Matt Daneman

Commercial space operations are in dire need of stronger regulatory oversight both domestically and globally, company CEOs and others said Tuesday at the Satellite 2022 conference. Industry and company officials also warned about a worsening interference environment as satellite traffic balloons.

Big technology hurdles remain before hybrid constellations of geostationary orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) happen, satellite operators said Monday at the Satellite 2022 conference and trade show in Washington. Systems that are "orbit agnostic" might be "a dreamland," and interoperability between LEO and GEO will take some time to develop, said Arabsat Chief Strategy Officer Hadi Alhassani.

Emergency broadband benefit and affordable connectivity program spending often goes more toward upgrading existing wireline ISP subscribers’ services than toward bringing connectivity to the unconnected, ISPs and digital equity interests told us. The FCC didn't comment.

Big Law firms with telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) practices are pulling out of Russia, and whether they will return after the end of Russia's Ukraine invasion is questionable. Some see the one-two punch of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic making it less likely Big Law will return someday. Several TMT companies are also opting to end or limit their Russian presence.

Russia's exclusion from ITU Standardization Sector working group chair or vice chair positions is widely seen as a sign of international outrage over Ukraine being felt within the U.N. body. Industry experts said Russia can still make member-state contributions but will be left out of leadership and setting the agenda for years to come.

T-Mobile joined a parade of mental health advocates Thursday backing Kansas' proposed fee structure to fund implementation of the 988 suicide prevention hotline. HB2281 would set the structure for and direct implementation of the state's role in the 988 hotline, including designation of hotline centers, convening of mobile crisis teams, training of staff and hiring of a statewide suicide prevention coordinator, the House Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications was told Thursday. It would impose a monthly surcharge of 20 cents per line on voice services, or a fee of 0.4% on each prepaid wireless transaction, with those fees going to the state 988 fund. The surcharge would generate about $7 million a year. Some states have passed 988 bills without surcharges, and Michigan and Illinois have bills pending that don't use surcharges and instead look at state revenue surpluses, said Patrick Fucik, T-Mobile state government affairs director. "Those funds might dry up eventually," and long-term a fee might be needed, he said. Amy Campbell, Kansas Mental Health Coalition coordinator, agreed relying on the state's general fund can mean a roller-coaster of services being provided and then cut back due to budgetary constraints. Monica Kurz, director of the Kansas Suicide Prevention Resource Center, a crisis call center, said state funding last year helped boost the capacity of the state's crisis call centers, letting more calls that originate in Kansas be answered in-state and directed to local resources. She said before that funding, about 40% of Kansans' calls to the national suicide prevention lifeline were routed out of state because of a lack of call center staffing. She said the per-phone surcharge is "critical" to keeping up current levels of service. She said a significant amount of call traffic to 911 is mental health-related and could end up being handled by 988 over time. Nick Wood, associate director of advocacy organization InterHab, urged retooling language in the bill on providing mobile crisis response services for people with behavioral health or intellectual and developmental disability needs. No bill opponents testified at the hearing.

Music labels claiming Cox Communications is liable for copyright infringement by its broadband subscribers faced seeming skepticism by a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges in oral argument Wednesday (docket 21-1168), as Cox appeals a U.S. District Court finding it liable and upholding a jury's $1 billion verdict (see 2101130025). Judge Allison Jones Rushing said the plaintiff-appellees are asking the court "to embrace an extremely broad theory of liability," and it's not clear why the lower court also agreed with it.

Following sale last year of five of its 19 markets (see 2111010005) and using proceeds to pay down debt, WideOpenWest now is focused on growth and expanding its footprint, Chief Financial Officer John Rego said in a Raymond James investor conference Monday. He said it “would be really difficult” to sell more markets. He said beyond the previously announced expansions into Seminole and Orange counties in Florida (see 2202240012), WOW will announce this year at least one other "greenfield" expansion into an area where it doesn't currently operate. He said WOW's growth focus is on such greenfield overbuilding, as well as edge-outs of its network into adjacent territory and more commercial enterprise services. WOW used to spend $30 million to $40 million a year on edging out, but that nosedived to $5 million during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Most new residential connections are taking 500 Mbps or higher, he said. Numerous customers moved to higher speed tiers during the pandemic, and it isn't anticipated many will level back down as they start returning to the office, he said. WOW's partnership with Reach Mobile on offering WOW-branded mobile service (see 2202220045) is a way of giving WOW a new product bundle for reducing churn as well as a means of testing mobile "to see if it's something we want to go deeper into," Rego said.

Maine Joint Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee members voted Thursday to table a bill to create a grant program to cover costs of signing up for satellite-based broadband. The vote came despite significant amendments introduced by a sponsor and a call during a committee hearing by its chairman, Sen. Mark Lawrence (D), that the legislature instead might want to give guidance to the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA). SB-1107 as introduced, would establish a state grant program giving up to $500 to individual households in unserved and underserved areas of the state. After questions about lack of means testing and concerns about whether satellite service would meet the FCC's broadband definition, amendments introduced this week by Sen. Trey Stewart (R) strike language on use of satellite-based service and creates a definition for inadequately served areas. Stewart said the tech-neutral language recognizes that modes of broadband provision are changing rapidly. Rep. Seth Berry (D) said it's tough to envision a service aside from SpaceX's Starlink that would fit the grant even with the amendment. He also questioned the use of individualized grants rather than those targeting communities. ConnectMaine Authority Executive Director Peggy Schaeffer said the $500 amount "isn't that helpful" in covering last-mile costs. She urged the legislature to consider means testing for the grants. She also warned that the agency, with a small staff, has limited capacity to manage up to 2,000 grant applications. "This individual-type program would take a lot of work" to verify and track, she said. Rep. Steven Foster (R) said focusing on means testing is misguided since the state hasn't taken such an approach when subsidizing cable network extensions. "There has been a commitment made to get everyone connected ... at whatever cost," he said. Lawrence said with the state getting sizable federal money for connectivity efforts, now is the time to give state agencies legislative direction on what lawmakers' priorities are, such as a focus on the most un- or underserved and use of individualized grants. Stewart said he and MCA President Andrew Butcher will try to have proposed language ready for committee members by late next week.

Low earth orbit satellite startup E-Space's plan to launch as many as 100,000 satellites (see 2202080004) licensed by Rwanda is seen by critics as an effort to skirt the heavier regulatory or spectrum burdens of more-traditional space regulatory regimes. Some see such moves potentially leading to bigger orbital debris problems.