There's a strong possibility Senate leaders will set a vote to invoke cloture on Democratic FCC nominee Anna Gomez for Wednesday, several communications policy lobbyists told us Tuesday. Those lobbyists and others cautioned that a cloture vote could still happen Thursday instead, an outcome that appeared the likeliest outcome last week. A Thursday cloture vote would mean a final confirmation vote on Gomez would not happen until next week, while holding it Wednesday cloture vote would set the Senate up to approve her earlier. The chamber was expected to vote Tuesday night on President Joe Biden’s nomination of Federal Reserve Board member Philip Jefferson to be the body’s vice chairman, one of a few high-profile administration nominees along with Gomez that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture on before the August recess (see 2307280074).
With a blackout of Disney channels on its channel lineup last week, Charter Communications unveiled Friday what it had been pitching to the programmer -- a plan for what it said was a sustainable video model that marries linear video with direct-to-consumer (D2C) apps. Without buy-in to this model, Charter is "moving on" from the traditional video distribution model, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said in a call Friday with analysts and media. "This is not a typical carriage dispute," he said.
Advocates for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) will kick off a renewed push for the bill’s passage later this month with a fly-in of 100 representatives from newsrooms all over the U.S. to talk to lawmakers, said News Media Alliance President Danielle Coffey in an interview. Supporters are aiming for the bill to have an early reintroduction in September or October -- possibly bolstered by Facebook’s recent blockage of news links in Canada -- but the Republican-controlled House is a major hurdle. “We’re not going to see any antitrust legislation come out of the House Judiciary Committee in the foreseeable future,” said Josh Rogin, Computer & Communications Industry Association's vice president-federal affairs.
California Public Utilities Commission members rejected the state cable association’s bid to reconsider what counts as free broadband service as it doles out public housing grants. Through a unanimous vote on the consent agenda at a webcast Thursday meeting, California commissioners denied a California Broadband and Video Association (CalBroadband) petition. Commissioners later voted 5-0 to approve a $1.77 million grant to South Valley Internet under the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) line extension program.
Industry groups and telecom investors raised concerns about FCC overreach in comments on an NPRM asking about changes to rules for Section 214 international authorizations, approved by commissioners 4-0 in April (see 2304200039). The FCC sought comment on rules requiring carriers to renew these authorizations every 10 years and on other potential changes to the authorization process. But Team Telecom urged the FCC to strengthen its rules.
Wireless carriers don't have much apparent interest in the 42 GHz band, to judge from comments posted Thursday in response to a June NPRM. New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge were enthusiastic about the possibilities. Comments were due Wednesday in docket 23-158.
The FCC released a draft Further NPRM on the long-awaited 5G Fund Thursday, with commissioners scheduled to vote Sept. 21 (see 2308300062). Also on the agenda is a Space Bureau “transparency initiative,” with the bureau giving more guidance at initial application stages. Per the draft order and accompanying Further NPRM, the streamlining proposal is to be the first in a series of intended improvements to the Space Bureau. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also is seeking a vote on an additional action targeting VoIP robocalls.
NTIA expects that 90% of broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) equipment spending will go for American-made equipment and materials, said NTIA Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) Policy Advisor Will Arbuckle Wednesday in an FTI Consulting webinar. That expectation stems from an NTIA analysis of the availability of American-made items and from numerous companies announcing capacity expansion, he said. "We don't think we are done," with more companies announcing manufacturing expansions to fill BEAD made-in-America demand, he said.
Hurricane Idalia’s eye left Florida around mid-day Wednesday, but the state is still having effects from the storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said at a 12:30 p.m. news conference livestreamed from Tallahassee. The FCC’s disaster information reporting system shows initial communications outages in Florida -- including for 58,941 cable and wireline subscribers -- from the storm, and the agency expanded the system’s coverage to include 16 counties in South Carolina, according to a number of public notices released Tuesday and Wednesday.
Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements imposed on participants in the broadband, equity, access and deployment program will inevitably slow deployment, said Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten Wednesday. Other speakers said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar NTIA’s proposed partial waiver of the requirements is helpful, and their companies are ready to comply with the rules (see 2308220081).