House Communications Subcommittee leaders said Wednesday they’re eyeing combining the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) and revised versions of the Simplifying Management, Reallocation and Transfer of Spectrum Act (HR-5486) and Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) before a full Commerce Committee vote. The subpanel unanimously advanced HR-5486, HR-7624, HR-7783 and four other telecom bills Wednesday, as expected (see 2206140077).
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Sinclair promotes Adam Ware to senior vice president-Growth Networks Group, and expands responsibilities of other executives, naming Dan Kozlowski senior director-general manager, Stirr platform; Claudia Estrada senior director-sales and broadcast operations-Comet, Charge and TBD; Ben Lister to senior director-head of programming, Growth Networks Group; David Weissberg assistant vice president-research and strategy, Growth Networks Group; Sinclair also announces Derek Van Nostran, ex-Vegas Stats & Information Network, rejoining the company as senior director-marketing and creative services ... Ex.Co, Disney-backed content experience platform, adds Taboola’s Marc Thomas as general manager-Europe, Middle East and Africa ... Viamedia promotes Rick Tarvin to chief revenue officer.
The California Public Utilities Commission extended until June 27 from June 20 a deadline for comments on proposed changes to the California Advanced Services Fund infrastructure account. Replies originally due June 27 will now be due July 5. Administrative Law Judge Valerie Kao emailed the R.20-08-021 service list Wednesday. It’s a shorter extension than the California Cable and Telecommunications Association requested Monday (see 2206140042).
Universal is making more films in 2023 than 2022, while other major studios are doing less, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said Tuesday at a Credit Suisse investor conference. He said its linear video businesses remain strong, though declining, but the ad-supported Peacock streaming service is growing rapidly. He said he went into 2022 concerned about NBCU's movie business until the back-to-back successes of the Top Gun and Jurassic World films. Shell said Peacock growth and the overall economy remain areas where the company is paying close attention. Peacock has more than 13 million paying subscribers, with the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl driving a big jump in growth in Q1. He said despite the lack of big sports events and originals in Q2, Peacock is retaining most of those Q1 subscriber gains: "We thought we would have more churn." Shell said in the back half of the year, Peacock should have more ramping up of paid subscriber growth, driven by other big content draws including content being pulled from Hulu for Peacock.
The House Communications Subcommittee will mark up the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783), a significantly modified version of the Simplifying Management, Reallocation and Transfer of Spectrum Act (HR-5486) and five other telecom bills Wednesday, as expected (see 2206100001), the Commerce Committee said Monday. The markup includes a revised version of the Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) that proposes to use proceeds from the 3.1-3.45 GHz auction it authorizes to pay for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and additional money for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks equipment made by companies deemed a national security risk.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission should consider revoking LTD Broadband’s eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation, said the state Commerce Department in Wednesday reply comments in docket M-21-133. ETC designation is needed for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support. Minnesota Commerce, which didn’t make a recommendation in initial comments last week (see 2206020046), said now that the “collective concerns raised by the petitioners, rural organizations, counties, and townships … provide compelling reasons for the Commission to open an investigation.” The PUC should launch an expedited proceeding that includes discovery and cross-examination of expert witnesses, the department said. The Minnesota attorney general’s office said it continues to recommend a proceeding. LTD disagreed, saying "It would be unfair, and violate the principle of competitive neutrality, if the expanded ETC designation granted to [LTD] last year is singled out for re-examination or revocation when other Minnesota RDOF ETCs, who made the same commitments as LTD, are not subject to the same scrutiny.” Any compliance or oversight requirements “should apply to all ETCs” and should be addressed in the PUC’s docket CI-21-86 on ETC designation authority “on a timeline and in a manner that does not jeopardize LTD’s eligibility for RDOF funding,” it said. Initial comments showed widespread, deep concerns, which are "fully justified,” replied the Minnesota Telecom Alliance and Minnesota Rural Electric Association, which originally asked for the proceeding. “Unless LTD delivers on its promises, over 160,000 Minnesota residents could be denied the benefit of federal support for broadband deployment." Chippewa County wants an expedited proceeding because it has been unable to communicate with LTD Broadband and "its residents have lost faith” that LTD can fulfill its promises, the county said. "The RDOF Award and LTD's ETC designation puts Chippewa County at a significant disadvantage for economic growth and vitality."
The FCC won’t have a finalized estimate of demands for money from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks equipment made by companies deemed a national security risk ready by June 15 as initially anticipated, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in letters to Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other leaders of the House and Senate Commerce and Appropriations committees released Wednesday. Cantwell, Wicker and other lawmakers have been eyeing whether and how much additional funding they will seek to appropriate to the “rip and replace” program beyond the $1.9 billion Congress allocated to the program via the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus law (see 2203140061).
Facing the July 16 deadline for carriers and text providers to support routing 988 traffic to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, much of Lifeline's focus is making sure there's the capacity to handle that traffic, its administrator and its funder told an FCBA CLE Wednesday.
The updated RKF Engineering Solutions study on opening the 12 GHz band for 5G (see 2205200038) "tinkers at the margins .... yet perpetuates most of the flaws of its original report" and introduces new ones aimed at masking interference issues, SpaceX said Monday in docket 20-443. Problems include modeling a terrestrial deployment covering only 10% of the population in each license area and assuming the entire 10.7-12.7 GHz band is available for SpaceX downlinks. It said there's no reason to think any of the parameters in RKF's modeling reflect the mobile service the FCC has been asked to create in the band. SpaceX hasn't submitted any engineering declaration on engineering studies that show higher-power terrestrial operations in the 12 Ghz band can coexist with non-geostationary orbit operations there, Dish Network said. It said SpaceX is seemingly ignoring likely problems with its own proposed second-generation constellation while it raises red flags about the 12 GHz band.
Redesignate USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group (ITG) as the registered consortium to head industry efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful calls, said NCTA and CTIA in comments posted Monday in docket 20-22 (see 2204200018). USTelecom was first designated in 2020 and redesignated in 2021. The ITG, established in 2015, "has played a central role in combatting illegal robocalls," said USTelecom. The ITG has "successfully fulfilled" its mandate since 2020, CTIA commented: It "remains best qualified to serve as the registered consortium." The ITG's "neutral framework consistently and effectively promotes the type of widespread participation necessary for success," the group said, citing "significant growth in industry participation." The FCC received a letter of intent from ZipDX expressing interest in being designated as the registered consortium in May. It's the second time ZipDX submitted a letter and called itself the "most competent applicant." ZipDX raised concerns about the ITG's potential for "associated intrinsic bias" because of its funding sources: "While there may be no explicit evidence of such allegiances, it is an obvious consideration." The FCC Enforcement Bureau said in its 2021 order redesignating the ITG that its "multi-member structure ensures neutrality and reflects openness" (see 2108250081). NTCA, which has several members that sit on the ITG's executive committee, said USTelecom "continues to build on its efforts to combat robocalls" and initiated nearly 2,900 tracebacks between January and November 2021. It "commend[ed] ZipDX’s participation in traceback efforts and its commitment to curbing illegal robocalls" but noted choosing another consortium would "hamper the industry’s ongoing and important efforts to protect consumers." The ITG’s record "speaks for itself concerning neutrality through consistent and even-handed implementation," USTelecom said.