Lifeline providers endorsed and USTelecom opposed TracFone's emergency petition for the FCC to direct Universal Service Administrative Co. to speed efforts to obtain access to key federal databases or postpone a national verifier's (NV) hard launch. Comments were posted through Thursday in docket 17-287. Sprint noted the databases contain information on consumers who participate in Medicaid, food stamps and other federal assistance programs. "Automated access to this information will help the NV to verify an end user’s ... eligibility to receive the federal Lifeline benefit in an efficient and user-friendly manner, and will reduce the need for resource-intensive manual processing" that's costly for providers and "cumbersome and frustrating for end users," said Sprint in docket 17-287. The FCC should instruct USAC to set the NV hard launch dates only after application programming interfaces and database connections are implemented, said Q Link Wireless, noting its own API petition (see 1808130034). The National Lifeline Association said FCC policy goals were undermined by USAC's initial, soft launch without automated database access to Lifeline-qualifying programs "while simultaneously refusing to accept eligibility documentation from third-party sources such as Managed Care Organizations." Sage Telecom Communications (TruConnect) also supported the petition but asked if the agency moves forward without access to key databases, it allow documentation through such third parties. USTelecom, citing the goal of combating Lifeline abuses, said the FCC shouldn't let delayed access to the databases disrupt the transition to the NV, but instead should work with USAC and states to ensure timely access to the necessary databases. A telecom consultant disputed FCC claims, based on a 2017 GAO report that Lifeline resellers caused extensive program abuses. The report "in no way supports the Commission’s assertions regarding the scale of actual waste, fraud and abuse within the program, let alone its allegations of 'unscrupulous' behavior by resellers," said Gately Consulting, in a letter to House and Senate Commerce Committee leaders posted in the docket. Gately said GAO used a "flawed methodology to verify eligibility," relied on data intended for other purposes, and the "data fell within the statistical error range."

Net neutrality advocates urged the Supreme Court not to review or vacate a lower court ruling upholding the FCC 2015 Communications Act Title II broadband regulation order. Cert petitions seeking review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's affirmation should be denied, and the solicitor general's proposed vacatur under a mootness precedent isn't justified, said a brief filed Friday by Public Knowledge, New America's Open Technology Institute, the Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee, the Center for Democracy and Technology, NARUC and Vimeo in Daniel Berninger v. FCC, No. 17-498. Given the current FCC's January net neutrality deregulation, the SG recently asked justices to grant cert but vacate the D.C. Circuit judgment and remand the 2015 order litigation with directions to declare related legal challenges moot, or to consider the effect of the new order (see 1808030041). "We assume petitioners will take the same position, although most are apparently waiting to explain why until they file reply briefs," said the net neutrality advocates (NARUC opposes FCC pre-emption provisions). Cert petitions were filed last September, and the court is considering the petitions now "because petitioners and the Government collectively took more than ten months’ worth of extensions," the net neutrality advocates said. "After the 2016 presidential election, the Commission realigned itself with petitioners and worked with them not only to repeal the Open Internet Order, but also to delay this Court’s review long enough for the repeal to moot the case and lay the groundwork for their present joint request for vacatur" under 1950's Munsingwear, they said. "This Court’s review was prevented through the cooperative effort of the parties seeking vacature to successfully delay the Court’s consideration of the petitions until the case was moot. Respondents are unaware of any case in which the Court has rewarded such manipulation." A Free Press brief also urged cert denial.

California and other state net neutrality efforts are illegal, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a Friday speech at the Maine Policy Heritage Center. “Last month, the California state legislature passed a radical, anti-consumer Internet regulation bill that would impose restrictions even more burdensome than those adopted by the FCC in 2015,” including restrictions on zero rating, said Pai, per prepared remarks. “The broader problem is that California’s micromanagement poses a risk to the rest of the country,” he said. “Broadband is an interstate service; Internet traffic doesn’t recognize state lines. It follows that only the federal government can set regulatory policy in this area. For if individual states like California regulate the Internet, this will directly impact citizens in other states.” The recent 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on state regulation of VoIP (see 1809070030) reaffirmed that federal law pre-empts state regulation of information services like broadband, Pai added. The California bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), rejected Pai “potshots” in a Friday statement. “Unlike Pai’s FCC, California isn’t run by the big telecom and cable companies,” Wiener said. The California bill “is necessary and legal because Chairman Pai abdicated his responsibility to ensure an open internet. Since the FCC says it no longer has any authority to protect an open internet, it’s also the case that the FCC lacks the legal power to preempt states from protecting their residents and economy.”

