FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will plead with Congress not to slash the agency’s budget for FY 2016. He will warn of “severe consequences to the agency’s ability to protect public safety, advance the spectrum agenda, and transact business vital to the U.S. economy and consumers in a timely fashion” if lawmakers proceed with cuts as planned earlier in the year, according to written testimony for his appearance alongside all four other commissioners before the Communications Subcommittee Tuesday.
The Transportation Department could make better use of its time and efforts encouraging LightSquared and the major GPS makers to resolve their disagreements on power levels and on steps GPS manufacturers could take to address overload, LightSquared said in an FCC filing posted Thursday in docket 12-340. It included comments LightSquared submitted earlier in the week with the DOT regarding the agency's draft test plan for studying interference between LightSquared's proposed wireless broadband network and GPS devices. LightSquared has been critical of that test plan (see 1510210022). In the latest DOT comments, it said DOT's proposed metric of 1 dB change in noise floor "is misguided because it fails to measure what the expert agency and Congressionally-designated spectrum regulator -- the Federal Communications Commission -- considers when it evaluates 'harmful interference': the ultimate impact of adjacent-band activity on the performance of the device." Arguments that ITU recommendations support such a benchmark are wrong because many recommendations "begin with user-measurable criteria and then derive interference levels," LightSquared said. Some recommendations referring to 1 dB noise floor relate to in-band interference, not adjacent band, and none of them applies the 1 dB specification for adjacent-band signal effects on GPS, it said. No one has shown a strong correlation between device performance and 1 dB desensitization, and even if such correlation existed, LightSquared's proposed testing would show it, it said. LightSquared also rejected GPS Innovation Alliance arguments that the DOT doesn't necessarily need detailed RF front-end information on the devices to be tested, saying it agreed with GPSIA that dwell time should be a component of testing, but it should be at least three minutes.
Not all industry interests are pleased with provisions in the Mobile Now spectrum package from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. He unveiled a revamped draft Friday, less than a week before its scheduled 11 a.m. Wednesday markup. The satellite industry is leading the charge against language that would force the FCC to complete an inquiry within three years of enactment on whether and how the agency should apply rules for sharing from the 3550-3650 MHz bands to the 3700-4200 MHz bands.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and the Internet Association sided with the FCC in separate amicus briefs defending the agency’s decision to override state authority in Tennessee and North Carolina on barriers to municipal broadband. “The federal interest in developing a national, interconnected advanced telecommunications network will in some cases override local and state policy preferences, as in the case of municipal communications network deployment,” Markey said in his 26-page brief, touting his unique experience in crafting the 1996 Telecom Act. “In such instances, the FCC must use its Section 706 authority to preempt state laws that inhibit those networks.” He defended the virtues of using the Telecom Act’s Section 706: “Congress enacted Section 706 knowing the FCC’s long and extensive history with using preemption as one of its regulating methods.” The Internet Association also defended the FCC’s move to override restrictive state laws. “In urging this Court to reverse the Commission’s decision, Petitioners and their amici ask the Court to take a step in the opposite direction, toward retrenchment, even in the face of the startling evidence regarding the state of broadband deployment and competition in America,” the Internet Association said. The challenge to the FCC’s pre-emption order is taking place in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Tennessee v. FCC, No. 15-3291, North Carolina v. FCC, No. 15-3555).
AUSTIN -- Just a few months after the deadline for telcos to accept CAF II offers from the FCC, companies such as AT&T and Frontier Communications are moving forward with build-out plans, said company officials on a panel Tuesday during NARUC’s annual meeting. While not all states have USFs, telco officials said it would be helpful for those states that do to use those funds for areas that didn’t qualify for FCC CAF II money. State commissions should be encouraging operators to build out networks and to bid in the CAF II auction so everyone can get connected, said South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson, NARUC Telecom Committee chairman.
The Department of Justice decision not to join the FCC’s brief defending its pre-emption of state restrictions on municipal broadband efforts (see 1511060041) is likely problematic for the commission, said most attorneys we queried Monday and some others making public comments. “I can only speculate, but the lack of DOJ support is a setback for the FCC,” said Potomac Research Group Senior Analyst Paul Glenchur, a former commission staffer and former law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. “It certainly is not a good sign for the agency,” said Bradford Ramsay, general counsel of NARUC, which intervened on behalf of state petitioners challenging the FCC pre-emption order.
The FCC Wireline Bureau dismissed Consumer Watchdog’s petition to open a rulemaking aimed at “requiring Internet edge providers (like Google, Facebook, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, and LinkedIn) to honor ‘Do Not Track’ Requests from consumers." The FCC had been “unequivocal in declaring that it has no intent to regulate edge providers,” so the petition doesn’t warrant commission consideration, said a bureau order Friday.
The FCC proposed a fine of $718,000 against M.C. Dean for allegedly interfering with and disabling the operation of consumers’ Wi-Fi devices at the Baltimore Convention Center (BCC). Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly dissented, saying the FCC needs to establish a clear rule against such blocking.
Requiring broadcasters to dig into the true sources of funding for political ads as is requested in a letter Thursday from several transparency groups would create a thorny situation for the FCC, several broadcast attorneys said. The letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation said the agency should act on several complaints, applications for review on the matter that have been sitting since 2014 (see Ref:1411130068]), and a Media Access Project petition for rulemaking from 2011. The Communications Act requires broadcasters to “exercise reasonable diligence” to correctly identify sponsors of political ads, and the FCC should enforce the law, said Georgetown Law Institute for Legal Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman, who represents the groups.
The back and forth between Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai over the AM revitalization order is the latest flare-up (see 1510260062) in what is seen by some as a more partisan and divided FCC than past administrations, communications attorneys and former agency officials said in interviews this week. Wheeler and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly referenced (here, here and here) the disagreements and very public battle over the order in statements released with it. Lawyers said an antagonistic atmosphere at the commission is being exacerbated by partisan fighting in Washington.