AUSTIN -- Federal government should support local efforts to close the “homework gap,” said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday at the NATOA annual conference. She urged tweaking E-rate to support connected school buses, federal grants for library Wi-Fi hot spot lending, and creating a federal clearinghouse for sharing these and other local ideas. “I don’t think all good ideas come from Washington,” she said.
Under threat of lawsuit, the Nashville Metro Council advanced a “One Touch Make Ready” policy aimed at speeding Google Fiber rollout. Pole attachment policies are likely to be a continuing challenge for Google as it expands its gigabit network, said community broadband supporters in recent interviews. "If there's kind of a last line of defense for AT&T to protect itself from competition, it might be keeping competitors off of poles or making it very expensive for them to finally get on poles,” said Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Broadband Networks Director Christopher Mitchell. Despite recent AT&T slams against Google, local officials in two Google Fiber cities highly praised the upstart ISP.
Under threat of lawsuit, the Nashville Metro Council advanced a “One Touch Make Ready” policy aimed at speeding Google Fiber rollout. Pole attachment policies are likely to be a continuing challenge for Google as it expands its gigabit network, said community broadband supporters in recent interviews. "If there's kind of a last line of defense for AT&T to protect itself from competition, it might be keeping competitors off of poles or making it very expensive for them to finally get on poles,” said Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Broadband Networks Director Christopher Mitchell. Despite recent AT&T slams against Google, local officials in two Google Fiber cities highly praised the upstart ISP.
A hotly anticipated GOP fight for leadership of the House Commerce Committee is less than six months away, and four of the known likely contenders told us they want a renewed committee focus on rewriting the 1996 Telecom Act in the next Congress. Two key lawmakers seen as interested for more than a year are the more-senior Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., who never hid his intentions, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who only recently began expressing public interest (see 1505140064 and 1509280058). Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, also may be in the mix.
A hotly anticipated GOP fight for leadership of the House Commerce Committee is less than six months away, and four of the known likely contenders told us they want a renewed committee focus on rewriting the 1996 Telecom Act in the next Congress. Two key lawmakers seen as interested for more than a year are the more-senior Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., who never hid his intentions, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who only recently began expressing public interest (see 1505140064 and 1509280058). Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, also may be in the mix.
DANA POINT, California -- “Market saturation” is partly to blame for lackluster CE sales over the first half of 2016, NPD analyst Stephen Baker told Consumer Electronics Daily at the ProSource spring meeting. The total market “continues to be soft,” continuing a trend seen for the past few years where the biggest traditional CE categories -- TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones -- “are the weakest performers on a revenue basis,” Baker said. “We’re in a country where people have money, and we’ve been buying tech for a long time, and the installed bases are very high,” he said.
Conditions proposed by a California administrative law judge on Charter Communications' purchase of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable likely won't influence the FCC's decision on the deals, cable experts told us. The FCC is on a different track from any state, and California's proceeding won't factor into the agency's process or deliberations, said a media attorney with transaction experience and who previously worked at the FCC. Other states have OK'd the deals, and in California, deal opponents have sought to block the takeovers (see 1601200060).
Conditions proposed by a California administrative law judge on Charter Communications' purchase of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable likely won't influence the FCC's decision on the deals, cable experts told us. The FCC is on a different track from any state, and California's proceeding won't factor into the agency's process or deliberations, said a media attorney with transaction experience and who previously worked at the FCC. Other states have OK'd the deals, and in California, deal opponents have sought to block the takeovers (see 1601200060).
The FCC status public notice on the TV incentive auction is expected to be released before broadcasters make their initial commitments to offer spectrum in the auction on March 29, an FCC official said Friday. The notice is expected to answer at least some of the many remaining questions about the auction, industry observers said in recent interviews.
The FCC status public notice on the TV incentive auction is expected to be released before broadcasters make their initial commitments to offer spectrum in the auction on March 29, an FCC official said Friday. The notice is expected to answer at least some of the many remaining questions about the auction, industry observers said in recent interviews.