The FCC’s draft order on creating a standardized process for authorizing content-originating FM boosters necessary for geotargeted radio ads is expected to be unanimously approved during the commissioners' Nov. 21 open meeting, industry and agency officials told us.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions. New suits since the last update are marked with an *.
California Public Utilities Commission members Thursday supported regulating interconnected VoIP. Commissioners at the livestreamed meeting backed the controversial order as part of a unanimous vote on a consent agenda. Also at the meeting, the CPUC waived penalties for Verizon related to migrating Tracfone customers and approved nearly $160 million in last-mile broadband grants from the agency’s federal funding account and $50 million from the broadband loan loss reserve program.
There’s no evidence malicious cyberactivity had a “material impact on the security or integrity” of U.S. election infrastructure on Tuesday, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said Wednesday. A CISA official said Tuesday the agency hadn’t detected “national-level” foreign interference campaigns targeting the presidential election (see 2411050047). U.S. election infrastructure “has never been more secure and the election community never better prepared to deliver safe, secure, free, and fair elections for the American people,” said Easterly. “This is what we saw yesterday in the peaceful and secure exercise of democracy.” The FBI said in a statement Tuesday that it was aware of bomb threats at polling locations in several states. Many of the threats appeared to "originate from Russian email domains," the bureau said. "None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far."
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If not for the end of the affordable connectivity program, Charter Communications would have added broadband subscribers in Q3, CEO Chris Winfrey said Friday as it announced Q3 results. Comcast said the same about its Q3 broadband losses Thursday (see 2410310013). Charter said it lost 113,000 residential internet customers in the quarter. CFO Jessica Fischer said it retained the vast majority of subscribers who were previously receiving an ACP benefit. She said Q4 will likely see 100,000 internet subscriber disconnects for non-pay, as well as some voluntary disconnects, with ACP's end factoring in both. After Q4, the one-time impact from the end of the ACP program should be completed. Winfrey said Charter saw "significant" initial impact from hurricanes Milton and Helene due to power outages and downed poles and trees. He said all but roughly 10,000 customers have had their service restored. He said Charter is restoring service in the Asheville, North Carolina, area and pockets of Tampa Bay. Fischer said Charter anticipates 400,000 new subsidized rural passings in 2024 -- 35% more than in 2023, but lower than its original 2024 plan of 450,000 as it moved construction labor to storm-damaged areas. Winfrey said Charter now offers symmetrical, multi-gigabit speeds in eight markets, including Cincinnati, Dallas, Louisville and Rochester, New York, and is broadly marketing it. Network upgrades to bring symmetrical multi-gig speeds to other markets will be done by year's end. He said Charter's network upgrade should be done in 2027. Charter ended Q3 with 28.2 million residential internet subscribers, down from 28.6 million year over year; 12.4 million residential video subscribers, down from 13.8 million; 5.9 million residential voice subscribers, down from 7 million; and 9.1 million residential mobile lines, up from 7 million. It had revenue of $13.8 billion for the most-recent quarter, up from $13.6 billion the same quarter a year prior. MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett wrote that going forward, Charter's broadband losses will be smaller "now that the worst of the ACP impact has been felt." He said fixed wireless access and fiber to the home competition also likely has peaked, "even if only slightly so."
As states gear up to spend tens of billions on subsidizing broadband network expansions, some also plan on designating public funds for "wraparound services," such as transportation and childcare for the broadband deployment workforce. Our analysis of states' broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program volume 2 plans found many states saying they will prioritize subgrant applicants that provide such services. Wireless Infrastructure Association President Patrick Halley told us states that anticipate or potentially could have funds remaining from BEAD deployment activities must begin thinking about using that money, including putting it toward workforce development needs.
The FCC's proposed rewrite of its submarine cable rules could put a variety of cybersecurity requirements on operators and bar them from using equipment or services on the agency's Covered List. The NPRM on the agency's Nov. 14 open meeting agenda also proposes significantly shortening cable landing licenses, from 25 years to three. Also on the agenda is a codification of many temporary provisions for authorization of geotargeted radio using program-originating FM boosters and a draft order on the caller ID authentication process aimed at further tackling unlawfully spoofed robocalls. The agenda items (see 2410300033) were made public Thursday.
The FCC is eyeing undertaking its first major comprehensive review of its submarine cable rules in 23 years, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted Wednesday as she announced the agency's Nov. 21 meeting agenda. Also on the agenda are additional robocall steps and a permanent process for authorizing geotargeted FM radio broadcasts, she said. While the technology, economics and security challenges involving submarine cables have changed notably since 2001, "FCC oversight has not," she said. That year saw the agency adopt procedures for streamlining the processing of landing licenses. The Stir/Shaken caller ID authentication framework is one of the FCC's most effective tools for mitigating deceptive robocalls, Rosenworcel said. With third parties used for Stir/Shaken implementation, Rosenworcel noted there have been "concerns about improperly authenticated calls and diminished accountability." The FCC will "vote to establish clear rules of the road for the use of third parties in the caller ID authentication process," she said. Industry groups urged the commission to allow third-party caller ID authentication last year (see 2307060045). In April, the FCC unanimously approved an order creating a temporary authorization process for broadcasters to use FM boosters to offer geotargeted ads. Along with that order, the agency sought comment on a more permanent process, which seems the focus of the November order. Geobroadcast Solutions, the primary company offering geotargeted FM tech to broadcasters, has pushed for the permanent authorization process to loosen restrictions on broadcasters offering geotargeting. GBS has called for the FCC to raise the number of commonly owned booster stations allowed to originate content and to increase the amount of time per hour the geotargeted content can be broadcast. The current limit is three minutes per hour. NAB and NPR have called for the FCC to closely monitor geotargeted radio users and impose additional interference protections. Two entities, Press Communications and REC Networks, have petitioned the agency to reconsider the original radio geotargeting order. The November agenda also has an unspecified enforcement item scheduled.
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.