AI is contributing to the decline of web traffic and the “degradation” of journalism, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Monday in a Brookings column. He noted how generative AI tools have been built using data from websites. He cited research from The Atlantic showing AI-powered searches deliver answers on about 75% of queries, which eliminates the need to navigate to websites for answers. Accordingly, Gartner estimates search engine web traffic will decline 25% by 2026, he said. AI could provide an “almost boundless expansion” of information and knowledge, but the technology shouldn't be used to degrade the "free flow of ideas and journalism that is essential for democracy to function.” A Public Knowledge policy expert, an independent lawyer and a local news publisher executive on Monday spoke against legislative proposals that would force Big Tech companies to pay link fees for news content they host (see 2406240056).
Verizon agreed to pay a fine of just more than $1 million and implement a compliance plan following a December 2022 outage that affected 911 voice-over-LTE calls in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The outage lasted one hour and 44 minutes and prevented "hundreds of 911 calls" from being completed through Verizon Wireless’ network, the FCC said Tuesday. Verizon experienced a similar outage in October 2022, the agency said. Verizon agreed to a consent decree with the Enforcement Bureau. “When you call 911 in an emergency, it’s critical that your call goes through,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. The December outage “was the result of the reapplication of a known flawed security policy update file by a Verizon Wireless employee,” the bureau said: “Verizon Wireless was aware that the version of the security policy update file that caused the outage was related to the root cause of the outage that occurred in October. Due to insufficient naming convention protocols and a failure to follow then-current implementation protocols, the flawed security policy update file was reintroduced into the Verizon Wireless network.”
CTIA and other organizations encouraged the FCC to collaborate as it seeks protection for survivors of domestic violence from abusers who may misuse connected car services. Reply comments were posted Tuesday in docket 22-238 (see 2405240067). The record "demonstrates a shared commitment among commenters to work with the commission to better protect survivors," CTIA said. "An approach that widens the scope of the proceeding" would force the commission to focus on "legal authority questions that ultimately divert from the shared and vital goal of helping survivors," the group said. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation warned that the Safe Connections Act doesn't allow the FCC to regulate original equipment manufacturers' privacy and data collection practices. The alliance warned that new regulations would "create compliance challenges while fomenting consumer confusion." The group also cited statutory and logistical hurdles to accommodating line separation requests for connected car services, noting they use only one phone number. The FCC should "promote access and utility of supportive services to survivors," said Electronic Privacy Information Center, Clinic to End Tech Abuse, National Network to End Domestic Violence and Public Knowledge in joint comments. The groups urged the FCC to continue working with stakeholders to "develop an anti-abusable framework for connected devices."
Apple representatives met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the company’s support for a geofenced variable power (GVP) device class in the 6 GHz band (see 2404290035). Apple noted its agreement with commenters “who explained how flexible power levels enabled by adoption of the GVP proposal will greatly improve reliability, performance, and consumer benefits of portable unlicensed devices without creating a significant risk of harmful interference to incumbent licensees,” a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295 said. Apple representatives also joined with executives from Broadcom, Google, Meta Platforms and Qualcomm in a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. They discussed the strong momentum behind Wi-Fi deployment in the 6 GHz band. In 2024, manufacturers expect to ship 147.2 million Wi-Fi 6E access points, 23.12 million Wi-Fi 7 APs, 576.2 million Wi-Fi 6E devices and 231.4 million Wi-Fi 7 devices, the companies said. Both Wi-Fi standards use 6 GHz spectrum. “The Commission has fostered a robust Wi-Fi ecosystem that steadily grows year after year -- as evidenced by the strong demand for Wi-Fi access points,” they said.
