The FTC won’t “back down because corporate lobbyists are making threats,” an agency spokesperson responded to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claiming the agency is overstepping its legal authority. Filings and letters from the chamber object to various practices under Chair Lina Khan. The chamber Friday challenged so-called “zombie voting” by ex-Commissioner Rohit Chopra, or votes counted after he left office. The business group claimed the independent agency’s decision-making is being influenced by external parties like the White House, and it questioned FTC use of civil penalty authority, as suggested by Chopra. The chamber filed more than 30 Freedom of Information Act requests seeking “detailed information" on how the agency “manipulated its rules and procedures while potentially ceding its independent agency status to political interference.” It raised concerns about commissioners unilaterally authorizing compulsory investigations, changing the rulemaking process to give Khan more control and the repeal of competition-related policy statements and merger guidelines. “The FTC just announced we are ramping up efforts to combat corporate crime and now the Chamber declares ‘war’ on the agency,” said the agency in a statement. “We are not going to back down because corporate lobbyists are making threats. We will continue to do our job and stand up for consumers, honest businesses, workers, and entrepreneurs who deserve a fair marketplace.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by Dec. 8, replies by Dec. 28, on implementation of the Affordable Connectivity Program, said a public notice Thursday in docket 21-450. The new program provides a $30 monthly broadband subsidy for nontribal households and retains the emergency broadband benefit program's $75 monthly subsidy for tribal households. The bureau proposes to retain EBB rules for a connected device. The effective date of the new program will be Dec. 31 as EBB won't be fully expended beforehand and a 60-day transition period for EBB enrollees begins then. The new program would retain similar rules to EBB, including those for participating providers. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act modified household eligibility to remove those that were eligible for a provider's COVID-19 program or experienced a substantial loss of income in the past year, while adding households that receive Women, Infants and Children benefits. The bureau seeks comment on whether aspects of the EBB application process should be retained or modified, and whether providers should file an election notice to participate if they're already in the EBB program. The PN seeks comment on a statutory requirement that providers "allow an eligible household to apply the affordable connectivity benefit to any internet service offering of the participating provider, at the same rates and terms available to households that are not eligible households." The bureau proposes a 30-day non-usage period requirement with 15 days for households to cure the non-usage. The PN seeks comment on whether modifications to this requirement are warranted. The infrastructure law requires that participating providers let enrollees apply the benefit to any internet service. The bureau is seeking comment on how to implement this. Staff proposes requiring providers seek affirmative consent before enrolling a household in ACP and seeks comment on whether that should be done through written consent (see 2111170066). The bureau also is seeking comments on outreach (see 2111090063). The PN seeks comment on partial reimbursement and provider disputes.
Commenters sought flexible use rules for spectrum, in replies on an FCC IoT notice of inquiry, posted Wednesday in docket 21-353. Initial comments highlighted disagreements about the need for more unlicensed versus licensed spectrum (see 2111020038). “Continuing to free up spectrum for flexible, commercial uses is the best way to ensure that the spectrum foundation for IoT remains strong,” CTA said: “Such flexible spectrum policies have been successful and have facilitated the popularity and growth of IoT.” In initial comments, carriers, satellite operators, Wi-Fi advocates and others asserted they have a strong role to play in the IoT, Cisco said. All are correct, the company said. “The IoT is a collection of diverse spectrum-based technologies and highly diverse applications that continues to be a focus of growth and revenue, and one that will have profound impacts,” Cisco said: “Facilitating multiple IoT technologies through the availability of spectrum is the best practice.” The IoT requires “licensed, lightly licensed and unlicensed spectrum,” Microsoft commented. Different uses will inevitably “gravitate” to certain bands, the company said: “For many IoT applications, the cost and availability of sufficient unlicensed spectrum for indoor use are the principal considerations. But for certain use cases, IoT over licensed spectrum will have clear advantages.” Inmarsat agreed with comments the FCC “should support the growth of IoT with flexible use policies and spectrum allocations that accommodate IoT use cases, but that do not favor a particular communications technology over another.” Flexibility “enables operators to put spectrum to its highest and best use in a dynamic marketplace,” the company said. The record “demonstrates the importance of unlicensed and shared spectrum for current and future” IoT applications, said NCTA: “A small group of commenters assert that unlicensed and shared spectrum are not secure enough for important IoT applications and that no more spectrum is needed in the near term for unlicensed or shared use. These commenters are incorrect.” Rules should “ensure maximum flexibility,” said Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Institute. “Extending dynamic spectrum sharing frameworks to additional bands in low-, mid- and high-frequency spectrum clearly benefits the public interest as it promotes the most efficient and effective use of the airwaves while simultaneously stimulating competitive access to a resource traditionally dominated by the largest mobile carriers.”
