Several civil rights organizations asked the FCC to reconsider its February decision to deny Lifeline support for payphones. In a letter to Chairman Julius Genachowski, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, National Black Chamber of Commerce and others warned that very low-income people could be harmed if payphones don’t get any Lifeline funding. “Just as the exploitation of the poor by prison ‘payphones’ is wrong, it would be just as wrong if the nation lost the legitimate pay telephone business upon which the lowest income Americans depend for essential communications,” they said. The commission’s decision to exclude payphones from Lifeline because they're not linked to specific individual program beneficiaries “overlooked the fact that the nature of a payphone is that it is there to serve everyone,” they said. Letting the service “die out” would be a “grave mistake, a disservice to the poor and to those finding themselves lost in an emergency,” they said. They asked the commission to open a proceeding to “explore all aspects of payphone service and how they can continue to provide service.” Without action by the commission, the groups said they expect payphones to completely disappear within a year or two.
The mission of the FCC Emergency Access Advisory Committee was extended for another six months, EAAC members learned at what they thought might be their last meeting Friday. They can take the time to finish reports and projects they've been investigating, FCC officials said, with much of the focus likely on next-generation 911 and the details of rolling out text-to-911. The two-year-old EAAC heard presentations from three of its seven subcommittees but declined voting upon learning of the extension. It opted to allow for more review and feedback of presentations over the next month.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller won’t run for reelection after his term expires in 2014. The announcement came during his speech Friday in the Democrat’s home state of West Virginia. The departure of the five-term, 75-year-old senator will leave a significant leadership void on the Commerce Committee following the recent death of its most senior majority member, Hawaii’s Dan Inouye, and the likely departure of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has been nominated as secretary of state. Though it’s too early to tell who will succeed Rockefeller as chairman of the committee, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., appears to be the most likely candidate if Democrats keep the Senate after the 2014 elections, media and telecom lobbyists said.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he would not run for reelection after his current term expires in 2014. The announcement came during a speech Friday in West Virginia. The departure of the five-term, 75-year-old senator will leave a significant leadership void on the Commerce Committee following the recent death of its most senior majority member, Hawaii’s Dan Inouye, and the likely departure of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has been nominated as secretary of state. Though it’s too early to tell who will succeed Rockefeller as chairman of the committee, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., appears to be the most likely candidate if Democrats keep the Senate after the 2014 elections, media and telecom lobbyists said.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau report on June’s derecho wind storm, which knocked out phone service for 3.6 million people in the mid-Atlantic and beyond -- many unable to reach 911 for several hours -- made demands of telcos among its recommendations. The Public Safety Bureau released the 56-page document Thursday after starting an investigation in July (CD July 20 p5). Four 911 centers in northern Virginia lost 911 access completely, prompting a close look at Verizon’s role and backup power generator failures there. FCC recommendations include provisions on backup power and audits and preface a rulemaking notice intended to strengthen emergency communications.
State-of-the-art telecom infrastructure is crucial to the economy, said Gov. Jack Markell (D) of Delaware, National Governors Association chair, in the prepared text for the association’s first State of the States address (http://xrl.us/bn94cq) in Washington, D.C. Both he and his vice chair, Republican Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, tied broadband to public safety. Governors “worked with the first responder community and others to secure needed broadband radio spectrum to build a national emergency communications system,” Markell said Wednesday. Fallin referred to the governors’ role in securing the 2012 FirstNet legislation and what she called “the development of one of these critical tools for first responders by providing sufficient radio spectrum needed for the construction of a broadband network for public safety communications.” Fallin also spotlighted the governors’ cybersecurity work, risk to critical infrastructure and its creation of the Resource Center for State Cybersecurity. “The Resource Center is examining the role state policy can and should play in ensuring adequate cybersecurity for state-owned and state-based infrastructure including data and communication systems, financial records, banking systems, water systems, electrical grids and energy companies,” Fallin said.
Jan. 8 FCBA Mass Media Committee brown bag lunch on legal issues for non-commercial broadcasters, 12:15 p.m., Drinker Biddle, 2nd floor, 1500 K St. NW -- http://bit.ly/UiKfm6
As 2012 draws to a close, federal agencies were preparing to dramatically reduce their expenses, a spokesman for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said last week while lawmakers and the White House struggled to avoid a Wednesday funding sequester deadline. The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management told federal union groups Friday that “while they are still hopeful that a deal can be reached ... they are taking prudent action so agencies can be prepared for this contingency,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement. NTEU represents FCC and Commerce Department employees, among others. Spokespeople for OMB, FCC, FTC, NTIA, departments of Justice and Homeland Security, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and RUS did not comment.
As 2012 draws to a close, federal agencies were preparing to dramatically reduce their expenses, a spokesman for the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said last week while lawmakers and the White House struggled to avoid a Wednesday funding sequester deadline. The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management told federal union groups Friday that “while they are still hopeful that a deal can be reached ... they are taking prudent action so agencies can be prepared for this contingency,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement. NTEU represents FCC and Commerce Department employees, among others. Spokespeople for OMB, FCC, FTC, NTIA, departments of Justice and Homeland Security and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office did not comment.
Groups advocating for the deaf and hard of hearing population requested an extension of time to comment on petitions for exemption from closed captioning rules. The National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and other groups in a joint filing (http://xrl.us/bn7g79) urged the FCC to extend the comment deadline in docket 06-181 by 14 days to Jan. 14. They requested the extension “to accommodate the fact that counsel’s offices at the Institute for Public Representation [Georgetown University] will be closed from Dec. 24 ... until Jan. 1, 2013,” it said. The groups also are preparing reply comments in docket 12-107, regarding Accessing Emergency Information, they said. An extension will allow them “to comprehensively offer the perspective of the deaf and hard of hearing community on the important issues raised by that proceeding” and the petitions in docket 06-181, it said.