Raising the 39 percent national ownership cap to 60 or 70 percent but adding a sunset clause that would require further consideration after a few years could be a way for the FCC to relax the cap in a fashion more politically palatable than getting rid of it, said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook on a panel at NAB Show New York Wednesday. Sook told us he believes FCC Chairman Ajit Pai intends to act, but it's also possible the Pai FCC won't get around to it.
An FCC NPRM on allocating the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use is expected to get unanimous approval by commissioners Tuesday, industry and agency officials said. The NPRM is being tweaked, with a look at revising proposals on indoor use, automatic frequency coordination (AFC) and harmonizing the band, officials said. There was a flurry of filings heading into release of the sunshine agenda Wednesday in docket 18-295.
Antitrust action against Microsoft in the late 1990s enabled an explosion of innovation, allowing platforms like Google, Facebook and Amazon to solidify dominant positions, academics said Tuesday at FTC hearings (see 1810150052). Microsoft let companies use the internet as a development platform and expand using HTML protocol, said Columbia University Law School professor Tim Wu.
An NCTA-led coalition said the FCC should take a fresh look at the 5.9 GHz band sought for Wi-Fi. The FCC has been looking at sharing the band between Wi-Fi and dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) since 2013 (see 1301160063). With the agency considering shared use of the 6 GHz band in an NPRM set for a vote next week, coalition members said a new look at 5.9 GHz makes sense.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) Tuesday criticized carrier efforts to restore service in Florida after Hurricane Michael. Scott, who's trying to unseat Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson (D) in a tight Senate race, cited Verizon for its outage in Panama Beach. He urged telecom companies do more to help customers. Pai agreed carrier response could be better and asked the Public Safety Bureau to investigate.
The FCC is expected to vote 3-1 on Oct. 23 to adopt revised rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band largely as circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1810020050). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel is expected to dissent. A question remains whether she will be able to get a few changes that would allow her to vote for part of it. Rosenworcel voted for part of the wireless infrastructure order last month after getting a few concessions. Observers think a similar dynamic could develop here (see 1809260029). Interested parties got an extra day to lobby since the sunshine notice was delayed a day after the agency was closed Monday (see 1810150023).
The FTC needs a better understanding of “mass data surveillance” to decide whether current rules distort the competitive process, Commissioner Rohit Chopra said Monday during the agency’s third policy hearing (see 1810020061). Differing views were heard on the state of competitive tech markets.
With a commissioner vote next week on revised rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, CBRS advocates said Monday the band is poised to be a big deal regardless of the outcome (see 1810110068). The FCC fight has been over the priority access licenses to be sold in each market, but 80 MHz remains for general access, unlicensed use, a Monday webinar heard.
Consolidation is a satellite industry must, particularly in the earth station segment, said experts Monday at the VSAT Congress. Many urged pursuing convergence between satellite connectivity and terrestrial networks so there's a bigger audience for the huge amounts of bandwidth going into orbit in coming years. "We don't have five years" for that convergence, iDirect CEO Kevin Steen said, noting satellite data capacity is expected to grow fourteenfold by 2027. "We have to start now."
Supporters of the Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act took center stage at a Friday Senate Commerce Committee 5G deployment field hearing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to extol the bill's virtues. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and other national and state stakeholders endorsed the bill in written testimony, as expected (see 1810090049). S-3157, filed in June by Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1806290063). The friendly panel was in contrast to opposition S-3157 faces from other state and local governments (see 1810040055).