The FirstNet board unanimously approved an $81 million operating budget for FY 2019 and decided to explore investing money in network enhancements and innovation. It reserves $81 million and allocates $78 million to network reinvestment, for a total budget of $240 million. The board held its quarterly meeting by conference call Monday. It was the last to be led by Sue Swenson, who must step down as chair after two two-year terms. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is expected to name at least three new members and a new chair in coming weeks.
The FCC wants to dispose of NTCH petitions for reconsideration dealing with the agency allowing Dish Network to convert satellite spectrum for terrestrial wireless use, according to insiders and court documents. Related drafts were included in an array of items circulated at the agency last week (see here). NTCH had sought a writ of mandamus from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit over what it said were petitions trapped "in administrative limbo."
Widespread removal of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from social media was a flash point for companies feeling pressure to police platforms judiciously, but it could fuel arguments that Silicon Valley is biased against conservatives (see 1807170043), said industry observers, warning the GOP against siding with extremists.
The Intelsat/SES/Intel plan for clearing a portion of the C-band could very well face disagreements among satellite operators, cable companies and wireless interests and their industry groups when comments start coming in on an order and NPRM approved 4-0 in July (see 1807120037), experts and insiders told us. The texts haven't been in the Federal Register. Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler told us the coalition expects to gain support from incumbent C-band end users over time: "It will be recognition the approach we have made avoids the possibility of the worst outcome" of spectrum sharing.
The Wi-Fi Alliance and several major tech companies, including Apple and Microsoft, are pressing the FCC to create a special class of indoor-only devices that can be safely used in the 6 GHz band, with an NPRM expected later this year. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said after the August FCC meeting the NPRM will likely get a vote in one of the four remaining 2018 meetings, though he wasn't more specific.
The FCC tweaked details but is moving ahead with one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) and other pole-attachment policies in an order and declaratory ruling aimed at streamlining processes and speeding broadband deployment. Although edits addressed some of the many concerns electric-utility pole owners and communications industry attachers had about a draft item, they didn't fundamentally change the agency's direction, according to stakeholders and our basic review of the 120-page final text in docket 17-84 issued Aug. 3. It was adopted the previous day, with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel partially dissenting (see 1808020034).
Federal judges blocked, for now, FCC restrictions on enhanced tribal Lifeline subsidies that bar resellers and residents of non-rural areas from the extra low-income USF support. The commission's 2017 order "will be stayed pending further [court action] insofar as the Order purports to limit eligibility for the Tribal Lifeline enhanced subsidy to 'facilities-based' service providers, and to limit eligibility for that program to 'rural areas,'" said the Friday ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in National Lifeline Association v. FCC, No. 18-1026, and a consolidated case. They said petitioners showed a "likelihood of success on the merits" of their challenges, and that they'll suffer "irreparable injury absent a stay." Some said the decision further complicated an FCC proposal to ban resellers from Lifeline support in general.
The Trump administration’s failure to appoint a permanent EU-U.S. Privacy Shield ombudsman and stagnation of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) will be points of contention when officials from both sides of the Atlantic meet in October, experts told us. Also expect the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica privacy breach (see 1804100054 and 1804110065) to be a major topic, said Access Now Policy Counsel Drew Mitnick. EU officials want details on how the FTC, U.S. enforcer of the Privacy Shield, is handling its investigation into potential Facebook violations of a 2011 consent decree, so they can better gauge the strength of the agency’s authority.
Incumbents and competitors in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands disagreed over how the FCC should divvy up USF support for the islands' hurricane-hit telecom networks. Puerto Rico Telephone Co. (PRTC or Claro) and Virgin Islands Telephone (Viya) urged targeting funding to their networks, but their rivals backed a competitive process to spread fund around. Reply comments were due Wednesday in docket 18-143, responding to initial comments on an NPRM proposing $889 million in "Stage 2" subsidies for fixed services (over 10 years) and mobile services (over three years): $698 million for Puerto Rico ($444.5 million fixed, $254 million mobile) and $191 million for the Virgin Islands ($186.5 million fixed, $4.4 million mobile). The notice was attached to an order (see 1805290028) that allocated $64 million in "Stage 1" for near-term network restoration (see 1808080011).
Pennsylvania state lawmakers accused local governments of employing scare tactics to stymie state small-cells legislation. At a sometimes prickly hearing Thursday, the Pennsylvania House Consumer Affairs Committee weighed a bill (HB-2564) to streamline 5G small-cells deployment by writing state rules for local governments. It’s Pennsylvania legislators' second attempt at such a bill, and they pledged more amendments ahead to address local concerns. Wireless Industry officials supported amending the bill to give localities more control over height limits. Local government groups said they're cooperative but urged committee members to reject or adjust proposed state requirements.