Deutsche Telekom is committed to obtaining majority ownership of T-Mobile in the U.S., DT CEO Tim Hoettges told investors Thursday. DT’s stake was diluted to 43% after T-Mobile bought Sprint from SoftBank, but under a shareholder agreement, it can vote SoftBank’s 9% stake. “We are clearly willing to get the majority in the timeframe that we have laid out,” Hoettges said, noting its proxy voting rights expire in 2024. “We definitely want to get to 50% plus one share -- more would always help, though,” Hoettges said. “We have always argued that Softbank is making a mistake by selling, but if they do, DT investors ought to be happy beneficiaries,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors. There is complication, he said: If T-Mobile stock exceeds $150, SoftBank can “clawback” 49 million shares, he said. “This would actually dilute DT to 49%, and this means for DT to go back above 50%, either they could buy [T-Mobile] stock in the market, or DT wouldn’t participate pro-rata in the buyback, which could create extra technical buying for T-Mobile shares.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s proposals for FTC Act Section 13(b) would let violators keep ill-gotten gains, “hurt honest competitors” and leave consumers without recourse, acting FTC Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter wrote in a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee (see 2104270086) released Wednesday. She disagreed with the assertion that legislation (see 2104260065) would “dramatically extend FTC authority in unbounded ways” or lack “safeguards.” She encouraged Congress to act quickly and restore agency authority with an additional 10-year statute of limitation on the FTC’s ability to seek monetary relief. She disagreed with a proposal to limit the authority to ongoing or imminent conduct. The chamber didn’t comment.
A draft order cutting inmate calling services rate caps and a Further NPRM to revise site commission payments are expected to be approved 4-0 by FCC members Thursday (see 2104280084). The draft order sets interim caps for interstate calls at 12 cents per minute for smaller facilities and 14 cents for larger ones. Commissioner aides held some meetings where minor changes were suggested, so expect some tweaks to the final text, officials said. The draft order is likely to “look quite similar to what it does now,” one said. The FCC declined to comment Wednesday. The commission also takes aim at site commissions in the draft order that would allow providers to collect no more than 2 cents per minute, which means an incarcerated person may be charged either 14 or 16 cents per minute for an interstate call. NCIC Inmate Communications CEO Bill Pope said some providers pushed back on that rate, and he suggested capping rates based on the average daily population of incarcerated individuals (see 2105120031). “We definitely need to cap the rate,” Pope said, but agencies “are paying to support these systems, and some of them … just want to be able to cover the cost of offering the phone service.”
FCC commissioners upheld 2018 Wireless Bureau denial of an Air-Tel petition to have its GPS-assisted location service considered radiolocation, or alternately a waiver allowing those services under Air-Tel's radiolocation service license (see 1810050030). Wednesday's order said the application for review was procedurally deficient, making "vague assertions of error," and the Mobility Division properly applied FCC precedent. The commission dismissed an Air-Tel requested license modification to add a radar emission designator. The company's outside counsel didn't comment.
The deadline for comments on possible updates to the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act rules was extended to June 7 and July 6 for replies, said a Tuesday public notice in docket 21-140. Accessibility advocacy fans asked for delay because of the scope of the proceeding, among other reasons.
The FCC should mull transitioning the emergency broadband benefit into permanent Lifeline subsidy increases, and state legislators should remove barriers to utilities providing broadband in unserved and underserved areas, said NARUC broadband task force draft recommendations Monday. It recommended developing a centralized database of carriers that failed to meet obligations from previous state and federal funds. Other draft recommendations covered mapping, adoption and program coordination. The task force scheduled a June 2 virtual meeting at 2 p.m. EDT for feedback. It plans final suggestions at NARUC’s July 18-21 meeting. “Our work is meant to give state utility commissioners tools to hasten broadband availability for everyone,” said task force and South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chairman Chris Nelson. The panel virtually heard in February its subgroups’ near-final reports (see 2102050053).
President Joe Biden revoked former President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at addressing what Trump saw as social media censorship (see 2005280060). Trump’s sought an FCC rulemaking to clarify its interpretation of liability protections under Communications Decency Act Section 230. That proceeding didn't advance during the closing days of Ajit Pai's chairmanship (see 2101050060) and hasn't seen movement. Friday's EO also nixed other Trump presidential directives. The Center for Democracy & Technology praised Biden for killing the social media EO.
An FCC order revising FY 2021 regulatory fees (see 2105120057) takes effect June 16, says Monday's Federal Register.
The 5-0 November order splitting the 5.9 GHz band between Wi-Fi and auto safety (see 2011180043) will be “the first real test” for the current FCC, Commissioner Brendan Carr said during an Internet Innovation Alliance webinar Thursday. Carr noted concerns raised by the auto industry and some congressional Democrats (see 2104270090). “Do we stick with the hard decision, the right decision, only hard in the sense that there was political pressure, … or are we going to cave to political pressure” on 5.9, he asked. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stresses her focus on working with other federal agencies on spectrum, Carr said, saying cooperation isn’t enough: “At the end of the day, those of us in leadership at the FCC are called upon to make hard decisions and stick by them.” The FCC didn't comment. Carr said he’s standing his ground on the 3-2 order making broad changes to how the 4.9 GHz band is regulated, giving control to the states. Rosenworcel recently sought a stay (see 2105030062). Carr hasn’t made decisions on 5G in the 12 GHz band, saying he's watching engineering studies. “If we can get a win-win and do all of it, then obviously that’s what we should do,” he said. Carr said the FCC needs to provide more clarity on broadband maps, after Rosenworcel said in March the first would be available this summer (see 2103220050). “We’ve got to clean that up and provide some clarity as to when we’re going to land the mapping process,” he said. The FCC has about $40 billion “sitting in the pipeline” for broadband deployment, he said. “Let’s get that $40 billion out the door,” he said: “Mapping is going to be a big piece.” Carr is a “little worried” about the current pace on making more spectrum available. The U.S. was in danger of falling behind in the race to lead the world on 5G during the last years of the Barack Obama administration, Carr said. That changed under Donald Trump, he said. “We were first to commercial 5G and have the strongest 5G network in the world,” he said. Carr said he hopes that FCC won’t backtrack on the changes to wireless infrastructure rules made under then-Chairman Ajit Pai. The current 2-2 FCC won’t “reverse those wins,” he said. “We’ve made it easier to build and connect people over the four last years,” he said: “I really don’t know why we would make it more expensive and harder.” Short of being in the majority, being at a split commission is “second best,” he joked. “We’ll see what it’s like when I make my eventual move fully into the minority.” There are still lots of discussions between commissioners on various issues, he said.
Eligible households seeking to apply online for the FCC emergency broadband benefit program may experience “connectivity issues” due to a “high demand,” an alert said on the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co.'s websites Thursday. The FCC became aware of some users experiencing issues online Wednesday, a spokesperson told us. The problem appears to be “leveling off” now and the alert was posted “out of an abundance of caution,” she said.