Though space agencies are starting to invest in orbital debris removal, most experts believe a commercial marketplace for it is years away. "It's really interesting technology, but where is the customer?" said BryceTech analyst Nick Boensch. Companies and startups in the debris removal space anticipate a sizable commercial demand emerging; however, for now it's a government-driven market only.
Intrado representatives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss moving to next-generation 911, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-479. “The most important elements for accelerating NG911 deployment” include the commission adopting a “nationwide NG911 framework that accommodates current and already-planned deployments and creates the conditions to accelerate others” and “increased and faster direct” wireless and VoIP connections through basic session IP to emergency services IP networks, which “would support the delivery of 911 traffic in IP and reduce or eliminate the need for provider protocol translation workarounds,” Intrado said: “The majority of the nation’s current 911 traffic (wireless/VoIP) is ready for the Commission’s regulatory framework for NG911 delivery based on a State 911 Authority’s valid request demonstrating readiness and designation of a point of interconnection.”
CTIA is hopeful a legislative vehicle will be found soon that will restore general FCC auction authority, more than a year after it lapsed, CTIA Senior Vice President-Spectrum Umair Javed said Wednesday during a Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy webcast. “It sort of feels like there’s a lot of smoke, and maybe not fire yet,” Javed said. He hopes a bill floated by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will provide the needed “spark.”
The 5G Fund order that FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated last week (see 2403200071) is expected to have several gaps that will need addressing with a Further NPRM on a tribal reserve but also through auction public notices, industry officials said. One question that needs answering is how to define open radio access networks, slated to get up to 10% of the $9 billion to be awarded.
Internet Archive's theory that its controlled digital lending (CDL) program is protected by fair use under the Copyright Act would have “devastating consequences” for the music, movie and news media industries if the 2nd U.S. Circuit Appeals Court reversed a lower court's decision, said an amicus brief Friday (docket 23-1260) from the Recording Industry Association of America, National Music Publishers’ Association, Motion Picture Association and the News/Media Alliance.
Carvana plans April 11 to file a motion to dismiss plaintiff Michael Cribier's Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action, said an order Thursday (docket 3:24-cv-00094) signed by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw for Southern California in San Diego, following a status conference he convened that day. Cribier’s Jan. 12 complaint alleges that Carvana violates the TCPA by “bombarding” consumers’ mobile phones whose numbers are listed on the national do not call registry “with non-emergency advertising and marketing text messages without prior express written consent” (see 2401160003).
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., led filing of the Supporting National Security with Spectrum Act Friday as an alternative vehicle for allocating an additional $3.08 billion for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program after congressional leaders didn't agree to include the funding in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending bill (see 2403210067). Congress inched closer Friday to passing the minibus, which also didn't include stopgap funding for the FCC's ailing affordable connectivity program despite a strong push by the initiative's backers (see 2402210073).
If Donald Trump is elected to a second presidential term, his administration should focus on communicating better with other governments and American companies about upcoming policy decisions, said Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative.
If Donald Trump is elected to a second presidential term, his administration should focus on communicating better with other governments and American companies about upcoming policy decisions, said Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative.
Two retired senior military officials on Wednesday urged collaboration between the wireless industry and the DOD on opening the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz bands for licensed use. While the U.S. “has been the established global leader in wireless, a new technology superpower -- China -- is emerging with astonishing speed,” said Mike Rogers, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former director of the National Security Agency, and Bruce Crawford, retired lieutenant general and former Army chief information officer. “Both our military and commercial sectors need access to spectrum -- but today our national spectrum policies are struggling to keep up with critical needs,” they said in a Stars and Stripes essay. The lower 3 and 7/8 GHz bands align “with our allies around the globe and should be our priority,” they added. “We should explore all opportunities for full-power commercial access to these bands while ensuring that the needs of federal missions are fully met.” In addition, DOD needs clear direction and a schedule of auctions from the FCC, Rogers and Crawford wrote: “Too often our military is forced to respond to band-by-band spectrum access requests without any global view of the policy objective or insight into when or where the next request will be received. That is not how the military works.”