House Transportation Railroads Subcommittee members raised concerns Thursday about new warnings from National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt and others that a significant number of railroads -- mainly commuter systems -- won't be able to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to implement portions of positive train control technology. Railroads can continue to get extensions through the end of 2020 to fully implement PTC but must demonstrate they are acquiring necessary spectrum holdings and meeting other annual goals. Senate Commerce Committee members raised similar concerns in March about PTC implementation (see 1803010054). Nine railroads, including the Maryland Area Regional Commuter and New Jersey Transit systems, are “at risk” of not meeting 2018 benchmarks, Federal Railroad Administration head Ronald Batory said during a subcommittee hearing. FRA “will continue to support and facilitate railroads’ implementation of PTC technology by utilizing the tools afforded by Congress and providing extensive technical assistance and guidance to railroads and suppliers,” Batory said. “We remain vigilant in harnessing and leveraging all the personnel, financial and other resources available to help expedite railroads’ implementation efforts.” GAO echoed Batory's assessment. GAO Thursday reported many railroads are in “early” stages of implementing PTC technology but at least 32 of the 40 affected railroads are likely to apply for an extension. NTSB “urges swift implementation of the congressional PTC mandate,” Sumwalt testified. “For each day that goes by without PTC, we are at continued risk for another tragic accident.” Chairman Jeff Denham, R-Calif., agreed there was some progress on PTC “among a majority of railroads,” but “we want to see everyone meet their requirements.”

Frontier Communications temporarily suspended work activities in portions of South Carolina as Hurricane Florence approached, it announced Thursday. The storm was downgraded to a Category 2 the same day. “Repair and installation technicians, contact center employees and others will not be executing any work activities during this time,” Frontier said. “Florence will damage power facilities and down lines and trees, which will affect the speed of communications restoration,” said Senior Vice President-Operations, South Region Melanie Williams. AT&T is launching severe weather channels on DirecTV and U-Verse dedicated to Florence coverage, it said. AT&T, CenturyLink and other carriers also have readied emergency resources (see 1809110046). Carrier preparations were laid out in a USTelecom blog. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Thursday urged residents of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia to stay in communication with friends and family using phones, text messages and social media and to stay informed using TV, radio and local government websites.

The FCC should tell Congress that it, the Navy and NTIA are “falling short of the expectations that were widely held” on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band when the Spectrum Pipeline Act became law Nov. 2, 2015, public interest groups told the FCC on two reports to Congress (see 1808100033), posted in docket 17-258 Wednesday. “Congress had every reason to believe” the band would be brought online quickly, the groups commented. “The sad fact is that in the waning months of 2018 there is far less to report back to Congress about the ‘results’ of the landmark CBRS framework than there reasonably should be.” The groups sought a quick FCC decision on sharing the 6 GHz band with unlicensed. “Adjacent to current Wi-Fi operations,” the band is “uniquely positioned to help build capacity for Wi-Fi networks as unlicensed, and Wi-Fi in particular, increases in importance as the connectivity of choice for mobile devices and local area networks.” The Open Technology Institute at New America, American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Hispanic Media Coalition and Public Knowledge were among signers. These frequencies are "a unique opportunity to significantly expand the nation’s unlicensed spectrum inventory by more than 1 Gigahertz,” said Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm and several others. “Opening this band is essential to addressing a growing unlicensed spectrum shortfall.” The Wi-Fi Alliance stressed the importance of the swath. “While new Wi-Fi devices are being introduced in the 5 GHz band, which is available for unlicensed operations, more mid-band spectrum is needed to meet the growing demand for data throughput capabilities offered by the next generation Wi-Fi,” the alliance said. “This spectrum shortfall has yet to be addressed.” The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said it's “premature” to report on success or failure of the 3.5 GHz band. “Significant operation of CBRS devices is yet to occur,” NPSTC said. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said for CBRS to be a success, at least some priority access licenses (PALs) must be available in small geographic sizes. “Failure to do so would undermine CBRS’s promise as an innovation band, strand millions of dollars of investment already made in CBRS, and ‘rig the system’ in such a way that only those business models that prefer large license areas could acquire PALs,” the alliance said. Making the 6 GHz band available for unlicensed is also key since Wi-Fi carries more data than any other wireless technology, the alliance said.

The Rural Utilities Service received wide-ranging advice from an array of parties on its inquiry into how to implement a $600 million "e-connectivity" grant and loan pilot program. Telecom interests, electric cooperatives, government authorities and others filed 278 comments, which continued to trickle out in RUS-18-Telecom-0004 (194 were posted by late Wednesday). Echoing comments of FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 1809100047), NTCA, ITTA and some state telecom associations were among those urging that RUS not allow overbuilding of existing broadband facilities. U.S. Cellular said mobile broadband should be included in funding and the definition of a requirement that eligible rural areas have at least 90 percent of households without "sufficient access" to 10/1 Mbps broadband. "Mobile technology does not provide sufficient access," countered the Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, one of numerous cooperatives and their groups that filed. It's "impossible to overstate" the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's support for the pilot, said the group, which cited a study finding the digital divide cost rural communities $68 billion in lost economic value. The Utilities Technology Council called for funding "robust broadband networks" with faster speeds and higher-quality service so that rural America isn't "left behind with marginal broadband services." In defining “sufficient access” for eligible rural areas, "the pilot should consider the transmission capacity required for economic development to ensure it meets the needs for consumer use, distance learning, telemedicine and businesses," said the California Broadband Council of Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) administration, one of many state, local and tribal entities to file comments. GCI Communication and other Alaska entities weighed in on their state's unique challenges.

