An FCC business data service deregulatory draft isn't looking very contentious as commissioners head toward a planned vote at their Oct. 23 meeting. Stakeholders aren't expecting major changes to the order and two Further NPRMs, though tweaks are possible. Rural telco representatives are largely supportive and no opposition has surfaced so far in the draft's docket.
No one should feel entitled to citizens broadband radio service licenses, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly told a Schools, Health & Libraries Association conference Thursday. O’Rielly told us he sees little room for additional compromise on the order headed into the Oct. 23 commissioners' meeting, though he is open to new ideas. “I’ve been working on this for a year, I’ve talked to all the parties multiple, multiple times,” O’Rielly said in an interview: “We’ve found" a place "I’m very comfortable with.” If anyone has new ideas, O’Rielly said, he will take a look.
The potential of thousands of non-geostationary orbit satellites going up in coming years is outpacing U.S. space policy and law, especially when it comes to space situational awareness, said experts at a Center for Strategic & International Studies panel Wednesday. A major SSA challenge is the way proposed NGSO mega constellations are shifting the space domain from being government-dominated to being led by commercial actors, said Victoria Samson, Secure World Foundation Washington office director. Another is figuring out data sharing and transparency issues, and while DOD wants to be more transparent with its SSA data relied on globally, it "has some work to do" on better coordinating with the space community, she said.
AT&T and cable providers raised doubts about Oregon Public Utility Commission authority to make interconnected VoIP providers pay into the state USF. The PUC at a teleconferenced workshop Wednesday took feedback on a preliminary proposal in docket AR-615 to require VoIP contribution. The agency is exploring the idea despite a recent 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling -- contested by states -- that VoIP is an information service (see 1809280057). A few other states are also weighing changes.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us Tuesday he would call for a full FTC investigation of Google’s recently disclosed Google+ privacy vulnerability (see 1810090056). He repeated that demand Wednesday during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in which lawmakers discussed policy and FTC authority with privacy experts.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has big concerns about the 3.5 GHz order set for a vote by commissioners Oct. 23, aide Umair Javed said at an FCBA event Wednesday. Erin McGrath, aide to Mike O’Rielly, defended the order's approach.
The Trump administration is exploring ways to restart its infrastructure legislative push after the next Congress begins in January, and the proposal's contours will depend substantially on November's election outcome, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. A shift to a Democratic majority in either chamber would increase pressure on administration officials to include at least some elements of that caucus' infrastructure proposals, most notably dedicated broadband funding, industry officials said. The White House faces potential hurdles, including Democratic resistance to giving Donald Trump a bipartisan legislative win ahead of the 2020 presidential election and GOP appropriations woes.
Blockchain technology is coming to the domain name area. Top-level domain .luxe, to be launched at the Oct. 20-25 ICANN meeting in Barcelona, will offer names in the domain name system as well as in the Ethereum blockchain, Minds + Machines Group (MMX) registry CEO Toby Hall said in an interview. Another blockchain is being developed to replace the root zone file (the delegation details of TLDs), which is now controlled by private parties with a decentralized file controlled by internet users, the Handshake organization said. The move toward the technology seems to be welcome, but some wondered if the DNS needs fixing.
A point of contention between industry and consumer groups will be how lawmakers define FTC rulemaking authority when crafting privacy legislation, experts and witnesses told us. The Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing Wednesday (see 1810040040) on legislation (see 1809260050), this time with privacy witnesses, after questioning an all-industry panel in the first round.
A compromise on reducing interference protection for Class A AM stations is likely to lead to a contentious proceeding, said radio engineers and attorneys in interviews Tuesday. The FCC issued a unanimously approved NPRM Friday. It's seen as offering a “middle” solution that stops short of total removal of interference protections (see 1808210045) previously proposed by the agency but that still would reduce protections for existing Class A “clear channel” stations, said duTreil, Lundin Vice President Ronald Rackley.