The fight is on. Dish Network, public interest and consumer groups, and groups representing mostly rural carriers asked the FCC to deny T-Mobile’s takeover of Sprint, in petitions filed by the Monday deadline in docket 18-197. Commenters underscored the negative effect on competition of any deal that would reduce the number of national wireless carriers from four to three. Some filed earlier (see 1808270049).
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Tuesday he plans to ask Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about his dissent in the D.C. Circuit's 2017 en banc affirmation of the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules in USTelecom v. FCC, No. 15-1063, during his confirmation hearing (see 1705010038). Blumenthal is one of five Commerce Committee members who also sit on the Judiciary Committee, which will begin hearings on Kavanaugh Sept. 4. Three other lawmakers -- Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. -- also said during a conference call with Blumenthal and reporters they oppose Senate confirmation of Kavanaugh because of his views on net neutrality.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal will introduce an “expanded version” of his online privacy bill with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., the Connecticut Democrat told us Monday. Blumenthal said it’s an extension of the Customer Online Notification for Stopping Edge-provider Network Transgressions (Consent) Act (S-2639) and will be unveiled “shortly.”
PHILADELPHIA -- Local governments should make deals with the wireless industry on their own terms before they are pre-empted by states or the FCC, panelists warned Tuesday at a NATOA conference. They cited a San Jose deal with carriers as one that could be a model, though cautioning carriers are reluctant to apply the same terms elsewhere.
Gray Television’s buy of Raycom is widely expected to be approved by the FCC, industry officials told us, though recent DOJ actions make it harder to predict that agency’s reaction. Gray/Raycom is the leading edge of what could be a wave of dealmaking among TV groups, partially spurred by the demise of Sinclair/Tribune (see 1807230055), said Patrick Communications media broker Gregory Guy. The collapse of a combination that would have been vastly larger than any other broadcaster has “pumped a bunch of air into the industry,” Guy said. TV broadcasting is no longer a “two-horse race,” he said.
The FCC likely can find an easy solution after a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated one part (see 1808280020) of a decision easing regulation of the business data service rates of major incumbent telcos, experts said. The court denied CLEC and ILEC petitions in general but vacated the final rule on TDM transport services, remanding it to the regulator for further proceedings. The case is Citizens Telecommunications v. FCC, No. 17-2296. Oral argument was in May (see 1805150020).
A new round of generic top-level domain names is unlikely to happen before 2020, said ICANN President-Global Domains Division Akram Atallah in a Friday interview. The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is working on recommending policies for further rounds, and other ongoing reviews will feed into the final board decision, he said. Many are eager for another tranche of gTLDs, but some question whether the 2012 round was a success.
Opposition to T-Mobile buying Sprint is starting to coalesce, with opposition filings having been due at the FCC Monday night in docket 18-197. Communications Workers of America said 28,000 jobs could be lost if the deal goes through. Other groups were lining up for or against. By late afternoon, no one filed a formal petition to deny.
Congress needs a formal position from law enforcement on whether to let the private sector hack back, a controversial concept exempting companies from prosecution in cyber self-defense, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told us. Though law enforcement mightn't have an appetite for this, Whitehouse said he heard from internet security companies and groups that depend on their services about the benefits of hack-back authority. “I’m sold on the notion that there should be some place that they can go to get a straight answer,” he said. “If the answer ends up being no, so be it. But I think it’s a mistake to answer serious questions by default without giving someone the chance to make their case.”
PHILADELPHIA -- Municipalities released an alternative model ordinance for 5G small cells, as local officials sought industry collaboration and resisted pre-emption at NATOA’s annual conference Monday. The National League of Cities and NATOA wrote the model local code, which follows a similar framework to the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee code but is pitched as an alternative. Municipalities should plan for and develop policy on wireless small-cells deployment or risk pre-emption, NLC said in an accompanying guide.