Some in the weather community -- characterized by Ligado as being plagued by "widespread misunderstanding" regarding how its broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) plans shouldn't threaten National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operations (see 1611210031) -- haven't been mollified by the company's attempts at clearing the air. "Ligado must be living in a post-truth world," David Titley, director, of Penn State University Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk, told us.
Some opposition to Globalstar broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) plans is falling by the wayside, but at least one critic still has major issues with the company's spectrum plans. And, given the forthcoming change in White House administration, the likelihood the FCC moves on Globalstar's proposal between now and the Trump administration's start could be slim, lawyers representing interested parties and satellite industry sources us.
When Cablevision moved the Game Show Network (GSN) from the expanded basic tier to the Sports Pak tier in 2011, the business reasons it gave were pretexts, said FCC Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel in a 70-page initial decision Wednesday, calling the retiering discrimination. Cablevision parent Altice USA said it "respectfully disagree[s] with the ALJ’s decision and fully intend[s] to appeal" to the full FCC. GSN outside counsel Stephen Weiswasser of Covington & Burling emailed us that the network is reviewing its own options.
Pointing to what it considers extensive confusion in the weather community, Ligado is trying to make clear its case that its broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) plans aren't a threat to the plethora of sensors the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses to track weather conditions. "We don't know why there is such confusion, but there is," said Ligado outside counsel Gerard Waldron of Covington and Burling Monday, as the company filed at the FCC a 10-page presentation on NOAA's data collection system in RM-11681. Ligado repeatedly sought an NPRM, and Waldron said that would be the best way to clear any confusion.
Antitrust experts are in the dark about how a Trump administration might look at antitrust issues before the DOJ, or how substantially the change from a Democratic White House to a Republican one will influence the Antitrust Division's take on issues like takeovers. Both Democratic and Republican White Houses have been equally vigorous about going after price-fixing cartels or antitrust criminal violations, but it's not clear what a Trump administration might do about antitrust questions beyond that low-hanging fruit, former Senate Antitrust Subcommittee general counsel Seth Bloom told us.
While Comcast and Charter Communications move toward launching mobile offerings, wireless and cable experts and observers are mixed on whether other operators will follow suit, with some seeing the possibility of smaller operators collectively creating a mobile network. Meanwhile, those major operators likely will feel pressure quickly to divert as much traffic as possible from a wireless carrier's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which could mean either big cable ISP investments in their own back ends or acquisitions of wireless companies themselves, we were told.
Panelists at a Digital Policy Institute webinar Wednesday called for the next Congress to undertake a major overhaul of laws dealing with the video market. "These video laws are from a while ago; they are not aging all that well," said Brent Skorup, a fellow at the George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. Echoing the sentiment by calling a rewrite "a no-brainer," Nicol Turner-Lee, a Brookings Institution fellow who recently left the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, said a rewrite could be one rare area of bipartisan support. Some similarly have seen Congress as having a window for bipartisan action on such efforts as an overhaul of the 1996 Telecom Act (see 1611150038).
Mushrooming plans for non-geostationary (NGSO) mega constellations should drive the FCC to update or tweak some of its satellite regulations but don't necessitate a wholesale revamp of the rules, speakers said at an FCBA CLE. The rules set up years ago governing, for example, in-line events didn't anticipate the existence of massive NGSO constellations and thus might need to be revisited, FCC International Bureau Satellite Division Chief Jose Albuquerque said Tuesday night. "The regulatory framework is already there -- it's just small adjustments."
Eleven companies are proposing the launch of more than 5,000 non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) space stations in the Ku- and Ka-bands in coming years that could in some way conflict with OneWeb plans for its own 720-satellite low earth orbit (LEO) constellation (see 1604290016). Tuesday was the deadline for processing round applications for NGSO satellites that would operate in the same frequency bands as OneWeb (see 1607180006). OneWeb Vice President-Regulatory Kalpak Gude told us the company sees the plethora of proposals as validation of its own plans. "I think the next step is for us all to review the plans that have been filed and see what are the coordination challenges," he emailed Wednesday. "The reality is that it is unlikely that all the systems get built but that some will. Coordination will no doubt be a challenge but engineers can craft solutions only when they see the real details of proposed systems." According to the FCC, staff will review the applications to ensure they are complete and then put them out on public notice.
A U.S. District Court finding in favor of BMG Rights Management in its torrent piracy lawsuit against Cox Communications ignores Congress' intent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the practical limitations conduit ISPs have in addressing alleged infringement, multiple parties said in amicus curiae briefs filed Monday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Various public interest, educational and library groups meanwhile pushed the appellate court to take a different approach to defining what is a repeat copyright infringer. BMG's response brief in the appeal is due Dec. 12.