Faced with increasingly reduced cable franchise fees, local franchise authorities (LFA) must focus on getting broadband providers to enter franchise agreements with them for use of local rights of way (ROW), speakers said Wednesday during NATOA's annual local government conference. But the broadband franchising path must go through statehouses and the FCC, with changes to LFAs' authority needed at the federal and state levels, they noted. In addition, speakers mentioned LFAs' consumer protection role as they addressed the audience of mostly local government officials.
AT&T suffered a wireless outage Tuesday night that apparently started in the Southeast and spread throughout the U.S., based on social media and other reports. A software issue caused the outage, which was resolved, AT&T said Wednesday. The FCC is investigating, a spokesperson emailed.
Industry experts warned Tuesday that siloing of data remains a stumbling block as ISPs try to use it to increase efficiency. During day two of a Fierce Network virtual conference on automation, executives said companies are partitioning AI away from other units, but it won’t always be this way.
Low-power television broadcasters and NAB don’t think the FCC should broadly apply online public file requirements to LPTV, said a host of reply comments filed in docket 24-147 by Monday’s deadline. LPTV commenters also called for looser relocation limits and power increase options. In addition, LPTV company Venture Technologies argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against Chevron deference means the FCC must allow more stations to convert to Class A status. “We believe that the FCC’s failure to allow virtually any new Class A stations for more than two decades is inconsistent with the principles established by the recent Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo,” Venture said.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s admission that the White House “repeatedly pressured” the company to censor COVID-19 content is part of a broader debate about “freedom” and "authoritarianism,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told Fox Business on Tuesday. The White House defended its actions.
Pennsylvania should quickly adopt the FCC’s December changes to pole attachment rules, Verizon and wireless companies said in comments posted Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Some additional work may be needed to adapt the FCC’s rapid-response team, they acknowledged in docket L-2018-3002672. However, energy companies disagreed with the Pennsylvania PUC adopting either the team or a rule requiring reports on pole inspection.
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- While some states hope to have enough broadband equity, access and deployment money to also tackle adoption and affordability issues, not just infrastructure, BEAD project costs may dash those hopes, according to Nokia's Lori Adams. Separately Tuesday at NATOA’s annual local government conference, Joanne Hovis, CTC Technology & Energy president, predicted growing concerns when it becomes clear Western states lack enough BEAD money to reach 100% of locations with adequate infrastructure. Speakers also discussed issues local governments face with small cell deployment permitting.
ISPs challenging the FCC’s updated data breach notification rules made their case at the 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court about why the rule should be overturned. The filing elaborates on their argument that the agency exceeded its Communications Act authorities when it adopted the rule in December. The Ohio Telecom Association (docket 24-3133), the Texas Association of Business (docket 24-3206) and CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom (docket 24-3252) brought the challenge. The 6th Circuit is considered among the most conservative federal circuits.
Broadcasters, multichannel video programming distributors and pay-TV industry experts see retransmission consent fees increasingly facing price pressure. In recent earnings calls, some local broadcast chains said they are seeing slowdowns due to cord-cutting among MVPD subscribers.
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Federal lawmakers from both parties back reforming the Universal Service Fund (USF), but whether that happens likely will depend on the November elections, speakers said Monday at NATOA’s annual local government conference. Localities will increasingly face broadband-only providers wanting right of way (ROW) access, and those cable competitors raise questions of whether they too should pay franchise fees, said localities lawyer Brian Grogan of Moss & Barnett.