Multichannel News

FCC Chairman Pai reflects on an impactful — and contentious — two years at the helm

A Q&A with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai.

T-Mobile's Legere: No Huawei Tech Going in 5G Net, Period

T-Mobile CEO John Legere told the House Judiciary Committee that his network does not now include technology from Chinese Telecom Huawei, that a new T-Mobile-Sprint 5G network would not contain such tech, and that he would even help others try to clear their networks of the technology. That was just one of many pledges he was making to help sell lawmakers on his plan to buy Sprint.

Internet Overbuilding Gets Rural Accent at Senate Hearing

The issue of overbuilding got a lot of attention in a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on "The Impact[s] of Broadband Investments in Rural America." Overbuilding existing commercial service with government money has long been one of Internet service providers biggest issues with how government broadband subisidies are administered. Subcommittee Chairman John thune (R-SD) said with both the US Dept of Agricutlure and Federal Communications Commission providing broadband funding, he could see how the money could be "inadvertently used" to overbuild. He asked whether Congress should

For AT&T and DirecTV Now, the Jig Is Up; Will Other vMVPDs Soon Cave, Too?

“This is for the first time 100-plus premium channels—not the junk nobody wants—purely over the top, a mobile-centric platform, for $35 a month.” And soon, it might be the last time. This was AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson describing the promise of DirecTV Now just 27 months ago, as the company launched what would become one of the video business’ fastest growing subscription over-the-top products.

Lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill for Internet of Things security standards

The Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019, a bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced March 11, would require the government to make sure that any devices it purchases meet minimum security requirements.

Rep Brindisi (D-NY) Introduces FCC Reporting Bill, Slams Cable Broadband Providers on House Floor

Rep Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) has introduced the Transparency for Cable Consumers Act to make operators that have been fined by state public service commissions to have to report back to the Federal Communications Commission.

GOP House Commerce Leaders Praise FCC Broadband Deployment Report

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) agreed with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai that the FCC's latest Sec. 706 broadband deployment report shows "significant progress" in closing the digital divide. "This report shows that the FCC’s efforts to reduce regulatory burdens are helping more Americans gain access to broadband and bringing us closer to finally closing the digital divide,” Ranking Member Walden said.

NCTA Pitches FCC on 3-Step Method for Improved Broadband Mapping

NCTA-The Internet & Television Association has proposed a three-step method for improving the broadband availability data the Federal Communications Commission uses to direct Universal Service Fund subsidy money:

  1. Polygon shapefiles, instead of proposed address-based reporting, could be achieved  as early as 2020.
  2. FCC to use crowdsourcing to backstop the reported data
  3. Focus on pinpointing unserved areas, which the shapefiles will help do.