Commenters raised concerns on an April petition by the Shortwave Modernization Coalition (SMC) asking the FCC to launch a rulemaking to amend its eligibility and technical rules for industrial/business pool licensees to authorize licensed use of frequencies above 2 MHz and below 25 MHz for fixed, long-distance, non-voice communications (see 2305010053). Through experimental use of 2-25 MHz band frequencies “SMC members have developed and refined technologies to, among other things, enhance spectrum sharing in the band without materially increasing the risk of harmful interference to other authorized … users,” SMC said.
AT&T is working with the EPA to address questions about its legacy lead-sheathed telecom cable (see 2307210004) but questions the health risk to the public, CEO John Stankey said Wednesday as the company reported Q2 results. In April, AT&T’s stock price fell more than 10% after free cash flow (FCF) was below analyst expectations. AT&T reported FCF of $4.2 billion, up $1 billion in the first-half of 2023 compared with last year, and projected full-year FCF of $16 billion or better. AT&T’s stock price rose less than 1% Wednesday, closing at $14.90.
Verizon added 384,000 fixed wireless access customers in Q2, with 8,000 net postpaid phone adds, as the carrier Tuesday became the first of the big three wireless providers to report. Despite questions about legacy lead-sheathed telecom cables used by Verizon (see 2307210004), the company maintained its full-year earnings and revenue guidance. Officials said it's too early to estimate the cost of lead remediation. AT&T reports Wednesday.
The FCC remains focused on the lower 3 GHz band for commercial use and will consider an auction of spectrum remaining, or returned, from past auctions when its auction authority is restored, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The U.S. must lead the world on 5G, which is critical to the U.S. economy and to export democratic values “to the rest of the world,” she said. Rosenworcel spoke with Clete Johnson, CSIS senior fellow.
Wireless carriers disagree with public safety over some FCC proposals for revised requirements for wireless emergency alerts, based on comments to the FCC. The Further NPRM, approved 4-0 in April, proposes to require participating providers to ensure mobile devices can translate alerts into the 13 most commonly spoken languages in the U.S. aside from English, to send thumbnail-sized images in WEA messages, and other changes (see 2304200040). Comments were due Friday in docket 15-94.
The U.S. shouldn’t look to the citizens broadband radio service band as a model for future sharing if only because it’s based on old technology and doesn’t reflect advances in sharing technology, said Peter Rysavy of Rysavy Research at an American Enterprise Institute 5G forum Thursday. Other experts said the U.S. will be hobbled on spectrum until Congress reauthorizes FCC spectrum auction authority.
China is probably “at least” two or three years behind the U.S. in generative AI, said Samm Sacks, cyber policy fellow at New America and senior fellow at Yale Law School, during a Brookings webinar Wednesday. China appears to be relying on “iterations off of cutting edge research” published in other countries, she said. Chinese officials are struggling with how to balance information control with their desire to lead the world on AI, she said. “AI generates and disseminates information that’s of real concern to the Communist Party leadership,” she said. Cyberspace Administration of China (CCA) has “really been in the driver’s seat” on AI regulation, but the Ministry of Science and Technology is “likely going to have the pen for China’s AI law, which is in the works,” Sacks said. The CCA would likely take a more conservative stance on AI rules than the ministry, she said. Chinese censorship “has a limiting effect on the availability and quality of data,” she said. Another issue for China is U.S. restrictions on access to the most advanced semiconductors, and the Chinese semiconductor industry is “generally several generations behind,” she said. China has been relying on a loophole to use cloud service providers to “rent access” to advanced chips, she said: “We need to watch is this an area where the U.S. government is going to come in and try to close the loophole. How successful will China’s AI ambitions be given these constraints from the U.S.?” Marietje Schaake, Stanford University Cyber Policy Center international policy director, urged flexibility in EU regulations as negotiations continue between the European Council and the European Parliament. “We may not know what will come next, but we do know that something else will come next and generative AI is certainly not the last disruptive iteration” of AI, she said.
The March expiration of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority threatens U.S. competitiveness with China, Clete Johnson, Center for Strategic and International Studies senior fellow-strategic technologies, warned during a Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Johnson is the author of a new CSIS paper arguing for reallocating more federal airwaves for commercial use.
NTIA is fully engaged in the development of a national spectrum strategy (see 2301090035) and intends to release it this year, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson told the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee Tuesday. “We’re deep into it,” he said, noting that NTIA is working closely with the White House and at the other federal agencies, including the FCC. “People are deeply engaged right now,” he said. The meeting was CSMAC's first to include an in-person option since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Monday was the deadline for carriers to submit a request to the FCC under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to remove unsecure equipment from their networks. Congress has been examining the issue but so far failed to provide additional money to fund removal of unsecure gear (see 2307130069). The Competitive Carriers Association said the deadline speaks to looming problems for smaller carriers. “Because Congress has not yet fully funded the Program, carriers are forced to undertake the endeavor of removing untrusted equipment with 40% of otherwise approved cost estimates to completely remove, replace, and destroy this untrusted equipment,” CCA CEO Tim Donovan said. “Absent full funding, networks in many rural and sensitive parts of our country are at ever-increasing risk of breaking down and going dark,” Donovan said: “Because of the funding shortfall, impacted carriers must make decisions to ‘rip’ but not ‘replace,’ including in areas where no other carrier provides service. This dire situation ignores our country’s national security and the connectivity of millions of Americans.” Congress’ inaction “has created a scenario that not only risks connectivity across rural America but undermines the nation’s faith in the security of our … networks,” a Telecommunications Industry Association spokesperson emailed. The group called for action. “TIA appreciates Congress’ work on increasing U.S. competitiveness with China and examining the risks posed by Huawei and ZTE equipment, however every day there are U.S. networks operating that contain equipment Congress has determined unsafe, poses a risk to our national security,” the spokesperson said. “It is essential that Congress move swiftly to address the shortfall,” said Jill Canfield, NTCA general counsel. “It is a national priority to remove unsecure equipment from the networks, but without the funding to replace noncompliant equipment, consumers living and working in rural America are at risk of losing service,” Canfield said. “It’s a classical unfunded mandate,” said Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner, who warned some networks may “go dark.”