New commenters urged the FCC to collect more granular Form 477 company data on broadband and voice services, but industry parties continued to resist, in replies posted Tuesday and Wednesday in docket 11-10 on a Further NPRM. New York City "supports proposals to increase the granularity of the Commission’s data collections, standardize propagation models for mobile broadband collections, collect on-the-ground data, and make more data public," it replied. "Doing so would allow for more reliable and transparent comparison and assessment of broadband deployment."
The House Communications Subcommittee's Wednesday FCC oversight hearing featured a sometimes contentious exchange over President Donald Trump's recent comments threatening to challenge NBC licenses, criticism of recent FCC actions that could affect Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune, and discussion about a mix of lower-temperature issues, as expected (see 1710240065). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai again repeated his commitment to the First Amendment without specifically citing the president. Pai invoked the controversy to announce the details of media ownership reconsideration order that he plans to publish Thursday (see 1710250037 and 1710250049). "If you believe as I do that the federal government has no business intervening in the news, then we must stop the federal government from intervening in the news business" via the order, he said.
The FCC approved elimination of the main studio rule 3-2 Tuesday over the expected objections of Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1710130054). Rosenworcel also voted against a plan to tweak broadband-service spectrum rules (see 1710240050). This main studio deregulation will “hollow out the unique role broadcasters play in local communities,” said Rosenworcel. Broadcasters can help communities in times of crisis, but “they can only do so when they have a real presence in their area of license,” she said. “Why would an industry that repeatedly extols the virtues of its local roots want to eliminate their only real connection to that very same community?” Clyburn said.
The digital advertising community needs to adopt tighter controls for what goes on websites, said Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO Randall Rothenberg in testimony prepared for a Tuesday House Oversight IT Subcommittee hearing. There’s a “role” for government regulation and opportunities for the Federal Election Commission to update rules for today’s online communications, but “we believe that legislation alone will be unable to address the underlying need for greater transparency in the digital advertising industry” without trampling free speech, the testimony said.
Parts of an FCC March 24 order on contraband cellphones in correctional facilities took effect Friday, after Office of Management and Budget approval, said a notice in Friday's Federal Register. Other parts take effect Feb. 12. "In the Report and Order, the Commission streamlined the process of deploying contraband wireless device interdiction systems -- systems that use radio communications signals requiring Commission authorization -- in correctional facilities," the notice said. "The action will reduce the cost of deploying solutions and ensure that they can be deployed more quickly and efficiently." Commissioners approved rules and a Further NPRM on contraband devices in March designed to speed permitting of contraband interdiction systems (see 1703230056).
Broadcasters in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands estimate their industry sustained between $20 million and $30 million in damage from hurricanes Irma and Maria, and without financial help, some will be forced to leave the industry. That's according to Reuben Jusino, former Puerto Rico FCC resident agent, and Eduardo Rivero, task force chair and vice president of the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association. They spoke during a seminar Thursday conducted by a task force of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands broadcasters seeking to get stations back on-air. “There are broadcasters that it's going to be difficult to come back,” said Rivero.
Verizon urged the FCC to ensure a "national, light touch" broadband framework that promotes investment and innovation, and that isn't undermined by a "patchwork of contrary state or local regulation." Regulation of broadband access services should "recognize that these services are inherently interstate" in nature, said the telco, backing an "open Internet" and voicing concern about Communications Act Title II classification. "State-specific rules relating to these services simply don’t work when we are talking about services that freely cross state boundaries: a user may be in one state, but accessing content from a host in another state, while using a provider from yet a third," said a Verizon filing posted Thursday in docket 17-108 on meetings Monday with outgoing acting General Counsel Nick Degani (see personals section in this issue), Special Counsel Kristine Fargotstein and aides to Chairman Ajit Pai. The company said courts "consistently recognized" FCC authority to pre-empt state or local laws obstructing or conflicting with federal objectives. New America's Open Technology Institute and Free Press backed Title II and detailed the "flaws in the arguments offered by carriers, and adopted" in the recent NPRM proposing to reclassify broadband as Title I and revisit net neutrality regulation. Meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and aides, OTI and Free Press cited "seeming irregularities in the commenting process and the Commission's approach," including regarding consumer complaints not included in the record. The FCC's Title II net neutrality order is popular and support is growing, but public support could make little difference, former Commissioner Michael Copps said in a speech at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Copps is now at Common Cause, which provided a copy of his remarks. Copps warned against what he sees as the danger of increased broadcast consolidation, conceding mergers were also approved under the Obama administration. The FCC has launched “an assault” on the internet, he said. “On this issue, as on so many others, opinions inside the fabled Washington Beltway bear little resemblance to what most citizens are thinking,” Copps said. “Special interests and discredited ideology trump what citizens clearly want their communications ecosystem to look like. You know, net neutrality is such a no-brainer. I don’t believe it would even be an issue without the big money interests and the power they wield in our nation’s capital. But they have that power, so the future of net neutrality in the United States is under dire threat, from our FCC and possibly Congress, too.”
It's time online platforms follow advertising disclosure rules long imposed on TV and radio, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a news conference announcing bipartisan, bicameral legislation, as expected (see 1710180027). Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., supports the bill, which would require identification of ad purchases higher than $500 on platforms with at least 50 million monthly users. The Honest Ads Act “would prevent foreign actors from influencing our elections,” a McCain statement said. Reps. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., introduced companion House legislation.
White House Thursday confirmation that President Donald Trump intends to fill the three vacant FTC commissioner seats, including to make Paul Weiss antitrust lawyer Joseph Simons permanent chairman (see 1710190001), likely means the FTC can move forward with its long-expected shift toward GOP-sought policy goals in tech and telecom, industry officials and lobbyists told us. The commission has faced a 1-1 deadlock since January under Republican acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen and Democratic Commissioner Terrell McSweeny.
A Wednesday House Rural Broadband Caucus briefing for Capitol Hill staffers focused on changes to the FCC Mobility Fund II (MFII), the Competitive Carriers Association said. “As demand for spectrum to power internet-connected devices skyrockets and the need to extend broadband service in rural areas emerges as a national priority, both the Federal Communications Commission and Congress are looking for competitive ways to distribute limited federal funds and resources based on reliable data to preserve and expand mobile broadband services,” said an invitation to the briefing, which wasn't open to the media or public. CCA Senior Vice President-Legislative Affairs Tim Donovan, Cellcom Associate Legal Counsel Larry Lueck, Mosaik Vice President-Products and Technology Chip Strange and U.S. Cellular Vice President-Federal Affairs Grant Spellmeyer spoke, according to CCA. “Many competitive carriers serve the most-difficult-to-reach areas of the country and will rely on important programs like MFII to provide, preserve and expand service to close the digital divide,” said CCA President Steven Berry in a news release. “Ensuring areas in-need have access to critical MFII funding will help achieve the bipartisan goal of closing the digital divide in rural America, and eligible areas must be based on reliable data to reflect what consumers experience,” Donovan said in the news release.