Charter Communications' plans to buy Liberty Broadband should give it much more flexibility, rather than having to take into account what Liberty -- which is a blocking minority shareholder in Charter -- wants, Recon Analytics' Roger Entner told us in an email. Under the deal Charter announced Wednesday, it's buying Liberty Broadband's stake in Charter, while Liberty Broadband spins off GCI into an independent company.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could be a big beneficiary of Donald Trump's election, with some seeing his SpaceX reaping rewards from changes to NTIA's broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program and the next FCC offering a warmer reception to SpaceX requests. Yet government ethics experts believe Musk and his businesses could face a particularly big challenge if he becomes leader of a government efficiency effort, as Trump promised during the campaign. "He's like a walking potential conflict of interest," said Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
Altice USA and WideOpenWest (WOW) took Q3 hits to their broadband subscriber numbers from the June end of the affordable connectivity program, though both would have lost subscribers regardless of ACP, the companies said. Announcing results after the market's close Monday, WOW said it expected Q3 to mark the end of its ACP-related losses. Last week, Comcast and Charter said that if not for ACP losses, their Q3 broadband subscriber numbers would have been in the black (see 2410310013 and 2411010006).
GPS spoofing and jamming, already at record levels, will only get worse, experts said Monday at a Hudson Institute event in Washington. Numerous available routes could ameliorate the problem, but there has been a lack of political and policy will, speakers said. FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington called for the agency to use its statutory authority to tackle spoofing and jamming.
As states gear up to spend tens of billions on subsidizing broadband network expansions, some also plan on designating public funds for "wraparound services," such as transportation and childcare for the broadband deployment workforce. Our analysis of states' broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program volume 2 plans found many states saying they will prioritize subgrant applicants that provide such services. Wireless Infrastructure Association President Patrick Halley told us states that anticipate or potentially could have funds remaining from BEAD deployment activities must begin thinking about using that money, including putting it toward workforce development needs.
The FCC's proposed rewrite of its submarine cable rules could put a variety of cybersecurity requirements on operators and bar them from using equipment or services on the agency's Covered List. The NPRM on the agency's Nov. 14 open meeting agenda also proposes significantly shortening cable landing licenses, from 25 years to three. Also on the agenda is a codification of many temporary provisions for authorization of geotargeted radio using program-originating FM boosters and a draft order on the caller ID authentication process aimed at further tackling unlawfully spoofed robocalls. The agenda items (see 2410300033) were made public Thursday.
Comcast is considering spinning off its cable networks -- though not streamer Peacock or its broadcast assets -- into a separate, publicly traded company, President Mike Cavanagh said Thursday as Comcast announced Q3 financial results. In addition, he noted Comcast is open to streaming partnerships with Paramount Global. The company said that, absent the impact of the end of the affordable connectivity program (ACP), it would have been in the black with broadband net adds.
Commerce’s proposed restrictions on sales or imports of connected vehicles using hardware or software tied to Russia or China (see 2409220001) is seeing pushback from communications and tech industry and adjacent groups over the compliance deadlines. Comments in the NPRM (docket 240919-0245) were due Monday. Some see the Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) NPRM as pointing toward a wider eventual campaign against all connected Chinese and Russian devices (see 2409250006).
A small, but steady stream of defaults is hitting the rural deployment opportunity fund program, with many providers citing inflation as the cause, program watchers and participants tell us. A small burst of RDOF defaults occurred in recent days, including Cable One telling the FCC it's dropping 902 census block group projects in Idaho and Missouri (see 2410180033) and Mercury Broadband defaulting in 129 census block groups across four states. Since Sept. 1, Pinpoint Communications announced defaults of three census block groups, RiverStreet Communications had six and Lumen nine. It's unclear whether RDOF default locations will receive connectivity elsewhere, such as with NTIA's broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program.
FCC commissioners, along party lines, released a notice of inquiry Wednesday examining how easy -- or not -- it is to cancel cable, broadband, satellite TV and voice services and whether cancellation should be as simple and straightforward as enrolling often is. The NOI, adopted 3-2 Oct. 10, also raises the idea of the FCC requiring live customer service representatives. Comments are due Nov. 22, replies Dec. 9, in docket 24-472.