Priorities like network reliability are starting to eclipse cable’s focus on faster broadband speeds, according to cable operators and industry officials. Since most cable subscribers aren’t using the capacity available to them on a daily basis, further speed gains are less a way of differentiating from competitors, CableLabs Chief Technology Officer Mark Bridges told us in an interview.
U.S. ISPs face a bigger cybersecurity threat today because nations representing that threat work together like never before, Wilkinson Barker’s Clete Johnson said Wednesday. Other experts said cybersecurity plans are rightly a requirement of receiving funding under the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
California should shed carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations in many parts of the state, carriers that are subject to those regulations said in comments posted this week at the California Public Utilities Commission. Just don’t extend the rules to other kinds of companies, warned a cable broadband association, whose members are free from such regulations. However, consumer advocates said COLR obligations remain necessary and should be updated to include high-speed internet service, not just voice.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. Lawsuits added since the last update are marked with an *.
DOJ said current laws are sufficient to prosecute child sexual abuse material (CSAM) crimes, including AI-generated deep fakes, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
While expectations are that 6G will be commercialized by 2030, large scale deployments will likely come later, Milap Majmundar, AT&T director-advanced radio access network technology, standards and spectrum, said Tuesday at RCR Wireless’ 6G Forum. In addition, other speakers warned that finding new licensed bands for 6G could prove difficult.
Universal service "has been an essential component" of federal telecom policy since the FCC's creation, the agency argued in a petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court. Filed Monday (docket 24-354), the FCC's petition said the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in favor of Consumers' Research's challenge of the Universal Service Fund contribution methodology was "incorrect." Moreover, the agency said it "did not delegate governmental power" when it designated the Universal Service Administrative Co. as USF administrator (see 2407240043).
Space sustainability advocates are pessimistic about the chances that the FCC will require environmental reviews for proposed satellites and constellations anytime soon. Such reviews were a central part of the International Dark-Sky Association's (ISDA) unsuccessful legal challenge of the FCC's approval of SpaceX's second-generation satellite constellation (see 2407120031). Last month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) launched a letter-writing campaign urging environmental reviews of satellite mega constellations (see 2408280002).
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is considering regulating telecommunications companies with age-verification rules that normally are reserved for social media platforms.
Don't expect a DirecTV/Dish Network deal to face the same anticompetitive obstacles as a similar merger attempt did 22 years ago, antitrust and FCC experts tell us. The two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) companies said Monday they reached an agreement where DirecTV would buy EchoStar's Dish and Sling video distribution businesses for $1. DirecTV will also assume an estimated $9.75 billion in Dish DBS debt. The companies said they expect regulatory approval before the end of next year.