CTIA expressed concerns about cybersecurity rules in the proposed 5G Fund (see 2403200071) and Alternative Connect America Cost Model rules. In a filing posted Monday in docket 22-329, CTIA said its concerns extend “insofar as these rules and proposals are not harmonized with other federal approaches, such as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, and go beyond a requirement to align cybersecurity risk management plans” with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework (CSF) version 2.0. The CSF “is the best vehicle through which to facilitate robust cybersecurity programs: it is well understood by industry and critical infrastructure organizations, it is flexible, and it is future-proof,” CTIA said: “It includes informative references to a range of ‘standards, guidelines, and practices’ to achieve the outcomes laid out in its Functions and their associated Categories and Subcategories, while recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that is appropriate for cybersecurity risk management in an area as dynamic as cybersecurity.” In addition, the CSF has “international reach and understanding, which is important in an increasingly global cybersecurity environment,” the group said.

Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about the agency’s November proposal allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). Also attending were officials from Colorado's Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). The district found a series of hot spots during the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult to administer and didn’t provide the connection students needed, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-31. It next worked with a small local wireless ISP, LiveWire Networks, to build a network. “As of today, LiveWire operates a tower on almost every building across the BVSD,” SHLB said: More than 300 "… students are enrolled in the program. LiveWire operates and manages the network and performs installation and other services directly at the home.” Given the success of school-enabled networks like the Colorado district’s, “SHLB encourages the FCC to apply a broad, tech-neutral definition of ‘hotspots’ so that alternative types of network devices (like fixed wireless access points and subscriber modules) are eligible for E-rate funding,” the filing said. Last week, SHLB made similar points featuring a program at the East Moline (Ilinois) School District 37 (see 2403220030).

Public interest groups and two academics spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about their request that the agency update its approach to net neutrality rules to address issues concerning new services like network slicing (see 2403130057). “We asked the Commission to clarify: how technologies such as network slicing may be used to provide innovative offers as part of [broadband Internet access service] that are consistent with the open Internet rules, and under what conditions non-BIAS data services may be provided,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-320. The Open Technology Institute at New America made the filing, joined by Public Knowledge; Barbara van Schewick, director of Stanford Law School’s Center for attended and Society; and Scott Jordan, computer science professor at the University of California, Irvine.

Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff to discuss its backing for the agency’s November proposal allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). Among those at the meeting were staff from East Moline School District 37, located in East Moline, Illinois, and SmartWAVE, a district vendor. The district found that during the COVID-19 pandemic “many families could not afford Internet service and that the vast majority of Chromebooks they handed out wouldn’t work with hot spots due to poor mobile coverage,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31: The district “worked with SmartWAVE Technologies to purchase access points and placed them on top of existing infrastructure like streetlights. All students are given a Chromebook, which then automatically connects to the network wherever they are situated.” The district found “this model is akin to extending its existing school WiFi network and devices into the community, which is much easier for their six-person IT department to manage, compared with tracking the service and devices provided by traditional mobile carrier hotspots,” SHLB said.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Friday approved special temporary authority allowing Morgan County, Indiana, to operate its travelers’ information station for a 15-day period at higher power levels than allowed under commission rules so it can “manage the expected influx of visitors, traffic congestion, and public safety surrounding the April 8 … solar eclipse.” The county can use 100 watts of power, rather than 10, starting April 1. The county is part of the eclipse's zone of totality.

The FCC wasted no time in setting the comment dates on a Further NPRM on a voluntary cyber trust mark program commissioners unanimously approved March 14 (see 2403140034). Comments are due April 24, replies May 24, in docket 23-239, said a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. The FNPRM was added to the order that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated at the request of commissioners (see 2403180046). “We seek comment on whether we should require manufacturers to disclose to the Commission whether firmware and/or software were developed and manufactured in a ‘high-risk country,’ as well as where firmware and software updates will be developed and deployed from,” the notice says.

CTIA warned of a “patchwork” of state net neutrality rules and called for national policies, filing last week in FCC docket 23-320. Because broadband internet access service “is an inherently interstate service, the Commission should exercise its preemption authority to ensure that BIAS is governed by a uniform national framework rather than disparate requirements that vary state-by-state,” CTIA said. “Commenters on both sides of the classification issue … agree and support broad preemption of state regulation of BIAS,” the group said. CTIA said “the need for uniformity is especially acute if the Commission seeks to regulate BIAS under Title II” of the Communications Act. “Proceeding case-by-case, imposing only a regulatory floor, or adopting a narrow view of preemption would spur litigation and regulatory uncertainty that could hinder investments in improved BIAS services beyond those inherent in Title II.”

Gogo Business Aviation requested a time extension to meet requirements of the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program but requested details remain confidential. “The Extension Request contains proprietary commercial and operational information intended to provide maximum disclosure to the Commission for its consideration of Gogo’s request for additional time in which to complete its [replacement] process,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-89. Gogo requested permanent confidential treatment and nondisclosure “because it is impossible to predict when the information contained in the Application would no longer be useful to Gogo’s competitors, other third parties, or, in light of the national security risks ... malignant entities that would seek to take advantage of potential security vulnerabilities in the nation’s communications networks.”

AT&T employees represented by the Communications Workers of America ratified a new mobility collective bargaining agreement, covering about 5,000 workers in the Southwest, AT&T said Friday. The employees work in retail, at call centers and as technicians in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. The new agreement expires Feb. 25, 2028. AT&T is “one of the largest employers of union-represented employees in the U.S., where more than 63,000 employees are unionized,” the carrier said. CWA hailed the agreement before it was ratified, noting it provides a 5% pay hike for employees this year and other benefits, including a $55 monthly stipend for remote employees.

The FCC confirmed Thursday it’s investigating Amazon and other online retailers for allegedly selling wireless signal jammers in violation of FCC rules. “We have several ongoing investigations into retailers, including Amazon, for potential violations of Commission rules related to the marketing and sale of equipment without proper FCC authorization,” an FCC spokesperson emailed. The FCC has long policed signal jammers. In one of the most high-profile cases, in 2016, the agency fined C.T.S. Technology of China $34.9 million for allegedly marketing 285 models of signal jamming devices to U.S. consumers (see 1605250071).