CTIA supports the FCC’s draft 70 and 80 GHz band order revising rules for the spectrum, set for a vote at the FCC’s Jan. 25 meeting (see 2401040064), but it opposes some of the changes Aeronet sought (see 2401120048), said a filing Thursday in docket 20-133. The commission “should maintain the protection for existing services from interference caused by new point-to-point links to endpoints in motion communications, as proposed in the Draft Order, and reject Aeronet’s eleventh hour request that non-federal fixed service receivers alone be left without protection,” CTIA said.
Industry lawyers and analysts expect a busy start for the FCC in 2024, with the 3-2 Democratic majority able to approve items without the FCC’s two Republicans, and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel eager to address priorities before the usual freeze in the months before and after a presidential election.
House Communications Subcommittee members again raised concerns about the impact the FCC Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program’s $3.08 billion funding shortfall is having on removing suspect gear from U.S. networks, as expected (see 2401100072). Their concerns came during a hearing Thursday. In addition, subpanel members offered generally positive reviews of the FCC's voluntary Cyber Trust Mark cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices (see 2308100032), but some GOP leaders were skeptical that it would remain voluntary as advertised.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission should “stand ready to entertain complaints" that ISPs may bring against FirstEnergy for possibly violating commission pole attachment rules, a recent Frontier Communications settlement (see 2306220022) and terms of recently filed amended joint use agreements, the state’s Economic Development Department said Monday. ISPs face problems attaching equipment to FirstEnergy poles amid an influx of federal cash for broadband deployment, the department wrote. “A significant hurdle in implementing most of these projects is developing prompt, orderly, and reasonably priced pole attachment arrangements with the owners of utility poles, which are most often electric utilities,” it said. The volume of pole attachment permit applications has increased due to available federal funding, said the department: As a result, FirstEnergy outsourced its permit review process to third-party engineers and changed its attachment requirements. “These changes have increased costs and turnaround time which have caused significant delays and have negatively impacted lSPs to meet federal funding project deadlines.” ISPs say FirstEnergy "requires pole replacements and pole additions where none is needed,” the department said. “FirstEnergy is imposing the entire cost of pole replacements on lSPs when this expense should be shared among pole users when the existing pole is inadequate or deteriorated.” Also, the utility charges triple what Frontier asks for pole replacements, “appears to be changing its requirements from application to application,” and seems to lack a standardized process, it said. A FirstEnergy spokesperson said the utility has seen a spike in pole attachment requests. It received 1,124 requests monthly on average in 2022, increasing to 2,629 monthly by July 2023, the spokesperson said. “Verifying that the engineering and work associated with broadband attachments meets … stringent safety standards is key to maintaining the integrity of our infrastructure."
Numerous satellite operators welcomed the idea of expanding the range of minor satellite and earth station modifications that can be done without having to first notify the FCC. But support was far more mixed in docket 22-411 filings posted Tuesday when it came to use of deadlines on FCC decisions regarding applications. Commissioners in September by a 4-0 vote adopted a Further NPRM regarding streamlining of satellite and earth station applications (see 2309210055). Reply comments in the docket are due Feb. 6.
“A fluke event outside of Lumen's control” resulted in a nearly statewide 911 outage in Nebraska four months ago, the telecom company’s attorney Katherine McNamara said during a Nebraska Public Service Commission hearing Thursday. During the livestreamed session, Lumen and 911 officials said the outage resulted from contractors' accidental fiber cuts: The first occurred in Minneapolis Aug. 30 and the second in Omaha Aug. 31. The 911 outage lasted from the evening of Aug. 31 until early morning the next day (see 2309010021).
FCC commissioners this month will tackle mitigating risks from space debris and potentially controversial rules addressing misrouted wireless calls to 911, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday in her “Notes from the FCC.” Also on the Jan. 25 open meeting agenda are mandatory outage reporting rules and revised rules for the 70/80/90 GHz bands. Rounding out the meeting is a judicatory matter from the Media Bureau and five enforcement items.
Broadcast attorneys expect likely legal challenges against the FCC’s 2018 quadrennial review order will focus on two questions: Does the Communications Act allow the FCC to tighten regulations during the QR process? And do restrictions on shifting top-four network programming to low-power stations and multicast streams violate the Constitution?
The California Public Utilities Commission sought comment Tuesday on how to expand the state’s LifeLine program to low-income people lacking social security numbers (SSN). Comments are due Jan. 26, replies Feb. 23. Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, assigned to docket R.20-02-008, is “committed to ensuring that low-income Californians have access to essential communication services without barriers to program participation,” she wrote. The commissioner asked how to ensure Californians without social security numbers can participate and what types of government-issued identity documents it should accept from those people. “The FCC has not yet determined whether to waive the SSN requirement for federal Lifeline participants in California,” began another question. “Should the California LifeLine Fund make up for all or a portion of the lack of federal Lifeline support for Californians without an SSN?”
Republican lawmakers are eyeing further action in opposition to FCC data breach notification rules (see 2312130019), but what form this will take is unclear, Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told us. GOP leaders say the rules sidestep a 2017 Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval that rescinded similar regulations as part of the commission's 2016 ISP privacy order (see 1704030054). Republican FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington raised the CRA in their dissents as the commission approved the rules last week 3-2.