The FCC's January meeting agenda is a prime example of how the partial government shutdown is undercutting administration efforts at deregulation and needs to end, American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow Daniel Lyons blogged Friday. "Smart-siz[ing] the regulatory state" is long overdue, but eliminating outdated and overly burdensome regulations requires a bureaucracy that reviews its rules, gauges their ongoing necessity and manages the legal process for changing them, he said. The shutdown means deregulatory items that had been scheduled for the meeting -- an end to Connect America Fund Phase I support in some price-cap telco areas and eliminating requirements for broadcaster midterm equal employment opportunity reports (see 1901030039) -- are now kicked down the road, Lyons said. The agency announced last week the January meeting won't have agenda items (see 1901230058). President Donald Trump reached a deal on a continuing resolution to reopen shuttered parts of the government through Feb. 15, which Congress was expected to have approved as soon as Friday night (see 1901240016).

NAB warned that spectrum sharing often isn’t easy, commenting (see 1901230028) to NTIA on the national spectrum plan, as other groups filed last week despite the federal shutdown. “Widespread successful spectrum sharing involving sensitive information is likely to require a third party, trusted by all involved spectrum users, to act as a frequency coordinator,” NAB said. “All spectrum users involved in a sharing arrangement will need to have real-time communication with the trusted third party to provide up-to-the minute information on operating conditions and to facilitate interference reporting.” This third party must also have “enforcement capability to alter the sharing parties’ operating conditions to mitigate or avoid interference, and to shut down interference sources if necessary,” NAB said. The Telecommunications Industry Association said spectrum policies must be predictable, flexible and efficient, protecting those with superior rights. “Good spectrum policy decisions need to be made on a band-by-band basis, depending on the particular propagation characteristics of a band, existing service allocations, and existing incumbent services within a band,” TIA said. “While spectrum sharing approaches and technologies are increasingly becoming available, the existence of either should not, by itself, justify regulatory action to implement a sharing system.” APCO noted that "public safety communications systems are designed for the worst-case, highest-use scenario and therefore may require a much greater surge capacity.” Declare "spectrum is the quickest and most cost-effective way to provide access to broadband services to rural areas that lack access or choice,” the Wireless ISP Association asked. NTIA “should consider the growing socioeconomic benefits of unlicensed spectrum use cases," like Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi Alliance said. “This includes promoting shared spectrum access among Federal and unlicensed spectrum users.” Satellite operators need long-term access to spectrum, the Satellite Industry Association said. “Due to the long lead time to design, construct, and deploy satellite networks, satellite operators must obtain funding and spectrum rights years in advance of launch.”

Google told NTIA it and other companies are developing technologies to improve spectrum sharing. Google commented on the national spectrum policy, as did others though the agency is mostly shut (see 1901230028). “Dynamic spectrum databases and automated admission technologies hold the promise of revolutionizing wireless communications and transforming network deployments by incumbent operators, neutral hosts, and end users, catapulting the United States into its 5G future,” Google said. “Government policies that incorporate opportunistic spectrum use can enable more efficient use, lowering barriers to entry for new products, applications, and use cases, which are essential for economic development and achieving 5G." Google noted the many advantages that will come with 5G. It said use of databases for sharing “is fully compatible with traditional licensing in the same spectrum bands, enabling wireless carriers and other providers to meet quality of service needs.” The GPS Innovation Alliance said spectrum management decisions must consider “the unique characteristics” of global navigation satellite system services and GPS, protecting them from harmful interference.

The federal judiciary can extend paid operations through Jan. 31 and maybe Feb. 1, despite the partial government shutdown, but "no further extensions ... will be possible," projected the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, noting the previous estimate was for funding through this week. "Extensions have been achieved" by "deferring non-critical operating costs and utilizing court filing fees and other available balances," said the office Tuesday. "Most of the measures are temporary stopgaps, and the Judiciary will face many deferred payment obligations after the partial government shutdown." If existing funding runs out before lawmakers appropriate new funding, "the Judiciary will operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which permits mission critical work," including case resolution, the office said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which reviews many FCC cases and is to hear argument on challenges to the net neutrality reversal order Feb. 1 (see 1901230060), said oral arguments on its calendar "will go on as scheduled." Deadlines remain.

