Growing data privacy concerns and FTC Chairman Joe Simons’ decision to model hearings after pivotal events in 1995 suggest the agency is on the verge of a turning point, former officials and industry attorneys told us. It kicks off a series of public hearings on antitrust and consumer protection policy Thursday (see 1808240027).
Proposed rate ceilings for small-cells application fees set for an FCC vote Sept. 26 may undercut caps set by one-quarter of the 20 states that made small-cells laws in the past two years. Proposed FCC ceilings for recurring access and attachment fees appeared to equal or exceed the state laws that specified limits on such fees. Commissioner Brendan Carr said last week the draft wouldn’t “disturb nearly any” of the provisions of small-cell bills that state legislatures enacted (see 1809040056 and 1809050029).
Take “a light regulatory approach” and don't pre-empt local governments to spur wireless deployment, the Marin (California) Telecommunications Agency (MTA) urged the FCC, posted Thursday in docket 17-84. “The Commission appears to be on the cusp of a rulemaking that would cripple local government authority,” said MTA, a local authority including Marin County and nine cities and towns near San Francisco. “All this damage would be done for the purpose of providing one industry and one technology with … preferential treatment subsidized by local taxpayers and other users of the public rights of way. The MTA is struggling to identify another industry that the federal government forces local government to subsidize in such a manner, and … we believe the Commission is setting a dangerous precedent if it continues.” MTA supports communications deployment including small cells, but delays may happen due to missing or incomplete applications by industry and design, location and appearance issues, it said. The FCC last week circulated a draft order targeting “outlier” conduct by local governments said to be slowing 5G deployment, while some localities sought reconsideration of an August order to pre-empt moratoriums (see 1809050029).
All U.S. spectrum policies haven’t been success stories and that’s the way things should work, NTIA Administrator David Redl said at a Silicon Flatirons conference Thursday evening (see 1809060049) titled: “Spectrum Hall of Shame: The Worst (and Best) Radio Policy Decisions.” Others said flexible licenses have been a hallmark of U.S. success.
State regulation of interconnected VoIP is pre-empted because it’s an information service, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. One judge dissented. But overall, the 8th Circuit affirmed last year’s ruling by U.S. District Court in St. Paul on Charter Communications' complaint the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission overstepped its authority by imposing state regulations for traditional phone services on VoIP.
Local government and public, educational and government (PEG) access programming interests plan to push back on proposed rules changes governing local franchise authorities that are teed up in the Further NPRM on FCC members' Sept. 26 agenda (see 1809050056). Local government authority is seen under attack in a variety of proceedings.
The next meeting of the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council VI -- its sixth -- is Sept. 28, 1-5 p.m., in the Commission Meeting Room, said a notice set for Wednesday's Federal Register.
PHILADELPHIA -- NATOA is mobilizing members for an autumn battle expected at the FCC over wireless infrastructure deployment in the right of way, while the Wireless Infrastructure Association is hearing from local government concerns about small cells, said the groups’ officials in interviews this week. Local representatives asked hard questions of industry officials -- and tensions sometimes flared -- at NATOA’s annual conference (see 1808290044 and 1808280032). “Not always an easy conversation, but it is an appropriate conversation,” said WIA Director-Government Affairs Zac Champ.
FCC Republicans Ajit Pai, Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr have voted together the vast majority of the time. Carr partially dissented once and has been mostly in step with Pai since he became a member a year ago. O’Rielly, a commissioner throughout Pai's chairmanship, has disagreed more, based on our review. O’Rielly has had partial dissents 12 times and a full dissent once.
Telecom industry interests are supporting the FCC's proposal for extending the current jurisdictional separations freeze and allowing RLECs that chose to lock in their category relationships in 2001 a chance to opt out, in docket 80-286 comments. Commissioners unanimously approved the Further NPRM in July (see 1807180059). Monday was the comment deadline, with replies and state public utility commission initial comments due Sept. 10 (see 1808200025).