Supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service is in dire need of additional spectrum, AT&T Assistant Vice President-Public Policy Navid Motamed said Monday during an FCBA CLE. Regulatory and company speakers also noted that SCS issues of cross-border interference and coordination need to be settled. While some nations are crafting SCS rules frameworks, others are in a wait-and-see stance.
The FCC's proposed requirement that covered text providers support the georouting of text messages made to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to the appropriate local crisis center is receiving opposition. In docket 18-336 replies posted Friday, some communications industry interests and allies challenged the FCC's proposed implementation time frame and urged the agency to hold off for now on georouting requirements. Mental health interests didn't file reply comments but have urged the agency to act (see 2408080061). The 988 call georouting order approved unanimously at the FCC's October meeting included an NPRM about text georouting (see 2410170026).
Despite paying Inmarsat more than $1.7 billion under the terms of an L-band coordination agreement, Inmarsat never resolved terminal interference issues that impeded Ligado's use of the band, Ligado said in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. Ligado filed the lawsuit under seal last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware in conjunction with its Chapter 11 filing with the court (see 2501060026).
A federal appellate court panel on Friday seemed largely satisfied with FCC assertions that financier BIU will have an opportunity to bring its fraud-related claims before the agency if and when it gets a state court decision in its favor. A three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel heard oral argument Friday in BIU's challenge of the FCC allowing satellite operator Spectrum Five (S5) to withdraw a complaint against Inmarsat (see 2406100038) (docket 24-1189). BIU has a financial stake in S5.
Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) axing their planned Venu sports streaming joint venture is unsurprising, industry watchers said. The programmers announced Venu's demise early Friday (see 2501100002).
At the SEC's insistence, tech media and telecom (TMT) companies are increasingly warning investors and the public about cyberattack risks, as well as steps they're taking when incidents are discovered. The SEC began requiring that companies report on cybersecurity practices and incidents in 2023. And TMT companies’ cybersecurity disclosures in their 2024 10-K annual reports varied widely in depth and detail: TDS' totaled a little more than 300 words; Lumen's was more than 1,400.
Ligado will partner with AST SpaceMobile on direct-to-device (D2D) service, with AST compensating Ligado for access to Ligado spectrum. The arrangement comes as part of a Ligado restructuring of its debt announced Monday, a day after Ligado filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The FCC commissioners' unanimously adopting a retransmission consent blackout reporting requirement for multichannel video programming distributors (MVPD) likely doesn't mean the agency will also mandate rebates for subscribers due to those blackouts anytime soon, pay-TV and broadcast experts tell us. The blackout reporting order was released Friday. The FCC is unlikely to push rebates during the last days of outgoing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's administration and incoming Chairman Brendan Carr is unlikely to consider rebates, some pay-TV watchers say. Neither Rosenworcel's nor Carr's offices commented Monday.
Participation in BEAD bidding could vary widely among states, officials at broadband trade groups, state telecommunications organizations and other entities tell us. For example, some states, including Pennsylvania, could face low participation rates owing to onerous bidder requirements. In other instances, local rules facilitate BEAD participation.
Pointing to its work with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on evaluating technological approaches to georouting text messages, the wireless industry is advising that the FCC wait to implement georouting rules. That view was contained in docket 18-36 comments Monday and last week. Meanwhile, mental health and related interests strongly supported a text georouting requirement. The commission's 988 georouting order approved unanimously at its October meeting included an NPRM about text georouting (see 2410170026).