FTC political appointees are prohibited from holding leadership roles in the American Bar Association, participating in ABA events or renewing ABA memberships, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced Feb. 14.
AT&T announced Friday that its board of directors elected CEO John Stankey as chair. Stankey replaces former FCC Chairman William Kennard, who was elected lead independent director. “As AT&T embarks on its comprehensive, Board-approved three-year strategic and capital allocation plan, this change provides the right governance structure for the Board,” Kennard said. A board member since 2014, Kennard was named chair in January 2021. Stankey became CEO and president five years ago.
Capital expenditures declined among major providers worldwide in Q3 2024, to $71.1 billion, down 6.1% from the same quarter in 2023, ResearchAndMarkets.com reported Monday. Reliance Jio’s capex was off 27.4% over the previous year, the steepest decline. Others that saw spending drop were Verizon (down 22.5%), Vodafone (20%), Deutsche Telekom (18.1%) and KDDI (16.3%), the report said. BSNL saw capex growth of 300.6%, followed by Telstra (52.3%) and BT (4.8%). Telcos reported $1.77 trillion in revenue, up 0.1% year over year, with labor costs of $262.4 billion, up 0.8%, the report said.
Sytel, which sells dialer and contact center products, urged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to rethink the agency's Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules to focus on “dialing outcomes” rather than the dialing method used. “Current TCPA interpretations focus on the capability of dialing systems rather than their actual use,” said a filing Friday in docket 02-278. “This has led to complex enforcement challenges and continuing legal uncertainty. As the FCC appreciates, it has led to an interpretation of the TCPA that the only safe dialing process is a manual one, eschewing the benefits that proper automation can bring.” Neither manual nor hybrid dialing methods, with people “trying to emulate predictive dialers, can achieve anything like the performance of automated predictive dialers,” the U.K.-based company said. “The idea that humans can by themselves dial and profitably manage predictive campaigns of any size, without causing considerable levels of nuisance calls to consumers, is unfounded.”
FCC claims that Telnyx didn't do enough to stop apparent scam calls made using its voice service platform are factually wrong, the company said Wednesday. Telnyx said it "has done everything and more than the FCC has required for Know-Your-Customer and customer due diligence procedures." FCC commissioners this week approved a proposed $4.5 million fine against the company; it was the first commission-level action under Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2502040065). In a statement, Telnyx said the FCC traditionally has expected providers to take reasonable steps to detect and block illegal traffic, and now the agency wants to impose fines "for limited unlawful calling activity that Telnyx not only did not originate but swiftly blocked within a matter of hours." It said the agency is trying to introduce "an unprecedented zero-tolerance requirement on providers through enforcement action, in the absence of any defined rules informing providers what is expected of them."
With the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) out of the picture, Lifeline's monthly benefits aren't covering the growing broadband affordability gap, the National Lifeline Association said in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted Wednesday (docket 21-450). NaLA said its most recent survey of more than 68,000 consumers found that 40% of respondents reduced their food spending to afford the monthly internet bill, 20% indicated they were unable to work remotely or accept shift work, and nearly 20% said their children were having difficulty completing homework. In addition, 36% reported having discontinued telehealth after ACP ended in 2024, and 70% said they relied on ACP and/or Lifeline benefits to access healthcare services, including telehealth. Lifeline’s $9.25 monthly subsidy “comes nowhere close to making basic retail internet service offerings affordable,” NaLA said, since most prepaid mobile broadband plans with at least 5GB of data and mobile hot spot cost $30 or more, and none offer a free smartphone. NaLA said it pushed for interim funding for a reformed ACP, and it supports long-term funding for a single low-income support program inside the USF.
Broadcom announced Tuesday the launch of Emulex Secure host bus adapters to encrypt data as it moves between servers and storage. “Encrypting mission-critical data is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have,” especially with the rise in ransomware attacks, Broadcom said. The average attack in 2024 cost victims $5.37 million, the company said: “Upcoming generative AI and quantum computers magnify the risk if data is not encrypted at all points in the data center including the network.”
Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment (REACH) countered the arguments made against its request for a stay of the FCC's one-to-one robotext consent rules (see 2501230037). Absent FCC action, the rules become effective Monday. “Contrary to the National Consumer and Privacy Groups’ contentions, the request for a stay aligns with both executive authority and the [Administrative Procedure Act’s] legal framework,” REACH said in a filing posted Friday in docket 02-278. “The request also ensures a fair and thorough review of the Rule, taking into consideration important issues that may affect small businesses, consumers, and broader market dynamics.”
The White House likely won't try clawing back BEAD money, wrote Jade Piros de Carvalho, Bonfire Infrastructure Group vice president-broadband advocacy and partnerships, on Friday. States and territories entered into signed agreements with NTIA when their initial proposals were approved. The agreements define the terms and conditions of federal grants, and they permit states to draw down funds, including immediate access to 2% of the money for administrative purposes, she said. While the Donald Trump administration in theory could seek to take back BEAD money, "breaching signed contracts with states probably won’t go over well with governors." She said that while there had been concerns that Trump's American Energy executive order would pause disbursement of BEAD funds, the administration made clear BEAD was not part of that executive order.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Thursday a new competitive grant program for digital literacy training and device access in underserved communities. The $15.5 million digital equity program will provide two-year capacity grants. Proposals are due by March 24. Hochul also touted the state's broadband affordability law taking effect, announcing that the state's ConnectAll initiative will invest $3 million to publicize the $15 broadband service offered to eligible households (see 2412130064).