DALLAS -- The FCC didn’t go far enough when it started an initiative for a voluntary anti-bot code of conduct for ISPs and domain name system best practices, said Jeff Goldthorp, associate Public Safety Bureau chief for cybersecurity and communications reliability. “We were singlemindedly focused more on the tethered environment, less on the tetherless environment,” he said on a panel at the Telecommunications Industry Association conference on Wednesday.
There’s little leeway in the timing of the FCC’s recently adopted political file rule if it’s to be in place in time for the 2012 general election, industry officials who opposed the order and public-interest officials who backed it told us. The rule would require TV stations affiliated with the Big Four broadcast networks in the top-50 markets to post on a website run by the commission their political file information, including who’s buying airtime at government-mandated rates. The NAB has already asked a court to review the decision and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must sign off on it before it takes effect.
The Rural Cellular Association said it’s “difficult to overstate” the importance of a 700 MHz interoperability mandate to “the future health of the wireless industry,” in comments to the FCC. RCA has made an interoperability requirement one of its top priorities. The main resistance has come from Verizon Wireless and AT&T. But CEA and TIA weighed in against a mandate, giving the two major carriers critical support. Where the newly reconstituted FCC will come down remains to be seen, agency and industry officials agreed Monday.
June 5 FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski speaks at FCBA annual luncheon, noon, Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St. NW -- http://xrl.us/bimfn6
The Personal Communications Industry Association and some of its member companies asked the FCC to briefly delay the date the commission’s Interim Antenna Structure Registration Program Rules take effect. The appeal came in a meeting with top officials from the Wireless Bureau and Office of General Counsel. The interim rules and the new filing system are scheduled to start as soon as the rules are published in the Federal Register. A PCIA official told us publication is expected Tuesday. “Parties stated that while the Order on Remand was released in December 2011, the Commission’s recent guidance Public Notice and tutorial presentations raised questions about implementation and compliance,” said a filing on the meeting (http://xrl.us/bm93w2). “The Parties stated that additional time will allow for thorough compliance through internal technical updates, communication with third-party industry professionals, and continued coordination with the FCC."
Correction: The Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act (HR-3310) unanimously passed the House Commerce Committee in March (CD May 30 p8).
The House will begin debate on a bill Wednesday that would revamp FCC processes despite bicameral Democratic opposition to such reforms. The Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act (HR-3309) aims to consolidate or repeal several FCC reports and require new reports on the state of the telecom market. The bill would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the agency to publish biennial reports on marketplace competition, telecom deployment and legislative barriers to the expansion of communications services. If passed, the bill would repeal or consolidate current FCC reports on satellite competition, international broadband, video programming, cable industry prices, small business entry barriers and commercial mobile radio, among others. The bill also would require the FCC to list the geographic regions that are not served by any telecom provider. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., sponsored the bill, which was approved by the House Commerce Committee in March by a mostly partisan 31-16 vote. The Senate has failed to progress on FCC reform legislation as quickly as the House. In November, Senate Commerce Committee member Dean Heller, R-Nev., introduced a companion bill (S-1780), but Democrats in the majority have yet to take it up.
The Personal Communications Industry Association and member companies asked follow-up questions about filing requirements and the online system for the FCC’s Antenna Structure Registration, in a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff. “The Parties inquired about compliance with the Interim ASR Rules, including how the new national and local pre-application notification processes will work in conjunction with one another -- particularly in situations where the date of the local notice changes -- and what processes and criteria Commission staff will use in reviewing Requests for Environmental Review filed during the notification process,” said a filing by PCIA on the meeting (http://xrl.us/bm9qpb). “Additionally, the Parties inquired about how to update minor, non-administrative changes in the information for a registered tower in the new ASR system, including small corrections in tower coordinates and height that do not involve structural changes, and about non-registered, existing towers that will require ASR registration due to new Federal Aviation Administration requirements."
The FCC is asking about the security practices of carriers with respect to customer information stored on customer devices and the application of existing privacy and security requirements to that information. The Wireline and Wireless bureaus and General Counsel’s Office jointly made the request in a public notice. It follows a series of questions from Capitol Hill about Carrier IQ software, raised by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and others in Congress (CD Dec 5 p12).
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) threw its considerable weight behind spectrum sharing, approving a spectrum report Friday that stresses the importance of sharing. The report recommends that President Barack Obama issue a memorandum saying it’s U.S. government policy to share underutilized government spectrum and ordering agencies to identify 1,000 MHz of spectrum that could be shared with the private sector. PCAST didn’t release the report, but the details were presented at a meeting in Washington.