Australia's Fleet Space Technologies wants FCC OK for U.S. market access to offer IoT service with 40 low earth orbit satellites operating on UHF frequencies. In an International Bureau petition Tuesday, Fleet said it has six small satellites in orbit now, plans to launch another mid-2022 and then start batches of deployments in late 2022 that will lead to its constellation being completed in 2028. It said it eventually plans to up the constellation size to 200 and would seek that authorization later.

Global wireless 5G connections hit 438 million in Q3 and are projected to exceed 540 million by Dec. 31, 5G Americas said Tuesday. It noted Omdia predicts connections will reach 4.8 billion by the end of 2026, with 516 million in North America and 301 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. “While Oceania Eastern & South-Eastern Asia, which includes China, will account for more than half of all 5G subscriptions at the end of 2026, the Americas region will manage to carve out a 17% portion after growing 1,000% from 2021 to 2026,” said Omdia analyst Kristin Paulin.

Regulations intended to rein in large internet platforms moved forward Tuesday as EU lawmakers debated the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and a key committee approved its report on the Digital Services Act (DSA). The measures appear to be generally popular, but some lawmakers and stakeholders said they don't go far enough. The DMA seeks to create a level playing field in the digital sector by regulating "gatekeepers" that control core platform services to the detriment of competition. The DSA aims to protect users from illegal goods, services or content by, among other things, imposing due diligence requirements on online intermediaries (see 2012150022). Amendments to the report were to be voted Tuesday, with a final vote scheduled Wednesday. That will set parliament's negotiating position for talks with governments in the council, who agreed on their approach in November (see 2111260016). The DMA would put Europe in the leadership of the digital space, said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. He noted criticism from across the Atlantic but said the DMA isn't against any country or company, but rather an effort to regulate that space. Lawmakers generally supported the DMA subject to several changes, including ensuring that social media platforms and messaging services are interoperable, that they're safe and protective of personal data, and banning personalized kids advertising. Some members worried that the parliamentary version weakens the EC proposal by, for example, reducing companies that will fall within its scope. The lead committee vetting the DSA, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, OK'd its report. The approach taken by IMCO rapporteur Christel Schaldemose, of the Party of Socialists and Democrats and Denmark, got backing from other committees that reviewed the proposal, she told a Tuesday briefing. Compromises included: It safeguards intermediary liability provisions in the EU e-commerce directive, and opens the "black box of algorithms," forcing large platforms to disclose such things as content that may breach their terms. Members of European Parliament introduced a right for consumers and businesses to seek compensation for DSA violations. Asked which changes might be controversial in talks with governments, Schaldemose said that the council wants to finish work quickly could be problematic. Targeted ads and the black box of algorithms might be tricky, she said. The European Consumer Organisation urged MEPs to "aim for a stronger liability regime for marketplaces when consumers are harmed, a ban on surveillance advertising altogether, and for all platforms to have to verify the legality of sellers and their products, not just the large ones." "Further work is needed on marketplace obligations, user redress, and data disclosure to law enforcement and researchers," emailed the Computer & Communications Industry Association. Parliament votes on the amended DSA proposal in January.

Beijing reacted with scorn to the Treasury Department’s designation Friday of 15 individuals and 10 entities for their alleged connections to human rights abuses in several countries. Treasury singled out Chinese tech firm SenseTime for developing facial recognition algorithms it said “can determine a target’s ethnicity, with a particular focus on identifying ethnic Uyghurs” in Xinjiang. Treasury’s action to block any business from being transacted with any of the named individuals or entities “seriously interferes in China’s internal affairs” and “gravely violates basic norms governing international relations,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Monday.

Ofcom is resuming licensing non-geostarionary orbit satellites now that it has updated licensing procedures, it said Friday. The updates include a coexistence check where applicants have to demonstrate coexistence is possible with systems already licensed in the U.K. and systems that have applied for a license and whose application is out for comment. Gateway licensees are required to commence and maintain transmissions within 12 months of being licensed.

