Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission is now accepting applications from broadband providers of all kinds to participate in Summer 2018's Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction.  Providers must submit their applications by March 30, when the application window closes. The auction will make available up to $1.98 billion in support over the next decade to help build out high-speed Internet access to up to 1 million homes and small businesses in rural areas across the country that lack service.

The biggest lobby groups representing broadband providers will help the Federal Communications Commission defend the repeal of network neutrality rules in court. March 15, three trade groups that collectively represent every major home Internet and mobile broadband provider in the US filed motions to intervene in the case on behalf of the FCC. The motions for leave to intervene were filed by NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, CTIA–The Wireless Association, and USTelecom–The Broadband Association. NCTA represents cable companies such as Comcast, Charter, Cox, and Altice.

AT&T and Time Warner plan to merge in a $85 billion deal that would unite one of the largest distributors of content with one of the biggest producers of content, a roster that includes hits like HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” the Harry Potter films and major cable franchises like CNN. But not if the Justice Department has its way. The U.S. government has sued to block the deal, a move that some fret is actually political reprisal for CNN’s reporting on President Trump. The trial begins on Wednesday, March 21. 

[Commentary] The Senate Commerce Committee held three hearings this week on infrastructure.

The face-off, between the Justice Department and AT&T over the company’s $85 billion agreement to buy media giant Time Warner, has broad ramifications for media, technology and other industries as well as for the government’s powers to deter large-scale corporate consolidation.

Would the combination of AT&T and Time Warner hurt consumers or help them? 

Verizon says that as it mulls its involvement in the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming $2 billion Connect America Fund auction this July, the regulator needs to provide more guidance on how it will determine whether a CAF-supported service meets speed requirements.  In an FCC filing, Verizon said that potential bidders need to know two main elements:  how the FCC will measure speed and whether the tested service is compliant, i.e., the statistical standards that the speed measurements will be required to meet.

US District Judge Richard Leon said a trial to decide if AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner is legal under US antitrust law may last six to eight weeks, significantly longer than previously forecast. At a pre-trial hearing, Judge Leon said he will hear up to two days of motions before hearing opening arguments on March 21. Lawyers for the government and both companies did not comment on Leon’s estimate on the length of the trial; they had previously suggested it would last three weeks.