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).
Small and mid-sized cable operators are largely bullish about President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration and his choice of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to head the agency, expecting aggressive deregulation, ACA Connects President Grant Spellmeyer said during an interview with Communications Daily. Spellmeyer discussed the industry group's 2025 priorities, growing questions surrounding BEAD, and what one does during the lame-duck weeks before inauguration and a new administration. The following transcript was edited for length and clarity.
Incarcerated people's communications service (IPCS) providers pushed back against FCC proposals for setting uniform service quality standards. While they also argued for redoing the reimbursement process adopted earlier this year, that argument is seeing opposition. Reply comments were filed this week in docket 12-375. The FCC's IPCS order, adopted in July, included a Further NPRM seeking comment on establishing video IPCS rates, updating the definition of jails and prisons, and addressing other service quality issues (see 2407180039).
Saying China-affiliated parties have compromised telecom networks, stolen customer call record data and accessed private communications of senior U.S. officials, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday issued mobile communications best practices guidance that it said mirrors advice it's giving federal agencies and Congress. "There is no single solution," but the guidance's content will enhance security, Jeff Greene, executive assistant director-cybersecurity, DHS' CISA, told press members.
Federal appellate Judge Robert Luck repeatedly expressed skepticism Wednesday about the one-to-one robotext consent policy the FCC adopted a year ago (see 2312130019). During roughly 33 minutes of oral argument before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (docket 24-10277), Luck and Matthew Dunne from the FCC Office of General Counsel repeatedly circled around the issue of whether the agency went too far in implementation. The Insurance Marketing Coalition (IMC) is challenging the FCC order, arguing that the agency exceeded its Telephone Consumer Protection Act statutory authority (see 2405170005). Some observers had predicted the FCC could face an 11th Circuit having particular misgivings regarding regulatory agency reach (see 2412060029).