Congressional Republican leaders are determined to advance a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to undo the FCC’s digital discrimination order (H.J.Res. 107) despite widespread acknowledgment the measure faces long odds of making it through the majority-Democratic Senate and an all-but-certain veto from President Joe Biden. GOP leaders’ intent in pursuing H.J.Res. 107 appears to be to bolster legal challenges of the digital discrimination order, officials and lobbyists told us. House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia and more than 60 other Republicans filed the measure in late January (see 2401310003).
Umbra Lab is eyeing Q4 for launch of two earth exploration satellite service microsatellites into low earth orbit. In an FCC Space Bureau application Thursday, Umbra said the pair would have the same RF and orbital characteristics as the eight previously granted licenses. The eighth was launched in November, it said.
Alaska’s Bristol Bay Cellular Partnership agreed to start sending wireless emergency alerts to subscribers, said a filing posted Friday in docket 15-91. The carrier said in 2008 it filed at the FCC a letter saying it wouldn’t participate in the WEA system and is now changing its position.
EchoStar, RS Access and Go Long Wireless entered into an agreement with the Cherokee Nation to make 100 MHz of lower 12 GHz spectrum available to the tribe for fixed wireless. EchoStar’s Dish Network earlier offered to make the band available in tribal areas as the FCC looks at revising rules for the band (see 2309110061). The companies said they are looking to sign similar agreements with other tribes. “Under the terms of the agreement, the Cherokee Nation (or another participating Tribal entity) would be assigned free and clear 100 MHz of spectrum (12.2-12.3 GHz) and could use as much of that 100 MHz band as it needs for fixed wireless service, with the [multichannel video distribution and data service] licensee and the Tribal entity having a mutual right to use each other’s unused spectrum as needed for their own operations across the entire 12.2 GHz band,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-443. The approach “would help close the longstanding digital divide for underserved and hard-to-reach Tribal lands, while simultaneously respecting tribal sovereignty and self-determination,” the filing said. In a call last week with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, tribal broadband advocates discussed the potential significance of a proposal giving tribes access to the lower 12 GHz band. The advocates made similar points in an earlier meeting with Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2402140035).
Comments and petitions are due March 11, responses March 21, and replies to responses March 26 on a Dish Network and Liberty Latin America request to transfer Dish spectrum licenses in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to Liberty, the FCC Office of International Affairs said in a public notice Friday. The PN also established docket 24-55 for the proceeding.
CTIA officials updated FCC staff about progress on deploying managed access systems (MAS) to curb the use of illicit phones in correctional facilities. The FCC Wireless Bureau last year tentatively approved applications of five contraband interdiction system operators to help address contraband phones (see 2306230033). “CTIA’s members have continued to commit both their resources and their technical expertise to make it easier for corrections officials to implement MAS interdiction solutions,” said a filing Thursday in docket 13-111. Efforts include “enhanced coordination with MAS vendors, creation of a MAS ‘How To’ checklist for corrections officials and system vendors, support for federal funding, identification of efficient and accurate methods for permanently disabling contraband devices, and streamlining the roaming agreements needed to enable” evolved MAS, CTIA said.
Rural Wireless Association representatives raised concerns with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about how the agency documents progress of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. The program is aimed at removing unsecure gear from telecom networks. Congressional reports fail “to accurately depict the current state of the Reimbursement Program by vastly underestimating how much participants have spent … to date,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-89. The reports “have only mentioned the total monies that have been reimbursed to program participants, which is significantly lower than the total spending that program participants have incurred to date,” RWA said: “Many program participants have been forced to file modifications due to the lack of funding and such modifications have slowed the submission of invoices, which would further demonstrate costs already incurred by participants.” Moreover, RWA is frustrated that the latest reports seem to blame program participants for delays, the filing said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended until March 13 the deadline to submit reply comments on a Further NPRM on proposed revisions to pole attachment and replacement rules (see 2402140048). Additional time will allow interested parties to also file replies to oppositions regarding a related petition filed by the Edison Electric Institute, the bureau said in an order Friday in docket 17-84.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Friday approved the applications of seven 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) providers to launch operations by standard-powered unlicensed devices, closing out a multi-year process. The development is one of the most significant for 6 GHz since the 2020 FCC order opening the spectrum for unlicensed use, industry officials said.
SpaceX likely faces a tough challenge as it seeks easier access to the 2 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz spectrum bands, spectrum experts tell us. In a pair of FCC petitions last week, the company argued that in both cases the spectrum is underused and urged changes in the licensing and sharing frameworks to allow new entrants and coexistence.