China Telecom Americas petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday to set aside the FCC’s October order revoking the company’s domestic and international authorities (see 2110260060) under Communications Act Section 214. The company earlier asked the FCC for a stay, pending judicial review (see 2111080056). The order is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right; and without observance of procedure required by law,” said a filing in docket 21-1233. The court issued an order with preliminary filing requirements, including a statement of issues to be raised, due Dec. 15, dispositive motions Dec. 30.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks expects a resolution of FAA concerns that C-band deployments will cause harmful interference to air safety systems (see 2111100068), but that could include replacing some equipment, he told a virtual New Street 5G conference Monday. Verizon agreed to a one-month delay as a show of “good faith” and still plans to turn on C-band sites in January, an executive said.
The Customs Modernization Act is a bit of a misnomer, a Sidley Austin advisory says, encouraging firms to tell Sen. Bill Cassidy's office that changes are needed to make it beneficial to importers. The discussion draft of the bill was released so that it wouldn't produce unintended consequences for importers or businesses that provide services to importers, the Louisiana Republican's spokesman said (see 2111030035).
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., led filing of the Fair and Clear Campaign Transparency Act, in a bid to update broadcasters’ political ad reporting requirements. HR-5897 and its Senate companion would mandate that the FCC require broadcasters to submit political ad information in a machine-readable format, which bill sponsors said will allow better analysis of how political ad money is spent. Reps. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and John Yarmuth, D-Ky., co-sponsored. “The American public owns the airwaves used by broadcasters, and Americans have every right to know how these airwaves are used, especially when it comes to the opaque world of political advertising,” Eshoo said Monday. “Broadcasters report information about political ads in unstructured formats today, meaning the information can’t be easily analyzed.” For “too long, unscrupulous actors could hide behind dark money in political advertising with little to no accountability,” Lujan said. “It’s time to raise the curtain and empower voters to understand who is fronting political advertisements.” Eshoo’s office noted support from Common Cause, Decode Democracy and End Citizens United/Let America Vote Action Fund.
The Commerce Department should tread carefully when imposing new export controls, foreign investment restrictions and limits on standards collaboration, which may jeopardize the U.S.’s position in global information and communications technology supply chains, U.S. companies and trade groups told the agency this month. Some of those regulatory restrictions are already having chilling effects on U.S. competitiveness, they said, as foreign firms and countries can quickly fill voids in overseas markets and leadership positions in global standards bodies.
Backers of two bills aimed at mandating improvements to spectrum policy coordination between the FCC and other federal agencies are hopeful President Joe Biden’s recent FCC and NTIA nominations (see 2110260076) will mean a clearer path to those measures’ enactment. The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously advanced one of the measures, the Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-2501), during a Wednesday markup. The subpanel also unanimously cleared the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act (HR-1218).
Moving toward reverse preempting the FCC’s pole attachment authority, the Florida Public Service Commission unanimously supported a modified staff proposal on how to handle attachment complaints. The PSC is implementing a state law enacted in June (see 2110270017 and 2109010053). Commissioners agreed at a livestreamed Tuesday meeting to a change suggested by Florida Power and Light that the utility said would prevent complaining attachers from paying zero dollars while an attachment rate is in dispute. Chairman Gary Clark proposed requiring the complainant to state upfront what it thinks it should pay, and then pay that “undisputed” minimum amount until the commission resolves the dispute. AT&T Senior Counsel Tracy Hatch and Florida Internet and Television (FIT) counsel Floyd Self of Berger Singerman at first raised concerns that there could be extended disagreement over the “undisputed” amount. FPL Senior Attorney Maria Jose Moncada assured the commission it would take what attachers thought was correct until the PSC decided. The parties hashed out language to that effect over a 30-minute recess. Hatch and Self afterward said the language looked practical, though they cautioned the statute may not allow it. The commission didn’t adopt two changes suggested by the communications lawyers. Self sought to shorten review of access-denial complaints to 90 days from 180 days as proposed. It would be 180 days at most, clarified PSC Senior Attorney Kathryn Cowdery. Staff is reluctant to set it shorter due to unknowns about how many complaints will come in and how long they will take to resolve, she said. Commissioner Andrew Fay stressed 180 days would be a “ceiling” and the PSC could act faster. Self and Hatch wanted PSC rules to expressly reference the FCC rate formula to clarify draft language allowing pole owners and attachers to ask for an alternative rate, since they said the rules don’t say to what it would be an alternative. The Florida law directing the PSC to regulate attachments didn’t require that, responded Cowdery. Earlier at Tuesday’s meeting, PSC members elected Fay, a NARUC Telecom Committee member, as its next chairman.
Some House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee members signaled interest during a Tuesday virtual hearing in beefing up first responders’ communications infrastructure around the National Mall, the Capitol Building and other federal facilities in Washington, in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Other members cited the need for improving foreign language speakers’ access to wireless emergency alerts and other public safety communications platforms, and pressed Federal Emergency Management Agency Director-Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Antwane Johnson on how that entity has implemented fixes to prevent a repeat of the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054). The Tuesday hearing was a follow-up to an October one that highlighted communications issues first responders continue to face 20 years after the Sept. 11 attacks (see 2110070059).
Lynk said implications raised by its proposed satellite-provided mobile service should be considered at another time, but the FCC "should decline Lynk's invitation to act first and think later," Hughes told the International Bureau Friday. Lynk obviously has bigger plans than a 10-satellite constellation once it gets U.S. customers, and another company, AST, also has a pending application to provide similar service, Hughes said. It urged instead denial or deferred action on Lynk's application until the broader issues are addressed. Lynk outside counsel didn't comment Monday.
An uptick in food safety violations found in Australian meat products is minor, and does not raise larger concerns over the overall safety of Australia’s meat inspection system, an FSIS spokesperson said by email in response to a recent report from Food and Water Watch. The advocacy group had said an increase in “zero-tolerance” food safety issues found in random sampling by FSIS should lead to immediate revocation of Australia’s ability to export meat to the U.S. (see 2110270056).