Three infrastructure owner and contractor groups petitioned the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday for review of the FCC’s digital discrimination order, released Nov. 20 and published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, on grounds that it gives the commission unprecedented authority to regulate the broadband internet economy. The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), the Power & Communications Contractors Association (PCCA) and NATE filed the petition. It was immediately transferred to the 8th Circuit where it was consolidated with 13 previous petitions under a Feb. 9 order from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (see 2402120077). It was docketed as case number 24-1411. The Nov. 20 order “demonstrates the FCC’s failure to retain sight of the scope of its mission assigned by Congress,” the petition said. Entities like infrastructure owners and contractors “play an important role in advancing the goal of facilitating equal access to broadband service by making high-quality modern infrastructure available as quickly as possible for the use by telecommunications and broadband providers,” it said. The infrastructure provided is generally “neutral host,” allowing “any number of providers to place equipment on the sites, increasing broadband access and improving service,” it said. But the infrastructure owners and contractors represented by WIA, PCCA and NATE don’t sell broadband services directly to end users and therefore don’t have the ability “to control the place and manner of broadband access,” it said. The order ultimately also fails to “meaningfully address” WIA’s argument that the order’s definition of “covered entities” exceeds the FCC’s “statutory language and mandate” that Congress intended, it said.

The Global Satellite Operators Association and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association will collaborate on supplemental coverage from space items, they said Tuesday. The joint efforts will include standards promotion, educational programs and workshops. GSOA Director General Isabelle Mauro said, "This convergence becomes paramount in building a reliable, secure, robust and globally connected world" as 5G and 6G evolve.

E-rate participants and advocates welcomed the FCC's proposed cybersecurity pilot program for schools and libraries in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 23-234 (see 2311130062). A coalition of education associations and school districts from 42 states and Puerto Rico urged the FCC to move forward, saying public schools are "now the industry most targeted by ransomware attacks" because they are "data-rich environments that often lack advanced resources and technology." The FCC should update the definition of firewalls under category two services to include "industry standard firewalls that are necessary to counter the most common, yet devastating, cyberattacks," the coalition said. The group also backed the schools and libraries cybersecurity pilot program, asking the FCC to "adequately fund the pilot and to shorten its duration so that entities can immediately strengthen their cybersecurity defenses by next school year." Establish an 18-month timeline for the pilot program, said E-rate compliance consulting firm Kellogg & Sovereign. Consider an "open data model" so the public, researchers, program participants and other stakeholders can "independently analyze and use data to support informed decision-making." The American Library Association noted that smaller libraries lack staff time and expertise to apply for the program and urged the FCC to require the Universal Service Administrative Co. to conduct outreach. ALA backed a one-year timeline for the pilot, saying the proposed three-year timeline "just adds unnecessary delay in the urgent need to make cybersecurity tools eligible for E-rate support."

The FCC’s rechartered Technological Advisory Council will meet March 19, starting at 10 a.m., at FCC headquarters, the commission said Tuesday. Dean Brenner, a former executive at Qualcomm, returns as chair. The FCC announced in August TAC would be relaunched, with the first meeting then expected by the end of last year (see 2308240051). TAC last met in August (see 2308170057). “The TAC will consider and advise the Commission on topics such as continued efforts at looking beyond 5G advanced as 6G begins to develop ... to facilitate U.S. leadership; studying advanced spectrum sharing techniques, including the implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the utilization and administration of spectrum; and other emerging technologies,” the FCC said.

DirecTV and SpaceX continue lobbying against opening the 12 GHz band to mobile service, according to filings in docket 20-443. In meetings with the offices of FCC Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, DirecTV said RKF Engineering analyses are unreliable and use flawed methodologies. If some assumptions in RKF's studies are inaccurate, then "DIRECTV subscribers will be the ones to suffer," it said Monday. Meeting with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office, SpaceX also was critical of RKF's work. SpaceX said the "shapeshifting analysis" should end the proceeding.

