ISPs are still hopeful they can get changes to the FCC’s proposed privacy order on web browsing and application use history, which would be treated as sensitive data and require opt-in consent to use or share under the draft circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler. ISPs likely face an uphill climb. Their main target is Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, considered the swing vote on the order.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., joined public interest and consumer groups Thursday as expected (see 1610170062) in encouraging the FCC to adopt strong rules for ISP privacy, set for a vote at the Oct. 27 commissioner meeting. Meanwhile, government and industry officials told us, the provisions on how and when ISPs are allowed to offer broadband at a lower cost to consumers willing to give up some privacy protections are emerging as a big issue, but one that has gotten little attention. The FCC released its sunshine notice for next Thursday's meeting, which includes the privacy order. Business data service rules that are also on circulation didn't make the cut, as was expected (see 1610200047).
FCC repacking plans may not provide enough time or money for broadcasters to move, said several panelists at a conference on the repacking Wednesday, the same day that the forward auction phase of Stage 2 of the incentive auction both began and ended. The forward auction proceeds in the single round were $20.95 billion, short of the $56 billion closing cost. NAB said it was “surprised” at the results of the wireless bidding, in a statement. But Incentive Auction Task Force Deputy Chairwoman Jean Kiddoo said the auction was continuing "to work as designed," during her keynote kicking off the Destination Repack conference, organized by Wiley Rein and the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) .
States are preparing low-income phone programs for federal changes to Lifeline, as the FCC Dec. 1 implementation deadline nears. With several Lifeline rules taking effect Dec. 2, under an FCC schedule (see 1610030040), NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay predicted some states will support a USTelecom petition to give some states more time. The Kentucky Public Service Commission plans to issue soon an order about how the changes affect its program, the Minnesota PUC released an order last week, and commissions in California and the District of Columbia are collecting comments. States have sued the FCC over the order, which added broadband internet access service (BIAS) as a supported service in the program.
The telecom industry and a consumer group diverge on the extent of California rural call completion problems as the Public Utilities Commission readies a decision on outages and other issues. The CPUC indicated last week it will act in November on call completion issues, including Frontier Communications/Verizon California transition problems (see 1610130059), after analyzing data from carriers and consumer comments collected during hearings. In comments posted over the weekend (docket I.14-05-012), the Center for Accessible Technology said rural service in California is dangerously unreliable, and big telecom companies said they didn’t see a major problem that couldn’t instead be addressed by the FCC. Smaller LECs said they saw a problem, blaming companies that carry traffic to their networks.
NTIA's push for some exemptions for government earth stations operating in the C-, Ka- and Ku-bands wouldn't achieve what it wants and doesn't incorporate FCC Part 25 rules into NITA federal radio frequency management rules, EchoStar representatives told the commission. An ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 13-115 said the company urged the FCC to reject the NTIA exemptions and instead make federal earth station operations subject to the same licensing, coordination, interference protection and technical requirements as commercial earth stations. They also should be subject to public notice and public comment, EchoStar said. It said commercial licensees shouldn't have to operate under NTIA coordination requirements, and federal earth station operators instead should have to monitor FCC PNs and comment on applications that might affect their operations the way commercial licensees must. The commission also should have sole jurisdiction over enforcement actions for federal earth station use of nonfederal spectrum, EchoStar said. Co-primary use of fixed satellite service spectrum by government earth station operators without such regulatory parity "would result in preferential treatment of one class of applicants over another with no public interest basis," said the satellite company. The filing recapped meetings that included Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner and FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Deputy Chief Ronald Repasi. NTIA in a letter in the docket to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler last month said the communications agency should add primary federal allocations or remove restrictions in the 3700-4200 MHz, 5925-6425 MHz, 11.7-12.2 GHz, 13.75-14.5 GHz, 18.3-19.3 GHz, 19.7-20.2 GHz, 28.35-29.1 GHz and 29.25-30 GHz bands
News of Thursday’s Samsung Galaxy Note7 recall notice to end all such replacements came in the wee hours of the morning because “this was a globally coordinated announcement” with the company’s Korean parent, Scott Wolfson, Consumer Product Safety Commission communications director and senior adviser to Chairman Elliot Kaye, emailed us Thursday. Consumers can exchange their phones for another Samsung smartphone, or get a refund, under the “expanded” recall outreach aimed at getting all Note7 devices -- the originals and their replacements -- off the streets as soon as possible, said CPSC and Samsung Electronics America in nearly simultaneous emails sent just after 3 a.m. EDT Thursday.
The FCC should drop plans to consider an ISP privacy order at commissioners' Oct. 27 meeting, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Thursday at the Hudson Institute. He and fellow Republican Ajit Pai are expected to vote no (see 1610120063).
Aviation, hydrological and meteorological critics of Ligado's LTE proposal have been pressing their case on the FCC's 8th floor, according to ex parte filings (see here and here) posted Wednesday in docket RM-11681. The filings recapped meetings involving Jessica Almond, an aide to Chairman Tom Wheeler, and Erin McGrath, an aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, with representatives from Penn State University's Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk, the American Meteorological Society, the National Hydrologic Warning Council, Aviation Spectrum Resources, and weather and climate policy consultancy Narayan Strategy. According to the twin filings, Penn State and others said sharing the 1675-1680 MHz band poses notable risks to the U.S. extreme event communication, forecast and warning capabilities, and that more research is needed. They also criticized Ligado's cloud-based content delivery network proposal as unacceptable since it lacks guarantees all current users of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration information will continue to have uninterrupted access to the real-time data regardless of access to the internet or power. They also warned of dozens of private and public users of NOAA data who require direct reception in the 1675-1680 MHz and 1675-1690 MHz bands unprotected since the Ligado proposal would only protect federal users from interference. And in a separate filing Tuesday in the docket, Garmin said Ligado's exclusion zone proposal isn't adequate for certified aviation devices and suggested the FCC look to the Federal Aviation Administration to set up the best course for interference protection. Garmin said an analysis by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics indicated the size of exclusion zones would necessarily vary based on operational scenarios. The company also said even if the right-size exclusion zones could be defined, there's no agreement on determining the power limits that would apply to the thousands of Ligado base stations. Ligado didn't comment Wednesday.
Flooding from Hurricane Matthew is testing telecom companies trying to restore communications service Tuesday on the Southeast coast. Matthew slowed to a post-tropical cyclone Sunday and exited east, but flooding reportedly continued, especially in North Carolina. Over the long weekend, President Barack Obama declared federal emergencies in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Damage from the storm also was reported in Virginia.