The largest cable and wireline U.S. phone providers gained 890,000 net additional broadband internet subscribers in Q2, the most of any June quarter in a decade, reported Leichtman Research Group Wednesday. Top broadband providers now have 107.4 million subscribers: 74.7 million for cable companies and 32.7 million for wireline phone companies, said LRG. CenturyLink/Lumen (62,000), Frontier (22,000) and Consolidated (4,522) had subscriber losses in the quarter vs. gains by Comcast (354,000), Charter (400,000), Cox (50,000), AT&T (46,000) and Verizon (70,000). Top broadband providers added 8 million subscribers over the past two years, including about 4.3 million net adds over the past year, said Principal Analyst Bruce Leichtman.
An order saying T-Mobile may have misled the California Public Utilities Commission is “meritless and without basis in fact,” the carrier’s spokesperson said Monday. Dish Network thinks the CPUC is right to hold T-Mobile to “commitments it made under oath while its merger was under review, including that the CDMA network will be operational until July 1, 2023,” a spokesperson said. In the Friday order in docket A.18-07-011, assigned Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen and Administrative Law Judge Karl Bemesderfer required T-Mobile to appear at a Sept. 20 9:30 a.m. PDT virtual hearing to “to show cause why it should not be sanctioned” for violating a CPUC rule on “false, misleading, or omitted statements.” T-Mobile told the agency under oath that its CDMA network would be available to Boost customers until they were migrated to Dish Network's LTE or 5G network, that maintaining CDMA service during the Boost migration wouldn't affect T-Mobile's 5G buildout, that all former Sprint customers would have a seamless upgrade during migration and that Dish would have up to three years to complete the Boost migration, the order said. T-Mobile omitted or gave misleading information about PCS spectrum being used to provide service to Boost customers on the CDMA network and the same spectrum would be required for the 5G network buildout, it said. After more investigation, the CPUC might later add charges on “the early retirement of the Sprint LTE network,” the order said. T-Mobile looks “forward to presenting evidence and setting the record straight through the upcoming process,” its spokesperson said. “For months, T-Mobile has been working aggressively to ensure no customer is left behind as we transition” to 5G. DOJ earlier raised “grave concerns” about what T-Mobile soon shuttering its CDMA network may mean for Boost customers (see 2108090008). “DOJ will have the final say but it seems increasingly likely that T-Mobile will have to delay the shutdown of CDMA,” Lightshed Partners analyst Walt Piecyk emailed Monday. Dish CEO Charlie Ergen noted the CPUC show-cause order Monday at the Technology Policy Institute Forum in Aspen, Colorado (see 2108160057).
Most mobile phones won't display the wireless emergency alert test message during Wednesday’s nationwide tests of WEA and the emergency alert system, said a joint FCC and Federal Emergency Management Agency news release Monday. The tests will be at 2:20 p.m. EDT (see 2107260043). The message will be received only by “specially configured phones” that have been opted in to receive test messages, FEMA said. “In contrast, consumers will automatically receive real emergency alerts on compatible phones (even if they do not receive the test message),” said the release. Instructions on how to opt in are on the FCC’s website. The WEA message will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The broadcast EAS audio message will include the phrase “No action is required” and will be accompanied by a visual message on televisions. FEMA and the FCC are partnering with the National Weather Service and several state and local emergency management agencies on the test, the release said.
The FCC posted mobile coverage maps Friday, based on information from providers. The maps show different coverage levels among the three major carriers and UScellular, with Verizon’s data coverage appearing to surpass AT&T and T-Mobile's. An FCC spokesperson said the maps are preliminary. “This preview of a mobile broadband and voice coverage map is the first produced under the criteria established by the Broadband DATA Act and reflects data voluntarily provided to the FCC,” a spokesperson emailed. “As the FCC builds its systems and continues to develop these maps, it will integrate into the process consumer and other stakeholder feedback intended to challenge and eventually verify the coverage.” Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel acknowledged “much work remains.” The maps, by the Broadband Data Task Force, are available here. “Using improved systems and data, we can provide better information about where broadband service is and is not,” Rosenworcel said. Spokespersons for consumer groups said they were studying the materials. “Coverage maps are an endless battle that never seems to get solved,” said Summit Ridge Group’s Armand Musey. The coverage likely reflects areas with line of sight to a tower and are only preliminary, he said. Rural Wireless Association counsel Carri Bennet told us it’s not clear why the maps used data from only four providers. The FCC didn’t “share how the data was developed or what underlying formulas were used,” she said: The agency says it’s based on theoretical propagation modeling and not “real world coverage.” It's “a helpful first step towards generating more reliable coverage maps,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry: “We look forward to reviewing the maps to assess whether they improve the reliability of the coverage predictions.” Detailed, granular maps "are critical to accurately identifying where there are gaps in broadband service and efficiently targeting public and private investment dollars,” emailed Joan Marsh, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations. “The LTE voice and data maps that Verizon provided and that the FCC published today are a first step toward better understanding the state of wireless broadband coverage in the country,” a Verizon spokesperson emailed. "As the wireless industry invested $30 billion in 2020 alone to deploy the infrastructure that powered our networks through the pandemic, CTIA and our member companies are continuing to work with our federal partners to help close the digital divide," the group said in a statement.
