Steptoe & Johnson formally changed its name to Steptoe, the law firm said Friday.

NCTA representatives raised concerns about proposed data breach reporting requirements, set for a Dec. 13 FCC commissioner vote. The filing was the first in the data breach docket since the draft order was circulated (see 2311220047). “By expanding both the data covered by the rules and the types of harms that might trigger reporting and notification, the proposed regime would substantially increase the volume of reporting and customer notifications, lead to considerable notice fatigue by customers, and unnecessarily increase the burdens on providers, without producing any meaningful benefit or valuable insight to the Commission or other federal agencies,” said the filing, posted Wednesday in docket 22-21. NCTA met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Anna Gomez, joined by representatives of Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Enterprises.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau and four state attorneys general signed memorandums of understanding on privacy, data protection and cybersecurity, the first time such enforcement partnerships have been crafted, the FCC said Wednesday. The FCC and Connecticut, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania’s Democratic AGs will coordinate efforts and share expertise and resources under the pact, said the federal agency. The FCC and state AGs “share close and common legal interests in working cooperatively to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute or otherwise take enforcement action in relation to privacy, data protection, or cybersecurity issues” under sections 201 and 222 of the Communications Act, said the MOUs. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said, “Defending consumer privacy is an all-of-government responsibility and a shared challenge.” More states are welcome to join the partnership, she added. FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal said the agreement “will allow us to maximize our efforts to address risks arising from the misuse or mishandling of sensitive data we entrust with service providers and the continued threats posed by cybercriminals and foreign adversaries.” New York AG Letitia James (D) said, “This partnership between state and federal enforcement leaders will help strengthen our ability to protect consumers’ privacy and hold companies that violate the law accountable.” Also applauding the collaboration was Illinois AG Kwame Raoul (D), who noted, “Similar state and federal partnerships have allowed us to successfully target perpetrators of illegal robocalls.”

Feb. 5 is the deadline for C-band clearing reimbursement claims up through the end of 2023 to be submitted to the C-Band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse, with July 1 the deadline for reimbursement of costs incurred in 2024, the FCC Wireless Bureau ordered Tuesday. The bureau deferred action on deadlines by which the clearinghouse had to process claims and by which it was to complete its work. It said too many variables outside the clearinghouse's control could influence its ability to make a determination on a claim within a 90-day span, and called setting a final deadline "premature."

The FCC has released a new version of its disaster information reporting system, effective immediately, the Public Safety Bureau said Monday. The legacy DIRS system was decommissioned, the bureau said: DIRS “has been modernized to enhance security and network features to better ensure the integrity of the system.”

SpaceX submitted further technical analysis aimed at showing its proposed supplemental coverage from space service with T-Mobile won't cause harmful interference. The eight pages of analysis submitted Friday in FCC docket 23-135 are a continuation of its battle with Omnispace over whether SpaceX's original technical submission was sufficient (see 2311200029, 2311270042).

5G mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 1.6 billion by the end of 2023 and exceed 5.3 billion in 2029, Ericsson said Thursday as it released its much-watched mobility report. In Q3, providers added 163 million 5G subscriptions worldwide. The North American region is expected to have the highest 5G penetration rate by year's end at 61%, more than double that in Europe. About 85% of the world’s population is expected to have access to 5G by the end of 2029, the report found. Ericsson also projected cellular IoT connections will reach 3 billion in 2023. In addition, data use is soaring. Mobile network data increased 33% in a year through Q3 and the average smartphone is expected to use 56 GB of data per month at the end of 2029, Ericsson said. “The ongoing surge in data traffic remains a strong driver of demand for mobile networks,” the report said: “Most traffic is generated indoors, where people typically spend the majority of their time. There is, however, a growing need to extend 5G mid-band coverage indoors to ensure a comprehensive 5G experience.” Carriers continue to deploy 5G “despite a weaker global economy and geopolitical uncertainties,” Ericsson found. Globally, about 280 providers have launched commercial 5G services, with more than 40 deploying a 5G stand-alone network. 5G stand-alone “is becoming well established,” which “enables new capabilities such as 5G native voice … and new services like network slicing and user equipment route selection policy,” the report said.

The FCC is posting “plain-language summaries” of NPRMs, Further NPRMs and public notices beginning with more than 20 that were published in the Federal Register since July 25, said a Tuesday notice from the Office of General Counsel. “The summaries provide an interested non-specialist with a brief overview of the FCC’s proposed rules to facilitate public engagement with the rulemaking, consistent with the Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2023,” the notice said.

Liberty Media's president-CEO is Greg Maffei (see 2311160076).

The FCC released the third iteration of its national broadband map Friday, showing nearly 1 million additional homes and businesses having access to high-speed internet access since the last iteration. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in an FCC note that with "each refresh of the map we are more confident in the accuracy of the data." The map included an additional 800,000 broadband serviceable locations and "any changes in the number of locations will overwhelmingly reflect on-the-ground changes such as the construction of new housing," Rosenworcel said. About 4.8 million challenges to provider-reported availability were made to date, with more than 1.5 million location challenges accepted. "We’ve also seen hundreds of corrections to provider reported data based on FCC-initiated verification efforts," Rosenworcel noted.