While still hoping to see up to 300 MHz of the C band freed up for 5G use, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly on Saturday said he's amenable to clearing 200 MHz now and a structure that sees more opened up in the future. He said at the FCBA annual retreat that his top priority is clearing the band as quickly as possible. Panels at the event in Hot Springs, Virginia, also covered topics ranging from cybersecurity to autonomous vehicles.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s announcing ahead of DOJ his proposed approval of T-Mobile's buy of Sprint bucks some precedent under which the commission almost always announces second. It short-circuits the process and simplifies imposition of conditions on the transaction, said lawyers active in the proceeding. If Justice seeks conditions, it would have had to go to court to oppose the deal absent concessions by the companies. Pai's announcement was coordinated with DOJ, the lawyers said.
Industry groups sought changes to FCC-proposed competitive bidding rules for the upper 37, 39 and 47 GHz auction, slated to start Dec. 10 (see 1904120058). The auction will be the FCC’s third of high-band spectrum for 5G. The agency proposes to sell the spectrum in relatively large partial economic area licenses. Comments were posted late last week in docket 19-59.
Republicans and Democrats at the FTC still appear divided over what remedies should be included in the agency’s potential privacy settlement with Facebook (see 1905130031), tech observers said in interviews this week. They disagreed whether the agency is taking an unprecedented amount of time to settle, especially considering the probe could include violations beyond the Cambridge Analytica breach (see 1803260039). There's disagreement if the agency should hold CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally liable for his platform’s privacy miscues.
Arizona local governments implementing a 2017 state small-cells law are champing at the bit for 5G deployment by carriers, two nonpartisan Phoenix-area mayors said in an interview last week. While many local governments oppose pre-emptive rules, Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels and Peoria Mayor Cathy Carlat said pre-emption is a fair cost for making cities smarter. Local governments are implementing the Arizona law but fear possible conflicts with an FCC September order, said Tom Savage, legislative associate for the League of Arizona Towns and Cities.
Though the FCC has an August deadline to submit a recommendation to Congress for a national three-digit suicide prevention hotline number and its North American Numbering Council advising expanded use of 211 (see 1905080020), what the agency doesn't have is consensus among mental health community stakeholders and others about what number to use. Former NANC leaders tell us the agency typically follows its recommendations even in contentious issues.
Public Knowledge said the FCC’s proposed new robocall rules could cost consumers. Also Friday, other consumer and public interest groups and providers were digesting the draft docket 17-59 declaratory ruling on robocalls released Thursday. Agency officials say questions about costs are likely as commissioners move toward a vote June 6.
The industry-sponsored TV Parental Guidelines Oversight Monitoring Board (TVOMB) has been “insufficiently accessible and transparent to the public,” said the FCC Media Bureau in a report to Congress. It was posted Thursday on the TV ratings body and the accuracy of its ratings, as expected (see 1905140069).
The Senate Commerce Committee’s privacy working group is leaving the most contentious legislative issues for latter stages of negotiation (see 1905010198), Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told us Tuesday. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, who insists committee collaboration is necessary to resolve sectoral issues, told us he isn’t ruling out moving forward with his own privacy bill.
The topic of supply chain security got hotter with Wednesday’s presidential executive order that could mean rules banning some companies from the U.S. supply chain, speakers said a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Supply Chain Summit Thursday (see 1905150066). China is starting to fire back.