Broadcasting&Cable

T-Mobile and Sprint have filed with the Federal Communications Commission for approval of their proposed merger, and promised in their public interest statement that the deal would create more jobs, more choice in video and business service, and world-class 5G service, while lowering consumer prices and helping close the rural high-speed divide. They said the goal is to beat AT&T and Verizon, not emulate them. They pointed to Verizon and AT&T getting into other businesses, saying that is not their strategy. 

The Federal Communications Commission has opened a comment docket on the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint merger and signaled the deal is about to be filed with the commission. The two wireless companies announced April 29 that they had struck a deal to merge that valued the combined company at $146 billion (including debt). It is only the latest in a flurry of merger activity, from the approval of the AT&T-Time Warner deal by a federal judge to Comcast's announced play for 21st Century Fox assets.  The FCC has even set up its 180-day shot clock on the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint meld, though it w

National Telecommunications & Information Administration administrator David Redl warned Congress that the "security and stability" or the internet are at risk due to pressure to comply with the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect May 25. That warning came June 13 in the Senate Commerce Committee's first oversight hearing of the NTIA under Redl, its new administrator.  Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said the committee was also looking at the GDPR and would seek Redl's input.

The House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee drilled down on targeted digital advertising. Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH) said the idea behind the hearing was to look at the benefits as well as the "emerging, high-profile challenges" of digital advertising, including the Russian election influence ads that have drawn calls, and some action, for better identifying who is placing those digital ads. The use of the word "challenges" was telling. Other legislators have labeled them "scandals" or "problems" in need of government fixes. Subcommittee 

Ion, Univision and Trinity Broadcasting say the Federal Communications Commission should not only grandfather their TV station holdings' discounted audience reach if the FCC adjusts the UHF discount or 39% audience reach cap, but should also allow them to transfer that grandfathered status to a new owner. That came in comments on the FCC's inquiry into whether that 39% cap needs to be raised or scrapped (or conceivably lowered, though that is highly unlikely). 

In a speech to the Media Institute, USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter said it is time to establish "consistent safeguards" across the entire internet. The key to those consistent safeguards, he suggested, were their broad application, echoing the growing chorus of internet service providers and legislators from both parties that believe mammoth edge players like Facebook and others need minding. "[T]he reality today is the companies making headlines for privacy missteps or blocking content aren’t the ISPs," Spalter said.