Orbital Debris, Video Description Expansion on April FCC Agenda
Updated orbital debris rules for satellite operators and possibly expanding video description requirements to other markets will be among the topics on April 23's FCC agenda, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged Wednesday. The items are expected to be released Thursday. Pai will also seek a vote on Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band and on a 5G Fund for Rural America (see 2004010065).
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Along with updating orbital debris rules, Pai said the agency will seek comment on a performance bond "tied to successful [satellite] disposal." The orbital debris NPRM raised the end-of-life bond issue once, asking if it might incentivize design and launch choice decisions that would limit orbital debris. The issue got some pushback from operators. Pai said the draft is "designed to address the problem of orbital debris, while ... not creating undue regulatory obstacles to new satellite ventures."
Commissioners will vote on an NPRM that tentatively concludes video description requirements for commercial broadcasters should be expanded to an additional 10 markets annually for the next four years. Video description rules currently apply to commercial TV stations in the top 60 markets. “Making sure advanced communications are available to all Americans means making sure they are accessible to Americans with disabilities,” Pai said.
Media Bureau staff said in February the agency was examining widening the scope of the rules (see 2002200064), and the bureau’s 2019 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act report to Congress said consumers would benefit from expansion (see 1910090062). The draft NPRM proposed to seek comment in 2023 on expanding the rules further in 2024. The NPRM proposes the commission seek further comment in 2023 on whether to expand it to markets beyond the top 100 after 2024. "It's great to see the commission doing this," said Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Executive Director Mark Richert in an interview. CVAA's goal is for the FCC to require as much video description as possible, he said.
The agenda includes an order updating the technical rules for low-power FM stations. "There are now over 2,100 LPFM stations, and the LPFM have matured since engineering requirements were first established in 2000,” Pai said. “LPFM stations should be able to take advantage of additional engineering options to improve reception.”
The order follows an NPRM last year. The proposal sought comment on relaxing some interference restrictions on LPFMs and sunsetting protections for TV channel 6 LPTV stations, but Pai’s didn’t mention the TV6 proposals. The order includes “expanded LPFM use of directional antennas and permitting LPFM use of FM booster stations,” Pai said. NAB expressed concerns about LPFM use of directional antennas and boosters (see 1910220063) and broadcasters that operate TV6 stations asked the FCC to protect them. LPFM entities criticized leaving out of the NPRM proposals to allow LPFMs TO operate at increased power.
Also up for a vote is approval of ViaSat's fixed satellite service market access request, Pai said. The V- and Ka-band constellation was part of the 2016 non-geostationary orbit processing round (see 1611160010) and the agency has been making its way through approvals of the constellations. The commission "is committed to giving every company a fair shot at innovating and competing in the U.S. market," Pai said. ViaSat emailed it "welcome[s] FCC grant of this application and look[s] forward to the opportunity to bring additional high-speed, reliable and affordable services to America and the world.”