FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a draft order and further notice that would allow FM broadcasters to air geotargeted radio “for a limited period of time during the broadcast hour,” according to a joint statement from Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks endorsing the item. “If radio entrepreneurs want to test new business models and deploy new technologies, the FCC’s rules shouldn’t stand in the way,” said the statement, which thanks Rosenworcel for moving the proceeding to an order. The item stems from a 2020 NPRM that followed a petition from geotargeted radio company GeoBroadcast Solutions. The company’s ZoneCasting tech uses multiple synchronized FM boosters to transmit targeted signals that FM receivers pick up as being a single signal. The tech also requires a change to FCC rules barring boosters from originating content to operate. It's expected stations using the technology would mainly broadcast a single stream of content but briefly shift certain zones to geotargeted, specialized content multiple times daily: usually for localized commercials. GBS has said it could be used for localized weather and emergency alerts as well. NAB and large broadcasters such as iHeart have vigorously opposed the technology, saying it will reduce ad rates, interfere with other stations and affect the FM noise floor. In 2022, NAB filed ex parte letters (see 2209230070) with the FCC accusing GBS founder Chris Devine of “fraudulent and deceitful conduct.” NAB declined to comment Wednesday. Smaller broadcasters and groups such as the Multicultural Media Telecom and the Internet Association have largely supported the proposal, although the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters in 2022 voted to discontinue its support. Last year, NABOB was acquired by the U.S. Black Chambers, which has since endorsed the GBS proposal (see 2311030068."Geotargeting technology is not just about modernization; it's about survival and growth," said NABOB President Jim Winston in a UBC release Wednesday. "It's a tool that can rejuvenate a declining sector while also propelling forward the FCC’s vision of promoting minority broadcasting." “Small and independent broadcasters have repeatedly told us that geo-targeting could be a gamechanger,” said Starks and Carr in the joint statement. "It is a great day for radio innovators and a possible salvation for so many facing new levels of competition, said MMTC President Robert Branson in an email. "Importantly, the new service is another way for radio broadcasters to truly serve their local market."
FCC action against Fox station WTXF Philadelphia's license would create a “perilous regulatory environment” and expose broadcasters to constant threats against their licenses, Fox said in a letter to the FCC Tuesday. The letter responded to recent filings from former Fox and Disney executive Preston Padden seeking to add to the FCC record filings from an ongoing defamation case against Fox by the Smartmatic voting machine company (see 2401250072). Padden is part of the Media and Democracy Project effort against WTXF’s license renewal. The Smartmatic case and a settlement Fox reached with Dominion voting machine company don’t involve allegations of conduct that violates the FCC’s character policy and neither case includes a final adjudication against Fox, the Fox letter said. The FCC “can and should deny MAD’s petition on the basis that no claim has been pled that is recognized by the Commission’s own precedent or the Communications Act.” A broadcast license renewal proceeding “is not a venue for adjudicating cable network content,” said Fox. The FCC character policy includes provisions where the agency can consider a licensee's egregious misconduct outside the broadcasting context, Padden wrote in an email. Fox countered that if broadcast licenses can be threatened “based solely on unadjudicated allegations made by a third party in an unrelated civil proceeding,” the FCC process could easily be abused “in attempts to silence disfavored speakers across the political spectrum.” Fox added: “Fortunately, MAD’s law is not the law of the Commission or Congress.” In additional comments filed Wednesday, Padden said: "Leaving aside the indisputable fact that Fox News Channel reports and stories ARE broadcast by the Fox Owned Television Stations including WTXF, I respectfully submit that the Murdochs and Fox are simply flat wrong in arguing that their actions in businesses other than the television stations are not relevant to evaluation of their Character for broadcast licensing purposes."
Intrado in a series of meetings with FCC commissioner aides and staff from the Public Safety and Wireline bureaus warned that moving to next-generation 911 will take years. So Intrado asked that the FCC require carriers to keep legacy time division multiplexing (TDM) technology in place while the transition to IP-based systems is completed. Though the migration to NG911 services “offers great promise for 911 reliability and availability, the timeline to transition should not be underestimated as it will require several more years to complete,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-479: “Providing 911 services during this period of accelerated TDM decommissioning is proving challenging as the facilities-based TDM providers seek to quickly turn down their remaining TDM service offerings while also requiring 911 providers to maintain these same circuits for the delivery of 911 traffic to reach Public Safety Answering Points.”
The FCC Wednesday extended deadlines for four carriers to remove, replace and dispose of Huawei and ZTE equipment from their networks. The deadline for Mediacom Communications was extended from Jan. 15 to April 15, for NfinityLink Communications from Feb. 15 to Aug. 15, for Vitelcom Cellular from Jan. 11 to July 11 and for Country Wireless from Feb. 24 to Aug. 23. The Wireline Bureau evaluated the need for an extension as presented in each petition. In the case of Country Wireless, the provider said completing the process by the deadline was “materially affected by the lack of full funding for the required work, coupled with its status as a small rural provider with limited financial resources to spare for this work," the notice said. The FCC encouraged submitting petitions as soon as providers realized they needed an extension: “Recipients should fully explain and support their assertions with specific facts showing why they cannot meet their existing removal, replacement, and disposal term, so that the Bureau can review the sufficiency of the request.” Lawmakers are evaluating legislative vehicles to allocate an additional $3.1 billion, ensuring full reimbursement of rip-and-replace participants' costs (see 2401240001).
