Commissioner Mike O’Rielly split with fellow FCC Republicans Thursday to partially dissent from an order on emergency alert system testing and false alerts, over concerns about alert fatigue. Since lone FCC Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel voted in favor, it was approved 3 to 1. “If people come to expect that when those alert signals go off they may not be real, there is a very high likelihood that they will ignore potentially life-saving information.” O’Rielly said.
Commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM and order Thursday that moves the U.S. a step closer to opening the C-band, key mid-band spectrum for 5G. The FCC will start by taking a snapshot of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, though as expected the agency relaxed its reporting requirements for satellite companies from what was in the draft order (see 1807060025). Rather than asking for additional data from fixed satellite service earth stations, the FCC will require them only to certify that the information the agency has is up-to-date. Space station operators will have to provide basic information. The NPRM asks whether the FCC should seek additional data from satellite operators, officials said.
A possible FCC compromise on the draft kidvid NPRM didn’t materialize and the item was approved with a 3-1 party-line split Thursday (see 1807110051). Though Commissioner Mike O’Rielly acceded to a request from Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to edit the item to be free of tentative conclusions, Rosenworcel said Thursday the two sides couldn’t come to agreement. She praised O’Rielly’s willingness to negotiate and didn’t identify any other concessions she requested. “I was informed that even with these edits it was not sufficient to garner a bipartisan vote,” O’Rielly said. The version approved Thursday contains the same tentative conclusions as the draft item, O’Rielly and Media Bureau staff said.
A heated dispute over FCC changes to informal complaint procedures overshadowed commissioners' 3-1 approval of an order to streamline formal complaint processes. Dissenter Jessica Rosenworcel said the order effectively removes the agency from working to resolve informal complaints against companies, forcing consumers unsatisfied by company responses to file a formal complaint costing $225. "This is bonkers. No one should be asked to pay $225 for this agency to do its job," she said at Thursday's commissioners' meeting.
The FCC should approve larger geographic license sizes for the priority access licenses it sells as part of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band (CBRS), CTIA said in docket 17-258. Under current rules, the licenses would be sold as census tracts. “A new report by Analysys Mason shows that the current licensing scheme … with 74,000 separate license areas … and an average population of 4,400 per area, is significantly smaller than the license areas used for comparable spectrum in the rest of the world,” CTIA said. “The Commission should move expeditiously to make mid-band spectrum available for flexible use, and it should release the spectrum with rules that will support next-generation networks. Nations around the world are adopting larger license sizes as a way to promote prompt and efficient buildout of 5G networks.”
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said he's nearing a recommendation on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, speaking Thursday to reporters after a speech at the Free State Foundation on process changes. The 180-day shot clock on deal approval “should be more than aspirational,” O’Rielly said, with several takeovers still pending before the regulator. “We can make decisions with a set time frame.”
ATIS and the Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance announced a development they say will make use of the 3.5 GHz band more commercially viable. The work was done by ATIS’ International Mobile Subscriber Identity Oversight Council. The IMSI council oversees U.S. assignment of IMSI numbers, a 15-digit international identifier that allows for network roaming. In collaboration with the CBRS Alliance, “ATIS developed an innovative new IMSI code that is specifically allocated for use by CBRS spectrum operators," they said Tuesday. The council “will also begin administration of an IMSI Block Number (IBN), under the oversight of the IMSI Administrator, iconectiv,” they said. “The IBN will be assigned to CBRS spectrum operators to support the implementation of network services. This work is essential for utilizing CBRS for LTE services while also advancing IoT applications.”
CTIA urged the FCC to move away from census tracts for priority access licenses (PALs) to be auctioned in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, in favor of the April compromise proposed by it and the Competitive Carriers Association (see 1804230064). Some “continue to call for the use of census tract PALs for all or some of the PALs,” but census tracts would be administratively burdensome, lead to interference concerns, increase the cost of deployment, hurt rural investment, lead to economic inefficiencies, “impede and delay access to spectrum” and “significantly reduce the value of the CBRS band,” CTIA said Friday in docket 17-258. “An auction that includes census tract licensing -- be it for all 70 megahertz of licensed spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band or only a portion -- will necessarily result in delayed deployment.” The filing hadn't been posted by the FCC.
A Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing with NTIA Administrator David Redl will likely -- to varying degrees -- focus on the federal spectrum policies of President Donald Trump's administration (see 1806120056), improving national broadband map data accuracy and the 2016 Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, said lawmakers and communications sector experts in interviews. The hearing will begin at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. It's Redl's first before Senate Commerce since his November confirmation (see 1711070076, 1711070084 and 1711080015). Redl also testified during a March House Communications Subcommittee hearing.
CTIA asked the FCC to act on changes to rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band at the July 12 commissioners' meeting. The Wednesday letter by President Meredith Baker said unless the FCC acts soon, the U.S. will fall behind other countries in the race to 5G. CTIA asked the FCC to approve rules based on its April proposal made with the Competitive Carriers Association (see 1804240067). The Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) pushed for small priority access licenses (PALs) in the band, with no major changes from the Obama administration rules.