The U.S. might blink on Huawei.
Weather delays from the rainiest 12 months on record, a shortage of tower crews and, to a slight degree, steel tariffs are making the post-incentive auction repacking tough for some broadcasters. FCC flexibility and increasing use of auxiliary antennas are keeping it largely on track for the moment, said broadcasters, attorneys, manufacturers, tower crews and the FCC. Though at the repack’s start, industry officials had been concerned that snowballing delays would become a big problem by the current phase (phase 3), they now predict big problems in 5 and 6, which have the tightest deadlines.
An FCC USF budget NPRM that stirred controversy over procedural and substantive issues is apparently being finalized and has been OK'd on a party-line vote. Some had been watching to see what Commissioner Brendan Carr would do, given that early on he hadn't commented publicly on the item. Last week, he broke that near-silence by signaling his support, during an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators to have been televised this weekend and posted here.
Thee few commenters so far have differing takes on changes sought in April (see 1904260022) to rules for the reassigned number database (RND), approved by commissioners 4-0 in December. The FCC hopes to help combat unwanted and illegal robocalls to people with new numbers. Lawyers active in the proceeding said the comments don't offer the FCC much help in making a decision on the petitions for reconsideration.
The FTC defended the backgrounds of top agency officials Thursday after Public Citizen argued the agency’s cozy relationship with industry is creating a timid enforcement culture. At least 75 percent of the officials whose backgrounds it studied represented corporate clients before joining or after leaving the agency, or both, Public Citizen reported Thursday. The group looked at 41 FTC commissioners and directors of the Competition and Consumer Protection bureaus spanning the past 20 years. It said more than 60 percent worked on behalf of the tech industry at some point for clients like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Uber and Intel.
The FCC will begin accepting applications Tuesday for TV stations to transition to ATSC 3.0, said a Media Bureau public notice Thursday. Though the commission’s ATSC 3.0 order was approved in November 2017, broadcasters have been waiting for the agency to create a form and process in the FCC’s license management system (LMS) for the transition.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission split 3-2 to clear T-Mobile's buy of Sprint. At the PUC’s livestreamed Thursday hearing, Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille and Commissioner David Sweet opposed approval without strong Pennsylvania-specific conditions on jobs and rural broadband. With FCC Chairman Ajit Pai supporting the deal Monday (see 1905200051), deal opponents see California’s pending review and possible intervention by state attorneys general as key remaining ways to try to stop the big wireless deal. While an FCC majority is poised to approve the takeover, DOJ's decision is less certain (see 1905220071).
Governments around the world should promote public-private investment in research and development to spur innovative and safe application of artificial intelligence technology, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Wednesday. OECD’s 36 members, including the U.S., and six other countries signed a set of AI principles at its annual Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris.
There’s bipartisan agreement among members of the House Oversight Committee to halt federal law enforcement and government use of facial recognition technology until civil liberty concerns are addressed. Chairman Elijah Cummings, R-Md., ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and various members of both parties signaled support for a moratorium at Wednesday’s hearing.
Qualcomm will appeal a wireless modem intellectual property ruling in favor of the FTC and against the company. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose issued (in Pacer) a permanent injunction Tuesday night. The stock closed down 11 percent Wednesday at $69.31. Earlier this year, Koh held a 10-day bench trial in FTC v. Qualcomm.