said unresolved are ways to reduce the protection area sizes and increasing power limits in the band.
MVPD interests back the FCC's proposed change of a rule that subscribers get 30-day notice of a possible service change in a nonrenewed carriage agreement's last 30 days. Local franchise authorities (LFA) raised red flags, in docket 19-347 comments posted Friday. Commissioners approved the NPRM 5-0 in December (see 1912120063). NCTA supported FCC proposals for "ASAP" notifications of a blackout due to failing carriage negotiations and for streamlined notices to LFAs, and urged going further. It said the FCC should end requirements to notify LFAs about rate and service changes, or send subscribers advance notices of any big change in the information reported in annual notices and notices of the deletion or repositioning of a broadcast channel. It sought clarification that rules require advance notice to stations only when the change is within the MVPD's control. America's Communications Association backed ending notification of an annual notice change. Altice suggested that atop the NPRM revisions, look for notice obligation changes. The operator said there's no need to define ASAP because operators "have every incentive" to explain to subscribers a breakdown in negotiations to avoid confusion and minimize customer dissatisfaction. The notice requirement doesn't "empower consumers; it harms them" since they face false alarms from MVPDs, Verizon said. It said the best route for ASAP notifications are emails or “channel slates" notices replacing a televised feed. Boston; Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; Montgomery and Howard counties in Maryland; and the Texas Coalition of Cities for Utilities Issues oppose ending the requirement of notifying about potentially dropped programming. They support a proposed amendment to require subscribers be notified as soon as possible, if it's in addition to 30-day notice. They urged the agency drop the 90-day notice requirement LFAs provide cable operators for being included in notice distributions. NATOA said the NPRM lacks justification or authority to ax the requirement operators provide LFAs 30-day written notice before rate or service changes. The group rejected cable arguments of potential consumer confusion: "We have every confidence that cable operators can clearly communicate to their subscribers that a channel lineup change is a possibility that will come to pass only if negotiations fail to result in an agreement."
The up-to $9.7 billion in payments the FCC is proposing be spent on satellite operators seems to be a hard-and-fast figure with little to no commission wiggle room, we are told. Chairman Ajit Pai's office didn't comment. The 185-page C-band draft order released Friday says Intelsat would be eligible for up to half -- $4.85 billion -- of the accelerated relocation payments for making 2021 and 2023 spectrum clearing deadlines. SES would be eligible for $4 billion, Eutelsat for $467 million, Telesat for $374 million and Star One for $13.6 million.
Regional sports network Altitude Sports and Entertainment's amended antitrust complaint (in Pacer, docket 1:19-cv-03253) against Comcast filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver fleshes out its arguments the MVPD is likely to monopolize the Denver RSN market by driving Altitude out of business (see 1911180062). That's based on our side-by-side comparison of the original and amended complaint. It said now that exclusionary conduct, in this case, isn't just a refusal to deal but also conduct that forecloses competitors from access to customers. It said Comcast's dominance in the distribution marketplace enhances its power to exclude RSN competition and makes it likely Comcast will succeed in monopolizing that market. Comcast didn't comment Wednesday.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said one 2020 priority is looking at ways the agency can try to ensure artificial intelligence and facial recognition technologies respect privacy and aren't discriminatory in application. At a Congressional Tech Staff Association/Congressional Black Associates event Wednesday, Starks said it's "a moral imperative" to look at broadband connectivity beyond just the existence of infrastructure but also as an affordability and digital literacy issue. He said his criticisms of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund -- as reflected in his partial dissent (see 2001300001) -- included it not prioritizing "future-proof" connections at speeds that will be relevant a decade from now. The approved RDOF order hasn't been released; Starks said some issues are "still getting tweaked." He said the agency has to put more priority on holding connectivity providers accountable when they decide not to build out networks after all, pointing to more than 10 percent of Connect America Fund Phase II auction winners defaulting. He said federal dollars for rural broadband providers should come with requirements for offering low-income service options. Starks said the FCC "has done good work" tackling supply chain vulnerability with its USF supply chain rules adopted last fall (see 1911220033), but there also needs to be attention paid to Huawei and ZTE technology already in U.S. telecom networks. He said forthcoming enforcement actions announced by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for carriers seemingly disclosing consumers’ real-time location data (see 2001310058) are "long overdue." Starks again supported the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act (HR-3957) sponsored by Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., which would restore the minority tax certificate. He called the nearly nonexistent full-power TV station ownership by women and minorities "a shame."
A public auction of 280 MHz of C-band spectrum is targeted to start Dec. 8, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Relocation costs for incumbents -- an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion -- will be covered by auction winners, he said. He said satellite operators then should be eligible for up to $9.7 billion in accelerated relocation payments for clearing the lower 100 MHz in 46 of top 50 partial economic areas by September 2021, and remaining 180 MHz by September 2023.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's $9.7 billion C-band clearing plan has support from fellow Republican commissioners. That means the order has the votes needed to be approved at or before the Feb. 28 commissioners' meeting.