President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department, the FCC, the FTC and other federal agencies to establish new “rigorous” standards for how and when companies can deploy AI systems (see 2310040063).
States are holding off on putting numbers on paper as to what their extremely high-cost per location thresholds are in the broadband equity, access and deployment program, with many states saying their threshold numbers won't come until after they see subgrantee bids. That per interviews and our analysis of BEAD draft initial proposals filed thus far with NTIA. Those threshold numbers likely will differ substantially from state to state, some deployment experts tell us. The threshold number will serve as the tipping point where states can consider non-fiber bids, as beyond that threshold amount fiber is too expensive.
Despite changes in leadership in the months leading up to World Radiocommunication Conference in Dubai, the U.S. is in a good position before the start of the conference next month, government officials said during a U.S. ITU Association conference. Steve Lang, who replaced Anna Gomez as head of the U.S. delegation to the conference (see 2309120069), also spoke Thursday (see 2310260054). WRC-23 starts Nov. 20.
Charter Communications is warning some states that it won't be interested in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program opportunities there. States that closely follow NTIA proposed guidelines regarding internet tiers, pricing and labor practices "just won't be attractive states for us to bid in," CEO Chris Winfrey said Friday as the company announced Q3 financial results. He said Charter "will focus our investments in the states that allow us to retain flexibility to run the business, properly respond to market demand and ultimately earn a healthy return."
Frontier Communications agreed to spend $100 million on its Pennsylvania network through 2026 under a settlement agreement. Under the Wednesday pact with state consumer and small-business advocates, Frontier will also give bill credits to customers with service problems prospectively and retroactively. The proposed settlement to resolve a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission probe “will improve the quality of service for Frontier Commonwealth customers and will require it to invest in its network, be more responsive to customer trouble reports, and provide certain refunds and credits,” said the state's Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) in a statement of reasons.
Talks on EU AI legislation are expected to conclude by year's end, European Commission officials said at a Thursday briefing. The EC, European Parliament and European Council have held four "trialogue" meetings, including one on Tuesday, and everyone wants results quickly because of the unprecedented speed at which AI is developing, they said. International forums are also scurrying to develop guiding principles and codes of conduct, they said. Nevertheless, some issues remain controversial, such as biometric surveillance.
The Biden administration’s Wednesday request for Congress to appropriate an additional $6 billion to fully fund the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (ACP) through the end of 2024 (see 2310250075) is drawing initial skepticism from top telecom-focused Republicans amid their push for the commission to be more transparent about how it has been spending the program’s existing $14.2 billion allocation. Congressional Democrats enthusiastically backed the White House’s request, noting it would give Capitol Hill more breathing room to examine whether and how to tie in changes to a longer-term ACP with a push for broader USF revamp legislation. Current estimates peg ACP as likely to exhaust its funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the first half of 2024 (see 2309210060).
Comcast's Peacock streaming service ended Q3 with 28 million paying subscribers, up from 16 million the same quarter a year earlier, the company said Thursday as it announced Q3 2023 financial results. President Mike Cavanagh said losses for the streaming service should peak this year, with "meaningful" earnings improvements in 2024.
The FCC released drafts Wednesday on items it will address at the commissioners' Nov. 15 open meeting, headlined by digital discrimination rules and an order on providing survivors of domestic violence with safe and affordable access to communications. Other items on the agenda include the adoption of digital discrimination rules, the use of AI in fighting robocalls, SIM swap and port-out fraud and amateur radio changes. Commissioners will also consider a declaratory ruling and memorandum opinion in response to a 2022 petition by Minnesota Independent Equal Access Corp. (MIEAC) seeking relief from dominant carrier regulation of its interstate switched access service.
T-Mobile remains at least two years ahead of its competition on the deployment of spectrum for 5G, CEO Mike Seivert told analysts Wednesday as the carrier announced Q3 results. T-Mobile said it added 850,000 postpaid smartphones in the quarter, with churn of 0.87%. The carrier also announced it now covers 300 million POPs with dedicated mid-band 5G, two months ahead of its target.