Microsoft clashed Tuesday with tech associations over privacy legislation advancing in Delaware (see 2305160054).

Providers are at different stages of moving to the cloud, and are taking different approaches, speakers said during Silverlinings’ Cloud-Native 5G Summit Tuesday. Experts agreed the cloud is now seen as the network wave of the future.

State broadband officials are eager to move forward on NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program following the agency's announcement Monday of each state's funding totals (see 2306260007). Industry and advocates also emphasized the need for more participation in the FCC's affordable connectivity program so households can take advantage of new or upgraded infrastructure in their communities.

FCC nominee Anna Gomez likely faces a relatively easy road to confirmation after avoiding any real trouble during her Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing last week (see 2306220067), industry officials and others told us. Gomez was careful throughout the panel, never committing outright to voting for reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service, while also stressing the importance of FCC oversight. Some observers questioned whether the Senate would be able to confirm any Democrat to the fifth FCC seat if the Gomez nomination fails.

The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved three reports Monday, during a final, hybrid meeting under the current iteration, including on the use of virtualization technology to promote more reliable and secure 5Gm supply chain security and the use of hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) in 5G. Officials said the group approved 10 reports during its tenure.

NTIA announced funding allocations for its broadband, equity, access, and deployment program Monday. All entities will receive a formal notice of their allocations Friday, the agency said. The $42.5 billion program will be used for broadband deployment efforts, adoption and workforce development. Initial proposals may be submitted from July 1 through Dec. 1. States and territories will have access to 20% of their allocated funds once their proposal is approved by NTIA. Texas is receiving by far the largest BEAD award, at more than $3.3 billion.

Contrary to what the U.S. Bankruptcy Court decided, SES and Intelsat's C-Band Alliance agreement "is certainly not a model of clarity," U.S. District Judge Robert Payne for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled Friday as he reversed the Bankruptcy Court's denial of SES' $421 million claim against Intelsat for the collapse of the CBA. In his 57-page decision Friday (docket 3:22-cv-00668),Payne remanded the case to Bankruptcy Court. SES sought damages from the CBA's collapse as part of Intelsat's now-concluded Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see 2007140029). At oral argument in March, Payne was critical of the CBA agreement (see 2303200062).

More than three years after a 6 GHz Further NPRM was approved in April 2020 (see 2004230059), the FCC hasn't acted. Speculation in 2020 was that the agency could act before the end of the Trump administration (see 2012180057). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit largely upheld the 2020 6 GHz order 18 months ago (see 2112280047).

Broadcasters believe a letter from Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., could move FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to refresh the record on a nearly decade-old proceeding on classifying streaming services as MVPDs, but the programming networks don’t agree. Rosenworcel’s March 24 letter (see 2303310061) to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, “reflects her latest thinking on the matter,” emailed an FCC spokesperson Friday in response to questions about Rosenworcel’s stance and Cantwell's comments. The FCC “lacks the power to change these unambiguous provisions on its own,” the Chairwoman wrote then.

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