The FCC's proposed "all-in" video pricing rules for cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators' bills and promotional materials wouldn't cover other MVPDs, though the agency in the NPRM adopted last week and released Tuesday seeks comment on whether such rules should also cover them, and whether it has the authority to do so. Consumer advocates expected the item on circulation to pass (see 2303270043). NCTA, ACA Connects, DirecTV and Dish Network didn't comment.
Expect sizable DOCSIS 4.0 technology rollouts among cable ISPs starting in 2024 as they look to set the stage for multi-gig fixed broadband speeds, cable companies and experts said. It will likely be mid- to late next year when rollouts of scale start, and widespread deployment will take years, said Dan Whalen, CEO of broadband access technology company ATX Networks.
Major broadcasters are banking heavily on ATSC 3.0-enabled datacasting services as a significant future revenue stream, speakers said Thursday at a NextGen TV conference in Washington. Numerous broadcasters said one big NextGen hurdle remains the dearth of ATSC 3.0 receivers and 3.0-compatible TV sets deployed and in use.
Dish Network has likely made its Wednesday deadline for its 5G wireless network covering 70% of the U.S. population, though its 2025 coverage requirement -- with requirements for each individual license -- could be a bigger challenge, wireless industry experts told us. Dish and the FCC didn't comment, though Dish Executive Vice President of Network Development Dave Mayo said at the CTIA 5G Summit last month the company would meet the FCC-set milestone. Dish's final buildout deadline is June 14, 2025, for it to offer 5G to at least 75% of the population in each partial economic area.
The FCC's proposal to limit mobile supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operations to co-channel licenses held by one party in geographically independent areas (GIA) is getting pushback from some satellite and terrestrial interests, per NPRM reply comments in docket 23-65 Tuesday. There was wireless and satellite disagreement on whether a waiver system suffices or if the agency needs SCS rules. The SCS NPRM was adopted 4-0 in March (see 2303160009) and the wireless industry argued in initial comments SCS rules are premature (see 2305150007).
The satellite industry is playing defense at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference against potentially opening some bands allocated for satellite use to terrestrial mobile service, said Hogan Lovells space lawyer George John Thursday at an ABA space law symposium in Washington.
Pennsylvania House committees passed bills on 911 and 988 funding Wednesday, though some lawmakers voiced concerns about the state's means of funding of the emergency call services.
The growing cadence of commercial space launches is facing a bottleneck from lack of available launch sites, space launch experts told us. A plethora of launch providers is operating or developing launch capability, but facilities “are where we started to get the hiccups," said space lawyer Bryce Kennedy, Association of Commercial Space Professionals president.
As the FCC mulls a framework for direct-to-handset satellite service, satellite interests told us discussions about service rules are a relatively low priority. Service rules came up in comments last month in the agency's supplemental coverage from space (SCS) framework NPRM (see 2305150007), but many SCS interested parties were silent.
Foreign-flagged satellites providing service to the U.S. should be subject to the same orbital debris mitigation rules as U.S. licensed operators, FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington said on a Hudson Institute panel Monday. Market access and license equilibration is the "most significant card" the agency can play in debris mitigation, he said. That would incentivize other nations to harmonize their debris rules with the U.S., he said. Simington also urged passage of the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (HR-1338). He said creating the Space Bureau was important, but it needs to be paired with formal congressional expansion of bureau resources. He said it needs at least 100 full-time employees, mostly engineers. Absent those bodies, he said, the FCC runs the risk of more operators heading to other nations to get regulatory approvals. Future approvals should be conditioned on retrospective assessments of operators' failures or successes in meeting orbital debris mitigation benchmarks, he said. Noting the FCC has asserted its regulatory oversight over debris for years, Simington said it clearly has authority to oversee debris. Rather than waiting for international consensus on debris, he said, "We may as well wait on Godot." Since the U.S. will either harmonize other nations to its debris rules or inevitably be harmonized by others, "I choose the former," he said. Debris is inherently an international issue, and needs to be addressed that way, said Darren McKnight, LeoLabs senior technical fellow. Much of the debris problem is from large derelict rocket bodies that have been left in space, and there should be a balance of mitigation efforts with remediation, he said. The behavior of satellite operators is more important than the numbers of satellites any one of them puts up, he said.