Former APCO CEO Derek Poarch launched a consultancy targeting public safety clients. A former FCC Public Safety Bureau chief, Poarch became APCO CEO in 2011 and left the group last year (see 2306300039).
Wireless industry concerns about a Nebraska 911 outage reporting bill irked some state senators during a hearing Tuesday. LB-1256 would add to carriers’ compliance costs, said CTIA Director-State Legislative Affairs Jake Lestock. Also, disclosing confidential wireless outage information to the state could pose privacy and national security risks, he said. The FCC has a good outage reporting system with strong security protection -- and the Nebraska Public Service Commission may access it now, he said. Considering the importance of 911 and several recent Nebraska outages (see 2401230048), Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D) finds CTIA’s opposition “flummoxing and unsettling.” Sponsor Sen. Wendy DeBoer (D) said she hadn’t heard prior to the hearing that industry opposed her bill. “I will continue to work on this and make sure we have all the safeguards we need, but this is important,” she said. Nebraska PSC Chair Dan Watermeier (R) supported LB-1256 as an “important accountability and transparency measure.”
The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a request by the Huron County, Ohio, Emergency Management Agency for a wireless emergency alert test March 19. The agency notes in its waiver requests the county has suffered train derailments and incidents of bad weather and wants to ensure it can “alert the large number of tourists” expected for the April 8 “Great North American Eclipse,” the bureau said Tuesday. “We are persuaded it is in the public interest to allow Huron County to conduct a test of its WEA capabilities,” the bureau said in docket 15-91: “Such testing will not only provide needed training, it will help Huron County to gain confidence in using its WEA capabilities.”
Essential Network Technologies and MetComm.net filed a petition to review last week at the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit challenging the authority of the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co. to stop processing the reimbursement of discounts for IT and broadband services that MetComm and Essential provided to schools under Section 254 of the Communications Act. Also at issue is whether the FCC’s failure to conclude numerous extended USAC investigations within a reasonable time violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution's due process clause by seriously impairing the ability of MetComm and Essential to adequately defend themselves against USAC’s “unspecified allegations,” said the petition (docket 24-1027). This isn’t “an ordinary agency delay case” but instead is a case in which the FCC “has a duty to act,” it said. The commission is failing its “statutory reimbursement duty while embroiling the schools and their service providers in endless proceedings before a private company, USAC, that lacks any authority to decide the legal issues involved,” it said. If the petition to review is denied, the petition seeks, in the alternative, mandamus relief compelling the FCC to comply with the duties Congress included in the Communications Act and the APA, it said.
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.
Petitioners Maurine and Matthew Molak want the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to “disregard the statutory requirement” under Communications Act Section 405(a) that persons who weren’t parties before the FCC file a petition for reconsideration as a “condition precedent” to seeking judicial review, said the FCC and DOJ reply Friday (docket 23-60641) in support of their motion to dismiss the Molaks’ petition (see 2402070002).
Expect a lengthy fight among satellite operators over equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits at the FCC and during preparations for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), satellite experts and insiders tell us. Some see the issue emerging at ITU Working Party 4A meetings in May -- 4A is concerned with satellite spectrum efficiency and interference. Non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) advocates of an EPFD change face a challenging road getting EPFD rules changes made at WRC-27, though changes are possible, we're told.
Industry groups welcomed the FCC's inquiry on improving its broadband data collection (BDC) process. The agency sought feedback as part of a report to Congress about data collection and whether tools are needed to improve the data's accuracy (see 2401190071). Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 19-195.
Mitigating practices that could speed the country toward phone number exhaustion is a priority item for state officials ahead of NARUC’s Feb. 25-28 meeting in Washington, commission officials told us. The state utility regulator association is planning a vote during the meeting on a proposed resolution from Telecom Committee Chair Tim Schram. It urges the FCC “to provide updated guidance on how states should bring forward cases of telephone number resource mismanagement or suspected robocalling using rented telephone numbers to the Commission using the audit process” from Section 52.15(k) of the Telecom Act.
Media misinformation and disinformation are major concerns, but the FCC shouldn't regulate newsrooms, Commissioner Anna Gomez Tuesday told a Media Institute luncheon. “Our democracy needs a press free from interference from regulators like myself,” said Gomez.