FCC Media Bureau draft NPRMs on digital AM and same market, commonly owned radio stations sharing content generated little activity in the FCC’s electronic comment filing system and aren’t considered controversial for Friday’s FCC agenda (see 1910290053), broadcast attorneys told us. An FCC official told us that few changes to the draft versions are expected.
Potential cost impacts on Lifeline providers and subscribers played into an FCC decision to increase the program's broadband usage standards from 2 GB per month to only 3 GB on Dec. 1, instead of the 8.75 GB that had been outlined in a 2016 Lifeline order, said an order released Wednesday in docket 11-42. In deciding to waive, in part, the new broadband minimum service standards in answer to an industry petition, the FCC found it "reasonable to anticipate that a more than four-fold increase in the minimum usage allowance would require substantially greater network resources, and, in turn, the associated costs would be passed along to resellers and/or end-users," the agency said.
FCC commissioners are seeking various changes to the national security supply chain rules set for a vote Friday. FCC officials said the email chain has been active this week, with all the commissioners seeking edits from Chairman Ajit Pai and staff. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel laid out in detail the changes she wants in the order in a Wednesday speech at the 5G Securing Rural Engagement Initiative in Flowood, Mississippi.
A declaratory ruling interpreting the so-called VoIP symmetry rule, a modification of licensing for noncommercial educational full-service FM and full-power noncommercial educational (NCE) TV and low-power FM broadcast stations, and a proposal to change the deadline for when cable distributors have to notify subscribers if a channel is going dark, will be among the top items at the Dec. 12 FCC meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged Wednesday. Also on the agenda will be a previously announced NPRM for designating 988 as a national suicide prevention hotline number (see 1911190054) and items on sharing the 5.9 GHz band between auto safety and Wi-Fi and clearing the lower 3.1 GHz band (see 1911200055). The draft item texts are expected to be released Thursday.
The California Public Utilities Commission will weigh more disaster relief rules for communications providers in response to problems during recent public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), CPUC President Marybel Batjer said at a Wednesday hearing livestreamed from San Francisco. Many local officials and telco customers couldn’t attend the hearing due to another power shutoff Wednesday, the sixth in two months, she said. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen dismissed carriers’ arguments they couldn’t anticipate extended power shutoffs.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will seek a vote at the Dec. 12 FCC commissioners' meeting proposing to take most of the 5.9 GHz band away from dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), reallocating it for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. The Wednesday announcement was expected (see 1911190066). The NPRM follows months of discussions with the Department of Transportation and was changed in reaction to DOT questions, a senior official said on a background call with reporters. DOT remains concerned.
House legislation to reauthorize parts of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act advanced Wednesday out of the chamber's Commerce Committee, and the Judiciary Committee was expected to clear its related bill after our deadline that evening. Commerce advanced the Television Viewer Protection Act (HR-5035) on a voice vote after Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., reached a deal on a compromise manager's amendment.
It's good news that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will seek a public auction of the C band next year, rather than endorse the C-Band Alliance plan (see 1911180065), Comcast said the day after the announcement Monday. Others said questions remain, though the FCC is likely to follow the outlines of Senate legislation introduced Monday. The Pai approach “will ensure that this valuable spectrum is put to use expeditiously for 5G in a manner consistent with the public interest, while also preserving the C-Band as a critical input for the delivery of video services,” Comcast told the FCC Tuesday, in a docket 18-122 filing.
The FCC’s proposal to eliminate requirements that broadcaster applications be advertised in local newspapers got wide support from nearly all commenters in docket 17-264. Public interest groups, noncommercial broadcasters and full-power broadcasters backed allowing online and on-air notices instead. Entities representing newspapers and print advertising had commented on a previous iteration of the proposal, but the electronic comment filing system didn’t show such filings this time around. Comments were due Monday.
The Dec. 12 FCC agenda will include an NPRM on designating 988 as a national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. A draft NPRM announced Tuesday tees up several issues, including network configurations, Chairman Ajit Pai said after a National Council for Behavioral Health event. Asked how soon the commissioners might have a draft order before them, he said he couldn't guess how long it might take to assess what comes up in the public comments, but 988 "is a special priority for me." An item on 5.9 GHz band sharing is also expected for December (see 1911190066).