The FCC will face big pushback from the mental health community to some telecom arguments for a longer phase-in of 988 for a national three-digit suicide hotline number or for looking at 211 in its place (see 2002180021). The significant publicity about the agency’s 988 direction (see 1911190054) also complicates the matter, we were told this week. Chairman Ajit Pai's office didn't comment.
NSA’s call detail records (CDR) program cost more than $100 million between 2015 and early 2019, and led to only one foreign intelligence investigation, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board reported Thursday. Later that day, the House Judiciary Committee postponed a markup on legislation that would end the USA Freedom Act Section 215 CDR program (see 2002250065).
House Communications Subcommittee leaders are eyeing an early March markup for the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926) and at least some of the seven other public safety communications measures it will examine Thursday (see 2002200060), industry lobbyists told us. Communications and public safety stakeholders endorsed several of the measures in written testimony. HR-5926 didn’t get universal praise. The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn.
In tapping 27-year company veteran Bob Chapek as new CEO, Disney chose a loyalist with experience in managing the company’s home entertainment, consumer products and theme parks businesses but not its media networks or direct-to-consumer operations.
Military training, precision agriculture and immigration enforcement are among possible uses for datacasting using public TV spectrum and ATSC 3.0, America’s Public Television Stations’ summit heard Tuesday. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly endorsed public TV’s focus on datacasting, in a speech. “You may just be on to something here,” he said. “Please keep me posted.”
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act remains a vital tool for allowing innovation and startups to grow, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told reporters Tuesday, the day after another legislator threatened the tech industry’s liability shield with a legislative proposal (see 2002240051). “It’s just as important now as it was then, and the big guys are always ... looking to have more tools to dominate the little guys,” said Wyden, an author of Section 230. “Our constituency was always for the disruptor, the innovator, the person who is willing to take on the powerful and entrenched interests.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., urged the FCC to “resolve” consideration of Ligado's L-band license modifications. She urged all federal agencies to “come to the table” on reassessing their spectrum needs to help bolster the U.S. position in the race against other countries for dominance in 5G development. FCC proceedings on a C-band auction plan (see 2002250076) and TV white spaces NPRM (see 2002250068) also came up at Tuesday's American Consumer Institute event.
The FCC is expected to approve an NPRM Friday, pushed by Microsoft, which would allow white space devices to operate at higher power levels in less congested areas. There likely won't be major changes from Chairman Ajit Pai's proposals (see 2002060013), industry and FCC officials said in interviews. The biggest change is expected to be inclusion of a footnote, which says channels 36 and 37 issues needs to be addressed separately, they said.
With an FCC vote Friday, more filings posted Tuesday in docket 18-122 as parties made closing arguments for changes to C-band auction rules. Chairman Ajit Pai has been in India with President Donald Trump. Pai is on his way back to the U.S. as planned to deal with late changes, industry and FCC officials told us. The sunshine period barring further lobbying took effect Friday. A key Hill lawmaker on C-band issues said he's resigned to the FCC's approach but will continue to pursue legislation that would institute a competing plan.
The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) told the FCC the sharing regime in the adjacent citizens broadband radio service band could be a model across the entire 3.1-3.55 GHz range. Other commenters said amateur radio operations should remain in the spectrum. Commissioners approved an NPRM 5-0 at their December meeting (see 1912120063) proposing to remove existing nonfederal secondary and amateur allocations in the 3.1-3.55 GHz band and to relocate incumbent nonfederal operations. Comments posted through Monday in docket 19-348.