DOJ and FTC tensions led to scrutiny Wednesday of how the antitrust agencies and their state counterparts can better coordinate and cooperate on investigations, including on privacy issues. At Tuesday's Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, FTC Chairman Joe Simons and DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim confirmed tensions in their privacy investigations of major platforms (see 1909170066). The friction isn't new, dating back to Justice concerns about the trade commission's formation, experts note.
It’s unlikely Congress will pass legislation altering Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters Wednesday. “If I could wave a magic wand, I might make nuanced changes, but I think realistically you’re not going to see a statute passed changing that section anytime soon. Considering what it takes to get a bill passed and signed into law.”
California’s review of T-Mobile/Sprint could extend into next year, but there’s no schedule yet, stakeholders said this week. A California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge reopened the record in dockets A.18-07-011 and A.18-07-012 Aug. 27 in light of the carriers’ settlement with DOJ and other changes to the original deal.
Wireless carriers resisted creating a group of industry and municipal stakeholders on the aesthetics of small-cell deployments, at Wednesday’s meeting of the FCC Technical Advisory Committee. The appearance of small cells isn’t a technical issue, said AT&T Assistant Vice President-Standards and Industry Alliances Brian Daly. “If it’s not a technical issue, is it really under the purview of the TAC?” Daly said the matter should be left to local authorities. The advisory council also discussed small cells and 5G deployment, terminology and antenna technology.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Even if the C-Band Alliance releases a plan to provide as much as 300 MHz of spectrum for 5G, there’s no guarantee the FCC won’t opt for an alternative, America's Communications Association Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Ross Lieberman told the Competitive Carriers Association conference Wednesday. ACA, along with CCA and Charter Communications, have their own plan (see 1908150042). CCA officials promoted that here (see 1909170023).
With rival estimates of cost and feasibility of fiber distribution to replace satellite C-band use before the FCC, experts told us there are issues about how fast such fiber could go up and about ongoing expenses. Being switched to fiber could force many small cable operators out of business, some fear.
With 3.5 GHz band commercial use rolling out nationwide, focus on clearing the 3.45-3.55 GHz band and studying possibly clearing at least some of 3.1-3.45 GHz or a sharing model like what's being used for the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS), FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Wednesday. At an event cheering that initial commercial deployment, O'Rielly hoped DOD follows through on the idea it floated of increasing the allowable power levels for the band. Pentagon spectrum chief Fred Moorefield said the department would be amenable to exploring that once it's "comfortable with the rollout. ... More spectrum sharing is the new normal."
Fighting digital disinformation and its potential to affect the 2020 elections requires lawmakers, academia, think tanks, the public, civic society and digital platforms, said speakers Tuesday. They noted tensions between battling disinformation and jeopardizing free speech. The Federal Election Commission organized the event with PEN America and the Global Digital Policy Incubator at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center.
Tech groups opposed third-party repair mandates that they said would thwart innovation, insisting consumers have diversified repair options, as the comments deadline expired Monday in the FTC’s “Nixing the Fix” docket 2019-0013. Right-to-repair advocates urged the FTC to use antitrust authority to crack down on manufacturer repair limitations stifling aftermarket competition.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Competitive Carriers Association members were asked by the federal government to participate in discussions on supply chain security, carrier officials said Tuesday at CCA’s annual meeting. At the opening breakfast, big issues were 5G and what it will mean to competitive carriers. Huawei was at CCA and had a technical presentation on cybersecurity.