The partial government shutdown could have lengthy FCC aftereffects, said former Chairman Tom Wheeler in a blog post for the Brookings Institution Tuesday. Returning from month-plus shutdown “is not a situation where employees walk back in and pick up where they left off a few days before,” Wheeler said. “So much new has piled up on the Commission’s plate that the first thing to do upon returning is to assess the new pile, the second step is to catch up on other developments in the intervening period, then the third step is to reprioritize.” Only then “can the Commission get back to full productivity.” By making it difficult to get new tech reviewed or consult with FCC experts, the shutdown is likely causing delays for the advance to 5G and slowing progress on T-Mobile buying Sprint, Nexstar/Tribune and the resolution of the Sinclair hearing designation order, Wheeler said. He criticized “the Trump FCC” for using the shutdown as reasons not to respond to congressional requests for information on carriers selling location information and to delay the net neutrality court case. The shuttering has “proven a convenient excuse” for the FCC “to avoid unpleasant explanations of their activities,” Wheeler wrote. Wednesday, the agency didn’t comment.

The FCC will hold a scheduled commissioners’ meeting Jan. 30, without the planned agenda items, said a public notice Wednesday (see 1901230035). As expected (see 1901180015), the meeting will instead consist of “announcements only,” the agency said. The FCC didn’t comment on whether the January agenda items would be pushed to a future meeting or approved on circulation. Details of the meeting depend on how long the shutdown lasts, the PN said. If the shutdown ends and the FCC “resumes normal operations” before Tuesday, the meeting will be held, as usual, in the Commission Meeting Room. If the shutdown continues through Tuesday, it will be conducted over conference call, the PN said. If the meeting is held via call, the public can listen in on an audio-only feed by calling 866-233-3841, pass code 463377, the PN said. “Call-in capacity may be limited depending on the volume of call.” In either scenario, the start time was moved to 11 a.m. "This could very well be one of the FCC's most productive meetings," cracked ex-Commissioner Robert McDowell in response. “Given the length of the shutdown so far, proceeding with the announced agenda wasn’t possible, even if the Commission were to resume operations soon,” emailed telecom attorney Steve Augustino of Kelley Drye. “The option of a delay could crowd the February meeting, so this is the only practical solution.” Use the agenda-less meeting to provide guidance on priorities after operations resume, he recommended. “The agency should signal what will be tackled first,” he said. “We have quite a backlog of work that is piling up, and there could be a flood of calls and filings on the first day of normal operations.”

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s media aide Kate Black has written a guidebook for women seeking political office with actress and comedy podcaster June Diane Raphael, Rosenworcel tweeted Tuesday. According to the publisher, Represent is structured around a 23-point checklist for female candidates at every level of office. The book will be published in September.

Calendar corrections: The date of an AT&T event on privacy is Feb. 5. ... The URL for a Free State Foundation telecom event is here.

Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler questioned whether the administration is fully committed to cybersecurity as industry moves on 5G. A Monday opinion in The New York Times builds on his recent blog post (see 1901140038). “Leadership in 5G technology is not just about building a network, but also about whether that network will be secure enough,” Wheeler said. “And the 5G ‘race’ is more complex and dangerous than industry and the Trump administration portray.” Wheeler cited self-driving cars: “When 5G enables autonomous vehicles, do we want those cars and trucks crashing into each other because the Russians hacked the network? If 5G will be the backbone of breakthroughs such as remote surgery, should that network be vulnerable to the North Koreans breaking into a surgical procedure? Innovators, investors and users need confidence in the network’s cybersecurity if its much-heralded promise is to be realized.”

T-Mobile is the best positioned among U.S. carriers “to deliver real 5G whenever that reality actually materializes,” BTIG’s Walter Piecyk wrote investors Friday. “T-Mobile’s deep and unused low-band spectrum should enable it to launch real 5G before all of its peers. T-Mobile should therefore be considered a primary 5G investment opportunity for investors whether their acquisition of Sprint is approved or not.” The analyst said if the deal isn’t approved, T-Mobile likely will spend $20 billion on spectrum over the next two years. A likely target is Dish Network’s band 66, which includes AWS-4 downlink spectrum and AWS-1 and paired AWS-3, he said. “If that block or Dish’s band 70 is not an option, $20 billion would provide a healthy budget for C-Band spectrum that could become available as early as 2020,” he said. “Unfortunately, C-Band will not likely be usable for several years.” Meanwhile, T-Mobile Friday named Ulf Ewaldsson, ex-Ericsson, senior vice president-technology transformation, reporting directly to Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray. (See also the personals section of this publication's issue).