ISPs that win bids in the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program won't be prevented from seeking additional support from state broadband programs, but the RDOF Phase I auctions won't be open to census block groups that received state subsidies for 25/3 Mbps. That's according to new language in the final order posted Friday for docket 19-126. Commissioners voted along party lines Jan. 30 (see 2001300001).
Country of origin cases
Up against deadline to vote legislation out of committee, Washington state’s House Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee cleared a comprehensive privacy bill. It's based on a Senate bill that’s supported by Microsoft and opposed by consumer privacy advocates. The committee wrestled with nearly 30 amendments at Friday’s meeting, adopting some changes to tweak various definitions and rejecting sweeping proposals to add a private right of action and remove a section on private use of facial recognition technology.
Manatt Phelps names Amar Thakur and Bruce Zisser, both ex-Quinn Emanuel, partners-technology and intellectual property litigation ... Energy Department swears in Cheryl Ingstad, ex-3M, as director, Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office ... Kentucky Public Service Commission moves adviser Kent Chandler to executive director, succeeding Gwen Pinson, leaving for private sector ... Intellectual property lawyer Bill Coughlin returns to Harness Dickey as its first CEO ... Microsoft's LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner moving to executive chairman; Ryan Roslansky, advancing to CEO, effective June 1 ... GoPro appoints Brian McGee chief operating officer in addition to his role as chief financial officer ... IMedia Chief Financial Officer Michael Porter departs; CEO Tim Peterman becomes interim CFO ... Great Plains Communications names Tony Thakur, ex-Unitas Global, chief technology officer.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposes holding Phase I auctions for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund on Oct. 22. Pai circulated a public notice among commissioners Thursday proposing procedures for the Phase I auctions, which would allot up to $16 billion of the $20.4 billion USF rural broadband program, he blogged, outlining his agenda for the Feb. 28 meeting. The RDOF auction procedural PN is one of eight items for what Pai is calling "spectrum month." Drafts are expected to be released Friday. Pai's proposal Thursday to pay up to $9.7 billion to C-band incumbents to free the spectrum for a Dec. 8 auction (see 2002060057) will lead the February meeting.
The FCC voted 5-0 to propose rules to register a consortium of industry-led efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls, posted in docket 20-22 Thursday. The NPRM proposed a "simple registration process." The Enforcement Bureau would issue an annual public notice, by April 28 this year, seeking registration of a single such consortium. The rules are mandated by March 29 by the Pallone-Thune Telephone and Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement (Traced) Act. It asks the consortium to be a neutral third party; maintain written best practices; focus on fraudulent, abusive or unlawful conduct; and notify the FCC in advance of registration. Chairman Ajit Pai circulated the item last week (see 2001310053).
Regional sports network Altitude Sports and Entertainment's amended antitrust complaint (in Pacer, docket 1:19-cv-03253) against Comcast filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver fleshes out its arguments the MVPD is likely to monopolize the Denver RSN market by driving Altitude out of business (see 1911180062). That's based on our side-by-side comparison of the original and amended complaint. It said now that exclusionary conduct, in this case, isn't just a refusal to deal but also conduct that forecloses competitors from access to customers. It said Comcast's dominance in the distribution marketplace enhances its power to exclude RSN competition and makes it likely Comcast will succeed in monopolizing that market. Comcast didn't comment Wednesday.
Dish Network must respond immediately to data requests by the California Public Advocates Office in the Public Utilities Commission’s T-Mobile/Sprint review, CPUC Administrative Law Judge Lee Bemesderfer ruled Tuesday in docket 18-07-011. PAO asked CPUC to compel response (see 1911060021), but Dish said the requests were outside the proceeding's scope, which it argues is limited to the carriers’ original application. Bemesderfer said the requests were within the scope “because they seek information regarding the effect of the new DOJ and FCC commitments on the original application, which falls squarely within the amended scope of this proceeding.” The requests “are not so vague and ambiguous that they cannot be answered,” the ALJ said. Dish declined comment Wednesday.
Phone companies that allow international robocalls into U.S. networks need to take part in efforts to trace those calls' origins, the FCC said Tuesday. It said Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold wrote gateway service providers All Access, Globex, Piratel, Talkie, Telcast, ThinQ and Third Base, requesting they take part in tracking down the originators of illegal spoofed foreign robocalls. It said the seven "are uniquely situated to assist government and industry efforts to combat scam robocalls." The letters come atop proposed rules Chairman Ajit Pai circulated on Jan. 28 that would establish a registration process for naming a consortium to conduct private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls. Sprint, T-Mobile and Comcast on Tuesday said they had all implemented anti-spoofing technology in parts of their voice networks (see 2002040020).
A manufacturer of radiation reduction accessories published findings from an independent testing lab Tuesday, claiming the iPhone 11 Pro emits “more than twice the FCC’s legal safety limit for radio frequency (RF) radiation from a cellphone.” The test could be an indication other phones expose users to more radiation than legally allowed, it said.
T-Mobile, Sprint and Comcast all are making secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) and secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) technology available. It will "give customers peace of mind that calls from the Sprint network to the T-Mobile network (and vice versa) are really coming from the number listed on their caller ID display,” the mobile carriers said Tuesday. Comcast and Sprint said the call authentication tech has been implemented in Sprint's mobile network and in Comcast's Xfinity Voice landline phone network for calls between the two companies' customers. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai pressed carriers for adoption of the call authentication technology to help combat illegal robocalls (see 1907110023). The agency on Tuesday said it had written gatgeway service providers to seek their assistance in tracking foreign illegal robocalls' origins (see 2002040069).