WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said the U.S. is in a 5G race against rivals, some of which have government-run "industrial policy." The U.S. faces challenges from other nations "racing ahead" to try to take the lead in deploying next-generation networks and services that "will decide" wireless communications for the next 20-25 years, he said, responding to a question Saturday at the FCBA retreat where he appeared with Commissioner Brendan Carr.
Connecticut’s net neutrality bill returned from the grave and cleared what may be its toughest hurdle, as Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman (D) Friday supported the bill to break an 18-18 partisan stalemate with all Republicans opposed. The evenly divided Senate sent the bill to the House where Democrats have a 79-71 majority. Elsewhere in New England, a Rhode Island state senator said he conformed his net neutrality bill to match an April 24 executive order by Gov. Gina Raimondo (D).
Pandora shares, battered for more than a year as the company underwent management shakeups and a strategic see-saw, rebounded Friday, jumping 19.8 percent to $6.89. Pandora’s Q1 revenue grew 12 percent to $319.2 million, excluding discontinued operations (Australia, New Zealand and Ticketfly). First-quarter revenue beat expectations and guidance; the company posted $214.6 million in advertising revenue and $104.7 million in subscription revenue in the quarter.
Baseline data privacy legislation is unlikely to gain traction in the U.S. but American and international companies are likely to view EU General Data Protection Regulation compliance as a competitive advantage, GDPR experts told us. Microsoft and Accenture publicly committed to end-to-end, global GDPR compliance. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told House lawmakers his platform will comply globally with certain aspects of the GDPR, specifically on privacy controls and consent transparency (see 1804110065). “My hypothesis is companies that do not provide [GDPR compliant services] will begin to stand out in a negative way to consumers and their users,” said World Privacy Forum Executive Director Pam Dixon. “There is a possibility that companies are going to see a domino effect where they feel a lot of pressure to comply.”
Efforts to write state “right to repair” laws for consumer electronics won’t die, despite running into walls in many jurisdictions, said lawmakers and consumer groups who support requiring manufacturers to share more information about hardware to product owners and third-party repair shops. Opposition lobbying was “bigger and stronger” than supporters', with many bills “quietly stashed away,” but the number of states with bills is growing, said Justin Brookman, director of Consumer Reports’ advocacy arm, Consumers Union. The bills have good intentions but would produce unintended consequences, said Josh Zecher, executive director of industry coalition Security Innovation Center, with partners including CTA, CompTIA and CTIA.
Telesat Canada objections to the C-band user consortium aspect of the Intelsat/Intel/SES band-clearing plan are attempts to ensure a bigger piece of a potential windfall from the band, but they shouldn't disrupt FCC moves toward allowing wireless access to the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, experts told us.
At the rough halfway point of the process of finding new homes for low power TV stations and translators displaced by the incentive auction, LPTV broadcasters and industry officials say uncertainty reigns. Though displaced LPTV owners are able to choose new channels during the ongoing LPTV displacement window and recent legislation earmarked reimbursement funds for LPTV and translators, they won’t know for a while if those new channels are final and almost no specifics about the reimbursement have been determined, LPTV broadcasters told us.
Few carriers are likely to pursue the 2.5 GHz band, despite an NPRM teed up for a vote at Thursday’s FCC commissioners’ meeting, industry analysts and former FCC officials said. The record in docket 18-120 documents the lack of interest so far, with Sprint the only wireless industry company to weigh in.
A German Supreme Court ruling that Eyeo GmbH's AdBlock Plus isn't anticompetitive will have "very tangible commercial implications" for online advertising and publishers of online content in the U.S. and elsewhere, Hogan Lovells (Hamburg) trademark and unfair competition attorney Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh told us. The April 19 decision means Eyeo is free to continue marketing AdBlock Plus, by far the most popular and widespread adblocker in the world, she emailed. The service has rivals and faces opposition from publishers that are finding methods other than ads to fund their online content, she and others said.
Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is again pressing the FCC for answers about “waste, fraud and abuse” in the Lifeline USF program in the wake of recent findings from the agency's Office of Inspector General. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., and 47 other Democrats, meanwhile, wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, as expected (see 1805020061), urging him not to cut the Lifeline budget as part of his revamp plan. Democrats repeatedly criticized Pai's Lifeline revamp plan (see 1801230075, 1803210061, 1803300045 and 1804260068).