Moving most of the FCC’s economists under the Office of Economics and Analytics, a controversial step taken on a Republican 3-2 commissioner vote in 2018 (see 1801300026), has proven helpful to the commission, OEA Chief Giulia McHenry said at an FCBA Engineering and Technical Committee lunch on Thursday.
FCC commissioners moved quickly to approve 5-0 a declaratory ruling prohibiting voice-cloning technology in robocall scams. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated the ruling a week ago. The agency issued a notice of inquiry exploring the issue in November (see 2311160028).
District of Columbia Council members demanded more transparency from Washington’s 911 center about its handling of call-taking and dispatching errors. The D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety Committee held a livestreamed oversight hearing Thursday about the Office of Unified Communications, which has received much scrutiny over incidents where incorrect addresses and miscommunication prompted dispatching delays. A former, longtime OUC employee claimed the office engages in unfair labor practices.
Industry and state broadband officials encouraged engagement with local stakeholders and providers as states prepare to implement their plans for NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program (see 2402060081). NTIA is "looking at 2024 as the year of execution" for the BEAD program, said acting Deputy Administrator Sarah Morris during a USTelecom webinar Wednesday.
Don't expect supplemental coverage from space to ever provide terrestrial broadband-like service -- there's not a strong business case, multiple operators said Wednesday at the SmallSat Symposium in Silicon Valley. Several questioned the economics of a robust SCS service with a thick data pipeline.
The telecom industry pushed back on a Vermont state bill that could shake up state USF contribution and telecom taxation. At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing streamed Wednesday, a wireless industry lobbyist said a proposed shift to connections-based USF contribution mechanism unfairly shifted costs to wireless customers. A New England Connectivity and Telecommunications Association (NECTA) lobbyist, representing the region’s cable industry, condemned a possible $15 annual tax on each pole attachment owned by private communications providers. Community media representatives supported the proposed tax for supporting public, educational and governmental (PEG) channels.
An ESPN/Warner Bros. Discovery/Fox partnership creating a sports streaming platform is a further nail in the coffin of the traditional video programming bundle, video industry experts say. GlobalData analyst Tammy Parker said Tuesday it is "a blockbuster deal that will further decimate the traditional US pay-TV sector."
The approach to spectrum allocation on the Hill and in industry is maturing, which may explain in part the problems Congress is having as it considers renewing the FCC’s auction authority, experts said during a Technology Policy Institute webinar Wednesday. That authority largely lapsed in March (see 2312200061),
Allowing the affordable connectivity program to lapse would have “significant downstream effect” on the economy, said FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez during a Q&A at ITI’s Intersect event Wednesday.
Satellite operators continue having diverse views on using shot clocks to hasten earth station and satellite application reviews, according to docket 22-411 reply comments this week. In September, commissioners on a 4-0 vote adopted a Further NPRM on streamlining satellite and earth station applications (see 2309210055). There was a lack of consensus about shot clocks in initial comments last month (see 2401090051).