Revamp, don’t repeal Alaska USF, urged the telecom industry and Alaska’s attorney general in comments this week in docket R-18-001 at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The RCA last month proposed phasing out AUSF by July 31, 2019 (see 1801160014). The Alaska Telephone Association (ATA), Alaska Communications (AC) and the AG office rejected that and pitched alternatives. AUSF surcharges -- 19 percent this year -- “will almost certainly continue to rise,” a lawmaker said. The federal USF contribution factor for Q1 is 19.5 percent.
The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council will have its first meeting of the year March 28, 1-5 p.m., in the Commission Meeting Room at FCC headquarters. CSRIC last met in December (see 1712120036). The meeting is the fourth of CSRIC VI, said a notice set for publication Monday in the Federal Register.
Net neutrality litigation flared Thursday after Federal Register publication of the FCC’s December "Restoring Internet Freedom" order, as expected (see 1802210057). New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) announced he and 22 other Democratic AGs filed their petition for review at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The order is “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act,” and violates the Constitution, Communications Act and notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements of 5 U.S. Code § 553, the AGs said.
Commissioners approved 5-0 an NPRM on spectrum above 95 GHz for new services and technologies, opening a “spectrum horizons” proceeding. Industry has shown little interest (see 1802200058), but Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday the FCC shouldn’t be deterred. After the meeting, commissioners clashed over the lack of scheduled auctions for any bands.
The FCC approved a notice proposing rules implementing Section 7 of the Communications Act, designed to speed review of “innovative” technologies and services, over objections by Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn Thursday. Chairman Ajit Pai said the goal is simple -- get out of the way of innovation. “Bureaucratic inertia” is a common barrier, he said. The agency has been taking steps on his watch to promote innovation, from approving the first LTE-unlicensed devices to approving ATSC 3.0 standards to greenlighting a power-at-a-distance wireless transmitter, Pai said: “We have stood on the side of innovation, but these are ad hoc measures.”
The FCC tentatively approved the first environmental sensing capability (ESC) operators for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, moving launch of the CBRS sharing band another step closer to reality. The ESC operators allow sharing in coastal areas, protecting Navy radars. The four are: CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Key Bridge Wireless. All must now submit their systems for testing before final certification, the FCC said. “The ESC operators will manage a sensor system designed to detect the presence of federal incumbent radar transmissions in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3.5 GHz Band and communicate that information to one or more Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) in accordance with the Commission’s rules,” said the notice by the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless Bureau. “The ESC will enable more dynamic sharing between federal and non-federal users in the band, particularly in coastal areas.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly last week said approval of the operators was imminent (see 1802130041). “Today’s important step gets us closer to permitting 3.5 GHz use in coastal areas where a huge population of Americans live and attracting necessary investment for equipment manufacturing and network deployment," O’Rielly said Wednesday. Ruckus Networks Wednesday announced release of 3.5 GHz LTE access points and associated cloud-based subscription services. The 3.5 GHz market is likely to be huge, Ruckus said. “The Ruckus LTE portfolio enables enterprises to deploy private LTE networks to ensure high quality-of-service (QoS) for critical business applications,” said a news release.
The FCC's net neutrality repeal will be published in Thursday's Federal Register, triggering timelines for challenges. The "internet freedom" declaratory ruling and orders will take effect when the FCC publishes a new document in the FR, contingent on Office of Management and Budget approval of modified information collection requirements, said the FR. A few nominal parts take effect April 23, but no substantive decisions do until after OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, said a commission spokesman. That process is expected to take months. After Thursday, litigants will have 10 days (possibly until March 5 because March 4 is a Sunday) to file petitions for review if they want to be included in a court lottery to determine the venue for consolidating challenges expected to be filed in different circuits. The FCC made a conforming change under FR rules and a correction, in an erratum in docket 17-108 in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The Computer & Communications Industry Association will seek to intervene in the case against the repeal. CCIA said Wednesday FCC reversal “would give a couple of big internet service providers too much power over any US business or consumers that rely on internet access.” Industry lobbyists said they're watching closely for clues on timing of expected filing of Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval in the House and Senate aimed at undoing FCC rescission of the 2015 rules. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., are leading the CRA effort (see 1712110050 and 1712120037). It was unclear if they will file their resolutions Thursday or wait until Congress returns next week from its weeklong recess. Their offices didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the man who threatened Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., in October over his stance on net neutrality has pleaded guilty. Syracuse, New York, resident Patrick Angelo, 28, pleaded guilty to a count of interstate communication of a threat for leaving a threatening voicemail at Katko’s Capitol Hill office, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. He's eligible to be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Arizona lawmakers are moving a bill to ban state regulation of VoIP and IP-enabled services, after the Vermont Public Utilities Commission decided fixed VoIP is a telecom service under federal law and while the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs Charter Communications’ challenge of the Minnesota PUC claiming authority. States continue to address VoIP authority in absence of a definitive FCC ruling on whether fixed interconnected VoIP is a telecom service that states may regulate or an information service that states may not regulate.
Carriers sat out buildup to the FCC NPRM on spectrum above 95 GHz, the spectrum horizons proceeding, teed up by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for a vote at Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting. The NPRM appears headed to a 5-0 vote, agency and industry officials said Tuesday. The outlook is less clear on a second mostly wireless item -- rules implementing Section 7 of the Communications Act, which require the FCC to respond to petitions or applications proposing new technologies and services within a year, the officials said. The agency didn't comment.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said USF contributions should assess broadband because subsidies target broadband and the current long-distance voice revenue base is unsustainable. The current approach is much like a game of Jenga, she said at NARUC Wednesday, tracking written remarks: "We keep removing pieces from the base, and keep adding more to the top. Eventually, that tower will come tumbling down." She hopes a federal-state joint board will propose changes, but if not, it could invite new, outside experts to analyze the situation and provide fresh ideas.