The FCC’s 3.45 GHz auction ended Tuesday after 151 rounds, closing at nearly $21.9 billion (see 2111160070), the third-highest spectrum auction haul in FCC history. Bidders won 4,041 of the 4,060 available generic blocks. Analysts disagreed about how much interest there will be in the second phase where winners now have the opportunity to bid for frequency-specific licenses. The bids reflect an average price of 72 cents/MHz/POP, tweeted LightShed’s Walter Piecyk. “Assignment phase won't likely add much more $ or take too long,” he said: “We could find out who won this stuff by January.” The end was “anticlimactic” since bids rose above $21 billion Oct. 28 “which means that 78 rounds have passed where the incremental dollars gained were relatively small (at least for spectrum auctions),” blogged Sasha Javid, BitPath chief operating officer. The assignment stage shouldn’t mean significant extra dollars “given the way the auction is structured (typically less than 1% in additional proceeds),” but “we may see a little more activity than usual,” he said: “The coordination requirements with the DoD have created some differences between the blocks that were not fully captured in the categories created by the FCC.” Which big bidder dropped out in round 10 remains a mystery, though it looks increasingly less like Dish Network, he said. It also took longer than any other clock auction, and it’s unclear why the FCC didn’t do more to speed up bidding, Javid said.
Industry and state officials disagreed whether the FCC's Further NPRM to impose additional requirements for those seeking direct numbering resources would further efforts to curb illegal robocalls, in replies posted Tuesday in docket 13-97 (see 2110180045). Require applicants for direct numbering access to disclose foreign ownership information and those with authorization to update the commission of any ownership changes within 30 days, said attorneys general from every state and the District of Columbia. The AGs backed requiring applicants to certify robocall mitigation compliance or Stir/Shaken implementation and rejecting or revoking authorization if the applicant or holder is found to originate or transmit illegal robocalls. These "reasonable proposals will help curb illegal robocallers’ ability to misuse our nation’s limited numbering resources and circumvent the protections of the Stir/Shaken call authentication framework," they said. Requiring VoIP providers to adhere to state requirements is "reasonable and helps to ensure a competitive market while imposing safeguards on limited numbering resources," said the Michigan Public Service Commission. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission backed the 30-day notice for growth requests, and said it's the "only real means for state commissions to have a true sense of the entire universe of entities obtaining finite numbering resources." Allow state commissions to "assist the FCC and the Numbering Administrator to effectively oversee the use of numbering resources," said NARUC. Close "any perceived loopholes" in access stimulation rules, said Verizon, such as amending commission rules to qualify VoIP providers as access stimulators if they engage in such behavior. Verizon backed similar changes to the definitions of "end user" and "end office" that AT&T sought. Focus on "directly addressing any gaps in its existing frameworks" and avoid "imposing unnecessary, confusing, and/or duplicative requirements," said USTelecom. Don't adopt "new one-off rules that would apply uniquely to subsets of providers," said NTCA. The proposals "will make the robocalling problem worse," said RingCentral, Telnyx and Vonage. They "are neither necessary nor technologically neutral," said NCTA, which Microsoft and Lumen echoed. The "single most effective step" the FCC can take is a "targeted acceleration of the Stir/Shaken implementation deadline for those providers most likely to originate illegal robocalls," NCTA said.
