FCC Wrapping Up Numerous Wireless Issues as Rosenworcel's Term Nears End
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears intent on closing several outstanding wireless issues in her final weeks at the helm, but industry experts said it appears unlikely she will tackle controversial items or launch anything. That approach differs from the way former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai conducted business at the end of the first Donald Trump presidency.
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During his last meeting as chair in January 2021, Pai pushed through votes on an NPRM examining use of the 12 GHz band for 5G and proposing bidding procedures for a 2.5 GHz auction (see 2101130067). That was on top of a busy December meeting, which included an NPRM proposing the limited marketing and sale of wireless devices to consumers before equipment authorization was complete (see 2012100069).
Rosenworcel received “pencils-down” letters from House and Senate Republicans almost immediately after the election (see 2411070046). The letters are a relatively new phenomenon (see 2411140042), dating to the end of the George W. Bush administration, but they lack legal force, experts noted.
The FCC has, in recent weeks, released final rules for cellular-vehicle-to-everything technology in the 5.9 GHz band (see 2411210054), expanded the reach of very-low-power 6 GHz devices (see 2412110040), taken steps to finalize the voluntary cyber trust mark program (see 2412110056) and completed rules for the 24 GHz band (see 2412120010).
The Office of Engineering and Technology, meanwhile, has wrapped up long-standing proceedings in highly technical areas. For example, it has addressed how 6 GHz automated frequency coordination systems deal with building entry loss in their calculations of channel availability (see 2412050049). Other items may have to wait for action under Commissioner Brendan Carr, already designated by Trump as the next chair.
Former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said it appears Rosenworcel is clearing the decks, acting on items that were delayed for various reasons. "Of the recent releases, nothing immediately strikes me as too surprising, as they appear to be fairly non-controversial items consistent with the pencils-down directive, or they would have generated opposition,” O’Rielly wrote in an email.
Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said Rosenworcel is finishing “important, but relatively noncontroversial initiatives, almost all of which can be adopted unanimously.”
Rosenworcel’s approach is “in marked contrast" with that of outgoing FTC Chair Lina Khan, “who has moved aggressively in recent weeks to take strong actions at the periphery of the agency's powers,” Schwartzman said. Republican members, including soon-to-be Chair Andrew Ferguson, have issued "strong dissents."
In contrast to FCC Democrats Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, who have “remained relatively quiet” about Carr's “increasingly strident attacks on CBS and edge providers,” Democratic FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya “has been outspoken in taking issue with the agenda” Ferguson is promoting, Schwartzman said.
It appears the FCC is completing as many open items as it can “without touching highly sensitive issues,” said Richard Bernhardt, Wireless ISP Association vice president-spectrum and industry. Other items will probably slip to the next FCC, Bernhardt said, such as decisions on the 37 and 42 GHz bands and final action on 5.9 GHz, including rules for unlicensed use.
There are no “specific regulated guidelines that I am aware of” that restrict the FCC from “continuing or taking up action on matters already under consideration at the end of an administration,” Bernhardt said.
It’s disappointing that the FCC can’t complete uniform, industrywide rules for mobile handset unlocking, or agree to authorize "more productive sharing of the 12 GHz band for fixed wireless,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “Certainly a few impacted companies disagree, but the policy logic and potential for a constructive compromise on both issues seem straightforward to us.”
“It's natural to want to stack some wins once you know time is running out,” said Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy. “That's especially true in this case, since many of the current administration's signature achievements are destined to be undone in fairly short order.”
Kane noted that most items released recently are highly technical and wouldn’t change had the FCC waited before releasing them.
The FCC “priority” for the rest of 2024 “is simply to wrap up some of the more technical items,” agreed Jeffrey Westling, American Action Forum director-technology and innovation. That allows Rosenworcel to highlight “good governance accomplishments as a part of her legacy with the agency,” he said: “The rest of her tenure probably won't make many headlines, but that doesn't mean the commission isn't getting work done.”