The FCC approved a process for sharing in the upper 37 GHz band, despite complaints from Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 1904100071). The two Democrats partially dissented. Chairman Ajit Pai, meanwhile, announced that the 37, 39 and 47 GHz auction will start Dec. 10 -- the FCC's third high-band auction. Commissioners approved a public notice on rules for the auction amid complaints by Rosenworcel and O’Rielly. Agency members also approved telecom and cable items.
Dickinson Wright taps Donald McPhail, ex-Taft Stettinius, as member, intellectual property litigation team ... CPB promotes Stephanie Aaronson to senior vice president-engagement ... CTAM adds Ryan Powers, ex-National Council for Behavioral Health, as senior vice president-communications and marketing, succeeding Anne Cowan, retiring (see this section, March 19) ... Crown Media Family Networks advances Kathleen Charapata to senior vice president-legal.
Akin Gump got some support in seeking FCC clarity on fax “sender” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, so it's harder to sue companies whose products are unknowingly hawked in junk faxes (see 1903070051). Comments were posted through Tuesday in dockets including 02-278. Educational Testing Service noted "federal courts have divided over how to apply the TCPA and the Commission’s regulations" here. "Why would Congress or this Commission impose liability on someone who had nothing to do with sending an allegedly unlawful fax?" asked the educational test developer. "What sense could there be in stringing companies up for massive statutory damages when, as everyone acknowledges, they did not send the fax (or cause it to be sent) in any ordinary sense of those terms?" AmeriFactors Financial supported much of the law firm's petition, with the company raising more fax scenarios where the FCC ought to not find one liable for violating the TCPA. RingCentral agrees with the petition that the agency should say “sender” doesn't include entities that merely dispatch others’ faxes but only those that compose the fax or choose recipients. That would ensure "TCPA continues to protect injured consumers by holding accountable the bad actors who initiate unsolicited" ads, commented the provider of virtual fax and other communications services. Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley, New York, which litigated a TCPA case against the FCC, asked, along with Roger Kaye MD PC and a few others that Akin's request be denied. They supported a definition/test backed by Cin-Q Automobiles. The Edelman Combs law firm that represents consumers who got unsolicited junk faxes opposed the petition: "Akin Gump has failed to identify any ambiguity in the 2006 Junk Fax Order that necessitates clarification."
Expected House passage of the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) is unlikely to spur the Senate to take up the bill's companion version (S-682) or to rejuvenate a fledgling working group in the chamber aimed at writing alternative legislation, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. HR-1644/S-682 would reverse the FCC order rescinding its 2015 net neutrality rules and restore reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1903060077).
With Colorado poised to enact net neutrality legislation, observers said the state might be less likely than others to attract a lawsuit. Longtime net neutrality supporter Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) is expected to sign SB-78 to restrict high-cost support or other state broadband funding to companies that adhere to open internet principles, and require government entities give preference in procurements to ISPs that follow rules.
The House Rules Committee appears likely to clear at least some of 17 amendments to the Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill for floor consideration this week, said communications sector lobbyists and officials in interviews. A final vote on HR-1644 is expected Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.
As frustrated stakeholders watch an FCC drafting process that they want to be more transparent for an NPRM circulating on USF budgets, concerns about the document's details (see 1903270042) are mounting (see 1903280050). All stakeholders we interviewed this week and last wish the rulemaking had been set for consideration at a monthly commissioners' meeting, so it would be public three weeks beforehand. Or, they wanted it released another way in advance.
The telecom industry lined up against a California anti-robocalls bill but couldn’t stop a Senate panel from passing the bill by wide margin at a Wednesday hearing. A state patchwork would slow a national effort, said cable, wireless and wireline lobbyists. Similar bills to crack down on caller ID spoofing, which have seen bipartisan groundswell this year (see 1902150048), moved forward in Arkansas and Mississippi.
An FCC order on the upper 37 GHz band, teed up for the April 12 commissioners' meeting, shows the length the agency will go to clear spectrum for 5G, as an ongoing auction tops $1 billion. The FCC proposes rules for coordinating with DOD on future use of the upper 37 GHz band beyond current DOD sites located there. The plan “strikes a reasonable balance,” said the draft order posted Friday. Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled the agenda Thursday (see 1903210062).
A USTelecom initiative aims to improve broadband data and mapping, starting with a pilot in Virginia and Missouri. It will use "modern-data analytics" to develop a "comprehensive database of all broadband serviceable locations in our two pilot states -- and a road map for a collaborative government-led effort to expand the system nationwide," said CEO Jonathan Spalter at an event Thursday. He said ITTA, the Wireless ISP Association, USTelecom members and others will participate. The coalition hopes the mapping effort will be "useful in the FCC’s quest to modernize its broadband data collection process, and supportive of other related federal and state initiatives," he said.