Digital companies such as Apple and Facebook have grown so large they're comparable to “robber barons” and “corporate nation-states,” said NAB CEO Gordon Smith on an episode of C-Span’s The Communicators, set for telecast Saturday. “There comes a time where a private interest gets so large it has a public impact,” said Smith. “It is time to put some guard rails on.” The former Republican senator said he agreed with Democratic Party presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that “this is something Congress should seriously look at.”
FCC commissioners voted Thursday to release for comment an NPRM for a $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks dissented in part, but all the commissioners and Chairman Ajit Pai said the new USF subsidies would play a big role in helping close the digital divide. The pushback from the two Democrats was expected (see 1907300072).
The Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) and its key role in overseeing and running the FCC’s new broadband mapping approach got bipartisan criticism Thursday from commissioners as they voted to adopt new broadband mapping procedures. There are questions about USAC's "competence and bandwidth" to fulfill the role it's being handed to control and maintain the mapping data, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said. USAC didn’t comment.
The FCC approved updated anti-spoofing rules 5-0 Thursday but stopped short of excluding short codes from the rules, a late change sought by CTIA (see 1907290054). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel raised concerns that the agency isn’t doing enough to fight robocalls. Other commissioners supported the item without quibbles. The order implements part of Ray Baum's Act. “The new rules will allow the agency to bring enforcement actions against bad actors who spoof text messages and those who seek out victims in this country from overseas,” said an FCC news release. The rules also now cover texting.
Despite last-minute opposition from lawmakers, the FCC didn't pull from Thursday's meeting agenda an order on overhauling the way it subsidizes participants in its Rural Health Care (RHC) program (see 1907310055). Industry stakeholders also had asked for a delay or revisions to the draft in docket 17-310, which will adjust the way rates are determined when providing telehealth subsidies to rural healthcare providers (see 1907230005).
Both an FCC commissioner and critics of the agency's approval Thursday of a local franchise authority (LFA) order anticipate its being challenged in court. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who along with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel dissented in the 3-2 vote, said he has "no doubt" about litigation. Emailed NATOA General Counsel Nancy Werner, "There will be litigation over the final order."
The FCC unanimously approved an NPRM Tuesday on technical changes to low-power FM rules that had been slated for Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting. As expected, the proposals were noncontroversial and the item didn’t undergo substantive changes before getting an OK (see 1907150055). The quick approval and lack of back and forth suggests an order that arises out of the NPRM is also unlikely to meet with much opposition on the eighth floor, broadcast attorneys told us. The NPRM acknowledges that LPFM is developing into “a mature service,” said REC Networks founder Michelle Bradley in a blog post. The FCC issued a notice Wednesday announcing the item's deletion from Thursday's agenda.
Broadcast network efforts to shut down Locast with a copyright infringement suit filed Wednesday in federal court will likely involve how nonprofit the nonprofit streaming service actually is, and what the Section 111 exemption of the Copyright Act applies to, broadcast and copyright experts told us.
Mutliline telephone systems (MLTS) providers and equipment vendors proposed changes in how the FCC implements new laws on better 911 access, in recent ex parte correspondence in docket 18-261. The commissioners are expected to vote Thursday on a draft report and order circulated in mid-July on implementing Ray Baum's Act (see 1902150036) and Kari's Law Act of 2017 (see 1907090047) to provide better location identification to emergency workers who take phone calls from apartment buildings, offices and other multi-unit spaces and to ensure callers who use MLTS phones can reach 911 quickly (see 1812110025).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other committee members said during a Wednesday hearing they have no appetite for any further extensions beyond 2020 for railroads to fully implement positive train control technology. Federal and rail officials told the committee railroads have made significant progress since the end of 2018 toward implementing PTC, but some warned about ongoing hurdles from tech interoperability and outside vendors. Congress in 2015 extended to the end of 2018 the deadline for railroads implement PTC technology but allowed them to seek an extension through the end of 2020 if they met benchmarks.