The government and some major customers are going to start pushing for more standardization for satellite connectivity providers, constellation executives said Monday at Satellite 2023. Several said an open network architecture and interoperability is the route to tying into mobile networks. However, Mangata Networks CEO Brian Holz said there's never satellite industry agreement on standards, and systems have to be designed instead to be adaptable.
Both Iridium and Lynk target the direct-to-handset universe, but they're seemingly worlds apart on their appraisal of potential market size for the service, with CEOs of the two companies frequently disagreeing during a panel Monday at Satellite 2023. The scant mobile network operator (MNO) investment in such supplemental coverage from space (SCS), and almost no one from the wireless industry attending the panel, is telling, Iridium CEO Matt Desch said.
Kansas lawmakers Thursday challenged opposition to SB-144, which would explicitly exempt streaming services and direct broadcast satellite operators from video service provider franchise fees. The bill would amend the state's Video Competition Act, making clear that DBS and streaming providers don't need video service provider authorization from the Kansas Corporation Commission. House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee took no action on the bill.
The FCC's single network future NPRM on its March agenda (see 2302230059) is expected to get 4-0 commissioner support, we were told.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is "impatient for some real action" on diversity and inclusion in tech employment ranks, she said Monday at a Communications Equity and Diversity Council forum. Diverse workforces have been shown demonstrably to be "a win/win for businesses and workers," but employment in the tech sector doesn't look like the population overall, she said. Many employees still "know what it's like to be 'the only,'" she said, noting her own experience as the FCC's only permanent female chair. She said "upskilling" -- particularly among underrepresented populations -- could help address a tight labor market and the job disruptions of an increasingly automated future. Multiple speakers said one challenge is the perception by employers that tech careers require expensive, four-year degrees. Hector Mujica, Google.org, Americas head of economic opportunity, said degree requirements for tech jobs disproportionately exclude rural, Black and Latino workers and are largely unnecessary. Antonio Tijerino, Hispanic Heritage Foundation CEO, said there's no shortage of talent but there needs to be more work in exposing, preparing and supporting diverse communities. Given particularly low unemployment rates, Mujica said there should be "better, broader" pathways for immigration and citizenship, plus improved rural internet connectivity. Michelle Gilliard, IBM Americas corporate social responsibility leader, said the Pell Grant system needs to expand to cover such areas as short-term and online learning. She also said there's a need for a shared, verifiable "digital credentialing system" for workers' skills and training.
Section 25.112(a)(3) is squarely in the sights of the satellite industry and allies, with numerous calls for its elimination Monday in docket 22-411. Multiple commenters opposed dismissing applications that contain curable errors or omissions. The satellite licensing streamlining NPRM was adopted 4-0 in December (see 2212210054).
With Verizon potentially starting to turn on Phase II C-band spectrum within weeks, the FCC needs to act now on a certification process for the second phase of the spectrum's accelerated clearing by the incumbent satellite operators there, Eutelsat told us. A certification framework issued in June would be "far too late to assure that satellite services are protected from harmful interference," a company executive emailed. Eutelsat has pushed for an expeditious issuing of the framework, but one isn't expected soon (see 2302070043). The FCC didn't comment.
The end seems nigh for affordable connectivity program (ACP) funding, with dicey odds of Congress acting before its money runs out in early 2024, speakers said Wednesday at ACA Connects' 2023 Washington summit. Small cable operator participation in the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program will depend on the rules governing it, they said.
Some National Content & Technology Cooperative cable operator members could start launching mobile service as soon as late Q2 or Q3 under an mobile virtual network operator agreement NCTC announced Tuesday with Reach Mobile, NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli said. In an interview, he and Reach CEO Harjot Saluja said the Reach offering was designed with different levels of customization available to NCTC's cable operator membership, with a handful of choices at the simplest end to more customization available at the other. All three service tiers give a white-labeled service with Reach providing back-office services and support, Saluja said. Borrelli said handsets will be available via Reach, but most subscribers coming through NCTC member companies will likely provide their own. Smaller cable operators generally don't have storefronts and likely won't "want to get into the whole retail/inventory experience," he said. They said NCTC member companies will have their own app in the Google Play and Apple's App Store where their customers can activate and manage their plans. Under the agreement, NCTC still has to select the underlying wireless network that will be offered to members. Borrelli said the co-op is still in discussions with carriers. Even minus NCTC members with their own arrangements with mobile network operators, more than 20 million customers of NCTC members would be eligible under the offering Borrelli said.
There's a lot of government interest in fortifying U.S. internet traffic routing security, but it's less clear what it can and should do, said Wilkinson Barker cybersecurity lawyer Clete Johnson Tuesday on an FCBA cybersecurity committee webinar. Noting the FCC's open proceeding on routing security that was launched in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said routing security doesn't line up well with traditional regulatory tools and their focus on prescriptive compliance. Johnson said the complexity of the issue doesn't necessarily match that approach.