Amateur radio operators were the most prolific commenters to an FCC Public Safety Bureau request for comment on the effects of the May 7-11 geomagnetic storm. Responses were due Monday in docket 24-161 (see 2405240046). Amateurs submitted most of the 17 comments. “Developing an ability to better predict storms such as the … 2024 geomagnetic storm is essential to prevent serious disruptions to our nation’s communications services as well as to the electric grids that power them,” the American Radio Relay League said. The storm “affected amateur radio communications as expected, with radio black outs between many areas of the world and signals with substantially reduced strength between other areas of the world, depending upon frequency and time,” ARRL said. NOAA said the storm touched some of its systems. “With the growing interdependence on spectrum across critical infrastructure systems, there is increased potential vulnerability to space weather,” NOAA said. The agency said “several specific examples can be seen of systems operating erratically due to the geomagnetic storms,” including farm equipment running in circles “due to loss of navigational signals.” SpaceX satellites “measured two-to-three times more drag than normal in orbits at 300 km and as much as five times more drag in orbits at 550 km,” it said. SpaceX was “fortunately able to maintain service throughout the May solar storm,” and on the day the storm peaked, “the average Starlink user saw less than one minute of disruption.” Iridium’s second-generation constellation “experienced an instantaneous, but short lived, increase in the atmospheric drag up to 10 times greater than normal” during the storm, the company reported. Iridium said it continuously monitors its system and was able to address the storm's issues: “The monitoring for this storm was not new, although more engineers were required to be engaged because each of the six planes in the constellation has a different angle from the sun, and experienced different impacts from the storm.”
A California Senate panel scaled back what the California Public Utilities Commission could require from cable companies under a proposed update of the state’s 2006 video franchise law, known as the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act (DIVCA). At a hearing webcast Monday, the Senate Communications Committee voted 12-4 to approve the Assembly-passed AB-1826 with amendments. The Senate committee delayed receiving testimony on an Assembly-passed equity bill (AB-2239) that would ban digital discrimination as defined by the FCC (see 2405230012).
Public interest, consumer groups and two providers called on the FCC Tuesday to launch a proceeding that examines “uniform, industrywide” handset unlocking requirements. Industry officials said they expect Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to circulate a notice this week examining the issue for a vote at the July 18 commission meeting. The Open Technology Institute at New America, Consumer Reports, Public Knowledge and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, as well as Verizon and EchoStar, parent of Dish Wireless, signed the joint letter.
The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on channel substitutions for King Broadcasting Company and Gray Television Licensee, NPRMs in Monday's Federal Register said. Comments are due July 24 in docket No. 24–152 for King’s request to switch the channel for KTVB Boise from 7 to 23, and in docket No. 24–153 for WRDW–TV Augusta, Georgia, to change from 27 to 12, the NPRMs said.
Congress should renew the affordable connectivity program (ACP) and protect local authority in the right of way (ROW), mayors attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors conference said Sunday. City leaders adopted resolutions on ACP, ROW compensation and opposing the American Broadband Act (HR-3557), which is a package of GOP-led connectivity permitting revamp measures (see 2311060069). The conference adopted the resolutions as part of a unanimous consent agenda Sunday after the Technology and Innovation Committee approved them unanimously Friday. ACP “has been one of the most effective broadband benefit programs to date with its direct-to-consumer model to enroll low-income households and help ensure they can afford the internet connections they need for work, school [and] healthcare,” the first resolution said: The conference urges Congress to renew and extend ACP this year “to ensure eligible households have access to affordable high-speed internet.” The second resolution on local compensation noted that some members of the FCC, Congress and state legislatures “have wrongly characterized this balancing act among competing interests for the public rights-of-way and maintenance of local authority as a barrier to broadband deployment, putting the interests of national corporations ahead of the needs of communities by effectively granting those corporations subsidized access to local public rights-of-way that do not belong to the federal or state government.” Congress should pass a bill amending the Cable Act’s franchise fee section to correct the FCC and the 6th U.S. Circuit of Appeals misreading of the act “and make clear that no other provision of the Cable Act limits or preempts state or local fees or taxes on cable operators or on the non-cable services they provide,” it said. Also, Congress should approve the Protecting Community Television Act (HR-907 and S-340) “to make clear that the cost of non-monetary franchise obligations do not constitute a ‘franchise fee’ under the Cable Act,” the resolution said. And the FCC should act soon on a related remand from the 6th Circuit that has been waiting for action for more than two years, it said. The third resolution urged that Congress drop HR-3557, which “would bestow on broadband providers an unprecedented federal grant of access to state and local public property but impose no obligations on those providers to serve ‘unserved’ and ‘underserved’ Americans.”
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials opposed an ATIS petition for reconsideration or clarification of the agency’s January outage reporting order (see 2406120043). Oppositions were due Monday. The ATIS petition is confusing, APCO said in a filing posted Monday in docket 21-346. ATIS asked the FCC to clarify the application of its waiver of network outage reporting system filings during disaster information reporting system activations. “If ATIS’s request is to excuse service providers from their obligation to provide timely notifications” to 911 call centers “of network outages and disruptions affecting 9-1-1 calls, APCO opposes the request,” the filing said.