Making cloud services pay into the USF would increase the price of the services, drive down adoption and negatively affect the economy, according to a new study from the Computer & Communications Industry Association. The study was written by Raul Katz, director-business strategy research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia Business School and funded by Amazon Web Services. Ruiz discussed the results Tuesday on a webcast with Trevor Wagener, CCIA's research center director and chief economist.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday urged the FCC to take last week’s Supreme Court decision limiting the scope of environmental reviews into account as it considers changes to rules on National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements (see 2505290075). The FCC is seeking comment on a CTIA petition seeking regulatory relief on NEPA and National Historic Preservation Act rules, which has proven controversial (see 2505160035).
The Wireline Bureau reminded recipients in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program that they must file status updates with the FCC every 90 days. The next due date is July 2, said a notice in Tuesday’s Daily Digest.
The Rural Wireless Association, Communications Workers of America and public interest groups asked the FCC to consider spectrum sales between UScellular and the three major wireless carriers together, rather than as separate transactions. “These transactions represent a significant restructuring of the mobile wireless market and effectuate the exit of UScellular as a mobile wireless carrier,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-150. The groups met with staff from across the FCC, along with Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
Astra Navigation asked the FCC to consider its technology, which translates magnetic fields into navigational data, as a non-spectrum-reliant alternative to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing. The company offers “an American-made technology that converts the Earth’s magnetic fields into 3D positioning data without reliance on network connectivity or deployment of special infrastructure,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-110. Company representatives met with staff from across the agency.
WorldNet Telecommunications representatives spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about “the significant issues and barriers it and other broadband providers now face in obtaining access to electrical utility pole attachments in Puerto Rico.” They discussed how pole attachment issues slowed the ability to offer broadband there, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-84.
The Phoenix Center said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's administration is proving to be more focused on regulating industry than he promised during his campaign last year. “A disturbing number” of Trump appointees “are refusing to heed his message, targeting technology firms with aggressive antitrust enforcements, regulations, and even the sorts of jawboning coercion used during the Biden Administration to curtail constitutionally protected private speech,” the center's new report said.
Low-power TV (LPTV) broadcasters said in FCC comments that their industry is dying, and ATSC 3.0 won’t be enough to save it. Those comments, in docket 25-168, were in response to HC2’s petition proposing LPTV stations be allowed to switch to 5G broadcast. NAB disagreed, saying 5G broadcast advocates haven’t done enough to show that it won’t cause unacceptable interference.
A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the FCC's decision to deny LTD Broadband more than $1.3 billion in rural broadband subsidies, ruling that the agency didn't violate the Administrative Procedure Act when it found the company unqualified.
NASHVILLE -- BEAD deployment activity will necessitate permitting reform at the federal, state and local levels, C Spire Vice President-Government Relations Chris Champion said Tuesday at the Fiber Broadband Association's annual conference and trade show. Agencies are aware “they are about to be bombarded” with applications, he said. Those permitting reforms must be paired with appropriations that allow agencies to staff up to handle applications, he said. Numerous other speakers echoed the call for permitting reform.