The FCC should create an Office of Civil Rights, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Media and Telecommunications Task Force told FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a meeting last week, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 22-459. The existing Disability Rights Office and Office of Native Affairs and Policy perform important functions but are focused on different tasks than an Office of Civil Rights would be, the filing said. “Resolving individual disputes or encouraging participation” are different matters from “legal and quantitative analysis that could proactively identify systematic problems” and addressing those problems with rulemakings and enforcement actions, the filing said. “Intergovernmental consultation may belong in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, but civil rights enforcement does not,” the filing said. The Leadership Conference also called on the FCC not to leave the 2022 quadrennial review open past 2024, keep ISPs active in encouraging digital equity, and endorse the FCC’s collection of workforce diversity data. Representatives from groups including the Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Communications Workers of America, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Hispanic Media Coalition and Common Cause also attended.

Supplemental coverage from space (SCS) systems using terrestrial mobile spectrum could have "significant impacts" on radioastronomy, according to the National Science Foundation. In a white paper submitted by NTIA and posted Tuesday in docket 23-65, NSF said terrestrial mobile use of that spectrum isn't a problem because of issues like topography. But satellites beaming that spectrum directly into radioastronomy receivers could potentially damage their hardware, NSF said. "Any implementation scenario" is going to cause radioastronomy problems, although coordination and use "of the absolute minimum bandwidths and power levels necessary" could mitigate the harm's severity, it said. NSF recommended that SCS systems be required to follow current power flux density requirements for cellular usage in the National Radio Quiet zone unless there is coordination with NSF to ensure transmissions don't interfere with scheduled observations.

The FCC announced on Tuesday the relaunch of its Consumer Advisory Committee, with a special focus on AI. The first meeting will be April 4, starting at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The CAC had its last meeting under the previous cycle in August (see 2208300059). “As AI rapidly advances, illegal calls utilize more sophisticated tactics, and too many communications tools potentially leave limited-English speaks behind, we are committed to actively engaging these challenges and opportunities today and looking into the future,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The co-chairs for this cycle are Claudia Ruiz, civil rights analyst at UnidosUS, and John Breyault, vice president-public policy, telecommunications and fraud, at the National Consumers League.

Del. Sara Love introduced the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act, along with fellow Democrat Sen. Dawn Gile.

Delegates to the World Radiocommunication Conference last year dealt with a slew of proposed future agenda items for WRC 2027, Michael Mullinix, CTIA vice president-regulatory affairs, said during a panel discussion at an FCBA webinar Wednesday (see 2402140051). Similarly, an unusually large number of items on the 2023 agenda remained from 2019, Mullinix said. The U.S. delegation offered a “whopping” 18 proposals for the 2027 agenda; more than 40 proposals came from other regions, he said. “That’s a lot of proposals, and more importantly, a lot of priorities for each country that submitted them,” he said. The goal is narrowing the focus to a “manageable” 15 to 18 topics during the four-year study period, Mullinix said. “The work is already underway toward WRC-27 decisions today,” he said. It’s already clear that the biggest focus of the U.S. in 2027 will be making more mid-band spectrum available for full-power licensed use, he said. Recent studies suggest U.S. wireless networks will “fall short” of meeting expected demand “absent new spectrum access,” he said. Mullinix said 7/8 GHz, which will get further study under the administration’s national spectrum strategy (see 2402090059), is “now the global harmonization target for expanding capacity for 5G and beyond.” Spectrum policy is critical to ensuring that trusted equipment suppliers have “the global economies of scale needed to compete, and don’t have to develop unique equipment just for the U.S. market,” he said. HWG’s Tricia Paoletta said it’s also clear the U.S. will continue pressure at the next WRC to protect the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and unlicensed use. “The U.S. is also the global leader in the Wi-Fi ecosystem,” which next year is expected to be worth $5 trillion, she said. U.S. companies “hold the vast majority of intellectual property rights … so it’s a very critical area for the United States’ economy too,” she said. Chinese operators, led by Huawei, will continue pressuring other countries to allocate the 6 GHz band for international mobile telecommunications, Paoletta said. Hogan Lovells’ George John noted that 7/8 GHz is already used for unlicensed operations, earth exploration and space research. It's important because the amount of space research services spectrum available is limited, he said. All the bands to be studied for licensed use will present complications for policymakers, John predicted. U.S. leadership in 5G and 6G is “super important,” but “we also need to love the incumbents,” he said.