By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-19-21 With potentially as much as $120 billion in new broadband spending either in the pipeline or contemplated by Congress, the result could be "a golden age of broadband investment, or a costly sinkhole that squanders billions and does little to close actual broadband gaps." That is according to [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-18-21 The House Communications and Consumer Protection Subcommittees have come up with a catchy title for the planned March 25 hearing with the "Biggest Tech" CEOs. The hearing, scheduled appropriately for (high) noon, is titled "Disinformation Nation: Social Media's Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation." The hearing will be [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-18-21 A trio of Senate Republicans wants their Democratic colleagues to hold a public hearing on what they say was the Obama-Biden Federal Trade Commission's failure to give Google more than a slap on the wrist following a 2011 investigation into potential anticompetitive conduct. That urging--they can only urge [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-16-21 Local elected officials and some community organizations from across the country have written to acting FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel asking the FCC to investigate digital "redlining" as well as to restore the Title II classification of internet access service, suggesting both will help close the racial justice divide. [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-15-21 Signaling it was FCC policies under Republican Chairman Ajit Pai that "secured" leadership in 5G, Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr has unveiled his plan for maintaining that leadership, though with a Democratic chair and, eventually, majority, Carr has only the power to propose, not impose. In a speech to [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-12-21 The FCC has released its list of communications equipment and services deemed a national security threat. Joining Huawei and ZTE, currently the poster companies for the FCC's effort to secure the network supply chain, are three other Chinese companies: Hytera Communications Corp., Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., and [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-12-21 Facebook and Google's market power, especially over digital advertising, has translated to a potential "extinction level event" for local news operations, broadcast, online, and print. That was the underlying message of House Antitrust Subcommittee chairman David Cicilline (D-R.I.) at a hearing Friday (March 12) on “Saving a Free [...]
Participated in an amicus brief (with the Reporters Committee and other amici) filed with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce v. Evers. This case concerns the Wisconsin Department of Public Health’s plan to release the names of businesses employing at least 25 people where at least two employees tested positive [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-11-21 Democrats are taking a couple of bites at the $100-billion connect-everyone legislative apple. On the same day Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) introduced his bill to fund universal connectivity to the tune of $100 billion, all 32 members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee joined to introduce the [...]
By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 3-11-21 A bipartisan pair of legislators have introduced a bill that would eliminate some "outdated" regulations including the must-carry/retransmission consent regime that broadcasters use to secure payments from MVPDs for their local programming/signals and the compulsory copyright license. Broadcasters were not happy, while MVPDs were pleased with the prospect [...]