The Education Department and hundreds of local and national organizations unveiled Online For All, a campaign to drive Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment. Nonprofit campaign coordinator Civic Nation said ED, working with such groups as the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, will focus efforts on school students and their parents, letting them know about ACP. Comcast Executive Vice President-Digital Equity Broderick Johnson blogged that the company as part of the campaign held ACP awareness events Wednesday and has a variety of others scheduled. "While it’s impressive that more than 18.5 million households have signed up for the ACP benefit so far ... with more than 31 million households eligible for the ACP, but not yet enrolled, our attention must now turn toward broadband adoption," he said Wednesday.
Cost of residential phone service in the U.S. in May was up 5.8% over last year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index unadjusted data released Tuesday. Cable, satellite and livestreaming TV service costs were up 4.5%, and internet service costs were up 2.9%. Wireless service costs were up 0.6%. May prices overall were up 4% year over year, before seasonal adjustment. BLS said.
The House Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) “misses the mark,” but “I remain committed to enacting legislation that expands commercial access to spectrum and maximizes value for American taxpayers,” Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us in a statement Monday. Panel Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and others are citing Cruz as the main impediment right now to congressional leaders reaching a consensus on a spectrum legislative package (see 2306120058). HR-3565 mirrors major parts of the spectrum legislative package House and Senate Commerce leaders proposed in December (see 2212190069), including language to allocate some future auction proceeds to the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, next-generation 911 technology upgrades and middle-mile projects. Cruz said he's “especially” opposed to “the $20 billion earmarked for a variety of pet projects like unneeded and duplicative broadband subsidies.”
The antitrust bar being especially lacking in diversity is problematic, said Elizabeth Wilkins, chief of staff to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Thursday at an FCBA Diversity Pipeline event. She said the agency has been thinking about diverse recruitment issues for its staff, with pipeline programs like the FCBA's being an important tool. Keynoting at the event, American Association of Public Broadband Executive Director Gigi Sohn discussed her career and alluded to but didn't directly discuss her failed nomination for FCC commissioner.
Citing Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's denial of Ligado's ancillary terrestrial component application (see 2306010040), Iridium said Friday in docket 12-340 that the Canadian regulator "convincingly demonstrate[d] the unacceptable and detrimental risks of interference from ATC services authorized by the [FCC's] Ligado Orde," which it urged the commission to stay and reverse.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel signed memoranda of understanding with Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority at the 2023 ITU Global Symposium for Regulators in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Wednesday, said an FCC news release. “Our peoples and our economies are inextricably connected,” said Rosenworcel in the release: "We must ensure that strong, respectful, and principled partnerships are established and endure between international communications regulators.” The agreements will increase coordination between the FCC and the other regulators and enable discussions on 5G, spectrum licensing, broadband deployment, accessibility, robocalls and network security, the release said. Rosenworcel also met with ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Telecommunications Development Bureau Director Cosmas Zavazava, and leaders from India, Japan, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Georgia, and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, the release said.
The FCC moved up the dates for its final two meetings of the year. The Nov. 16 meeting was changed to Nov. 15. The December meeting was moved a week from Dec. 20 to Dec. 13. Meeting dates are most often changed to accommodate the schedules of commissioners. "The dates were changed in coordination with the Commissioners’ offices," an FCC spokesperson emailed.
Canada's denial of Ligado's ancillary terrestrial component plans (see 2306010040) could influence the FCC to reconsider its Ligado approval and to respond to the multiple reconsideration requests before it, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged Tuesday.
The FCC deactivated the Disaster Information Reporting System for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, but DIRS remains in operation for Guam, said a public notice Monday. DIRS was activated in the region due to Super Typhoon Mawar. “The FCC will, however, continue to monitor the status of communications services and work with providers and government partners in these areas as needed to support remaining restoration efforts,” the PN said. Monday’s DIRS report, which included both areas, shows 42.9% of the cell sites in the affected areas out of service, along with 3,967 cable and wireline subscribers, 3 TV stations and 3 FM stations.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau rescheduled to July 6 and 7 its annual disaster information reporting system refresher due to the ongoing DIRS activation for Typhoon Mawar. The session had been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. “The refresher will include a simulated event, commencing with the Bureau sending a mock activation letter on July 5 to all registered DIRS participants,” said a Monday notice: “The mock activation letter will provide a list of pre-selected counties that form the disaster area for this practice event. Providers will be asked to report data on any of their communications assets (e.g., broadcast, cable, satellite, wireless, and wireline) in the affected area. As this is only a simulated event, the Bureau does not expect to receive actual counts of outages.”