Digital trade is a “significant competitive advantage for the U.S. economy,” and the Trump administration should view any U.S.-Japan free-trade agreement as an “important opportunity to expand commitments to the free flow of data,” commented IBM in docket USTR-2018-0034. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative sought feedback to help shape the administration’s negotiating posture in future trade talks with Japan (see 1811260011).
Carriers said a wireless resiliency cooperative framework promoted industry efforts to maintain and restore service affected by recent hurricanes. They said their networks generally held up, with disruptions often due to power outages and fiber cuts by others. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Southern Linc, U.S. Cellular and GCI Communications responded to recent FCC Public Safety Bureau queries seeking information on their implementation of the framework and best practices during disasters (see 1811060052). Filings were posted Tuesday in docket 11-60. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and Southern Linc redacted various details.
The FTC’s goal is to reach the “right result” as fast as possible for privacy probes, Chairman Joe Simons testified when pressed by lawmakers for a timeline on the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica investigation. Simons wouldn't address specific cases during the first oversight hearing with all five new commissioners before the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee (see 1811230021). Hours earlier Tuesday, Facebook also faced heat at a multicountry hearing in U.K.'s House of Commons (see 1811270014).
States and rural wireless carriers remained concerned with the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase II broadband-service subsidy process after the challenge window shut Monday. The commission didn’t act on NARUC’s request to extend the deadline to March 15, an FCC spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The challenge process opened March 29 and the agency previously extended the deadline by 90 days.
An American Cable Association petition asking the FCC to force Sinclair to resolve early the candor issues raised by the Sinclair/Tribune hearing designation order may not lead to much, communications lawyers told us. Sinclair and Chairman Ajit Pai aren't likely to want to address the matter before Sinclair’s currently scheduled license renewals in 2020, they said. The ACA petition’s reception at the FCC is uncertain, they added. “No one” expected Pai to issue the HDO and spike the deal, said Free Press Policy Manager Dana Floberg.
Consumers have the right to sue for damages involving Apple’s alleged App Store monopoly (see 1811050033), liberal Supreme Court justices suggested Monday during oral argument in Apple v. Robert Pepper, docket 17-204. Conservative justices warned against allowing both developers and consumers to pursue potentially duplicative compensation. But Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to side with Pepper.
Chairman Ajit Pai, quiet on the subject so far, is expected to circulate a Further NPRM seeking comment on the 5.9 GHz band, sooner rather than later, FCC and industry officials said. Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel have urged action.
The Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee’s FTC oversight hearing Tuesday (see 1811200051) is an opportunity for lawmakers to show bipartisan interest in federal privacy legislation, industry lobbyists told us. With all five commissioners set to testify, it’s also a chance to find out where there's consensus and disagreement within the FTC (see 1811210031), they said.
State utility commissioners must hone skills to respond to a rapidly changing industry, said new NARUC President Nick Wagner in an interview. NARUC elected the Iowa Utilities Board member at the association’s annual meeting this month in Orlando. State commissioners’ relationships with the FCC and other federal agencies are “absolutely critical,” and there’s “always room for improvement,” said Wagner, referring to calls by some NARUC members to work on states’ rapport with the FCC (see 1811190010).
The FCC should take a flexible approach toward reimbursing low-power TV, translator and FM stations for repacking expenses, said NPR and other broadcasters in docket 18-214 in comments posted through Friday on the proposed catalog of reimbursable expenses for those services. Along with requests for general flexibility, broadcasters listed repacking costs the FCC should cover, such as helicopter costs to reach remote towers and the economic impacts caused by the repacking.