Pearl TV and its partners in the ATSC 3.0 Phoenix model-market project will use this week’s NAB Show New York to showcase publicly for the first time the common “application framework” they developed and hope to promote as an open industry standard for 3.0's nationwide deployment, Pearl Managing Director Anne Schelle told us Monday. The framework “gives the CEs comfort that when they sell a television set in Chicago, the consumer experience on their set will be the same in Charlotte,” said Schelle of consumer electronics makers.
ATSC’s goal at NAB Show New York is “keeping the momentum going” for ATSC 3.0, “but also education,” which is why the “theme” of ATSC’s booth will be “Get Ready!” President Madeleine Noland told us Friday. As the 3.0 deployment gets closer, industry professionals responsible for the implementation are bound to have “a lot of questions,” she said.
As public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) in California become longer and extend across wider territories, regulatory authorities and consumer advocates want telecom companies to harden their networks and better educate their customers about how to stay connected. Utility company Pacific Gas and Electric alerted the public Oct. 8 it would begin its PSPS rollout in the early hours of the following day due to heavy winds and the possibility of wildfires, and warned some outages could extend for five days or more. Southern California Edison followed suit.
Broadcasters, broadcast attorneys and music industry insiders are surprised at FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s recent interest in payola. No one we interviewed this week disputed the illegality of record companies paying to have songs played on the radio, but many told us it hasn’t seemed like a pressing issue for several years. Several wouldn't speak on the record because it's not an issue they need to keep up with now.
The FTC’s lawsuit against Qualcomm has observers debating whether the agency is properly applying antitrust authority in a case with major implications for the tech industry (see 1908230057). The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering oral argument in early 2020.
Ericsson officials are optimistic about the eventual success of their lobbying Congress on the vendor's proposal for legislation that would require the FCC clear and auction the upper part of the 6 GHz band for exclusive-use licenses, while allocating the lower portion for unlicensed. Other participants in the debate believe such a bill has little chance of passing (see 1910090051). Such legislation would diverge from the direction of the FCC's current 6 GHz NPRM, which looks at opening 1,200 MHz of spectrum in the band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (see 1810230038). Ericsson’s proposed legislation appears to mirror proposals to the FCC by other wireless industry stakeholders (see 1902190005), though the company is pursuing legislation alone.
As the FCC presses on with the Lifeline national verifier rollout, some state officials continue to voice concerns about incomplete access to state databases and other issues. Other state commissioners told us they haven’t heard any complaints, though one said his agency might not get any even amid problems. The NV is midway through a state-by-state launch and is designed to make signup and reverification more automatic. Those on the front lines see growing pains and worry the poor could be incorrectly excluded from the approximately $1 billion annual federal program (see 1907080009).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to propose a private auction of the C band, along the lines of what was proposed by the C-Band Alliance, for a vote at the Dec. 12 commissioners’ meeting, said industry officials. The order would provide some 300 MHz for 5G through private auction in 2020's first half. The FCC would likely allow no combinatorial bidding and sell all the spectrum in one auction, or possibly two, as long as there's certainty on timing of the second, the officials said. The proposal also calls for partial economic area licenses, as sought by CBA.
AT&T won’t face a statewide service-quality investigation, as Ohio Public Utilities Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Communications Workers of America’s motion to dismiss a complaint. CWA withdrew its call for a statewide probe one month after reaching tentative agreement with AT&T in contract bargaining. Ohio’s consumer advocate still wants a probe.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said emphatically at a 5G Americas event Wednesday the U.S. will win the race to 5G and is easily beating China. Carr said the U.S. focus on high band spectrum and its free market system give the U.S. major advantages over China, where government, not the market, dictates how networks are built. “I bet on us,” he said.