Multichannel News

Answering the Call for Rural Broadband

There is simply no business case for investment in many rural areas without more effective public-private partnerships. That is why recent efforts in Washington to target funding and bridge broadband gaps in rural America are so important.  Rather than creating new programs out of whole cloth, we encourage Congress to look to existing federal programs with proven track records, like the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund, as it considers how to distribute additional direct funding resources.

FCC Commissioner O'Rielly 'Inclined' to Approve T-Mobile-Sprint Deal

Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly tweeted:

While I generally withhold all comments regarding pending or prospective mergers, I find it necessary to clarify, at this time, that I am inclined to support T-Mobile/Sprint proposed merger, even if not convinced of the need for all the newly announced conditions being proposed.

Utilities Warn FCC About Impact of 6 GHz Wi-Fi Effort

The American Public Power Association, American Water Works Association, Edison Electric Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, and the Utilities Technology Council -- which together represent almost all of the nation's utilities, water, and wastewater facilities -- wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, warning him about the FCC moving too quickly to open up 6 GHz midband spectrum currently used by those utilities. The utilities say they need the spectrum for their mission-critical communications and that the FCC's proposal to open it up for unl

Chinese Telecoms Hit Hard in Senate Judiciary 5G Hearing

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he wished US allies could view a copy of May 14's hearing on 5G cybersecurity to see the uncommon bipartisan agreement that Chinese technology is a threat to the safety and security of the Internet of everything next-gen wireless broadband will drive.

House Communications Subcommittee Hearing on Robocalls

The House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing on more than six robocall bills, and there was bipartisan momentum for action. Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH), author of one of the bills, talked up the Republican take on robocalls, which is to empower more info sharing between companies and the Federal Communications Commission, provide access to blocking technology, and to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate robocalls.

NATOA to FCC (and NCTA): Text Notifications Don't Cut it

Local franchising officials don't want the Federal Communications Commission to cut cable operators some new tech slack when it comes to how they send mandatory notifications to customers about service and rate changes. The FCC is considering whether to allow notifications by electronic means other than e-mails, like texts or app-based notifications or via the TV. It has concluded that notice must not simply be any method "reasonably calculate" to reach subscribers.

USAC to Commissioner O'Rielly: E-Rate Overbuilds Are OK

On April 1, Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) CEO Radha Sekar wrote to Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly to respond to his concerns that E-rate funds may be used to potentially overbuild fiber networks. Specifically, Commissioner O'Rielly had written to Sekar in March seeking answers as to whether government broadband subsidies should be used to subsidize wide area networks (WANS) where government subsidies have already been used to lay fiber as well as how many of those were being subsidized.

Fight for the Future Seeks Senate GOP Commitments on Net Neutrality Bill

With the Save the Internet Act, a bill to restore network neutrality, having passed the House, activists at Fight for the Future are looking to get enough Republican Senators on board to push it through the Senate. In the last Congress, before the Democrats regained control of the House, the Congressional Review Act aimed at rolling back the deregulatory Restoring Internet Freedom Order narrowly passed the Senate with the help of independents who caucus with the Democrats and three Republicans: Sens John Kennedy (R-LA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AR) and Susan Collins (R-ME).