Approving T-Mobile buying Sprint is “one of the most critical steps the FCC can take” to promote mid-band 5G, Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday at the New York State Wireless Association conference. Earlier, wireless officials complained here in New York City that some cities continue to resist 5G despite FCC and state pre-emptions.
Kentucky Lifeline subscribers may be decreasing partly due to the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co.’s Lifeline national verifier rollout, said a group of RLECs and CLECs. They commented Wednesday in docket 2016-00059 at the Kentucky Public Service Commission about possible changes to state Lifeline support. Kentucky should expand state Lifeline support to include mobile service, revisiting a 2017 decision to limit it to landline carriers with declining enrollments, wireless companies said.
States are still deciding if they should join New York and nine other AGs suing to stop T-Mobile from buying Sprint, AG offices told us this week. Completing the deal could depend on the state case, unless a global settlement satisfies everyone involved, said Pennsylvania State University law professor Susan Beth Farmer. A pre-trial status conference scheduled Friday in New York is expected to be for scheduling purposes, and the court probably won't decide then on a preliminary injunction, said a spokesperson for New York AG Letitia James (D). The lawsuit was filed at U.S. District Court for the Southern District (see 1906140041).
The Maine Public Utilities Commission should prescribe new rates for pole attachments effective Jan. 1, based on the FCC cable rate formula, said a CLEC lawyer at a PUC rulemaking hearing in docket 2019-00028 livestreamed Wednesday. Consolidated Communications said Maine should keep its current Chapter 880 formula. Unknown RF danger is one reason to treat wireless attachments differently from pole attachments, the ILEC said.
FCC infrastructure orders “rest on a highly strained reading” of the Telecom Act and violate the Constitution, said New York City and NATOA jointly at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Intervenor briefs were due Monday (see 1906170049). "Compelling cities to lease their rights-of-way and municipally owned property on the FCC’s terms implicates the Takings Clause and the Tenth Amendment by denying just compensation, infringing on local police powers, intruding on traditionally local spheres of control, and conscripting local governments to administer a federal agency’s regulatory agenda,” the city and local government association wrote (in Pacer). "But this Court need not actually determine whether the Orders are irrational or unconstitutional, because the FCC lacks authority to take these steps that -- at a minimum -- dramatically shift the federal-state balance and intrude on the core of traditional local prerogatives.” Several state associations of municipal utilities said the September order endangers public safety. It “is a blatant effort by the FCC to strengthen the hand of carriers in negotiations with local governments over small wireless deployment, and to limit the ability of local governments to negotiate to protect the public interest around small wireless facilities,” filed (in Pacer) Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Arkansas municipal utility associations. That “will significantly and negatively impact local governments’ ability to protect and serve public property, safety and welfare,” they said. California, Virginia and Florida municipal utility groups wrote (in Pacer) that “Congress explicitly denied the Commission authority to regulate the rates, terms, and conditions of access to public power utility poles.” The order was challenged on similar grounds by American Municipal Power (in Pacer) including electric systems in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, and the Nebraska Municipal Power Pool (in Pacer), representing communities in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming.
A multiyear effort to pass a Pennsylvania small-cells bill hit another wall Tuesday after a House panel canceled voting on HB-1400 after a rush of local opposition. Wisconsin seems on the cusp of becoming the 27th state with such a bill meant to streamline 5G wireless deployment by pre-empting local government in the right of way. Debate on a New Jersey bill is picking up, while Florida could soon tighten requirements of a 2017 law that cities have challenged in state court. Maine enacted a small-cells bill earlier this month (see 1906070046).
The FCC overreached with its September infrastructure order to streamline 5G small-cells deployment, said Communications Workers of America, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and Public Knowledge in an amicus brief Monday at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Intervenor briefs were due Monday, after initial briefs last week (see 1906100021). “To protect public welfare and address the digital divide, states and localities must be able to charge appropriate fees,” said the CWA brief. The FCC shifted (in Pacer) political responsibility for unpopular rules to local governments, said the Association of Washington Cities. “The FCC failed to consider that the regulatory structure it created must be implemented by local government agencies whose powers and authority are structured, pursuant to and limited by the laws under which they are created.” Forcing localities to act quickly on applications threatens public safety, they said. Municipal utilities should be exempt to federal pre-emption on small cells, said Missouri River Energy Services (MRES), representing energy utilities in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Municipal utilities act in a proprietary capacity, and “the FCC's understanding of federal preemption is at best inapplicable to municipal utilities,” it said (in Pacer). MRES members are in two states with small-cells laws exempting municipal utilities, and one in Marshall, Minnesota, negotiated a small-cells agreement without needing FCC action, it said. "Their experience with collocation of small wireless facilities does not support the FCC’s Order and affirms that the issue should be left to state and local control.” The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council (BLEC) supported (in Pacer) Maryland’s Montgomery County, which argued the agency inadequately addressed comments on the FCC's outdated RF emission standards. Studies show negative biological and environmental effects of 5G wireless exposure, said BLEC. Small cells have amplified RF safety concerns (see 1906140050).
State lawmaker concerns about wireless health and environmental effects seem to be rising, while local governments continue to push for an FCC update of its more than 20-year-old RF exposure limits and policies. Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein agreed it’s time for the FCC to quickly update RF rules. Small-cells equipment that's popping up near homes probably is increasing concerns and lawmaker attention, said municipal officials and a public health advocate in interviews. Residents surprised by small cells also raised aesthetic concerns (see 1906070046).
Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioners voted 5-0 to require more 911 reporting by CenturyLink after a state probe into an Aug. 1 outage of the 911 system (see 1903270060). The outage lasted more than one hour, with nearly 700 calls failing to connect. “There was a gigantic failure here on the part of CenturyLink or their contractor for” the 911 outage, said Chairman Katie Sieben at the webcast meeting. “We are getting at a good solution so that there can be a reasonable expectation that this will not happen again, and if it does happen again, consumers and the appropriate agencies will be notified in a much more timely fashion.” The order requires meetings with the Department of Public Service and six monthly progress reports. The state Public Service and Commerce departments found the telco “did not provide safe and adequate service,” said a June 5 briefing paper in docket 18-542. “A redundant selective router failed to pass on 9-1-1 calls due to the ‘routine’ provisioning of a worker. The outage was due to human error, and there were no alarm and notification systems in place that would detect this outage.” The company agreed to meetings and reports but disagreed with providing reports on outages outside 911 that prevent customers from calling the number, the paper said. “CenturyLink places a high priority on public safety" and took "several steps to address this issue" of "software updates, instituting additional monitoring and alarms, taking steps to better isolate problems more quickly and implementing enhanced test calls," a spokesperson emailed us. It's meeting with the Emergency Communications Network and Metropolitan Emergency Services Board regularly "to ensure lines of communication stay open and that we are quickly addressing any concerns," she added.
Defining disaster, aligning responders and consolidating standards are early challenges for the FCC rechartered Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee’s working group on disaster response and recovery, members said at their first meeting Thursday. BDAC’s “next mission,” which also includes increasing broadband in low-income communities and infrastructure job skills and training, is “absolutely vital,” even if those issues are “not on the front page every day,” Chairman Ajit Pai told the group.