FCC

Jessica Rosenworcel named as FCC chair

US president Joe Biden has appointed broadband-for-all advocate Jessica Rosenworcel as chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Rosenworcel is expected to win Senate approval and become the first woman to serve as permanent FCC boss. She has overseen the FCC’s temporary $3.2 billion broadband subsidy programme that was created last year to provide discounts […]

Controversial FCC chair Ajit Pai to step down January 20

Ajit Pai, the head of the US’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has announced that he will step down on January 20 – the day of president elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.  Pai had served on the FCC since 2012, but became a more public-facing figure when he was appointed chair of the body in 2017 by president […]

FCC closes file on ‘unlock the box’

The US FCC is to officially close the once contentious ‘unlock the box’ proceeding initiated under FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s predecessor Tom Wheeler. The FCC is closing the proceeding for a new regulation that would have seen service providers forced to make their offerings available to devices they did not control rather than force customers […]

FCC to vote on ATSC 3.0 adoption

The US’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a vote on the adoption of ATSC 3.0, commissioner Brendan Carr has announced. With a vote planned for the FCC’s June Open Meeting, the body promises that the new standard will present “a range of innovative offerings that can be delivered over the same, powerful broadcast television […]

C-band plan presents risks and rewards for satellite operators

Satellite operators with C-band rights stand to share about US$9.7 billion (€8.9 billion) to clear 300MHz of spectrum for reallocation to 5G mobile under proposals outlined by the FCC at the end of last week – which places the allocation in the middle of expectations about how much the operators stood to gain.   Analysts […]

Satellite operators cut out as FCC decides on public C-Band auction

The US FCC has unveiled plans to hold a public auction of the C-band spectrum currently used by satellite operators in a move that attracted immediate criticism from the C-band Alliance (CBA), the group comprising satellite players Intelsat, SES and Telesat that had lobbied for a private sale of spectrum.  FCC chairman Ajit Pai said […]

US court upholds FCC net neutrality order but opens way for states to set own rules

A US Federal Appeals Court ruling that upheld regulator the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality rules but which an opening for individual states to create their own regulations has been welcomed by commissioners on both sides of the divide. The court was ruling a case brought by the Mozilla organisation against the FCC’s move to […]

US carriers are consistently throttling popular video apps

Throttling of video streaming by US wireless carriers is “pervasive”, claims a new study.  The new research from Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts found that AT&T throttles YouTube 74% and Netflix 70% of the time. Interestingly, Prime Video was not slowed by AT&T, but it was throttled by T-Mobile US 51% of the […]

FCC launches investigation into Sinclair-Tribune deal

In the fallout of the failed Sinclair-Tribune deal, the FCC has launched an investigation into whether Sinclair ‘misrepresented or provided a lack of candor’. The FCC’s Media Bureau has issued a letter of inquiry to David Gibber, SVP at Sinclair, explaining that the investigation will assess whether “in light of the issues presented in the […]

Three Democrat presidential candidates rally against Sinclair RSN deal

A trifecta of Democrat presidential hopefuls have issued an open letter to the FCC and Justice Department over Sinclair’s purchase of 21 regional sports networks (RSNs) from Disney. Disney was forced to sell off the channels as a part of its acquisition of Fox. The letter, signed by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of […]

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