Senate Public Works Committee ranking member Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., urged the FCC to act on its “long-standing pole attachment proceeding” looking at a 2020 NCTA petition for clarification on pole replacements in unserved areas (see 2007170023). The commission issued a declaratory ruling in 2021 that didn’t act on the petition but clarified that charging the entire cost of a pole replacement to a requesting attacher when the attacher isn't the sole cause of the replacement is “unreasonable and inconsistent” with the Communications Act Section 224 (see 2101190027). The FCC also has an open further NPRM on pole attachment rules it began in 2022 (see 2207130057). The “record is complete and the time is right for the Commission to act in a unanimous fashion,” Capito said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that circulated Friday. In “hard to serve regions of the country, broadband networks are dependent on access to an existing and long established network of utility poles,” but “the process for obtaining timely and reasonable access to poles is too often obstructed due to a number of factors such as workforce shortages and pole owners that are seeking to offer broadband services and receive” federal funding, Capito said: “Absent prompt attention” from the FCC “to act quickly on pending issues before it” like the pole attachment proceeding, “likely will result in missed deadlines and timelines for network construction, as well as changes to deployment plans that will mean that millions of Americans without broadband will have to wait even longer.”
The era of FCC agreement on most items appears to be over. In addition to the fight over net neutrality, and perhaps the longest statement yet at a meeting by Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2310190020), Carr and Simington dissented Thursday on a declaratory ruling clarifying that the use of Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose and eligible for E-rate funding. But an order approving changes to rules for wireless emergency alerts, a notice of inquiry on broadband and maternal health and an NPRM on connectivity in Alaska were approved without dissents.
FCC commissioners divided Thursday on a vote to reestablish net neutrality rules, during the agency's first open meeting with a full commission since Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel took the helm (see 2310130051). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington voted against an NPRM seeking comment on a proposal to return to 2015 rules that classified broadband as a Title II telecom service.
Comments are due to the International Trade Commission Oct. 26 in a potential investigation on imported electronic devices, says a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. Ericsson filed a complaint Thursday alleging Motorola and Lenovo import devices, including mobile phones, that infringe on four of Ericsson's patents for semiconductor chips, cellular communications, video encryption and video controls. Ericsson seeks a permanent limited exclusion order against Lenovo and its subsidiaries, plus cease and desist orders. The company filed another complaint against Lenovo and Motorola Oct. 11 at the ITC for alleged infringement of Ericson's cellular communication patents (see 2310160032).
The FCC disagreed with a letter from USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter urging the House and Senate Intelligence committees’ leaders to “pay special attention to the FCC’s mission creep into the cybersecurity space” because of the draft NPRM (see 2310160062). Although the commission “is already actively involved in federal interagency cybersecurity planning, coordination, and response activities, it has limited authority to incorporate updated cybersecurity standards into its network policies,” a spokesperson emailed us Monday. “A clear example of this is” the FCC’s Communications Act Section 214 authority, “which provides the agency with the ability to monitor and mitigate the existence of bad actors in telecommunication systems. That authority currently extends only to phone networks, not broadband. Similarly, the FCC has been closely working with other federal agencies on the best way to identify Broadband Gateway Protocol (BGP) vulnerabilities and mitigate risks, a process that would be strengthened through Title II reclassification by providing the agency with the clear and direct authority to act in close coordination with other agencies.”
T-Mobile faced tough questions Tuesday from a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on the carrier’s argument that states must align with the FCC’s revenue-based USF contribution mechanism. The court heard T-Mobile and subsidiaries’ challenge to a U.S. District Court for Northern California March 31 decision not to block the California Public Utilities Commission’s April 1 change to a connections-based method.
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington sat down with Communications Daily last week to discuss his new role as a minority commissioner, the agency’s relationship with the NTIA, and his thoughts on proposals to reopen the record on virtual MVPDs and increase the agency’s collection of EEO information from broadcasters. Following are Simington's lightly edited responses.
Relative to the epic battles preceding the FCC’s last two votes on net neutrality rules, in 2015 and 2017, things have been relatively quiet on net neutrality since Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she would seek a vote on an NPRM Oct. 19 (see 2309260047). There have statements for and against, but nothing compared with the fights of the past, industry observers told us.
A current revamp of Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PDD-21), which could mean outer space being declared critical infrastructure, is expected to be done by year's end, infrastructure policy experts told us. Proponents of such a designation say it would be a path to streamlined space industry rules, while critics warn of potentially more regulation. Asked whether it has discussed such a designation with the Department of Homeland Security, the FCC didn't comment.
HWG elects Jennifer Bagg as managing partner; she continues to advise tech and communications … FTI Consulting says Senior Managing Directors Luke Schaeffer and Victor Font will co-lead newly launched FTI Delta, which focuses on telecom, media and technology and public sector … Former media brokers Greg Guy and Larry Patrick dissolve Patrick Communications, with Guy forming Tideline Partners and Patrick creating Patrick Media Brokerage (see 2310110041) … Wildr, AI-powered social media platform, names Vidit Drolia, one of its co-founders, also ex-Robinhood and Google, CEO; former CEO Melissa Ravi remains on Wildr's executive team as chief operations officer ... Mobile communications company Movius names Nextiva’s Chethan Visweswar chief product officer ... BAE Systems promotes Dan Sallet to senior vice president-finance, succeeding Guy Montminy, retiring in 2024.