The FCC isn't seen likely to play a role in regulatory review of CBS buying former sibling Viacom (see 1908130050). That would fit with some recent precedent, like when AT&T bought Time Warner.
About 10 comments from associations and companies that would be affected by France's digital services tax backed U.S. concern, many saying there's a discriminatory DST intent against American companies. Some told the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in advance testimony that U.S. tariffs on French imports aren't the way to fix the problem. Sixteen filings in USTR-2019-0009 were posted through this week. A USTR hearing is set for Monday (see 1907150037).
BALTIMORE -- FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told APCO it's time to ensure 911 call-center operators are classified as first responders. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also backed (see 1904090078) the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (Saves) Act, which would change the federal government's classification of public safety call-takers and dispatchers to “protective service occupations" rather than administrative or clerical occupations (see 1902280072).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday he circulated an order approving T-Mobile buying Sprint. Opponents promise another legal challenge on top of the one by states to be heard in December in a federal courtroom in Manhattan. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks are expected to dissent, so a 3-2 vote is likely. DOJ, which cleared the deal subject to conditions including a divestiture to Dish Network, cheered.
A tech-communications industry coalition plans to publish a white paper this quarter proposing baseline IoT security standards, said CTA Vice President-Technology and Standards Michael Bergman Tuesday. The document for the so-called C2 Consensus on IoT Device Security will parallel similar IoT baseline setting efforts (see 1908010054) from NIST, he said during a workshop at agency headquarters.
Five of the top eight consumer tech product categories in terms of 2018 customs value temporarily escaped 10 percent List 4 Section 301 tariff exposure at least until Dec. 15 (see 1908130015), well after imports will have arrived for the peak holiday selling season, per Office of the U.S. Trade Representative documents released Tuesday. Bluetooth headphones, smartwatches, smart speakers and finished TVs from China face immediate 10 percent tariff exposure Sept. 1.
BALTIMORE -- Chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC expects major carriers to meet a Nov. 30 deadline for more targeted wireless emergency alerts. “I am re-emphasizing my call to all stakeholders to continue working cooperatively and expeditiously to meet the Nov. 30 deadline,” Pai told APCO Tuesday. He stopped short of discussing what the agency will do if carriers are unable to meet the deadline. His remarks were later posted.
BALTIMORE -- The T band remains a big concern for some APCO members, based on questions at an FCC session Tuesday at the group's annual meeting. Commission officials didn’t focus on the band during a presentation, but almost all the questions afterwards were on the topic. “I didn’t know it would be the first question, but I did know it would be one of the questions,” joked Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth, who led the session.
Viacom, CBS and those worried about their long-expected combination (see 1908130039) foresee more retransmission and affiliate fee pressures. The combined company will have 22 percent of U.S. TV viewership, and will look to greatly beef up its affiliate fees as part of its growth strategy, CBS acting CEO Joe Ianniello said in a call with analysts Tuesday as the two programmers announced the recombination; the companies split in 2006.
Residential broadband small-network equipment is inching ever closer to universally meeting energy efficiency standards in the 2015 voluntary agreement set up by NCTA and CTA (see 1506260038). The two pointed Monday to the latest annual report showing 99.6 percent of small network equipment bought or sold by signatories in 2018 met those standards, up from 99.2 percent in 2017. Consumer electronics can pose a thornier problem, environmental interests say.