Locality pre-emption beefs with the FCC aren't ending soon, with limits on local regulators' 911 VoIP fees and an end to some cable TV rate regulation on October's agenda. Chairman Ajit Pai, previewing the items for the Oct. 25 meeting in his blog Thursday, also said there will be items wrapping up part of the lengthy 800 MHz rebanding process, as expected (see 1910020030). There's also a media modernization NPRM that appears to concern eliminating broadcast antenna site rules that industry lawyers say have been used barely a handful of times in the past 30 years. Pai said there will be an order on testing procedures and performance measures for carriers receiving support from the USF Connect America Fund program for broadband deployment to high-cost areas and an order addressing two tariff regulations.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is unlikely to rush to address a remand on public safety, an issue remanded for further work by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday that largely upheld the FCC 2017 order overturning 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1910010018). Others said Wednesday because the issues involve public safety, the agency may feel compelled to respond (see 1910020028).
The FCC won’t release the votes tally for commissioners' decision to hire Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin, or the December order hiring her, the Office of General Counsel replied Monday to our Freedom of Information Act request made nearly a year ago. We plan to appeal the denial, and we responded Wednesday to a separate and almost complete FOIA denial received on the same day. Experts who reviewed the ALJ FOIA expressed concerns about the FCC's justifications for withholding the information, and the judge herself gave us some of what the document request sought.
Commissioners are expected at their Oct. 25 meeting to take up an order that would wrap up part of the lengthy 800 MHz rebanding process, which requires Sprint to pay transition costs, FCC and industry officials said Wednesday. Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to release a blog Thursday on the meeting agenda.
FCC allies in Tuesday's federal court decision on the Communications Act Title II rollback order (see 1910010018) consider appeal unlikely. Petitioner allies are less sure. California and Vermont’s litigated net neutrality laws remain on hold, those states’ attorneys generals confirmed Wednesday.
Wi-Fi will still rule in the smart home in the 5G era, said speakers on a Tuesday IHS Markit webinar. They sought robustness and reliability for good customer experiences.
USTelecom said ISP standoffs with Vermont and California will continue, even as those and other states seeking to enforce net neutrality rules repealed by the FCC said they're heartened by a Tuesday decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The court largely upheld the FCC’s 2018 order but ruled that the federal agency couldn’t pre-empt states (see 1910010018). The ruling also put the spotlight back on Congress’ net neutrality debate, gridlocked for months. Legislative leaders didn’t stray Tuesday from their existing positions. Some see that as a sign there’s unlikely to be much progress before the presidential election.
NTIA put a relatively unexplored spectrum band on the table Tuesday for potential sharing, between federal incumbents and other users -- the 7.125-8.4 GHz band. It's in “early stages” of considering a feasibility study of future sharing there, Charles Cooper, associate administrator in the Office of Spectrum Management, told the first meeting of the reconstituted Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee.
Parties on both sides declared some victory from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's decision Tuesday on appeals of the FCC 2018 Communications Act Title II broadband service regulation rollback. Backers of the order cheered most of the decision, while critics pointed to the court rejecting pre-emption of state and local regulations. There was partial dissent from Judge Stephen Williams and concurring opinions from Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins. See our bulletins: 1910010016 and 1910010013.
A cable programmer suing Comcast for alleged racial discrimination for not being picked up for carriage is getting support before the Supreme Court from some members of Congress, in docket 18-1171 amicus briefs. Pointing to how the high court's construction of Section 1981 of federal anti-discrimination law could affect interpretation of other anti-discrimination statutes the U.S. enforces or that apply to the federal government, the Solicitor General is asking to take part in Nov. 13 oral argument.