Chairman Pai and the FCC last week continued their campaign of revamping FCC rules, this time by adopting a Report and Order tackling the Commission’s Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS). The Order deletes Sections 20.7 and 20.9 of the Commission’s rules and is intended to generally eliminate an “outdated and incomplete list of certain services”...… Continue Reading
New Opportunities for Next Gen Broadcasters and Simulcast “Host” Stations, but Controversies Remain. Today, the FCC adopted a Report and Order authorizing television broadcasters to use the “Next Generation” broadcast television (Next Gen TV) transmission standard (also called “ATSC 3.0”) on a voluntary, market-driven basis. This Order may herald a revolutionary change in TV broadcasting,...… Continue Reading
On Oct. 24, 2017, the FCC issued a Report and Order eliminating the Commission’s rule requiring each AM, FM, and television broadcast station to maintain a main studio located in or near its community of license (i.e. the Main Studio Rule). In the same Order, the FCC eliminated existing requirements that are associated with the...… Continue Reading
Commission accepts back-up CSAs – with some caveats – and extends time to complete transition to shared facilities. In a further effort to encourage broadcaster participation in the reverse portion of the Broadcast Incentive Auction, the FCC has both (a) clarified its policies toward “back-up” channel sharing agreements (CSAs) and (b) increased the time available … Continue Reading
Unprecedented fine for reducing data speeds in “unlimited” data plans (apparently) without adequate notice to consumers Here’s your philosophical question for the day: What does “unlimited” mean? Not sure? Take your time. ...
What does "unlimited" mean? The answer could be worth $100,000,000.… Continue Reading
What does "unlimited" mean? The answer could be worth $100,000,000.… Continue Reading
The FCC plays an important, if little known, role in railroad safety. In the aftermath of this week’s tragic Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia, the issue of Positive Train Control (PTC) – previously a subject familiar only to relative...
Our Internet guru digs deep into the Open Internet decision and comes up with … questions. I recently posted an item summarizing the broad strokes of the FCC’s new “Open Internet” (a/k/a net neutrality) rules and polici...