The FCC approved a notice proposing rules implementing Section 7 of the Communications Act, designed to speed review of “innovative” technologies and services, over objections by Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn Thursday. Chairman Ajit Pai said the goal is simple -- get out of the way of innovation. “Bureaucratic inertia” is a common barrier, he said. The agency has been taking steps on his watch to promote innovation, from approving the first LTE-unlicensed devices to approving ATSC 3.0 standards to greenlighting a power-at-a-distance wireless transmitter, Pai said: “We have stood on the side of innovation, but these are ad hoc measures.”
ATSC 3.0 doesn’t raise novel questions about privacy and the FTC will have authority over any broadcaster violations of existing privacy rules under the new standard, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., in a letter released Tuesday. “The FCC intends to closely monitor the transition to Next Gen TV,” Pai said. Some of the new standard’s interactive features could require viewers to provide some personal information analogous to that required for some smartphone apps, Pai said. “If a consumer decides to provide his or her personal data, the broadcaster will be responsible for securing the data in accordance with its stated privacy and data security policies and will be subject to possible enforcement action by the FTC.” Geographically targeted advertisements that don’t require collection of personal information from customers won’t need rules requiring they opt in or out, Pai said. “There is nothing in the record” suggesting 3.0-compatible TVs and devices will be susceptible to hacking or viruses, Pai said. Internet connectivity isn't a new feature for TV, he said. The 3.0 order, then still in draft form, “continues a troubling pattern of indifference at the FCC towards consumer privacy,” Dingell wrote Pai in November (see 1711080052).
With the FCC order set to take effect March 5 authorizing voluntary deployment of ATSC 3.0 (see 1802010025), MPEG LA is encountering “a great deal of enthusiasm for an ATSC 3.0 pool license,” said spokesman Tom O’Reilly. Having announced in August a call for patents essential to the 3.0 suite of standards (see 1711010054), “to facilitate creation of a joint license for ATSC 3.0,” MPEG LA held two meetings on forming a patent pool “and will hold our third meeting next month,” said O’Reilly. “Fifteen companies are participating so far.” He gave no timeline for when a 3.0 patent pool might be operational. MPEG LA runs 15 patent pool programs, including one for nine licensors for some essential patents embedded in ATSC 1.0. The two largest joint-license programs MPEG LA administers in terms of the number of participating licensors are those it runs on behalf of 38 companies in the AVC/H.264 pool and 36 companies in the HEVC/H.265 pool. The FCC 3.0 order released Nov. 21 said the commission will use the first five years of 3.0 deployment to "monitor" how the marketplace handles royalties for essential patents, electing for now not to impose licensing rules on 3.0's rollout (see 1711210004).
RALEIGH -- Capitol Broadcasting remains “on the fence” whether to use 4K or 1080p in the transition to ATSC 3.0, Pete Sockett, head of engineering and operations, told us Monday, repeating comments he made at May’s ATSC conference (see 1705160044). Sockett spoke at a demonstration that Capitol organized with partners, including NBCUniversal, NAB, LG, Samsung and the Korean government-funded Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), to showcase 3.0's capabilities. In addition to showing 3.0 as a carrier for Ultra HD video, the demo also previewed 3.0-capable advanced emergency alerting on an LG TV and showcased a prototype 3.0 home gateway for interactive content developed by NAB Pilot.
A Tuesday House Homeland Security Communications Subcommittee hearing is likely to mirror a recent Senate Commerce Committee one in focus on the Jan. 13 false missile alert in Hawaii, but some witnesses are likely to contrast that incident with industry and other states’ best practices, communications sector officials and lobbyists said in interviews. The false warning already drew congressional scrutiny, particularly from Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and other members of the state’s delegation (see 1801160054, 1801170050, 1801240046 and 1801250061). A planned Feb. 16 House Communications Subcommittee hearing on the FCC budget is expected to partially focus on the Hawaii incident and other public safety communications issues (see 1802050025).
The FCC order authorizing ATSC 3.0 voluntary deployment is to take effect March 5, as it's being published in Friday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved the order Nov. 16 in a 3-2 party-line vote (see 1711160060).
Spectrum Co ATSC 3.0 spectrum consortium founded by Sinclair and Nexstar hires John Hane, ex-Pillsbury Winthrop, as president ... FCC Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force Chief of Staff Thom Parisi leaving agency to return to private sector ... Moses & Singer expands Intellectual Property practice, naming as partners Toby Butterfield from Frankfurt Kurnit and Gregory Shatan from Bortstein Legal Group ... CTA promotes Jean Foster to senior vice president-marketing and communications, new post ... Ribbon Communications moves Tony Scarfo to executive vice president-products and research and development; John McCready, who had that job and was chief strategy officer, remains in latter post; Scarfo left predecessor firm Sonus in 2016 and was doing consulting.
After “a strange” 2017 for broadcaster mergers and acquisitions, with pent-up demand leading to a burst of activity after the incentive auction was done, that pace looks to continue this year, said Wilkinson Barker broadcast lawyer Howard Liberman in a Digital Policy Institute webinar Thursday. He said small and mid-sized telecommunications company transactions, meanwhile, haven't been nearly as active, perhaps because of regulatory uncertainty under the Trump administration. Liberman said the ATSC 3.0 standard's rollout among broadcasters will likely come over the next two to three years. He said for viewers, it will mean more robust signals in a mobile environment as well as more enhanced features like better audio and multi-camera choices. Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner said the FCC's Title II rollback will likely lead to congressional action that brings back net neutrality rules that aren't "encumbered by heavy Title II regulations." Conversely, privacy rules are "in a holding pattern," though there's broad consensus on the need for "stronger and better" privacy rules. Consumer Policy Solutions President Debra Berlyn said it's a benefit to consumers that privacy rules are back before the FTC, where protections will be universal instead of limited by industries. "We don't want a patchwork of protections," she said. Entner said a key need for 5G implementation is more spectrum, and that, while the FCC is looking at 28, 39 and 60 GHz bands, more also needs to be freed up in the lower bands. The agency also needs work toward standardized rules to help with siting of new cell sites and acceleration of how quickly sites can be made operational, Entner said. He said consumers will be inundated with 5G marketing and messaging this year, with the first implementations coming by year’s end. He said consumer confusion will be inevitable because of the varied applications of 5G.
Questions about the origination of the recent false missile alert in Hawaii should be answered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency rather than the FCC, said FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes and several senators at a Commerce Committee hearing Thursday (see 1801240046), which FEMA officials didn't attend, despite being invited.
Though ATSC 3.0 will enable advancements in emergency alerts, it can’t address the problems of an outdated, underfunded emergency alert system (EAS) operated by personnel who may be undertrained, said Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance Executive Director John Lawson at an FCBA event on ATSC 3.0 Friday. Panelists at the event also spoke about the upcoming trials of ATSC 3.0 technology and the process remaining for the new standard to go into effect.