Intelsat is getting shareholder pressure to hold out for sweeter terms with the FCC's C-band clearing plan, but it's considered unlikely to go that route. The FCC and Intelsat didn't comment. Competitive issues also continue to be raised in filings at the agency.
Eyes are on California's attorney general after his New York counterpart said she won't appeal last week's court decision denying states' challenge against T-Mobile/Sprint. T-Mobile's stock price was up after it was upgraded by UBS, while other analysts looked for bigger implications from last week's decision (see 2002110026).
The wireless industry is making another push for small-cells laws, after 28 states and Puerto Rico enacted them over the past four years. Remaining states should “take notice that they might be left behind if they don’t get with the program,” though the wireless industry's goal isn't all 50, said Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO Jonathan Adelstein in an interview. Representing skeptical municipalities, NATOA General Counsel Nancy Werner told us she thinks industry will have a harder time persuading remaining states because such laws aren’t proven to drive deployment.
The FCC’s latest broadcast ownership data shows falling minority and female ownership in 2017 and is already 3 years old, said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and groups opposed to media consolidation, about Friday’s report. “To effectively address the lack of media ownership diversity, we cannot use stale data and must get better at assessing the extent of the problem in a timely manner,” Starks said. “While supposedly the FCC improved data collection in 2016, the data released today is from 2017,” said Cheryl Leanza, the United Church of Christ Communications Office attorney who successfully represented Prometheus Radio Project and other petitioners before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the most recent FCC media ownership case. The data “is out of date upon release,” Leanza said.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Observers are split on whether the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will side with the FTC or Qualcomm in a key tech antitrust decision expected in the coming months (see 2002130058). Qualcomm, Intel, Ericsson and Samsung didn’t comment Friday, after the previous day's oral argument. We interviewed experts following oral argument.
The FCC is likely to face a variety of suggested changes to its C-band clearing and auction order on the February agenda (see 2002050057), including arguments for limits on spectrum aggregation and trying to ensure earth station repacking isn't done in a slapdash fashion, we are told. Chairman Ajit Pai has support of the two Republican commissioners. Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel, a critic of the band plan, is seen as a likely no vote, but fellow Democrat Commissioner Geoffrey Starks may be undecided.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned during oral argument Thursday whether antitrust law, not patent law, is best to address Qualcomm’s potential violations related to chip licensing (see 2002120059). One judge appeared to dismiss DOJ’s argument that FTC antitrust enforcement against Qualcomm would threaten national security.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters Thursday he reached a deal to allow the chamber to pass the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998) by unanimous consent (UC) after the upcoming Presidents Day recess. The House-passed bill would allocate at least $1 billion to help U.S. communications providers remove from their networks Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security. Meanwhile, Huawei faces 16 DOJ charges it violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and stole trade secrets from six U.S. companies (see 2002130030).
The FCC Wireless Bureau is meeting with industry on what to ask in an NPRM for its rural 5G fund, according to interviews this week and recent filings. The agency announced the $9 billion USF program in December to replace its Mobility Fund Phase II (see 1912040027).
Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters Thursday he plans to again meet with or talk to President Donald Trump to express his renewed ire about the FCC’s direction in planning an auction of the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band. Kennedy railed against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s current C-band auction plan during a Senate floor speech, criticizing the proposal to allocate about $15 billion of sale proceeds for relocation and incentive payments to incumbents on the frequency (see 2002060057). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said she's supporting Kennedy’s C-band centric Spectrum Management And Reallocation for Taxpayers (Smart) Act (S-3246).