The FCC should reduce equal employment opportunity filing obligations rather than accede to diversity group calls for stiffer enforcement, said broadcasters, NAB, NCTA and America’s Communication Association in reply comments posted through Tuesday in docket 19-177. Broadcast opponents said stiffer EEO rules would likely be unconstitutional, but diversity groups such as the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights disagreed.
A Maine commissioner compared Consolidated Communications to a railroad monopoly as he rejected the telephone incumbent’s opposition to new pole-attachment rates based on the FCC cable rate formula. The Public Utilities Commission voted 3-0 at its Tuesday meeting, livestreamed from Hallowell, Maine, to amend Chapter 880 rules. Meanwhile, at the Vermont PUC, cable, wireless and other commenters sought to fine-tune proposed make-ready rules.
TikTok is collecting enormous amounts of data (see 1911040034), which the Chinese government can legally access through parent company ByteDance, posing a major national security threat, Senate Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told reporters Tuesday.
LOUISVILLE -- Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen wants to partner with fiber-network builders and U.S. manufacturers as the company moves to replace Sprint as the fourth nationwide wireless network and build its 5G infrastructure, he said in a keynote Tuesday at the Incompas Show. "Our best days are ahead of us," Ergen said. "We're not looking in the rear-view mirror."
The FCC released its order Tuesday approving the T-Mobile/Sprint/Dish Network deal, approved by commissioners 3-2 Oct. 16 (see 1910160058). Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks raised objections, as did other critics, including on the process the FCC followed in developing the order. Rosenworcel said the FCC should also release the initial order circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai.
Industry watchers see the new wave of direct-to-consumer (DTC) video streaming services as further pain for the pay-TV market, with AppleTV Plus having launched Friday, Disney Plus set to launch next week, AT&T’s HBO Now due in May and NBC Universal's Peacock service expected in April, ad-supported and free.
Sprint fell short of consensus estimates on profits and earnings Monday, and for the second quarter in a row management didn’t do a call with analysts. Sprint CEO Michel Combes said in a statement the company's optimistic its deal with T-Mobile will be completed early next year. Sprint said it took a hit because of the FCC's Lifeline probe. Meanwhile, T-Mobile missed a deadline Friday to renew its agreement with Sprint.
Emails between the Office of the DOD Chief Information Officer and the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) office within the Department of Transportation raise new questions about the government’s stance on what some consider an overly conservative emissions standard to protect GPS -- 1 dB. In emails from 2015 we obtained, DOD officials discussed whether that standard is necessary.
Fitbit agreed to be bought by Google in a cash deal valued at $2.1 billion, as expected (see 1910290049). Fitbit will remain platform-agnostic and “strong privacy and security guidelines” won’t change, it said Friday. “The company never sells personal information, and Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads.” Fitbit always had strong privacy and security guidelines “and this will not change,” it said: Users will continue to be in control of their data.
Tech-minded Senate Democrats praised Twitter’s decision to ban all political ads Thursday (see 1910300060) and criticized Facebook for hosting false material. Some key Republicans followed the Trump campaign’s lead in condemning Twitter, claiming evidence of liberal Silicon Valley censorship.