FCC Democrats have been given about a week to vote on an order to approve the Nexstar/Tribune deal, an FCC official told us. The chairman’s office had sought to approve the deal sooner on delegated authority but is holding off at the Democrats' request. The item is expected to be approved 3-2 on circulation by next week or shortly afterward, FCC and industry officials said. The order doesn’t contain explicit conditions but may involve concessions from Nexstar related to the top-four duopoly rule, an FCC official said.
Eutelsat's no longer being allied with the C-Band Alliance (CBA) (see 1909030041) hurts its band-clearing plan before the FCC, though it remains to be seen how much, experts told us. The key is why Eutelsat left and what it does now. Chairman Ajit Pai’s office and Eutelsat didn’t comment.
The FCC will start the long-awaited 3.5 GHz auction June 25, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday in a blog on the agenda for the Sept. 25 commissioners’ meeting. The FCC will also take up USF funding for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 1909040028), a proposal to update intercarrier compensation rules and a media modernization Further NPRM, among other items.
Broadband providers disagree whether and how the FCC should draft new regulations on how occupants of apartment buildings, malls and other multi-tenant environments access competing broadband services. Proponents of broadband competition want the FCC to allow states and municipalities more flexibility in oversight of agreements between landlords and communications providers. Comments on an NPRM posted through Tuesday in docket 17-142 (see 1908300058).
A group of state attorneys general plans to announce a bipartisan, multistate antitrust investigation of Google and potentially other tech companies (see 1908200066) Monday, state officials told us Tuesday. Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) expects to lead the event, possibly at 2 p.m. outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., according to one state official. The group leading the broader investigation of the industry is nearing 40 state AGs, the official said.
NEW YORK -- One 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge seemed to struggle Tuesday with the idea AT&T, as a contractor working on behalf of the U.S. government as it runs the FirstNet national public safety broadband network (NPSBN), has no obligation to follow mandates on federal agencies such as privacy impact assessments (PIA). In oral argument as VTDigger appeals a lower court's dismissal of its Commerce Department litigation (see 1807300058) on FirstNet responsiveness to Freedom of Information Act requests and its lack of PIA, the appellate court also questioned the reasoning federal agencies gave for not looking for information requested in the FOIAs.
The FCC is expected to seek further comment on proposals to relax rules requiring broadcasters advertise job applications in local newspapers as part of the agency’s Sept. 26 agenda, industry and agency officials told us Tuesday. The FCC sought comment in 2017 on rule changes that would allow broadcasters to replace the newspaper ads with on-air or online notices (see 1710240062). The media modernization proposal never progressed to an order. The agency will seek more-granular, specific comments this time, an industry official said.
One of four members left a group of satellite operators seeking to have its sector sell about 200 MHz that would be repurposed for 5G. Eutelsat dropped out of the C-Band alliance, it said in a brief FCC filing and release Tuesday. It cited disagreements with other CBA members, without being more specific. The company wishes to “take a direct active part on discussions on C-band clearing and repurposing,” it said. The departure stirred more speculation about what might happen to the swath of airwaves.
Broaden the definition of healthcare providers, allow funding for remote monitoring and medical body area network devices (MBAN), and make the program available in a wide geographic area. Those are among recommendations for the FCC pilot USF pilot to support connected care for the poor and veterans. Comments posted through Friday docket 18-213 for the three-year, $100 million program (see 1907100073).
The music industry strategy of targeting cable ISPs with contributory copyright infringement litigation won't stop with last week's federal lawsuit against RCN (see 1908280044), legal experts said. It's less clear what the entertainment companies' end goal is. Some see it about getting ISPs to crack down harder on infringing conduct by subscribers. Others wonder if the aim is motivating lawmakers to move for a legislative solution. The RIAA didn't comment.