The FCC wants comments by March 4, replies April 1, in docket 22-69 on an NPRM proposing "affirmative obligations for broadband providers" as part of the commission's directive from Congress to combat digital discrimination (see 2311150040). A notice for Thursday's Federal Register also sought comment on establishing an Office of Civil Rights within the commission.
T-Mobile filed at the FCC an annual report on the progress of its affiliate T-Mobile Puerto Rico in hardening its network through Uniendo program funding. Parts of the report, posted Wednesday in docket 18-143, were redacted. “T-Mobile is dedicated to strengthening its infrastructure and mitigating any network outages or failures following a natural disaster or emergency situation,” the carrier said: “In 2023, with the help of Stage 2 funding, T-Mobile has significantly hardened its network and increased the availability and capacity of the system to ensure a more resilient network and improve the overall customer experience.” Puerto Rico Telephone Co. also filed a redacted report, as did Liberty Mobile Puerto Rico.
5G fixed wireless access is “changing the broadband marketplace” but it needs the FCC to make more full-power, licensed, mid-band spectrum available for carriers, CTIA said in a Wednesday blog post. FWA is having “such an impact on cable’s bottom line that you’ve probably also seen their commercials attacking it -- a striking indicator that 5G home broadband is bringing real competition to cable incumbents,” CTIA said. The blog notes that the fastest growing broadband companies are all wireless carriers, led by T-Mobile. In the first three quarters of last year, FWA had 34 times more adds than cable broadband, based on reports by Leichtman Research, CTIA said. Wall Street analysts have found that nearly 20% of 5G home gross adds “are new to the broadband marketplace altogether,” the group blogged: “That’s twice what they found for the full broadband market, meaning FWA is connecting more people for the first time than cable or any other broadband service.” Spectrum is the sticking point, CTIA warned. “More spectrum will increase speeds -- we’re seeing that with the C-band allocations that have been coming online -- and allow providers to serve more Americans with more capacity.” CTIA called for a “pipeline of spectrum” starting with the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz bands to give consumers “an even more robust 5G for home experience, all while keeping more money in their pockets.” T-Mobile said last week it added 541,000 home internet customers in Q4 and 2.1 million for the year (see 2401250076). Verizon reported 375,000 fixed wireless adds for the quarter, bringing its total to more than 3 million (see 2401230071).
A representative of the Open Technology Institute (OTI) at New America complained that T-Mobile wants to use network slicing as an excuse to exempt from net neutrality rules any specialized application or service that a mobile carrier delivers. The argument was made during a Jan. 26 meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. In a December filing, T-Mobile defined slicing as offering “customized, software-defined, virtual networks -- or ‘slices’ -- that are each logically separated and individually optimized to meet the specific needs of each application.” The problem is T-Mobile “leaps” from the fact that network slices can be customized to create non-broadband internet access services “for a purpose that cannot function on the regular internet (e.g., factory automation, auto safety, precision agriculture) to the general claim that anything a mobile carrier labels as a ‘slice’ of its network should by definition be treated as a non-BIAS data service and be exempt from the open internet rules,” OTI said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-320. T-Mobile said in December that “with the advent of network slicing that can offer applications tailor-made to particular use cases, the services broadband providers can support are richer and more diverse than ever.” OTI made similar arguments in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez, a second filing said.
The FCC is quickly following up on a November AI notice of inquiry (see 2311160028), with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposing a ruling Wednesday that would make voice-cloning technology in robocall scams illegal. The draft proposes a declaratory ruling that voice-cloned calls violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The FCC recently finished a comment cycle on the NOI. Among the comments, attorneys general from 25 states and the District of Columbia asked the agency to use the proceeding to clarify that calls mimicking human voices are considered “an artificial voice” under the TCPA (see 2401170023). An FCC news release cites that filing. “AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate,” Rosenworcel said: “No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we could all be a target of these faked calls.” If approved, the rules would give the AGs “new tools” to battle the “bad actors behind these nefarious robocalls and hold them accountable under the law,” the FCC said. Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry said her office supports the ruling “to protect consumers from intentionally deceptive and manipulative marketing tactics.” The proposed ruling would “put the calling industry and provider community on notice that they need consent to make calls with AI,” a USTelecom spokesperson said in an email: “This important action will thwart prolific robocallers that want to use AI to deliver to consumers calls they never asked for and do not want. We encourage the Commission to quickly adopt the Chair’s proposal.”
Challenges are rolling into some states charged with distributing billions from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, officials said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Several officials said their states will be ready to start processes to dispute unserved or underserved locations as soon as NTIA approves volume one of their BEAD proposals. "A successful challenge process underpins the credibility of any state's entire BEAD program,” Kansas Office of Broadband Development Director Jade Piros de Carvalho said.