Attorneys general of California, Nebraska, Washington and Wisconsin are among the 24 officials U.S. AG Jeff Sessions invited to a Sept. 25 discussion on social media (see 1809110041). Offices for Nebraska’s Doug Peterson (R), Washington’s Bob Ferguson (D) and Wisconsin’s Brad Schimel (R) told us Friday they were invited. Ferguson and Schimel are reviewing scheduling obligations to see if they can attend. We checked with all states' chief law enforcers.
With OneWeb seeing more pushback against its plans for additional satellites in its planned Ku- and Ka- and V-band constellations (see 1808080003), those challenges could face a hurdle as some experts see the FCC as likely to OK qualified non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) applications. Though it's inclined to approve the new constellations, the agency is going to be very conservative with handing out waivers and stretching the rules, a satellite lawyer told us. One example is the FCC apparently looking askance at Boeing's attempt to hand off two NGSO applications to SOM1101, which ultimately resulted in Boeing withdrawing that request and the applications (see 1808060005), the lawyer said. OneWeb didn't comment Friday.
With less than two weeks to a vote on a draft declaratory ruling and order designed to speed up infrastructure siting (see 1809050029), cities are mounting a campaign to get the FCC to rethink the order. Commissioner Brendan Carr, who crafted it, said in a speech to the Mobile World Congress Americas that the FCC needs to act to lead on 5G. Others at the Los Angeles Thursday conference also stressed the importance of making small cells easier to site (see 1809130043 and 1809120031). Elsewhere, Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) supported reducing small-cells application fees beyond what's required by this year’s Illinois law.
Verizon isn’t changing strategies despite change at the top, CEO Hans Vestberg said at a Goldman Sachs conference Thursday. He said Verizon is winning the race to 5G, also a centerpiece of a show in Los Angeles (see 1809130043). Vestberg took over as CEO from Lowell McAdam Aug. 1.
The North American Numbering Council approved a report for the FCC on consolidating contracts for the North American numbering plan administrator (NANPA) and pooling administrator (PA) held by Neustar. At NANC's quarterly meeting Thursday (documents), participants also provided updates and discussed efforts regarding call authentication, the recent local number portability administrator (LNPA) transition, nationwide number portability, an interoperable video calling working group, and possible creation of a three-digit national hotline for suicide prevention.
Keynote speakers at day two of the Mobile World Congress Americas conference in Los Angeles agreed 5G will be transformative, for the wireless industry and beyond. “We need faster, we need reliable, we need responsive,” said Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri. “We need 5G, which is good because it’s here. We were not always sure that it would arrive so fast.” All four national wireless carriers deserve credit, Suri said. “These folks are moving fast and they’re moving first,” he said. “They want to get started to grab the moment. They’re right.”
Evidence suggests the U.S. economy has become more concentrated and less competitive in the past 20 to 30 years, and that trend deserves “serious attention,” FTC Chairman Joe Simons said Thursday. This correlates with the shift to a less enforcement-oriented antitrust policy beginning in the early 1980s, he said, opening the agency’s first day of hearings on antitrust and consumer protection policy (see 1809120040). Friday’s was postponed due to weather concerns, as was a congressional hearing (see 1809130035).
The hold Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, placed on FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s reconfirmation is a temporary roadblock that will further delay securing Carr for a full five-year term ending in 2023 and unlikely to completely derail a vote this year, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. Sullivan told us Wednesday night he placed the hold on Carr because of his continued concerns about FCC handling of the USF Rural Health Care (RHC) Program under Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1809120056). Confirmation of Carr and FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks has stalled repeatedly since Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., first tried to fast-track the two in June (see 1808230040).
Tech and telecom interests are ratcheting up opposition to U.S. tariffs on Chinese products being imposed over intellectual property disagreements between the countries. CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, Internet Association, Telecommunications Industry Association and some 80 others wrote congressional leaders of their concerns and began Americans for Free Trade. It's a “major campaign against tariffs,” said the group Wednesday. Industry also continues telling the U.S. Trade Representative of concerns (see 1809110044), with tech heavy hitters teaming up after IBM earlier expressed concerns.
The FCC doesn’t need to impose additional reporting requirements on emergency alert system participants to combat false alerts, said NAB, CTIA, NCTA and the American Cable Association in docket 15-94. A few local governments and public TV interests disagreed.