Federal judges blocked, for now, FCC restrictions on enhanced tribal Lifeline subsidies that bar resellers and residents of non-rural areas from the extra low-income USF support. The commission's 2017 order "will be stayed pending further [court action] insofar as the Order purports to limit eligibility for the Tribal Lifeline enhanced subsidy to 'facilities-based' service providers, and to limit eligibility for that program to 'rural areas,'" said the Friday ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in National Lifeline Association v. FCC, No. 18-1026, and a consolidated case. They said petitioners showed a "likelihood of success on the merits" of their challenges, and that they'll suffer "irreparable injury absent a stay." Some said the decision further complicated an FCC proposal to ban resellers from Lifeline support in general.
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC understands that the wireless location accuracy of 911 calls remains a major issue for 911 call centers, Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth told an APCO Conference audience. Other officials at the conference told us repeatedly they're still having difficulty locating wireless callers, years after the FCC started to take on the issue (see 1808070037). The FCC imposed updated requirements in 2015.
Legislation by Senate Democrats would let public safety keep T-band spectrum. The bill by Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Bob Casey from Pennsylvania would repeal part of the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act that directs the FCC to auction the T-band by 2021. It’s the Senate version of HR-5085 by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. (see 1802260015). “Law-enforcement, firefighters, [emergency medical services] personnel and security officials rely on T-Band spectrum to communicate with each other in hazardous situations,” said Markey. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Sheriffs' Association and Greater Boston Police Council applauded the bill.
The Energy Department on July 25 issued a final rule to streamline the process for approval of small scale natural gas exports to countries that don’t have a free trade agreement with the United States. Under the final rule, DOE will issue an export authorization based on any complete application to export natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), to countries with which the U.S. has not entered into a FTA requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas and with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. The application must be limited to exports of natural gas up to 51.75 billion cubic feet per year, and must not require an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment. The change will expedite the application and approval process for the emerging market involving exports of small volumes of natural gas from the U.S. to countries primarily in the Caribbean, Central America and South America, DOE said. The rule is effective Aug. 24, 2018.
Advocates for people with disabilities urged the FCC to back off Lifeline proposals to bar pure resellers, and to impose mandatory "co-pay" charges on eligible low-income consumers. The proposals "would cause irreparable harm to the very consumers this program is intended to help," wrote the American Association of People with Disabilities, Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, National Council on Independent Living and World Institute on Disability, posted Wednesday in docket 17-287. They asked the FCC to suspend the subsidy phaseout of voice-only Lifeline support across the country, not just in rural areas. TracFone renewed a request for a Section 54.408(b) waiver or a ruling that it could comply with minimum service standards by giving customers "a specified quantity of 'units' per month," the subject of a November emergency petition (see 1711030064). "Those units could be used at the consumers’ discretion either for voice service, mobile broadband Internet access service, or for a combination," it said, noting updated standards taking effect Dec. 1 (see 1807180038).
Advocates for people with disabilities urged the FCC to back off Lifeline proposals to bar pure resellers, and to impose mandatory "co-pay" charges on eligible low-income consumers. The proposals "would cause irreparable harm to the very consumers this program is intended to help," wrote the American Association of People with Disabilities, Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, National Council on Independent Living and World Institute on Disability, posted Wednesday in docket 17-287. They asked the FCC to suspend the subsidy phaseout of voice-only Lifeline support across the country, not just in rural areas. TracFone renewed a request for a Section 54.408(b) waiver or a ruling that it could comply with minimum service standards by giving customers "a specified quantity of 'units' per month," the subject of a November emergency petition (see 1711030064). "Those units could be used at the consumers’ discretion either for voice service, mobile broadband Internet access service, or for a combination," it said, noting updated standards taking effect Dec. 1 (see 1807180038).
Creating an FTC Technology Bureau would let the agency better evaluate competition and consumer protection cases, said Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter Thursday. Former Commissioner Terrell McSweeny, a fellow Democrat, championed the idea, Slaughter noted at New America's Open Technology Institute.
The U.S. could be headed down the same unproductive path for the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference that it trod at WRC-15, when it faced international pushback against its positions, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said at a Federalist Society event Thursday. He said there needs to be more cooperation on a U.S. position to avoid that outcome. He's "incredibly troubled" by nations that act on parochial interests and try to block the U.S. for competitive purposes.
Creating an FTC Technology Bureau would let the agency better evaluate competition and consumer protection cases, said Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter Thursday. Former Commissioner Terrell McSweeny, a fellow Democrat, championed the idea, Slaughter noted at New America's Open Technology Institute.
Creating an FTC Technology Bureau would let the agency better evaluate competition and consumer protection cases, said Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter Thursday. Former Commissioner Terrell McSweeny, a fellow Democrat, championed the idea, Slaughter noted at New America's Open Technology Institute.