The FCC has 90 days to either complete the 2018 quadrennial review or show cause why the NAB’s petition for mandamus shouldn’t be granted, said an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thursday evening. The order doesn’t grant NAB’s petition for mandamus but defers it until the 90-day period. Broadcast industry officials told us the court’s urging the agency to soon complete the 2018 QR is the result they wanted. The FCC didn’t immediately comment, but the agency had argued that its delay in completing the QR was justified.
A looming federal government shutdown could hinder work on important broadband and satellite regulatory initiatives, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson during a Wednesday Axios event. The chances Congress will include language in a continuing resolution to restore at least parts of the FCC's spectrum auction authorities continued to dim Wednesday, but officials and lobbyists we spoke with don't believe those efforts are completely dead. The Senate and House made progress into Wednesday afternoon on their respective continuing resolution proposals to prevent a shutdown that would otherwise occur this weekend, but major differences between the two measures continued to stoke widespread apprehension on Capitol Hill.
The FCC would be able to remain open until Oct. 20 in the event of a government shutdown, the agency told staff in an email today, according to several FCC employees. The agency’s appropriation runs out Sept. 30, but the FCC has enough funds from other sources such as fees to pay all employees and contractors through close of business on Oct. 20, staff were told. The agency has been able to keep staff in the building while other federal agencies were furloughed during past government shutdowns. The FCC's next commissioners' meeting, where it's scheduled to vote on a controversial net neutrality NPRM, is Oct.19. The FCC didn’t immediately comment.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez appoints Deena Shetler, deputy chief of staff for administration-Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s office, as acting chief of staff and legal adviser for media and international; Edyael Casaperalta, chief of staff-Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, as acting legal adviser for Wireless, Public Safety and Consumer Protection; Hayley Steffen, legal adviser to bureau chief-Wireline Bureau, as acting legal adviser for Wireline and Space; and Anna Holland, staff assistant to bureau chief-Wireline Bureau, as acting executive assistant … Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo names Sean McDevitt, consulting firm Arthur D. Little partner, FirstNet Authority board member (see 2309260042) ... Department of State announces Patricia Gruber, ex-Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global, as science and technology adviser to the secretary of state, heading the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser.
Large streaming services including Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock and Disney formed an advocacy group, with former FCC acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and former House Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., as senior advisers, said a release Tuesday from the new Streaming Innovation Alliance. SIA also includes Max, TelevisaUnivision, VaultAccess and the For Us By Us Network. The Motion Picture Association “played a leading role” in organizing the group, the release said. The creation of the SIA appears to be a response to a push from broadcasters to reclassify streaming services as MVPDs that would fall under the FCC’s retransmission consent regime; network affiliate groups spun up their own advocacy entity, the Coalition for Local News, earlier this summer. Networks and YouTube also started an advocacy group focused on the matter (see 2308310064). “The rise of innovative, new video streaming services is an American success story we should celebrate and encourage, not smother with obsolete and ill-fitting rules and regulations designed for completely different technology, products, and business models,” said Upton in the release. “Streaming services have opened up a new era of progress for program diversity that is bringing relevant stories and options to historically underserved communities at a record pace while opening doors for production jobs to people of color that have been shut for decades,” said Clyburn in the release. “Any policy that drags down streaming would turn back the clock on this vital progress as well.” As a first step, broadcasters pushed the FCC to refresh the record in docket 14-261, the proceeding in which reclassification was considered in 2014. Clyburn was an FCC commissioner then and voted in favor of an NPRM seeking comment on reclassifying over-the-top services as MVPDs, which she called “prescient.” “Our goals should be to define ‘multichannel video programming distributor’ as broadly as possible to accommodate a new set of choices and offerings for consumers,” Clyburn wrote then. “We also want to ensure that nascent, internet-based services are not given competitive advantages over established MVPDs, who have well-defined obligations under the law.” SIA released a poll Tuesday, conducted by FGS Global, finding most voters surveyed viewed streaming services favorably and expressed concern that new regulations “could require streaming services to collect more data or deter them from offering sensitive programming,” the release said. NAB and the Coalition for Local News didn’t comment.
Representatives of Cisco, Fortinet and Microsoft supported a pilot program that would invest in cybersecurity services for eligible K-12 schools and libraries (see 2307120027), in a meeting with aides to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. The companies urged the commission “to act quickly to advance the proposal to a formal rulemaking,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 13-184.
The FCC Wireless Bureau said it will host a workshop Nov. 2 on the environmental compliance and historic preservation review process required for building communications facilities supporting FCC-licensed services. The daylong workshop starts at 10 a.m. at commission headquarters. “FCC and other federal agency subject-matter experts will provide information on a range of topics related to the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the FCC’s implementing regulations and related agreements,” the bureau said Tuesday: “FCC applicants (including licensees and registrants), those who construct or manage communications facilities for FCC licensees, environmental consultants, State Historic Preservation Office staff, Tribal Historic Preservation Office staff, and federal agencies that fund or permit wireless facilities are encouraged to attend.”
Dish Network filed at the FCC its methodology, mutually agreed to with the Wireless Bureau, for drive tests to measure compliance with the company’s 35 Mbps commitment. “This methodology follows industry standards adapted to DISH’s specific commitment and provides reliable and representative data without unduly burdening DISH, a new entrant into the wireless market,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 22-212. “It offers a statistical approach that will evaluate download speed data collected within DISH’s certified 5G coverage area based upon the predicted propagation model as set forth in DISH’s July 14 … 5G Buildout Status Report.” Dish said it will test 3,019 Hex-7 geographies. Within each Hex-7, the provider “will conduct a minimum of 24 total tests, including a minimum of 12 mobile tests and 12 stationary tests,” Dish said. The company said in June it met its initial commitment, covering 70% of the U.S. population (see 2306150010).
The U.S. wireless industry invested $39 billion in infrastructure, and “America leads the world in 5G availability,” but leadership is in doubt unless more spectrum is allocated for industry to keep up with demand, CTIA President Meredith Baker said Tuesday at the start of the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas. The U.S. is falling behind many other countries on mid-band for 5G, she said. Baker urged special focus on reallocating the lower 3 GHz, 4 GHz and 7 GHz bands for 5G.
E-rate groups, industry and state officials welcomed the FCC's proposals to expand access to the program and streamline its requirements, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 02-6. Commissioners adopted the Further NPRM in July as part of an order expanding access to E-rate for tribal libraries (see 2307200041). Some sought more guidance on certain rules and more flexibility for applicants seeking category two support.