The Office of Personnel Management released an updated guide to telework for federal agencies, plus a memo to agency heads on expanding telework programs. The National Treasury Employees Union is seeking more-flexible telework policies for FCC employees while bargaining about returning to in-person work (see 2111020067). “As we look to the future, OPM is encouraging agencies to strategically leverage workplace flexibilities such as telework, remote work, and alternative/flexible work schedules,” said OPM’s 2021 guide to telework. “Agencies demonstrated that they have been able to continue to carry out their missions effectively. As a result, agencies now have an opportunity to revisit how they were operating prior to the pandemic,” said the Friday memo to agency heads from OPM Director Kiran Ahuja. The FCC didn't comment.
The FCC doesn’t have an adequate record to consider adopting a new regulatory fee category, said NCTA in a call Friday with the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 21-190 Monday. “Nor is adoption of a new fee category for unlicensed spectrum users or broadband service providers warranted,” NCTA said.
CTIA asked the White House to direct the FAA and the aviation industry to work with the wireless industry on deploying the C band for 5G, starting in January. CTIA President Meredith Baker sought intervention in a Thursday letter to Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council. Industry officials warned Wednesday of extended delays as the FAA probes potential interference to radio altimeters (see 2111100068). “Aviation safety is critically important,” Baker said: “It is also not at risk due to C-Band 5G operations because there is no credible engineering evidence or real-world interference incidents to warrant delay in 5G deployment. The sole basis for the aviation community’s advocacy is an aviation industry association report released late last year asserting interference risks to aviation altimeters, but a review of the test parameters shows significant flaws and inconsistencies and raises serious questions about the report’s veracity.” If results were accurate, “altimeters in the United States would be functioning improperly today, even in the absence of 5G deployments,” she said. The White House didn’t comment Friday. The FAA should leave 5G in the C band alone, Free State Foundation bloggers said. “The FCC has legal authority over commercial spectrum -- and the FAA does not,” they said: The FCC shouldn’t “allow the integrity of federal commercial spectrum policy to be undermined by executive agencies making last-minute unsubstantiated complaints.”
Amazon supports U.S. policy initiatives “that focus on diversifying and expanding the semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging supply chain through building out domestic resources,” it said in comments posted Tuesday in docket BIS-2021-0036. Comments were due Monday in the Bureau of Industry and Security’s request for information on the global chip crunch to help the secretaries of Commerce and Homeland Security prepare a report for the White House by the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order on U.S. supply chains (see 2109230038). Any new policy initiatives on the chip shortage should also focus on “preserving relationships with trusted partners outside the United States, and investing in the growth of leading-edge technology capabilities,” said Amazon. “We are particularly concerned about the current lack of U.S.-based manufacturing capacity or capability to produce leading edge semiconductors at or below 7 nanometers, which creates a significant gap" in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, said the company. The “geographical diversification” of supply chains and “uninterrupted access” to semiconductor technology is “vital” to American companies, “including Amazon and our customers,” it said.
Communications is seeing "unprecedented amount[s]" of investment, especially as large telcos shift their businesses away from media and back to connectivity, CoBank economist Jeff Johnston reported Wednesday. The citizens broadband radio spectrum auction, by offering particularly small spectrum blocks, opened the door for small rural cities, homeowners' associations, universities and others to build carrier-grade wireless networks rather than rely on national wireless carriers, he said. That should drive big wireless investment, with the North American market topping $2 billion over the next seven years, he said. Bidding activity for broadband network overbuilders could heat up, if Atlantic Broadband's acquisition of WideOpenWest's Ohio assets is a portent of things to come, he said. Telcos' increased investments in fiber could be a competitive challenge for cable, as telcos' copper DSL markets traditionally were easy pickings, he said. "Now that the telcos have woken up and realized the media business isn’t for them, fiber is 'the new black.'"