Cablefax Dailytm What the Industry Reads First
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FRIDAY, April 23, 2021 Volume 32 | No.077 Cablefax DailyTM WHAT THE INDUSTRY READS FIRST Who’s ERIC?: Charter, Starlink believes is necessary ‘to make a business case” and therefore, ERIC argues the company won’t fulfill its RDOF obligations. “This Counter Mystery Coalition’s RDOF Claims objection is not only unsupported, it is inapposite to whether peti- Charter says it can ensure its RDOF integrity just fine, thank you tioners meet the qualifications for ETC designation,” Charter said. very much. Earlier this month, a group calling itself the Ensuring Before prospective winners in the FCC’s $9.2 billion RDOF RDOF Integrity Coalition [ERIC] asked the FCC to deny granting auction can begin collecting federal financial support for their Charter Eligible Telecommunications Carrier status—a requirement broadband buildout projects, they have to receive ETC status in for receiving funding in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund— in the census blocks they won funding in. Many are in the midst of census blocks where it won support. ERIC has also asked the FCC that process right now, with all RDOF winners required to upload to deny a Starry ETC application and to deny or defer action on a documentation of ETC designations and a certification letter to SpaceX subsidiary Starlink petition for ETC status. their FCC form by June 7. The ETC petition process is another op- It’s not clear who ERIC is, with the group only telling the FCC it is portunity for those challenging the viability of some of the auction made up of “rural broadband providers, rural Americans, and local wins to throw down red flags. Another round of ETC petitions was government officials” that want to ensure the RDOF proceeding just recently put out for comment by the FCC. results in timely broadband service to rural America. Charter accuses ERIC of launching a fishing expedition as it “Although ERIC’s membership and funding are clouded in secrecy seeks access to its long-form RDOF application, which includes and remain undisclosed, this so-called coalition essentially repack- confidential project funding descriptions as well as detailed tech- ages filings made by Starlink’s would-be competitors, such as DISH, nology and system design info. Long-form applications are already in other proceedings,” SpaceX said in defending its ETC petition for being reviewed by FCC staff, with a bipartisan group of lawmakers satellite broadband upstart Starlink. “Hopefully, this mystery filer, calling for close scrutiny to ensure rural America receives the which purportedly aims to ‘ensure integrity’ while directly parroting speeds and service promised. “We are assessing them for their the arguments of others, will dish out the truth about its funding financial viability, rational viability and their technical viability,” FCC and membership at some point.” (We’re going to speculate that acting chair Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters this week. “I hope the phrase “dish out the truth” was intentional on SpaceX’s part, there will be a time in the not-too-distant future where we will have as it’s filing repeatedly makes references to ERIC making positions more announcements to make. We are combing through these “like DISH.” DISH didn’t return a request for comment.) applications very, very carefully to make sure those who bid can Charter said ERIC’s central claim is that it has committed to build truly deliver on the services they can.” its network in some RDOF areas for less support than the coalition © 2021 Access Intelligence, LLC. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized www.cablefax.com reproduction by any means and imposes fines of up to $150,000 for violations. ANNOUNCING ’s Nominations Who deserves to appear in Cablefax’s annual power Top Operators list? Nominations Due: April 30! Help Cablefax compile this influential list of MSOs and Independent Operators by nominating the companies and executives you think should be included in our annual list of leading cable operators. The categories recognize excellence in a variety of areas, including marketing, technology, finance, lifetime achievement, customer service and community involvement. 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That means it could take longer for lesser-knowns, SNY. Sportico reported Friday that the family is considering like Starlink, which is currently in beta mode. For its part, SpaceX multiple options for a majority stake in the network, though accused Starlink’s critics of deeply flawed analyses that don’t there’s no guarantee of a deal. Logically, Steve Cohen, who reflect the actual capacity of the network. “Starlink is specifically bought the team from the Wilpons last year for $2.42 billion, designed to take advantage of technological advances to serve is said to be interested. Sterling Equities, ran by the Wilpon increasing consumer demand. By replacing our satellite fleet at and Katz families, owns about 65% of SNY, with Charter and a regular cadence, Starlink is able to rapidly introduce new tech- Comcast sharing the rest. SNY declined comment. nology into our constellation, bringing ever-increasing amounts COMCAST COMPENSATION NUMBERS of network bandwidth to our customers. As an industry leader in Comcast chmn/CEO Brian Robert’s compensation fell in 2020 launch capabilities and launch economics, SpaceX will leverage to $32.7 million, down from $36.4 million in 2019. Accord- this ability to meet and exceed its RDOF service obligations,” ing to the company’s SEC filing, his base salary came in at the firm said. $3.4 million, up from $3.3 million in 2019. His option awards Starry, a fiber wireless provider with a concentration on MDUs, settled at $10.6 million and his stock awards fell just under dismissed ERIC’s objection as a “secretive coalition seeking to use that number. NBCU CEO Jeff Shell’s total compensation totaled the ETC designation process as an opportunity to mount a collateral $16.5 million for his first year in the role with a base salary attack on the RDOF rules.” ERIC claims Starry’s mmWave technol- of $2.6 million. Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson took home ogy isn’t capable of delivering the RDOF promised gigabit speeds nearly 17% more than his 2019 total, receiving $19.7 million and notes it doesn’t advertise such speeds. “To date, Starry does in total compensation. He saw the biggest lift in non-equity not mass market a gigabit plan as a business decision. Starry incentive compensation which rose to $5.9 million. His 2019 will be deploying its gigabit network across its licensed spectrum figure for the category was $4.6 million. Comcast CFO Michael footprint, including in all census blocks for which it won RDOF sup- Cavanagh saw total compensation fall 5.8% to $25.25 million port, and will be rolling out a gigabit tier to offer to all consumers from $26.8 million. within its tier to offer to all consumers within its footprint, including WARNERMEDIA MERGES ADULT ANIMATION GROUPS all required RDOF locations,” Starry said.