Telecom-focused lawmaker reactions to Monday's effective date of the FCC order rescinding 2015 net neutrality rules largely reflected longstanding positions. And rescission supporters compared opponents’ reaction to the panic in 1999 over Y2K.
Better space situational awareness (SSA) data sharing and clearer delineation of who has authority when two objects are heading toward a collision in space should top the next steps list for creation of a space traffic management (STM) rules regime, experts said at a Secure World Foundation event Monday. It would be "a big leap forward" for Congress to beef up White House authority for STM "for someone to be formally in charge" of handling conflicts among objects in orbit, said space lawyer Brandt Pasco of Pasco & Associates.
Despite the House again passing the Email Privacy Act (HR-387/S-1654) (see 1805250018) via amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, there are no plans to move the bill with the Senate NDAA, said a spokesman for lead Democratic sponsor Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont Monday. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, remains opposed to the bill because he says it doesn't go far enough in protecting law enforcement interests.
The FCC is seen as aiming to include an order on the national TV ownership cap on the July 12 commissioners’ meeting agenda, with the goal of getting ahead of an expected unfavorable court ruling on the UHF discount (see 1804200059), broadcasters, their lawyers and an official told us. All said it’s not clear what that order will do to the cap, and broadcasters are divided (see 1806050040). Broadcast groups such as Hearst and Gray filed a BIA Kelsey study posted Monday supporting their call for a 50 percent cap that would block Sinclair buying Tribune as currently constructed, while NAB recently met with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai on the association’s pitch to apply a rebranded UHF discount to all TV broadcasters.
Nationwide number portability "is probably the most technically fraught" topic recently referred to the North American Numbering Council, said Chairman Travis Kavulla, in a letter accompanying a NANC report (here). NANC recommended the FCC issue a second NNP notice of inquiry or establish a new advisory body. "Industry is divided on aspects of NNP, and in my opinion this is a topic which requires a clearer regulatory lead," Kavulla said. NNP would let consumers keep phone numbers when switching carriers or moving, outside a local market. Also released late Thursday, another NANC report had recommendations on toll-free number assignment rule changes. The council approved the reports May 29 (see 1805290023).
AT&T and Crown Castle urged the FCC to assert itself over localities to ease deployment of 5G small cells, in Friday letters. Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, localities voiced disappointment after Crown Castle won in court against the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in a case about state authority over distributed antenna systems (DAS). The court reversed the PUC's 3-2 ruling that DAS operators aren't utilities requiring state certification (see 1703020066).
An FCC proposal for a reassigned-number database drew a fair amount of backing and some resistance, in comments posted Thursday and Friday in docket 17-59 on a March Further NPRM (see 1803220028). Comcast, retailers, financial interests and an electric company group were among those supporting the proposal to create a database of reassigned numbers to help businesses reduce unwanted robocalls and liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Most telecom entities and some others were more skeptical or less enthusiastic, citing cost and other concerns, and backing market-based solutions and commission actions to address TCPA issues. There was much support for giving callers an effective TCPA liability safe harbor.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasn't forthcoming enough when he testified before Congress in April (see 1804100054 and 1804110065), given new revelations about the platform’s data practices (see 1806040055), lawmakers told us. The testimony “might have been technically correct, but it was not comprehensive," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. "I would hope that they would realize more transparency is better, and that’s not been their approach so far."
TV stations headed toward repacking would be smart to employ a "belt and suspenders" approach of doing as many things as possible to get viewers up to speed ahead of time, said FCC Incentive Auction Task Force Chair Jean Kiddoo Friday. Stations will have to think about, for example, having staffed phone banks to field calls from people struggling with re-scanning digital antennas, she told us. Requirements for notifications, which have to start at least 30 days before a transition, aren't very prescriptive because broadcasters generally recognize it's in their own interests to do as much as possible, she said.
NTIA will call a meeting with stakeholders in early July to discuss implementing recommendations in a report to the president on botnets (see 1805300065), said Deputy Associate Administrator Evelyn Remaley Thursday. The next step is to develop a “prioritized road map,” with the purpose of increasing the resiliency of the internet and communications landscape against distributed threats. That's due within 120 days of the report’s approval and will involve coordination among the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security and industry, civil society and international partners.