National telecom industry groups balked at a California plan to revive and require the FCC’s voluntary Keep Americans Connected pledge with no sunset. The California Public Utilities Commission lacks authority to stop disconnections for nonpayment and late fees amid the pandemic, said VoIP, wireless and wireline companies in Wednesday comments emailed to the service list for R.18-03-011. They said they still voluntarily help customers despite the FCC pledge having ended June 30.
President-elect Joe Biden announced Dec. 10 that he's selecting House Ways and Means Committee Chief Trade Counsel Katherine Tai to be the next U.S. trade representative, saying that her deep experience will allow the administration to “harness the power of our trading relationships to help the U.S. dig out of the COVID-induced economic crisis and pursue the President-elect’s vision of a pro-American worker trade strategy.”
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved a report Wednesday with recommendations on optional security features that could make 5G non-stand-alone networks more secure. The report, by the Managing Security Risk in the Transition to 5G Working Group, was the only one approved during the virtual meeting. March is the final meeting for this iteration of CSRIC.
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved a report Wednesday with recommendations on optional security features that could make 5G non-stand-alone networks more secure. The report, by the Managing Security Risk in the Transition to 5G Working Group, was the only one approved during the virtual meeting. March is the final meeting for this iteration of CSRIC.
The upcoming shift to a 2-2 split FCC at the start of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration doesn’t necessarily have to mean total gridlock, as those opposed to Senate confirmation of Nathan Simington as commissioner are forecasting, officials and FCC observers told us. They do believe FCC Democrats’ ability to move on big-ticket policy priorities, like bringing back the rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules, will be hindered until the Senate confirms Biden’s to-be-named nominee for the seat held by Chairman Ajit Pai. The Senate confirmed Simington Tuesday with unanimous Republican support and similarly uniform Democratic opposition (see 2012080067).
Haggling over details of a compromise COVID-19 aid bill that includes $10 billion for broadband (see 2012010039) delayed the measure’s filing Monday. NARUC President Paul Kjellander urged lawmakers to ensure aid legislation fully funds Lifeline and to reject bids to eliminate the eligible telecom carrier designation procedure in some recent broadband connectivity legislation. Restore the monthly Lifeline voice subsidy to $7.25, Kjellander said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and their minority party counterparts. The FCC just cut the monthly subsidy to $5.25. The National Lifeline Association and Assist Wireless seek an emergency court stay (see 2011250064). “The impact of this decline in support is potentially severe,” Kjellander said. “When the agency sought comment on reinstating full financial support for voice-only service in rural areas only, the record showed widespread support for restoring full subsidies for voice services.” Several “well-meaning measures to subsidize broadband service or provide incentives for additional broadband infrastructure roll-out unfortunately significantly reduce oversight of each company’s use of federal subsidies as well as oversight of the actual service provided to consumers” by eliminating the ETC designation requirement, Kjellander said. “NARUC’s state commission members usually conduct those designations. But they also do a lot more. Much of carrier fraud and abuse in several FCC subsidy programs has been uncovered by NARUC’s state commission members.” NARUC opposed measures that don’t include the ETC requirement, including the Rural Connectivity Advancement Program Act (S-4015), Expanding Opportunities for Broadband Deployment Act (HR-7160) and Rural Broadband Acceleration Act (HR-7447/S-4201).
Haggling over details of a compromise COVID-19 aid bill that includes $10 billion for broadband (see 2012010039) delayed the measure’s filing Monday. NARUC President Paul Kjellander urged lawmakers to ensure aid legislation fully funds Lifeline and to reject bids to eliminate the eligible telecom carrier designation procedure in some recent broadband connectivity legislation. Restore the monthly Lifeline voice subsidy to $7.25, Kjellander said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and their minority party counterparts. The FCC just cut the monthly subsidy to $5.25. The National Lifeline Association and Assist Wireless seek an emergency court stay (see 2011250064). “The impact of this decline in support is potentially severe,” Kjellander said. “When the agency sought comment on reinstating full financial support for voice-only service in rural areas only, the record showed widespread support for restoring full subsidies for voice services.” Several “well-meaning measures to subsidize broadband service or provide incentives for additional broadband infrastructure roll-out unfortunately significantly reduce oversight of each company’s use of federal subsidies as well as oversight of the actual service provided to consumers” by eliminating the ETC designation requirement, Kjellander said. “NARUC’s state commission members usually conduct those designations. But they also do a lot more. Much of carrier fraud and abuse in several FCC subsidy programs has been uncovered by NARUC’s state commission members.” NARUC opposed measures that don’t include the ETC requirement, including the Rural Connectivity Advancement Program Act (S-4015), Expanding Opportunities for Broadband Deployment Act (HR-7160) and Rural Broadband Acceleration Act (HR-7447/S-4201).
Hill conferees’ version of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act retains some modified language from separate House- and Senate-passed versions of the measure (HR-6395/S-4049) aimed at hindering Ligado’s L-band plan rollout, as expected (see 2011230063). Ligado’s supporters and opponents aren’t completely satisfied with the language, though both sides spun it as a relative win. Some also believe it’s unlikely the FCC will act soon on the Ligado approval petitions for reconsideration pending before it (see 2005210043). The FCC didn't comment.
Colorado and Pennsylvania agencies urged caution as the FCC weighs how to deter states from diverting 911 fees on consumer bills for unrelated purposes. In reply comments due Wednesday in docket 20-291, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission warned some possible solutions in the FCC’s notice of inquiry “are inappropriate in response to the issue and may cause significant harm to the cause of improving public safety communications systems for use by the public.” The FCC shouldn’t adopt too narrow a definition for diversion that might conflict with 911 surcharge laws, the PUC said. Avoid imposing penalties that further harm local 911 systems, impede upgrades or severely hurt local governments, it said. Give states flagged as diverters an appeals process and a chance to correct behavior, it said. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency doesn’t support "a nationwide fixed ‘list’ of allowable 911 expenses at the federal level nor do we support a liberal application of 911 fees to all public safety functions," PEMA replied. “An approach to a national list of allowable expenditures that is more restrictive or contradicts state statutes or eligibility rules would penalize Pennsylvania 911 systems and has the potential to significantly impact 911 service.” Conditioning federal grants on no diversion is more effective when more money is at stake, PEMA said. "A large-scale federal funding program for 911, in a similar fashion to FirstNet, would serve as a strong deterrent to 911 fee diversion." The FCC hasn’t flagged Colorado or Pennsylvania as diverters. USTelecom and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) discouraged requiring providers to disclose on bills that a customer’s state is a diverter. ATIS said its Network Reliability Steering Committee “strongly opposes this approach because it would put the service providers in the middle of an issue that does not directly involve them and over which they have no authority to resolve.” Local and public safety groups warned in comments last month that some ways of punishing diversion could harm 911 (see 2011030029).
The Bureau of Industry and Security should apply the “minimal” necessary level of export controls on foundational technologies to prevent impacts on U.S. academic research, universities said in comments to the agency. BIS also should reexamine which technologies it defines as “emerging” because some are already commercially widespread, a British aerospace company said.