AT&T launched a 5G network in Mexico, with plans to deploy in the biggest markets over the next three years, it said Wednesday. It also opened a 5G Innovation Laboratory for the country.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit released a briefing schedule (docket 21-1233, in Pacer) Thursday for China Telecom Americas’ challenge of the FCC’s October order revoking the company’s domestic and international authorities (see 2111080056). The company’s brief is due Jan. 18, respondents' brief Feb. 17 and petitioner's reply brief March 10.

FuboTV closed its buy of French live TV streaming company Molotov, it said Wednesday. Molotov will continue to be based in Paris and be led by founder JeanDavid Blanc, who was named president, reporting to fuboTV CEO David Gandler. Molotov brings to fuboTV’s international business a freemium model that it hopes will help drive upsell opportunities for premium add-on channel packages, said the virtual MVPD. Molotov operates in France, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon and expects to launch soon in the Congo; it operates in Morocco through a partnership with Maroc Telecom. The deal was originally expected to close in Q1 (see 2111100003).

European and U.S. competition agencies will share information to maximize efforts to enforce antitrust laws and regulate digital markets, officials from both regions said Tuesday. FTC Chair Lina Khan, DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter and European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager issued the statement at the EU-U.S. Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue. The collaborative effort will include “sharing insights and experience with an aim towards coordinating as much as possible on policy and enforcement,” they said: Agencies will “explore new ways to facilitate coordination and knowledge and information exchanges to ensure that enforcement authorities are sufficiently equipped to address new challenges together.”

ICANN continues to struggle with its Whois policy for domain name registrations, nearly four years after the EU general data protection regulation took effect in May 2018. At that time, it adopted a "temporary specification" to allow domain name registries and registrars to continue to comply with existing ICANN contract requirements for handling personal data while also complying with the GDPR. It also launched an expedited policy development process (EPDP) to decide (Phase 1) whether to confirm the specification and then (Phase 2) to discuss whether to create a standardized access model to nonpublic registration data (SSAD). The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council approved a final report for Phase 2 in September 2020, but in response to a request by some EPDP members it also launched a Phase 2A to look into two additional subjects: (1) Differentiation of legal vs. natural persons' registration data. (2) The feasibility of unique contacts to have a uniform anonymized email address. ICANN now is seeking comments on the Phase 2 draft final report. The lengthy process resulted in some recommendations for ICANN board consideration -- but not in any kind of consensus, leading one ICANN-watcher to complain that the internet body's Whois policy "continues to fail." ICANN is supposed to ensure the continued availability of Whois data to the widest extent possible while maintaining the stability and security of the domain name system, blogged Perkins Coie intellectual property attorney Fabricio Vayra. Instead, the latest recommendations on Whois "contain no changes to the ineffectual status quo, and do not require registries and registrars to do anything" to distinguish between legal and natural persons. Nearly every ICANN constituency filed "minority statements" in the Phase 2 draft report objecting to the outcome of the policy process. Now ICANN is also trying to develop a system to help board members assess SSAD proposals. This is the beginning of a longer conversation for if and when ICANN decides to implement an SSAD, said Yuko Yokoyama, ICANN strategy initiative team project director, at a Nov. 18 webinar. The SSAD "is a brand-new, never-before-built system that affects people globally," an ICANN spokesperson emailed. The assessment that is needed to design an effective, efficient system to help the board's deliberations on the recommendations "is time-consuming and critical." The goal is to "get it done right and to take the time needed to do that." The ODP will result in an operational design assessment, expected to go to for board consideration by the end of February, she said. Asked whether there are concerns that it's taking so long to resolve Whois issues, the Belgian Data Protection Authority, which has lead jurisdiction over ICANN, emailed Friday that it and the European Data Protection Board "have dedicated significant time and resources to support ICANN's compliance efforts with meetings and guidance." The last meetings occurred in 2020, and the Belgian DPA "stands readily available and remain[s] committed to pursue those efforts."