C-Band Item in Flux, With Changes Expected Before Thursday's Vote
With discussions just getting started on the FCC eighth floor, the C-band NPRM and order teed up for a vote Thursday is expected to get a few changes. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is considering relaxing the information collection requirements for smaller satellite players that’s part of the item, FCC and industry officials said Friday. The NPRM may also include a few additional questions, prompted by outreach to the FCC, the officials said. The item is expected to win easy approval by commissioners.
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“You’re going to see a few moving pieces between now and next week, but my sense is the FCC still has a way to go,” said a lawyer who represents carriers. Pai appears to be considering relaxing the order part of the item. With lots of smaller satellite operators at the FCC to complain over the past week, the collection requirement is expected to apply first to the largest operators that have the equipment and personnel to easily comply with the mandate, FCC and industry officials said. The FCC would then review what it has collected and decide whether it needs more information from smaller operators as well.
“Relaxing the information collection requirements for smaller satellite players would help address some of the concerns of the smaller operators, who have less personnel to compile and provide the information the FCC may want,” said Michelle McClure, satellite lawyer at Fletcher Heald. “The FCC may be trying to balance its collection requirements and the possible burdens it places on the smaller operators.”
The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance is “pleased with questions the FCC is asking in the draft NPRM and reducing burdens for small players is normal, although those seeking protections for current services should be able to provide the necessary information,” President Kalpak Gude told us. “What has come out of this process thus far is that satellite services continue to be very important to the satellite industry customers. This may have been a surprise to even some of the satellite operators. Particularly for video services, there are no realistic alternatives to satellite. Although some portion of the band may be cleared, a significant amount will not be.”
Learfield Communications and other smaller operators complained about the cost of complying with the draft order. “Compiling and submitting all of the data required by the registration process is … unduly burdensome, representing a significant strain on the limited resources of many smaller market stations or companies affiliated with Learfield programming,” the company said in docket 18-122. NPR said the draft order “would impose undue burden on local public radio stations that operate satellite downlink earth stations by requiring additional detailed information.”
NCTA said the FCC should seek comment on the information collection before mandating it. “This additional information collection was not properly noticed under the Administrative Procedure Act and the proposed process is burdensome and inconsistent with past Commission precedent,” NCTA said. The data collection itself “may ultimately be of limited utility, given that the Commission is unsure which path it will take to enable more robust terrestrial wireless use of the band.”
Raytheon agreed with NCTA that the FCC shouldn’t seek additional data until it better knows what information it really needs. “Proceeding in this way will better ensure that the burden associated with such a requirement will provide the most useful information the Commission does not already have to aid it in its decisions,” Raytheon said.
But CTIA told the FCC the information collection is critical to the proceeding. “As the Draft Order recognizes, this data will be relevant to assessing changes to the band, including possible interference avoidance coordination or relocation of facilities,” CTIA said.