Trump administration officials' repeated citations of the national security implications of maintaining U.S. leadership in 5G innovation are a sign Congress needs to act on broader telecom policy issues that would help sustain that dominance, lawmakers and industry officials told us. The administration mentioned 5G deployment in its December national security strategy (see 1712180071 and 1712270032).
With a lack of electricity and access to funding hampering recovery efforts for communications services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, some concerns about the FCC USF-based aid proposal have emerged, industry and government officials in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington told us. Some industry officials expressed concern about the proposal's goals and said the plan does nothing for affected broadcasters. A group of Puerto Rico broadcasters pitched a nationwide disaster relief plan for broadcasters to Chairman Ajit Pai during his visit earlier this month. “What happened in Puerto Rico can happen elsewhere in the U.S.,” said Eduardo Rivero of Puerto Rico station owner Media Power Group.
The Federal Election Commission opened public comment on draft rules for online political advertising disclosures. Commissioners approved the draft NPRM on internet disclaimers and definition of “public communication” Wednesday. The agency is seeking comment on two alternative proposals to update regulations for online ads that “contain express advocacy, solicit contributions or are made by political committees.” The FEC scheduled a hearing June 27. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said the "simple and overdue act of strengthening these disclaimer rules” should have been completed, and this solicitation means standards for online political ads remain far behind those for political ads on TV and other media. He noted the delayed reform overlaps with the start of primary season for the upcoming 2018 midterms. Congress must recognize that current laws don't adequately deal with current national security threats, he said, urging action on the Honest Ads Act (S-1989) he introduced with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
A Tuesday Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on broadband provisions in President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal discussed how the plan would deal with streamlining broadband-related regulations and funding to encourage deployments. Senators reserved their strongest criticisms for the state of connectivity data collection and mapping. All three issues were among those expected to be covered (see 1803120054). Secretaries of Transportation Elaine Chao, Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Commerce Wilbur Ross are among those expected to testify at a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing that also could involve broadband provisions in Trump's plan.
A federal court set oral arguments for May to consider two FCC cases. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit May 7 will hear Sorenson Communications and Video Relay Services Consumer Association challenges to the commission's 2017 video relay services rate order, said a Friday court order (in Pacer) in Sorenson v. FCC (No. 17-1198) (see 1802200021). The court May 17 will hear PMCM TV's petition seeking restoration of a channel originally assigned to its WJLP Middletown Township, New Jersey, said another order (in Pacer) in PMCM TV v. FCC (No. 17-1209) (see 1803050038).
The Trump administration put the spotlight on violent media after last month's school shooting in Parkland, Florida, but experts see big First Amendment hurdles to FCC or congressional action aimed at addressing such content. One big issue is defining violent media in a way that can be consistently and reliably applied, emailed broadcast lawyer David Oxenford of Wilkinson Barker, noting that the same violent act is seen very differently in the context of a live-action show versus a Looney Tunes cartoon. The White House last week hosted a closed-door meeting on media violence, focusing largely on video games (see 1803080067).
Dismiss Frontier’s lawsuit against the West Virginia Public Service Commission on the state’s one-touch, make-ready law, commissioners urged (in Pacer) the U.S. District Court in Charleston. Frontier Communications and the West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association sued the commission and Gov. Jim Justice (R) over the 2017 law, saying it allows new pole attachers to interfere with existing riders’ facilities without permission (see 1802210014). The court should dismiss the suit, including because the commission has sovereign immunity and because Frontier failed to state a claim by not alleging that the commission is responsible for enforcing the OTMR law or that the PSC has enforced or intends to enforce it, the agency said Thursday. Courts have clashed on the legality of OTMR, with one federal court ruling against requiring the practice in Nashville and another supporting a similar ordinance in Louisville (see 1711270051).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposed order streamlining wireless infrastructure rules could be headed for a 3-2 vote at commissioners’ March 22 meeting (see 1803010047), FCC and wireless industry officials told us. Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel are expected to dissent, or partially dissent, given concerns about the order, particularly by Native American groups, the officials said. Little definitive word is likely from either office before the meeting, and both are said to be still looking more closely at the order with two weeks to go. Rosenworcel has been on travel nonstop since the order circulated, an aide said. The FCC didn’t comment.
Any requests for a stay of the FCC net neutrality repeal are complicated in the near term by the considerable delay in its effective date, parties and observers told us. The "internet freedom" order undoing net neutrality regulation won't take effect until the Office of Management and Budget approves the commission's modified ISP transparency (disclosure) rules under the Paperwork Reduction Act, a process that is expected to take at least a few months. A stay movant would have to show there's some likelihood of immediate irreparable harm and success on the case's merits, among other factors.
The FCC released a draft order that would streamline wireless infrastructure rules in keeping with the push that started in the early days of the Ajit Pai chairmanship. Pai blogged Thursday that the changes are critical to 5G. Commissioner Brendan Carr, heading the FCC’s wireless infrastructure push, already highlighted many of the changes in a speech Wednesday (see 1802280031). A key American Indian group raised initial concerns. Among other items up for a vote at the March 22 meeting, as expected, are a Further NPRM on the 4.9 GHz band, changes to cell booster rules and deregulation for when satellite stations' parents have ownership changes. The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m., an hour earlier than normal.