FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s three fellow commissioners released statements Tuesday and Wednesday congratulating him on his renomination to the agency. Carr and Chairman Ajit Pai also released statements on the renomination (see 1801090044). Fellow Republican Mike O’Rielly extended “congratulations and appreciation to the President” for Carr’s renomination, praising Carr’s leadership on infrastructure deployment. Carr “has deep knowledge of the legal and policy issues facing the communications sector,” said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “I wish him all the best in the confirmation process.” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said she shares Carr’s commitment “to growing our economy and building smart infrastructure so that all Americans are connected.” Rosenworcel said she looks forward to working with Carr “on these critical issues.”
The FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee will meet Jan. 23 and 24, starting at 9 a.m. both days, in the commission meeting room. At the group's fourth meeting, "the BDAC will consider reports and recommendations from its working groups, which include Model Code for Municipalities, Model Code for States, Competitive Access to Broadband Infrastructure, Removing State and Local Regulatory Barriers, and Streamlining Federal Siting," said a public notice Wednesday in docket 17-83. "In addition, the BDAC will continue its discussions on how to accelerate the deployment of broadband by reducing and/or removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment. This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the BDAC Chair and the Designated Federal Officer."
The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau approved the long-form applications for 600 MHz licenses bought in the broadcast incentive auction, said a public notice Tuesday. Licensees of the 75 new licenses included Spectrum Financial Partners, with 23 licenses, and Tstar 600, with 12. The agency approved the first grants of licenses bought in the auction in June (see 1706140048).
Commissioner Brendan Carr was renominated to a second term on the FCC Tuesday (see 1801080062) by President Donald Trump. “If reconfirmed, I look forward to many more years of working with my colleagues at the FCC on policies that will create jobs, spur investment, and grow the economy for the benefit of all Americans,” Carr said in a statement thanking Trump. Chairman Ajit Pai praised Carr for leading FCC efforts to expedite wireless infrastructure deployment and called him a “distinguished public servant who has hit the ground running during his first months as a Commissioner.” Carr has “demonstrated great interest in tackling and overcoming difficult infrastructure deployment issues during his tenure on the commission,” NTCA said in a release. Carr's current term expires in June (see 1801040058).
A court case holding up planning for the FCC’ s move to new headquarters may be close to being complete, as all parties involved asked (in Pacer) that the case be dismissed, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Friday. FCC landlord Parcel 49C, the U.S. government and new headquarters developer Trammell Crow all “stipulate to voluntary dismissal of this appeal with prejudice,” the filing said. The parties are asking for the case’s dismissal because congressional funding has now been authorized that would allow another federal tenant -- the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. -- to replace the FCC in the Portals building, according to another filing in the case. The FCC’s lease in the Portals building expired in October, but its new home at Sentinel Square III in Washington, D.C.’s NoMa neighborhood won’t be complete until 2019. Negotiations over an interim lease in the Portals had stalled while Parcel 49C waited for confirmation it would get a new tenant. Parcel 49C took the General Services Administration to court for awarding the contract for the FCC’s new home to Trammell Crow (see 1701120044), but the parties mutually agreed to a hold when the GSA began moving toward installing the PBGC in the Portals. The FCC didn’t comment on the status of the planned move.
Among the wave of nominations that President Donald Trump said he will send to the Senate is that of Brendan Carr, renominated to the FCC for a five-year term beginning July 1.
FCC expansion of its Intergovernmental Advisory Committee will be effective upon Federal Register publication Monday, says a notice. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn dissented from December's decision to double membership of the body that advises on telecom issues affecting local, state and tribal interests (see 1712200063).
The FCC Enforcement Bureau adjusted for inflation the amounts of 2018 forfeiture penalties, said an order released Friday. The adjustment is based on fluctuations in the consumer price index. The bureau said a multiple of 1.02041 will be applied to 2017 penalties, rounded to the nearest dollar. The new levels apply to penalties assessed after Jan. 15, even if the violation occurred before.
The FCC is one of six finalists for an award recognizing achievements in analytics for its incentive auction, said a news release from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. The Franz Edelman Award for Achievements in Operations Research and Management Science “recognizes corporate, non-profit, and governmental organizations” that used “operations research and related tools to solve complex problems,” it said. “This auction would not have been possible without the use of operations research tools to solve complicated design and implementation challenges,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Other finalists include Turner Broadcasting System, which developed TV audience advertising targeting software.
Correction: The author of a Free State Foundation paper on local government response to FCC net neutrality rules is Enrique Armijo (see 1801030023).