COVID-19 could reprioritize two California telecom funds. The California Public Utilities Commission sought comment Thursday on how it can respond to the pandemic using the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). In prehearing statements due that day on a possible overhaul to California LifeLine that could shift support to broadband, some urged focus on increasing participation of especially vulnerable low-income residents.
The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee ended on a note of concern Friday. BDAC met online, as have other groups since the FCC closed headquarters and sent staff home.
President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (HR-748) Friday, soon after the House voice voted to pass the bill. The Senate passed the measure Wednesday (see 2003260063). HR-748, Congress’ third bill to address the effects of COVID-19, includes telehealth provisions and pandemic-related appropriations for the FCC, Rural Utilities Service and CPB. The measure allows the register of copyrights to temporarily toll, waive, adjust or modify deadline and timing provisions through December 2021 if an executive-declared national emergency disrupts or suspends ordinary copyright system functions. The law gives the register discretion over the reasonableness, scope and severity of the alterations. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., wants additional telecom language in “future legislation.” Congress “must ensure affordable treatment for all, expand distance learning programs and access to the internet for low-income Americans, protect consumers from price gouging and prevent critical services from being shut off during this crisis,” he said. Several other Democrats also want a fourth COVID-19 bill to include broadband capacity and distance learning provisions, including Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. (see 2003250046). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said Congress “must do more … but this bill is an important step in the right direction.” House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., hopes “as this public health crisis evolves, we can put the political swords down, focus on finding solutions and prove to the American people that we are in it together.” Commissioner Geoffrey Starks believes the FCC “must do more to advance its own ‘connectivity stimulus,’” including examining “its statutory authority and funding resources and take bold action to respond to the current crisis.” NTCA believes additional legislation should include language from the recently filed Keeping Critical Connections Act (HR-6394/S-3569), said CEO Shirley Bloomfield. HR-6394/S-3569 would set up a $2 billion fund at the FCC to compensate ISPs with fewer than 250,000 customers for providing free or discounted broadband services during the pandemic to low-income households that can't afford to pay their bills. NAB plans to advocate for future COVID-19 bills to include "further relief for broadcasters who keep communities safe with life-saving emergency information and fact-based journalism," said CEO Gordon Smith. ATA, CTA and the Wireless ISP Association also praised HR-748.
Broadcasters airing free commercials during the COVID-19 pandemic don’t have to factor them into their lowest unit rate for political advertisements, said guidance from the FCC Media Bureau in Thursday's Daily Digest. MB also issued a public notice about COVID-19-related waivers for the percentage of content allowed under sharing agreements. It responds to questions from NAB and broadcasters about the effects of airing free spots for advertisers affected by the pandemic, the bureau said. “Because of current financial difficulties arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many commercial customers are canceling their advertising contracts,” the lowest unit rate PN said. “To fill excess inventory and build goodwill, broadcasters are seeking to air free advertisements for merchants.” Those free ads don’t need to be factored into lowest unit rate calculations “provided the free time is not associated with an existing commercial contract for paid time or otherwise considered bonus spots,” the bureau said. “We anticipate that this guidance is applicable only to the current period and not necessarily applicable when more ordinary conditions are restored.” Local ownership rules limit to 15% the amount of programming one station can provide for another though local marketing agreements or shared service agreements, but that limit can be waived during the pandemic, MB said. During the COVID-19 national emergency “individual licensees may request temporary waivers of the Local Television Ownership Rule to provide more news coverage.”
A recent report from the Congressional Research Service noted that even as some countries place export restrictions on supplies needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the president could remove tariffs on medical supplies under Section 318 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The CRS noted the legality of this section has never been tested, but given that so far, federal courts have upheld the constitutionality of Section 232, it could be that the president could have such broad power to remove tariffs, as well.
Improving rural broadband access is critical to protecting and sustaining the national food supply, the FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force was told at Wednesday's online meeting. The COVID-19 pandemic will help the PATF identify "where we are strong and where we are weak" on connectivity, said group Vice Chair and Pioneer Communications CEO Catherine Moyer. Agriculture operators and communications technicians are deemed essential workers in the current national emergency, noted Daniel Leibfried, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group director-advanced technology. Leibfried leads the new task force working group on connectivity demands in precision ag. The WG plans to deliver its first report at the December meeting. Succession planning is a big problem in agriculture, said Farmwave founder Craig Ganssle, who presented on artificial intelligence. "People don't live forever," he said. "How do you pass that knowledge down?" Mobile applications help identify crop disease and pests when farmers take photos and check them against AI, he said. Applications are available on the edge, he said. The company is working on over-the-air capabilities, "but you'll still need that backhaul," he said. The applications may take more bandwidth than is available, he said. "We're seeing an increase of robotics" as machines replace some workers who pick fruits and vegetables, he added: "Those things are going to require connectivity." Entrepreneurs who commit to broadband should replace ILECs that haven't invested, suggested E2 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Vice President Don Macke. "Some incumbents are disinvesting in rural communities but have been reluctant to give up on these markets," he said. "We need to get providers who really want to provide good service." The next meeting is tentatively July 22.
State commissioners should keep watch on telecom to protect consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak, said NARUC President Brandon Presley in a Thursday interview. “Once this crisis is behind us, we’ve got to view broadband service as a national security issue, in the sense of economic security,” he said. “I won’t have much toleration for anybody that comes to tell me that internet is a luxury.”
More Democrats are signaling interest in pushing to include broadband capacity and distance learning provisions in a potential fourth bill addressing the effects of COVID-19. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., earlier cited those issues as a continued priority (see 2003250046). The Senate voted 96-0 Wednesday to pass the third economic stimulus measure, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (HR-748). The legislation includes telehealth provisions and pandemic-related appropriations for the FCC, Rural Utilities Service and CPB, as expected.
CBP's abrupt shift in policy for case-by-case customs duty deferrals amounts to additional risk to the smaller companies that are facing existential threats due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2003260047), the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization said in a March 26 email. “BACM is disappointed with CBP’s decision to stop accepting individual requests to defer the payment of customs duties, taxes and fees,” said Sidley Austin lawyer Ted Murphy, who represents the group. “We understood that this was meant to be a short-term measure to help primarily small and medium-sized companies deal with the devastating impact COVID-19 is having on the U.S. economy, while CBP pursued a more comprehensive solution applicable to all importers,” he said in response to a request for comment. “CBP’s decision will hurt those small and medium-sized businesses the most.” CBP announced on March 26 it would no longer take requests to defer payments of customs duties, less than a week after saying it would consider such requests.
Improving rural broadband access is critical to protecting and sustaining the national food supply, the FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force was told at Wednesday's online meeting. The COVID-19 pandemic will help the PATF identify "where we are strong and where we are weak" on connectivity, said group Vice Chair and Pioneer Communications CEO Catherine Moyer.