The FTC’s collective policy shifts on Hart-Scott-Rodino filings “threaten to chill harmful and beneficial deals alike,” Commissioner Christine Wilson tweeted Thursday: “I am gravely concerned that the carefully crafted HSR framework is suffering death by a thousand cuts.” She cited Monday’s announcement about warning letters (see 2108030064), temporary suspension of early termination grants (see 2103120069) and repeal of a 1995 policy statement on prior notice and approval (see 2107210061).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau plans this year to “open an initiative on potential measures for action” on making emergency alert system messages more accessible, reminded a Thursday public notice on the Aug. 11 nationwide EAS and wireless emergency alert tests (see 2107260043). The bureau is working with Federal Emergency Management Agency on this and on “potential technical solutions that can address the differences between the audio and visual messages” to increase accessibility for future nationwide tests, the PN said. Audio EAS messages contain more information than the visual, textual broadcast EAS message. The bureau “recognizes the importance of ensuring accessibility of these critical messages and acknowledges the disparity between,” the PN said. For the upcoming nationwide tests, EAS participants must file day-of-test data in the EAS test reporting system by Aug. 12, post-test data by Sept. 27.
Microsoft’s petition for reconsideration of FCC ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission system rules doesn’t make a legitimate case, commented NAB and America’s Public Television Stations by Tuesday's deadline in docket 20-74. Microsoft and TV white space advocates “have simply failed to deploy the technology at scale to provide any meaningful level of service,” the groups said. Allowing the DTS order to move forward would undercut FCC efforts to pave the way for white space devices, said the Wireless ISP Association, the only other commenter by Wednesday afternoon. The DTS order runs counter to statements from acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that support the waiver process for DTS pushed by Microsoft, WISPA said. “The Order authorizes significant 'spillover'" of DTS "signals into adjacent white space areas, increasing the potential for harmful interference and limiting the areas where white space devices can be deployed.” Microsoft’s argument the new rules would let stations use DTS to provide service equivalent to the largest station in a market is “incorrect,” NAB and APTS said. Reconsideration would prioritize the unlicensed white space tech over 3.0 efforts of licensed broadcast spectrum holders, said NAB and APTS. Microsoft grossly inflated the use and efficacy of white space devices, they said. “There are slightly over 300 actual white spaces devices operating in the entire United States,” said the broadcast groups. “Many states do not have even a single white space device operating.” Microsoft didn’t comment.
The FCC early and unanimously approved an NPRM on political advertising record-keeping and a reconsideration order on the personal radio service rules, deleting them from Thursday’s meeting agenda, said a deletion notice Wednesday. The political advertising NPRM seeks comment on allowing social media and campaign websites to be considered among criteria for whether a write-in candidate is eligible for lowest unit pricing and other candidate benefits. It also seeks comment on changing the language of the FCC’s rules to formalize provisions on keeping records on issue ads in station public files, which the Media Bureau already requires. The political ad proposals were considered administrative and uncontroversial, and aren’t expected to lead to practical changes in how stations handle political ads (see 2107290053). The approved NPRM didn't appear to have been changed from the draft version. Commissioners also OK’d 4-0 a docket 10-119 personal radio services order addressing three petitions for reconsideration of a May 2017 order revising the rules. The order wasn’t controversial, FCC officials said, and was approved as circulated, based on a side-by-side comparison. None of the commissioners released statements. The order acts on long-standing petitions by Cobra Electronics, Motorola Solutions and Medtronic (see 2107150066).
The scarcest commodity during the global chip shortage is “access to good information,” Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told analysts and reporters in Tokyo Wednesday: “We have been able to control the situation, but going forward, we cannot remain complacent” on supply. In consumer electronics, “we do use a lot of semiconductors in various areas, so some availability of parts and components is a source of concern,” he said. Sony reported selling 2.3 million PlayStation 5 consoles in fiscal Q1 ended June 30, 30% fewer than in Q4 and down 49% from peak shipments of 4.5 million in Q3 when the PS5 was introduced. “We are beginning to see a decline in the stay-at-home demand that has continued since last fiscal year in the market for low-priced, small- and medium-sized products,” the CFO said.
The Q4 USF contribution factor will “plummet” to 28.5% from 31.8% during Q3, analyst Billy Jack Gregg emailed Tuesday. Universal Service Administrative Co. projected USF-applicable telecom revenue will drop $188.9 million to $2.12 billion in Q4, with quarterly demand decreasing due to “major reductions” in demand for high-cost and low-income funds. Despite the decrease, projected demand for 2021 is the “largest annual demand on the USF since 2012” at $9.3 billion, he noted. Projected USF revenue for 2021 will be $9.66 billion, Gregg said.