FCC to ‘Cooperate’ With Upton Request for LightSquared Documents

"We have received the Committee’s requests and will cooperate,” an FCC spokeswoman said. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski had refused to answer a similar request by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, resulting in that senator blocking confirmations of FCC nominees Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai. Genachowski had said he would only provide documents if requested by a Commerce Committee chairman.

Grassley won’t drop his hold until he receives “access to the documents I requested, whether that’s from the FCC, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, or the Senate Commerce Committee,” he said Tuesday. “It will be hard for the agency to ignore this request,” he said. “As a federal agency, like all government agencies, the FCC should account for its actions.” Grassley said it’s “too early to tell” if the FCC will fully comply with the House request.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller maintained his optimism Tuesday about confirming the FCC nominations despite the ongoing hold. Grassley and Rockefeller are “back and forth on that,” the Democratic Senate Commerce Committee chairman from West Virginia told us Tuesday. “There’s some honest discussion going on. He’s got firm views but we get along -- we always have.” Rosenworcel works as an aide to Rockefeller, while Pai is a former FCC deputy general counsel now in private practice.

FCC nominees could still face a tough road to confirmation even if Grassley drops his hold. Recess appointments by President Barack Obama in January angered Republicans and are expected to slow approval of pending nominations (CD Jan 6 p1). It’s also an election year.

House Commerce sent letters Tuesday to the FCC, NTIA, U.S. Defense Department and PNT ExCom. The letters (http://xrl.us/bmwcvu) were signed by Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. The lawmakers sought written and electronic communications, a list of all tests conducted and all documents prepared analyzing potential interference. “There remain many unanswered questions” about whether processes at the FCC, NTIA and PNT ExCom were appropriate, House Commerce said. “The issues underlying the dispute also have broader implications for spectrum management generally."

The GOP lawmakers asked the FCC why it approved the SkyTerra-LightSquared transaction and the integrated-services-rule waiver, why it did so without formal votes, and why the full comment cycle was only 20 days for the waiver request. They asked why the FCC conditioned approval of the SkyTerra-LightSquared deal on excluding the top two wireless companies from becoming LightSquared customers without commission approval. The lawmakers asked how and when the FCC became aware of potential interference with GPS, and if the agency independently evaluated testing and recommendations before issuing its tentative ruling to suspend LightSquared from deploying terrestrial service.

House Commerce asked NTIA what interference standards the agency considered and why it chose the 1 decibel standard. The committee asked NTIA to describe its oversight of the technical working group and PNT ExCom, independent testing and analysis conducted by NTIA and any work by NTIA to ensure GPS devices used by federal agencies are “appropriately constructed” to prevent interference in the future.

In identical letters to the DOD and PNT ExCom, the Republicans asked about NTIA oversight of PNT ExCom testing and how interested parties could monitor the tests. They asked what interference standards PNT ExCom considered and why it chose 1 decibel. They requested PNT ExCom provide a list of tested devices and asked how the body chose them. The lawmakers asked for a description of all PNT ExCom testing and any work the body is planning to ensure future GPS devices are constructed properly. House Commerce Democrats are reviewing the GOP letters about LightSquared, a Democratic committee staffer said.