Rollout of the nationwide public safety network on Band 14 began last week, and the core network is expected to be ready by month’s end, FirstNet officials said at a Thursday board meeting livestreamed from Little Rock. About 350 agencies in 40 states have adopted FirstNet, comprising more than 30,000 connections, said Director-Consultation Dave Buchanan.
It remains possible for the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (Cloud) (S-2383/HR-4943) to be included in the omnibus spending bill (see 1803150059), lead sponsor Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told us Thursday: “There’s always chances for everything. Everything is in play.” The spending bill deadline is March 23.
Cities, led by Next Century Cities, sent a letter to the FCC Thursday arguing cities aren't to blame if carriers encounter problems deploying 5G. Mayors repeated that theme on a call with reporters. The letter comes the week before an FCC vote on an order addressing wireless infrastructure. That order also is stirring controversy (see 1803150058), in this case mostly from tribes but now from some cities.
Faced with dueling claims about subscriber departure rates if a competing video service were denied Time Warner content, questions about what horizontal merger standards apply in a vertical deal, and a host of other disputed issues, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington has a heavy adjudication workload before him in the trial of DOJ's lawsuit seeking to block AT&T/TW. That's the consensus of legal and economic experts at an American University-hosted seminar Thursday on the antitrust trial.
MVPDs, set-top box makers and energy efficiency advocates agreed to a four-year extension of their voluntary agreement on set-top box energy efficiency, NCTA and the Natural Resources Defense Council announced Thursday. The extended agreement includes provisions to further improve set-top energy efficiency by 2020, a reporting requirement for efforts to transition from physical devices to more energy efficient apps, and a process to move toward further efficiency increases, signatories told us. The voluntary structure is making devices more efficient, and “driving good incremental improvement,” said NRDC Senior Scientist Noah Horowitz.
Top telecom-focused lawmakers said they were finalizing a deal to attach the House-passed Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986) to the FY 2018 omnibus spending bill. Negotiations on other parts of the measure were continuing Thursday night. The leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees have been eyeing the omnibus as a vehicle for enacting HR-4986 since last month, before the House passed the legislation (see 1802270055, 1803010056 and 1803060046). The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (HR-4943/S-2383) could also be included in the omnibus (see 1803150059).
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF) Thursday protested parts of draft wireless infrastructure rules, scheduled for a vote at next week’s commissioners’ meeting. The filing was the most concerted push by tribal groups so far against the draft order. Other tribes also continue to weigh in, as does industry. Meanwhile, Commissioner Brendan Carr, who has overseen the order, was in Baltimore Thursday to tour small-cell installations.
HEVC Advance, the H.265 patent pool now in its third year, decided to stop imposing royalties on content distribution services after hearing “anecdotal evidence” the fees may have been impeding industry adoption of the compression technology, CEO Pete Moller told us. HEVC Advance’s secondary hope is that the decision, announced Tuesday, will encourage other H.265 licensors to stop collecting content royalties or declare their intentions not to pursue them, and thereby “energize the market” for all, said Moller.
State regulatory agencies should keep their focus on ethics, state commissioners said after the Arizona Corporation Commission -- an agency with a troubled history on ethics (see 1712010034) -- voted 5-0 Tuesday to adopt an ethics code. The ACC adopted several amendments, including a campaign contributions proposal that doesn't require recusals as competing proposals floated by other commissioners did (see 1803130048 and 1803080054). The contributions language was “a step in the right direction,” but requiring recusal would be better, said Craig Holman, Public Citizen government affairs lobbyist.
A big test of NTIA efforts to incentivize spectrum sharing between industry and federal agencies and the agencies maximizing their use of their spectrum assignments will come over the next few years with the rollout of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, said NTIA Administrator David Redl Wednesday at Satellite 2018. NTIA is looking at the 3450-3550 MHz band as a candidate for potential commercial use, Redl said (prepared remarks here). He said DOD plans to ask for money through the Spectrum Relocation Fund to study the band (see 1802260047). Redl said appropriations have been provided to study proposed reallocation of the 1300-1350 MHz band. Many think reallocation of the 1.3 GHz band is probably a top NTIA priority (see 1802230052).