Direct-to-Cell Innovation Will Expand Broadband Access to All Americans

On November 26, the FCC issued an order that granted low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband provider Starlink authorization to provide Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) and operate on certain spectrum bands for direct-to-cellular (direct-to-cell) operations, under certain conditions. Direct-to-cell, sometimes called direct-to-device (D2D), is the technological capability of connecting satellite broadband networks to standard terrestrial mobile cellular wireless smartphones. Starlink reportedly has an agreement with nationwide mobile wireless network provider T-Mobile, under which it will provide mobile Internet connectivity in the US exclusively to T-Mobile for one year. 

Additionally, AT&T and Verizon reportedly have entered into commercial agreements with LEO satellite network provider AST SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile will be using spectrum in the 850 MHz band licensed by AT&T and Verizon, whereby AST SpaceMobile will provide direct-to-cell capability and thus enable mobile wireless broadband coverage to 100% of the geography of North America. 

As I wrote in a December 2023 blog post, smartphone access to satellite broadband networks is a stellar example of the broadband market's dynamism. Near-future commercial availability of direct-to-cell capability by competing mobile wireless broadband providers in partnership with LEO satellite network operators is innovative, enhances competition, and doubtless will improve access to broadband for Americans. 

 

Indeed, the important potential improvement in broadband access enabled by direct-to-cell innovation should factor into the FCC's forthcoming Section 706 Report as well as its forthcoming Communications Marketplace Competition Report. In assessing progress in deploying advanced capabilities in a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans and in analyzing market competition for broadband services, the Commission should take a forward-looking analysis rather than rely on static snapshots in time from the past. 

 

For the Commission, direct-to-cell capability ought to serve as a reminder that private market investment and innovation drive the improvement and expansion of broadband networks far more than slow-moving subsidy programs such as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program that draw from the public treasury – and ultimately from US taxpayers. During the next Trump Administration, the FCC should return its focus to promoting private network investment and innovation and to eliminating rate regulation and other burdensome, costly restrictions that harm market competitiveness and fail to meaningfully benefit consumers. 

 

This year, the Free State Foundation filed public comments and reply comments with the FCC in its current Section 706 report proceeding. FSF also filed public comments and reply comments in the Commission's current Marketplace Competition Report proceeding. 

Copyright Advocates Stepping Up Efforts Against Online Piracy

On November 26, The Motion Picture Association's (MPA) Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer Larissa Knapp, published a blog post announcing the MPA Content Protection team's strategic goals to deter, detect, and dismantle online piracy operations in 2025. Ms. Knapp's blog post can be found on the website of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertaining (ACE), an online antipiracy coalition of over 50 media and entertainment companies. ACE addresses piracy through public education, research into piracy trends, criminal referrals, civil litigation, and cease-and-desist operations. 

Hopefully, the efforts of MPA, ACE, and individual U.S. copyright owners to curb unlawful online copyright infringements in 2025 will be successful.

Online piracy of creative works, including movies and TV shows, undermines the rights of copyrighted property owners, inflicting large-scale damages on owners and reducing jobs and economic opportunities for those industries that help support creative enterprises. ACE's July 2023 report "2022 Movie & TV Piracy Trends Worldwide" cites analyst estimates for the U.S. that there were 14.7 billion visits to film and TV piracy sites that year, as well as 1.9 billion pirated movies, primetime TV, and video-on-demand (VOD) shows using peer-to-peer protocols, not including streaming and downloading sites. Additionally, ACE's report cited an estimate that revenue losses to the U.S. economy due to global online piracy totaled $29.2 billion in 2022. 

 

My February 2024 Perspectives from FSF Scholars, "Congress and the Administration Should Move Against Online Copyright Piracy," identified three ways to improve protections for Americans' copyrighted works from online piracy: (1) confirmation of an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) to engage foreign nations on copyright piracy: (2) stepped-up prosecutorial efforts against streaming piracy operations; and (3) legislation by Congress to establish a "notice-and-stay-down" requirement for major online platforms as a condition for receiving immunity for infringements on their websites. My World IP Day 2024 blog post added: (4) legislation by Congress to establish a legal process for judicial site-blocking of third-party websites dedicated entirely or overwhelmingly to unlawful online copyright piracy. 

 

The Free State Foundation is dedicated to the protection of private property rights, including intellectual property. In the year to come, FSF scholars will have more to say about legal and policy measures to combat online copyright piracy.