The FCC continues preparing for Hurricane Florence in coordination with state and federal partners, Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday. It activated the disaster information reporting system, with reports requested from some counties in Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, said a public notice. “Staff have already been deployed to survey the radiofrequency spectrum across critical areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and our Operations Center is open 24 hours a day,” Pai said. “Our staff has also reached out to broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other telecom companies in the areas expected to be hit by Hurricane Florence. We will closely monitor communications outages data in the coming days and work to support restoration and recovery.” Pai urged people in affected areas to charge devices and sign up for emergency alerts. Carriers announced preparations this week (see 1809110046). Some state commissions also released alerts, with North Carolina and South Carolina agencies announcing closures. The FCC Public Safety Bureau should ensure emergency information in Spanish is available in four radio markets in the path of Florence that lack sufficient Spanish-language radio stations, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the League of United Latin American Citizens in a letter Wednesday. “Intervention is necessary because it does not appear that the region’s broadcasters have [emergency alert system] plans that address the urgent needs of speakers of Spanish." Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Hilton Head, South Carolina, have Hispanic populations of more than 10 percent, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is 5.8 percent Hispanic, the groups said. The Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville, North Carolina, radio market is 8.5 percent Hispanic, a population of more than 59,000 people, the letter said. “We ask that lifesaving information be broadcast in the referenced markets” at periodic intervals throughout the day “by at least one station in each market that survives the hurricane,” they said.

CTIA and others encouraged the FCC to make more spectrum bands available for 5G, in comments on reports to Congress required by the Spectrum Pipeline Act. Comments were due Tuesday on an August public notice, seeking feedback on results of 2015 rule changes to the 3.55-3.65 GHz band and on other bands that can be reallocated for broadband (see 1808100033). The U.S. wireless industry needs spectrum to keep up with the world, CTIA said in docket 14-177. “Other countries, from Asia to Europe, are moving aggressively to lead the world in 5G and are actively working to make spectrum available for 5G in both mid-band and high-band spectrum ranges,” CTIA said. “China, for example, reserved spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band for 5G use in 2017 and has committed two gigahertz of high-band spectrum for each major wireless operator.” Other commenters filed on a third Further NPRM on the spectrum frontiers. The Competitive Carriers Association applauded Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to simultaneously auction the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands. “In addition to these worthwhile efforts, opening up additional bands, such as the 26 GHz and 42 GHz bands, for wireless broadband will help continue the deployment of critical wireless services to all consumers. Competitive carriers need access to a variety of spectrum resources to deploy next-generation mobile broadband technologies, including to support the Internet of Things and 5G,” CCA said. The Wireless ISP Association said the FCC should confirm that the lower 37 GHz band will be available on a coordinated shared licensed basis. “Low-barrier shared spectrum is critical for small providers, new market entrants, and competitive fixed wireless providers alike to have access to the spectrum necessary to deploy broadband in areas that are underserved or lack competition,” WISPA said. The Open Technology Institute at New America also said the lower 37 GHz band should be shared. “Authorization of a third-party and ultimately automated coordination framework will facilitate the most intensive and cost-effective degree of shared access,” OTI commented. OTI supported site-based registration through a third-party coordinator. “Pressure on existing licensed mobile and unlicensed spectrum bands will continue to intensify due to the growing consumer demand for wireless connectivity, and the bands identified in the FNPRM will certainly serve an important role in providing 5G,” Qualcomm said, asking to “authorize mobile and fixed operations in these bands using licensed and shared unlicensed regulatory paradigms.”

The FCC is “moving forward with procurement steps” for planned revamp of its Electronic Comment Filing System, Chairman Ajit Pai responded to House Communications Subcommittee members’ questions following up on July's oversight hearing (see 1807250043). Pai announced the overhaul project in July in response to problems the ECFS application programming interface experienced during a proceeding on rescinding 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1807110044). The FCC “expects that the Discovery/Requirements phase of the ECFS Replacement project will start in the first quarter of FY 2019,” Pai said in response to a query from Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif. Once that phase ends, “we will have a more accurate timeline for ECFS development. The estimated development time is six to nine months.” The FCC plans to give Congress “quarterly briefings” on progress, Pai said. He emphasized he was following an Office of Inspector General’s request not to divulge results of its investigation into the ECFS incident ahead of the final report’s August release. OIG found the glitch was caused by sheer volume of commenters on net neutrality rather than a distributed denial-of-service attack (see 1808060051). OIG didn’t want commissioners to discuss the investigation “in order not to jeopardize it,” including “the referral of facts involving [then-FCC Chief Information Officer David Bray’s] conduct to the Department of Justice for potential criminal prosecution,” Pai said. “In the days and weeks following the incident, my office had several conversations with [Bray] and other Commission IT personnel to better understand what had happened, help answer questions regarding what had happened, and take steps to keep ECFS running.” FCC IT staffers have since “improved caching both internally, within the ECFS system, and externally, leveraging our Content Delivery Network provider,” Pai said. Staff “enhanced ECFS both vertically (using ‘larger’ instances with more memory and CPU capacity) and horizontally (adding additional instances to the various clusters) to deal with the increased volume of requests.” The FCC “optimized the ECFS application both in terms of data access and application functions,” Pai said.