As states prepare for a significant role spending broadband funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, telecom industry representatives cautioned NARUC Tuesday against applying traditional telephone rules. “States will have a bigger role than they’ve ever had before” since the infrastructure package includes $42.5 billion for broadband deployment that NTIA will distribute to states, said Verizon Director-Public Policy Paul Vasington on a livestreamed, partially virtual NARUC conference panel. State commissioners asked companies to do more to help them resolve customer complaints.
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announces retired Chief Copyright Royalty Judge Suzanne Barnett as interim chief copyright royalty judge and head of the Copyright Royalty Board, replacing Chief Judge Jesse Feder who's stepping down ... Institute for Security and Technology hires Megan Stifel, ex-Global Cyber Alliance, as IST chief strategy officer; tech policy expert Yael Eisenstat to co-lead the new Digitally Influenced Democracy Initiative; and recent Clark University graduate Zoe Brammer and Lauren Pompey, from Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, as full-time staffers to work on cyber and information security.
Advocates of reallocating the 12 GHz band for 5G are putting on a full-court press for FCC action as early as the February commission meeting. 5Gfor12GHz Coalition members said in interviews their strongest argument is that other than 2.5 GHz, nearly ready for auction, and 3.1-3.45, being looked at for reallocation, no other candidate bands are available for the “spectrum pipeline.” Proponents say action will likely have to wait for Senate confirmation action on FCC nominees and for the Office of Engineering and Technology to wrap up engineering work.
Funding for next-generation 911 is the “biggest challenge and would make the biggest difference,” said Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth during an FCBA CLE webinar. “It’s not something the FCC can make happen.” Others agreed about the importance of funding. Congress is considering NG-911 money via the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376), but the measure's prospects remain unclear.
The FCC’s new Communications Equity and Diversity Council will meet more often and act more quickly than preceding diversity committees, said Chair Heather Gate at the CEDC's first virtual meeting. Previous diversity committees voted on most recommendations at the end of their terms, but the new group should aim at being “part of the solution as things are happening right now," said Gate, the Connected Nation vice president-digital inclusion: "Waiting until 2023 to drop all of our recommendations, we may miss a window that is open right now.”
The FAA's air safety warning about 5G use on the C band (see 2110290065) is unlikely to cause delays to planned deployments on the frequency, experts told us. They still expect AT&T and Verizon to start deployments in 2021, as both work to close to their 5G spectrum gap with T-Mobile. CTIA now has a webpage addressing the issue. Observers noted the first spectrum deployed isn’t close to that used by radio altimeters.
Backers of two bills aimed at mandating improvements to spectrum policy coordination between the FCC and other federal agencies are hopeful President Joe Biden’s recent FCC and NTIA nominations (see 2110260076) will mean a clearer path to those measures’ enactment. The House Communications Subcommittee unanimously advanced one of the measures, the Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-2501), during a Wednesday markup. The subpanel also unanimously cleared the Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act (HR-1218).
With a full complement of FCC commissioners possible soon, Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service state members told us they’re looking forward to reconvening with the federal side. At NARUC’s Sunday through Nov. 10 hybrid meeting, state regulators plan to discuss possible changes to the USF contribution mechanism and consider a resolution to support energy utilities expanding broadband. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is to speak on a Wednesday NARUC panel on USF contribution with consultant Carol Mattey and AT&T and NCTA officials (agenda).
State rules for a federally funded $2 billion last-mile account should encourage municipal broadband, consumer and local advocates told the California Public Utilities Commission in comments posted through Monday in docket R.20-09-001. The CPUC aims to release a proposed decision between December and March on rules for the last-mile program required in a broadband law (see 2110270063). "Price regulation and subsidies can and should co-exist” to make broadband affordable, said AARP: It suggested prioritizing noncommercial providers. Next Century Cities agreed muni broadband would trim prices. Let communities develop broadband networks through local or tribal governments, community-based organizations or private/public partnerships, said Rural County Representatives of California. Communications Workers of America said industry providers are better equipped to build broadband networks. Meanwhile, telecom and cable companies bristled at CPUC staff-proposed rules straying from California Advanced Service Fund (CASF) infrastructure program rules. If the CPUC wants to meet federal deadlines for distributing federal money, rules should closely track CASF, commented Frontier Communications. The California Cable and Telecommunications Association raised concerns that the staff plan is “markedly different” from CASF rules and shows bias toward overbuilding. Focus on serving the worst first with a “fair and transparent” objection process that isn’t “muddled by unnecessary and irrelevant requirements like infrastructure photographs” and that protects confidential data submitted by companies to object to projects in their areas, said CCTA. Rules that are more onerous than the older CASF program could discourage participation, said Comcast. The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California cautioned that staff-proposed application and compliance rules may be too burdensome for tribes and smaller organizations. Encourage such applicants by reimbursing winners’ grant development costs, CENIC said.
The Biden administration is committed to releasing a national spectrum strategy, a goal the Trump administration never met. NTIA didn’t have a permanent administrator for much of the Trump administration, as been true so far during the Biden administration. President Joe Biden is trying to change that by nominating Mozilla Foundation Senior Adviser Alan Davidson to head the agency. Biden's also filling out the FCC by renominating Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and picking Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy’s Gigi Sohn for the vacant Democratic commission seat (see 2110260076).