Providers asked for greater flexibility in notification times and type of information relayed to public safety answering points in response to the FCC’s NPRM to harmonize 911 outage reporting, in comments posted Monday in docket 15-80. Comments were due Friday (see 2106290046). PSAP notifications should be triggered by “reportable outages,” said T-Mobile. It said requiring originating service providers to notify PSAPs about commercial outages would “increase the volume of notifications received by PSAPs significantly” and “not provide information that could be used by PSAPs to mitigate the impact.” T-Mobile said providers should be given more than 30 minutes to send “actionable information." AT&T, Verizon and Lumen agreed. Keep the “as soon as possible” standard to prevent over-notification, AT&T said. The proposed timing “would risk confusion and miscommunication between service providers and PSAPS,” Verizon said. Lumen said the timing should be “more flexible to avoid publicizing unvetted facts that may confuse the public.” The National Emergency Number Association said to prioritize electronic notifications because voice communication “comes with significant limitations surrounding sharing, recording, analysis, and continuity.” ATIS said providers won’t know the root cause or extent of an outage within 30 minutes and “additional burden to the industry and potential confusion would outweigh the benefits.” CTIA said it would be “extremely difficult for that provider to verify the other material information the proposal requests within that timeframe.” The Competitive Carriers Association agreed and said carriers “risk supplying PSAPs with incomplete or inaccurate information.” APCO disagreed and said notifications “should occur as quickly as possible.” Requiring notification no later than 15 minutes from discovery “would provide a stronger incentive for service providers to automate their notifications,” it said. Lumen opposed including geographic information systems data instead of descriptions of areas affected. USTelecom said smaller providers would “have no way of immediately providing this type of information” because they don't collect it in real-time.
Country of origin cases
Comcast's Peacock, with 54 million signups, is rolling out to Europe later this year to Sky's 20 million customers, and the next aim is global availability of the streaming service, said the company Thursday. Comcast executives waved off the need for more mergers and acquisitions as a prerequisite to become a viable international streaming power, during a call with analysts. "I love the company we have," and more organic growth is ahead without further acquisitions, said CEO Brian Roberts. "I think we do have the scale. We don't need M&A."
Bipartisan Senate negotiators were finalizing language Wednesday for their long-sought infrastructure spending package, after reaching a deal earlier in the day to resolve outstanding broadband and other items that had divided the group in recent days (see 2107220040). The measure is expected to keep broadband funding in the package at the agreed-upon $65 billion (see 2106240070), Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters. It’s also expected to include an extension of the FCC-led emergency broadband benefit, part of what’s expected to be a split decision between Democratic and Republican positions on connectivity affordability, lobbyists told us.
The FCC should establish a definition for “functional equivalence” and create uniform metrics for telecom relay service providers, said deaf and hard of hearing advocates in recent interviews. Hundreds of deaf and hard of hearing consumers submitted comments in docket 10-51 over the past two weeks urging this. Stakeholders said functional equivalency means a relay user can call or text using one number and have access to technologies similar to those of hearing consumers.
The FCC unanimously voted to seek comment on collecting equal employment opportunity data from broadcasters through Form 395-B, said a docket 98-204 Further NPRM Monday. The data collection was originally part of a proceeding in 2004 that stalled over concerns about confidentiality. “After so much time, this pause turned into a standstill,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “We can do better than this.” The order stems from a draft circulated by Rosenworcel in February, and issues raised by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks in 2019 (see 2103260038). Failure to collect the EEO data “has hampered our ability to determine what regulatory actions are necessary to ensure equal employment opportunities,” said Starks. Rosenworcel commended Starks and Commissioner Brendan Carr for their collaboration here. The FNPRM seeks to “refresh the record regarding the collection of broadcaster workforce composition data and obtain further input on the legal, logistical, and technical issues surrounding FCC Form 395-B.” The item doesn’t appear to make specific proposals, and seeks comment on how confidentiality concerns should be handled, how the data collection interacts with court decisions on minority discrimination and recruitment, and whether the data should be “station-attributable.” Broadcasters had expressed concern that EEO data attributable to specific stations could be used against them in petitions to deny and similar filings. “An anonymous filing approach could impede” the FCC from contacting licensees if there are problems with the data, the FNPRM said. NAB said it is looking forward to reviewing the FNPRM and broadcasters "are committed to ensuring that they are able to recruit and retain a diverse workforce that represents the local communities they serve."
House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and ranking member Mike Turner, R-Ohio, filed the House version of the anti-Ligado Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer Access to Infrastructure Necessary (Retain) for GPS and Satellite Communications Act (S-2166) Thursday. Some lobbyists believe that portends a bid to attach it to the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. The measure would require Ligado to pay costs of GPS users whose operations are hurt by its planned L-band operations (see 2106230050). The bill protects “critical” GPS and satellite communications “networks by ensuring that any costs caused by private sector interference to their frequencies is covered by the private sector,” Cooper said. The Keep GPS Working Coalition and other opponents of Ligado’s L-band plan hailed the bill’s House filing. The Retain GPS and Satellite Communications Act “would put the burden to pay where it belongs: on Ligado,” said the Satellite Safety Alliance. Ligado didn’t comment Friday. The Senate Armed Services Committee remained mum whether the panel attached S-2166’s text or other anti-Ligado language to the version of the FY 2022 NDAA it advanced last week. An executive summary said the measure increases funding for “cutting-edge research and prototyping activities at universities, small businesses, defense labs and industry” on 5G, artificial intelligence and other “critical” technologies. The measure includes an additional $264 million for DOD cybersecurity work. It mandates “the establishment of the microelectronics research network, originally established in the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act.”
It's not just congressional Democrats upset about wireless industry lobbying and other efforts to keep a lower lid on customer surcharges for mental-health services related to hotlines, we found. State legislators are also irked, they said in recent interviews. Federal lawmakers continue to be upset, they said.
The push into games is in “the early stages,” said Netflix's Q2 shareholder letter. Games will be included free in subscriptions at no additional cost, with initial focus on mobile, it said Tuesday. “Since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games,” it said. Mobile is “a great platform for games,” said Greg Peters, chief operating officer and chief product officer. “It’s very mature. It’s got great enabling technology, tools, a great developer community, and the vast majority of our members have phones that are capable of great gameplay experiences.” The video streamer beat its global net subscriber additions target by 54% in Q2 (see 2107200068), and it’s forecasting 59% year-over-year net adds growth in Q3.
The House voted 319-105 Tuesday to pass en bloc the 5G-centric Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-3003) and four other telecom and media measures the chamber had originally intended to vote on Monday (see 2107190054). The other bills: House Resolution 277, the Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act (HR-678), Emergency Reporting Act (HR-1250) and Measuring the Economics Driving Investments and Access for Diversity Act (HR-1754).
The NARUC Telecom Committee advanced proposed resolutions on the emergency broadband benefit, outage and disaster information sharing and recommendations by the association’s broadband task force. At the panel’s partially virtual Tuesday meeting, members revised the EBB measure’s language on how long to extend EBB, after South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chairman Chris Nelson objected to NARUC seeking the benefit’s renewal. The proposals still require OK by the NARUC board Wednesday.