LAS VEGAS -- APCO closed its annual meeting with a session featuring FirstNet users who made the case for the new network, being built by AT&T. But the officials conceded that in some cases expanding the network will remain a fight. Many attendees at APCO expressed skepticism about the network (see 1808070037), but presentations at the annual meeting had a mostly pro-FirstNet focus.
Tribune filed a $1 billion breach of contract complaint against Sinclair Broadcast in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and the collapse of their deal could mean the end of the FCC’s administrative law judge proceeding against Sinclair but likely won’t put to rest all the consequences of the agency’s hearing designation order, attorneys and broadcasters said in Thursday interviews.
Tech interests virtually struck out in their attempts to persuade U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to spare their products and components from a second tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Despite heavy industry lobbying to exclude semiconductors and other key parts from the second round of new levies, the list Lighthizer released Tuesday contains 279 tariff lines of goods worth about $16 billion in trade value, a mere 2 percent reduction from 284 lines in the originally proposed list released June 15 (see 1806150030). The new tariffs will take effect Aug. 23, said Lighthizer, who soon will announce a "process" for seeking exclusions from the new duties.
Nebraska commissioners voted 4-1 for a hybrid state USF contribution mechanism with a $1.75 per connection surcharge for residential wireline, postpaid wireless and interconnected VoIP services and a 6.95 percent revenue-based surcharge for business and other services. CenturyLink and small rural carriers Wednesday applauded the Public Service Commission’s Tuesday rate design order in docket NUSF-111, which followed last year’s decision to move to a connections-based contribution mechanism. Cox and CTIA raised red flags. Other state commissions are working toward USF updates, including Alaska, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
OneWeb's request to increase the size of its proposed V-band constellation and add spectrum segments outside the V-band (see 1801050002) is facing opposition from multiple rival satellite operators. Meanwhile, pointing to International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) technical problems, OneWeb is asking the FCC to extend until Aug. 27 the comments deadlines on its V-band petition and on a separate request to greatly expand its non-geostationary (NGSO) satellite constellation granted U.S. market access in June (see 1803200002). In its petition for a time extension Tuesday, OneWeb said it has received via U.S. mail filings that aren't reflected in the IBFS. The FCC didn't comment Wednesday.
California state legislators revealed amended net neutrality bills reflecting a deal among Democratic lawmakers (see 1807310038). Sponsor state Sens. Scott Wiener and Kevin de Leon said amendments restored provisions controversially removed in an Assembly committee. Supporters and opposition Wednesday seemed to hold positions they had on the original Senate-passed measure, though ISPs complained about not seeing the revised language sooner. Washington state saw no problems or lawsuits since it became first to enact comprehensive net neutrality rules, said state Rep. Drew Hansen (D) in an interview this week.
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC understands that the wireless location accuracy of 911 calls remains a major issue for 911 call centers, Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth told an APCO Conference audience. Other officials at the conference told us repeatedly they're still having difficulty locating wireless callers, years after the FCC started to take on the issue (see 1808070037). The FCC imposed updated requirements in 2015.
Sinclair’s proposed deal with Tribune is expected to break up Thursday, but Sinclair executives didn’t comment on the transaction during an earnings call Wednesday, though Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said an update would be coming “soon.” Under Tribune’s agreement with Sinclair, passing Wednesday’s deadline allows Tribune to walk away from the deal without suffering a breakup fee, attorneys and analysts told us. Wednesday was also the deadline for parties to file notices of appearance in the administrative law judge proceeding, and those filings could provide a clue to whether Sinclair intends to battle the allegations against it, attorneys said. Tribune announced Wednesday it was set to hold an 8 a.m. conference call Thursday, before the opening of the stock market.
The recently filed Eliminate From Regulators Opportunities to Nationalize The Internet in Every Respect (E-Frontier) Act is unlikely to become law but is again raising questions about why President Donald Trump's administration hasn't definitively said whether it will pursue a proposal for the U.S. to build a national 5G network, lawmakers and communications sector officials told us. S-3255, filed in late July, would formally bar the White House and executive branch agencies from seeking to build a government-owned national 5G network without authorization from Congress (see 1807230059). A leaked National Security Council draft memo proposed 5G nationalization because of concerns China could otherwise build a network.
As wildfires burn large swaths of the northwest, the California Public Utilities Commission plans to vote Thursday on extending the life of consumer protections adopted last year in case of future natural disasters. But in late-July comments released this week, most wireline and wireless carriers rejected the agency’s proposed decision as unnecessary and legally flawed. Telecom providers Friday reported few network issues from wildfires but said they’re lending support (see 1808030031).