House Communications Members Blast Pai on Wireless Location Data

The Enforcement Bureau expects to wrap up “by the end of January” its location tracking probe investigating sale of customer location tracking data allegedly accessed by bounty hunters, Pai testified. “As soon as possible thereafter, I'd be happy to share” findings and recommendations with lawmakers.” Pai said the same Tuesday in a letter responding to House Commerce Committee Democratic leaders (see 1911080051). EB's “investigation is nearing its conclusion” and “I will provide you with those results as soon as practicable,” Pai wrote. “The Bureau’s staff to date has reviewed over 50,000 pages."

Doyle and others criticized the length of the inquiry and the FCC's failure to frequently update House Communications. “That investigation started over a year ago,” which “is unacceptable,” said Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Effective deterrence requires swift and decisive action,” but “the FCC has demonstrated neither.” Doyle said the investigation is one of “many issues that were of concern to us” during a May oversight hearing (see 1905150061) that “remain unresolved.”

Doyle noted Pai promised during a subsequent June Senate Commerce Committee hearing (see 1906120076) that the investigation results would be ready soon. “That was six months ago and we still don't have them,” Doyle said. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks noted a lack of communication with their offices. “I still don't know what happened,” Rosenworcel said. Pai's office “has refused to provide us with any information about letters of inquiry or what we're investigating.”

Other Criticisms

Pai took heat for his Wednesday proposal to ditch Mobility Fund Phase II and repurpose $9 billion in USF funds for that program and others over the next 10 years for a new 5G Fund (see 1912040027).

“It seems that you finally realized that the data you collected is garbage, and that you need to go back and do this all over again,” Doyle said. “Everyone has been telling you that for years, and instead of acting decisively, folks in rural America will have to wait even longer to get rural broadband.” Pallone has “serious concerns” about the 5G Fund announcement, saying it follows a pattern of FCC failures to adequately inform lawmakers before announcements.

House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., said the plan “sounds good, but I have no details on" it. "We expect to have a little more notice, a little more communication on some of these big announcements," he said. "I think that would be helpful and probably alleviate some of the questions that will come today.” Pai said he waited to announce the new fund until after the FCC finished investigating MF-II inaccuracies.

A move away from MF-II is needed because the FCC shouldn't be reliant on rely on inaccurate broadband coverage data as it decides which areas should get 5G Fund allocations, Pai said. “The entire point of the 5G Fund is that we are in the early stages,” he said. “So the problem of inaccurate mapping with respect to 4G LTE does not map, pardon the pun, to the 5G environment.”

Pallone is “quite concerned” about the FCC's process for deciding its review of T-Mobile's purchase of Sprint, which ended in a 3-2 party-line approval (see 1911050055). He criticized the FCC for attempting to “strip away protections that promote diversity in the ownership of media companies,” which the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remedied in Prometheus IV (see 1909230067). The FCC “intentionally undermined the ruling of that court, by approving more consolidation after the fact,” Pallone said. He and Doyle pressed the FCC on that issue in October (see 1910220044).

Walden chided Pai for not coordinating his Monday call for Congress to repeal a provision of the 2012 spectrum law that mandates public safety move off the 470-512 MHz T band by 2021 (see 1912020063). “I find it interesting” Pai sought the repeal, an announcement that “was not coordinated nor discussed with me or my staff, despite our efforts to find a solution,” Walden said. He wants any legislative deal to also end state and local-level diversion of 911 fees (see 1905150061).

C Band

Doyle and other House Communications members delivered a far more positive response to Pai's C-band decision. Though Doyle also criticized the FCC for moving at "a glacial pace” in freeing up midband spectrum.

“I'm glad that you've come to see that a public auction” is in U.S. stakeholders' best interests, Doyle said. He later pressed Pai and other commissioners on whether the FCC “under its current authority” can use C-band auction revenue “to pay for rural broadband development,” next-generation 911 or other projects. All the regulators indicated Congress would need to allocate the auction proceeds.

“This is why we need to move quickly” on C-band legislation, Doyle said. “This is an opportunity we dare not miss.” Walden noted “proceeds from an FCC auction would go to the Treasury for deficit reduction, rather than going toward bipartisan” telecom priorities. “It is important to legislate and look to my colleagues on the other side to work with us on this issue in the coming weeks,” he said. “As we have these discussions, we must work with current licensees, potential bidders, and others so that this auction moves quickly, and we preserve U.S. wireless leadership.”

Doyle told us before the hearing he hasn't ruled out 2019 House Commerce action on his Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) or other C-band legislation. HR-4855 and companion S-2921 would direct the FCC to sell rights to use 200-300 MHz of “contiguous” spectrum in the C band. There's a “consensus” on the need to legislatively allocate C-band proceeds for telecom priorities “so that shouldn't be controversial,” he said.

Walden is “not sure” he's ready to sign on to HR-4855, but “there's common ground” lawmakers can reach on C-band legislation. “There are issues about how you do [the C-band] auction and I think we're going to have to work through that” via legislation, he said. “You don't want to set up an auction that fails or becomes so reverse-expensive that it doesn't pay off.” The U.S. “needs that midband spectrum to become available as soon as possible to facilitate 5G buildout in rural areas,” Walden said.

The Senate Commerce Committee plans to mark up the C-band-centric 5G Spectrum Act Wednesday. S-2881 would require the FCC hold a 2020 public auction of at least 280 MHz of C-band spectrum. The measure would require the FCC return at least 50 percent of proceeds to the U.S. Treasury.

Senate Commerce plans to also mark up four other tech and telecom bills during the meeting: the Data Analytics Robocall Technology Act (S-2204), the Telecommunications Opportunities for Workers Engaging in Real (Tower) Infrastructure Deployment Act (S-2363), the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (S-2661) and the Drone Advisory Committee for the 21st Century Act (S-2730). The markup starts at 10 a.m. in G50 Dirksen.

Senate Communications Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us he co-sponsored S-2881's approach of sending only 50 percent of C-band proceeds to Treasury because there needs to be "sufficient incentives" for auction participants. "Historically, that's the way this has worked," he said. Thune noted there could be other ways to direct the proceeds, and an aide told us the 50-percent figure is "a floor, not a ceiling."