It's possible some states will miss Wednesday's filing deadline for NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said Thursday in an interview. However, he said he remains optimistic about the BEAD program’s future. “It will have some failures, a lot of success, and overall, it will move the country ahead.”
Altice urged the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to quickly OK a settlement resolving the board’s service quality probe. The settlement has Altice pledging to spend $11 million on its network and making other broadband adoption, network resiliency and customer service commitments. “It’s an important settlement” for local governments, said Best Best attorney Gerard Lederer, who represented Piscataway, New Jersey, in the proceeding.
The FCC’s draft 2018 quadrennial review order had just two votes as of Wednesday evening, which could mean it won’t win approval in time to meet the Dec. 27 deadline that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit set (see 2309290056), according to FCC and industry officials. The item hasn’t undergone many changes since it was circulated. It would extend prohibitions on new top-four combinations to multicast and low-power TV stations and maintain rules limiting local radio ownership.
Lead Republican lawmakers’ recent charge that the FCC was “deeply misleading” about the affordable connectivity program’s efficacy (see 2312150068) has solidified perceptions on and off Capitol Hill that it will be extremely difficult to reach a deal allocating additional money before the initiative's funding runs out next year, lobbyists and observers told us. Estimates peg ACP as likely to exhaust its initial $14.2 billion tranche from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the first half of 2024 (see 2309210060). The White House is pushing for Congress to appropriate an additional $6 billion to fully fund the program through the end of 2024 (see 2310250075).
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities unanimously agreed Wednesday to submit to NTIA both volumes of the state’s initial proposal for the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. Meanwhile, with the filing deadline one week away, Wisconsin submitted its plan Wednesday and California signaled it will follow soon. Also, at the livestreamed New Jersey BPU meeting, commissioners voted 4-0 to kick off the statewide franchise renewal process for Altice’s Cablevision.
USTelecom and CTIA told the FCC its members already use AI to combat unwanted robocalls. Both groups counseled that regulators adopt a flexible approach but said scammers also use AI. Comments in response to a November notice of inquiry (see 2311160028) were due Monday and posted Tuesday and Wednesday in docket 23-362.
Republican lawmakers are eyeing further action in opposition to FCC data breach notification rules (see 2312130019), but what form this will take is unclear, Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told us. GOP leaders say the rules sidestep a 2017 Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that rescinded similar regulations as part of the commission's 2016 ISP privacy order (see 1704030054). Republican FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington raised the CRA in their dissents as the commission approved the rules last week 3-2.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., may object to the FTC nominee Andrew Ferguson's candidacy, potentially blocking him from expedited confirmation.
Industry groups continued to disagree on whether the FCC should include an assessment of broadband speed benchmarks and higher speed goals in its annual report to Congress about the state of broadband deployment and competition. At issue is Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's proposal in the agency's notice of inquiry to increase the definition of broadband to 100/20 Mbps with a long-term goal of reaching 1 GB/500 Mbps. Reply comments were posted Tuesday in docket 22-270 (see 2312040024).
The World Radiocommunication Conference was a success for the U.S., Charles Cooper, NTIA Office of Spectrum Management associate administrator, assured the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee at its meeting Tuesday. CSMAC approved unanimously three reports, on the citizens broadband radio service band, 6G (see 2312180052) and electromagnetic compatibility improvements. While this meeting was the last under CSMAC’s current term, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said the group will be rechartered.