The FCC should allow fixed wireless service to share the 3700 MHz-4200 MHz band with the incumbent fixed satellite service (FSS) because the satellite users are underutilizing the band and are doomed to lose that spectrum anyway, said speakers from Google and rural wireless ISPs. The comments came at a New America Foundation-hosted event in support of a petition for rulemaking in June by the Broadband Access Coalition (see 1706210044). “If the military can learn to love sharing, the satellite industry can, too,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “It’s better than losing it.”
An item on refunds of application fees in media services auctions was added to the FCC’s list of items on circulation Friday. The item involves requests for refunds of application fees previously paid in FM radio service auctions, an FCC official told us.
The FCC should come up with solutions for problems with Lifeline rather than attacking the program, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said during a Q&A session at a Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council conference Thursday. Wanting to fix abuses in the Lifeline program is not the same as seeking to “kill” it, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said during his Q&A. Criticizing Lifeline without coming up with alternatives is “regulatory malpractice,” Clyburn said.
The FCC is expected to vote in September on an order of reconsideration that would roll back many media ownership regulations, industry officials said in interviews. The item, an order on recon of the 2014 quadrennial review, is expected to be circulated to commissioners' offices next month, after their Aug. 3 meeting, broadcast allies said. Though the scope of the item is likely still in flux, most broadcast industry officials we spoke with expect the item to roll back or relax rules governing the attribution of joint sales agreements (JSAs), broadcast cross-ownership, and rules that bar broadcasters from owning multiple stations in a market.
A proposal to reserve vacant channels in the TV band for unlicensed use would make it hard for broadcasting to transition to ATSC 3.0, broadcasters and broadcast attorneys told us. Many of the new capabilities expected out of the new TV standard would require broadcasters to upgrade their facilities to use single frequency networks, a change that would become extremely difficult if vacant channels are reserved for unlicensed use, they said.
The preliminary estimated expense of the post-incentive auction repacking of $2.12 billion (see 1707140054), $365 million more than the $1.75 billion reimbursement fund intended to cover those costs, drew some concerns even as the shortfall was less than some feared. That Incentive Auction Task Force number could change as broadcaster requirements and standards for what's reimbursable become clearer and a few submissions that hadn't been included from a small number of broadcasters and MVPDs are totaled. Having a deficit to cite is expected to bolster broadcaster lobbying efforts to have Congress increase the reimbursement fund amount, said Pillsbury broadcast attorney Scott Flick. Such legislation may come soon.
The FCC unanimously approved an order increasing video description requirements for broadcast and non-broadcast networks Wednesday, removing the item from the Thursday commissioners’ meeting agenda. The text of the item shows few changes from what was proposed in the NPRM (see 1706280063), except for delaying the deadline for compliance from the start of 2018 to July 2018. Consumer groups said they're pleased with the order.
An NAB study on how many FM stations will be affected by the post-incentive auction repacking is seen as part of the association’s efforts to secure an expansion of the $1.75 billion repacking reimbursement fund and delaying the 39-month repacking deadline, attorneys and industry officials told us. In what's seen as part of the same push as the study, NAB last month released an online video on the difficulty of repacking (see 1706210054). NAB “is devoting enormous resources” to “educating” Congress and the FCC on the repacking, an NAB spokesman said, saying the association believes the reimbursement fund is too small. “Ultimately, our hope is that lawmakers and regulators agree with us, and will craft legislative and regulatory fixes that are fair to broadcasters in what was a voluntary incentive auction,” the spokesman said.
Broadcasters and MVPDs hate paperwork, according to nearly every comment filed in response to the FCC’s call in docket 17-105 for licensees to name their least favorite and what they consider most-outdated media regulations. Though the huge volume of comments took aim at FCC policies on set-top boxes, rate regulation, indecency and others, the most repeated targets were FCC filings and notice requirements that commenters believe should be either eliminated or submittable electronically. Entities on the MVPD side, such as Verizon, urged the FCC to eliminate public inspection files, and nearly every broadcaster asked for relief from “burdensome” equal employment opportunity (EEO) and broadcast ownership filing requirements. NCTA filed its comments backing relaxing rules on rate regulation, program access and program carriage in a font made to mimic the output of a typewriter. “Back when many of the regulations addressed in these comments were being considered, this is how our filings at the Commission looked,” NCTA said.
Broadcast commenters overwhelmingly backed elimination of the main studio rule, in comments filed in docket 17-106 in time for Monday’s deadline. NPR, NAB, Nexstar, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the vast majority of commenters called the rule an outdated and unnecessary cost to broadcasters. “The rule now simply serves as an artificial barrier to broadcasters seeking to allocate their resources in a manner that best serves their listeners and viewers,” said Hubbard Broadcasting. The broadcaster comments largely agree with the tentative conclusions in the NPRM proposing the rule’s elimination -- though there was pushback on whether broadcasters should be required to provide a 24-hour emergency phone number. A telephone staffing requirement "is not necessary or appropriate, and would be unduly burdensome, particularly for smaller stations,” NAB said.