June 2019

The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the changing video marketplace, with representatives from top trade association chiefs, Free Press, and Nielsen. The hearing looked at the video marketplace's change from appointment content on TV sets, to "how, where and when" content on a variety of devices. Everyone was in agreement that the video marketplace had changed dramatically while the laws had not, but whether to start from scratch or modify existing laws--like STELAR and the 1992 Cable Act--generated a lot of different opinions.

Twenty-five states, including NY and CA, have not adopted the Federal Communications Commission’s new rule regarding the deployment of new small cell equipment. And, a couple of states are appealing the FCC’s rule in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which is taking up the question of whether the FCC has authority in the matter. Now, Sens John Thune (R-SD) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) have introduced a bill that would codify many parts of the FCC’s rule.

AT&T saw a whopping 57% growth rate in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) subscribers over the last year, according to a new research note about AT&T fiber subscriber growth from financial analysts at Moffett Nathanson. The company’s broadband market share hasn’t increased commensurately, however, according to the researchers. “Despite the dramatic growth at AT&T Fiber, AT&T’s broader IP broadband category has posted only modest subscriber gains over the past year,” the researchers wrote.