The FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force met Wednesday, welcoming new members and discussing the group's mandate as it kicked off its third and final term (see 2308210069). The commission gave it the task of identifying gaps in broadband availability on agricultural land, as well as providing recommendations for rapid deployment and data collection.
The FCC’s Nov. 20 order, published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, purports to implement congressional “instruction” to facilitate equal broadband access under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but it gives the commission “unprecedented authority to regulate the broadband internet economy,” said the Ohio Telecom Association’s (OTA) petition for review Tuesday (docket 24-3072) in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
SpaceX and Dish Network continue lobbing broadsides at one another on SpaceX's plans for limited supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service in the G-block spectrum. In a docket 23-135 filing Tuesday, SpaceX labeled Dish criticisms "baseless fearmongering" and part of its "standard fare of misdirection and misinformation." Dish has petitioned the FCC to reconsider its Space Bureau decision allowing SpaceX to conduct limited SCS operations over the G block (see 2401040005). SpaceX said while Dish attacks its out-of-band emissions, SpaceX operations have been proven to readily fall below the noise floor of adjacent band users. Dish said SpaceX's response to the petition (see 2401180061) reinforced rather than countered concerns about harmful interference to Dish's adjacent H-block operations and to mobile satellite service uplinks worldwide. Pointing to SpaceX statements that testing will show its SCS service won't cause interference, Dish said the need for "a bespoke test" as proof "demonstrates all by itself that the risk of interference is likely too high."
Don't prematurely change equivalent power flux density rules or otherwise push for EPFD limit changes at the 2027 World Radioccommunication Conference, SES/O3b told the FCC Tuesday. In docket 16-185, it said SpaceX bullishness about possible EPFD changes being undertaken for non-geostationary orbit systems at WRC-27 (see 2312200046) misses that WRC-23 clearly decided only analysis would occur before WRC-27, with conclusions reported then.
XGen Network filed with the FCC for two additional experimental licenses to transmit in 5G broadcast (see 2306120003), according to a release. The licenses are for HC2’s station WTXX-LD Springfield, Massachusetts, and EGOT Media’s WYJH-LD White Lake, New York, joining Milachi Media’s WWOO-LD Boston. “XGN's Proof of Concept deployments are meant to test the platform, bringing developments out of the lab to testing in the field,” said Xgen CEO Frank “SuperFrank” Copsidas in the release.
The FCC and FTC were upbeat about interagency coordination on reducing robocalls, saying Tuesday that the effort "appears to have had a significant impact in protecting consumers." They cited a "decrease in the volume of apparently illegal robocalls reportedly transmitting the networks" of seven gateway providers that received warnings: Telstar Express, Bandwith, CenturyLink, iDentidad Advertising Development, Tata Communications (America), Telco Connection and TeleCall Telecommunications. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement that the effort proves "we are stronger in our efforts to protect American consumers." FTC Chair Lina Khan vowed that the agency will "continue to crack down on upstream actors that facilitate fraud."
With the FCC’s Nov. 20 order adopting a definition of “digital discrimination of access” to broadband internet service published Jan. 22 in the Federal Register, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Association of Business and the Longview, Texas, Chamber of Commerce filed a petition for review Tuesday at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to have the order vacated. Tuesday’s petition differs little from the "protective" petition the groups filed Jan. 19 “out of an abundance of caution” in case the 5th Circuit determined that the date of public notice was the date of public release rather than the date of FR publication (see 2401230004). The U.S. Chamber “supports expanded access of fast, affordable, and reliable internet,” that “private sector innovation” drives, Neil Bradley, executive vice president-chief policy officer and head-strategic advocacy, said in a statement Tuesday. The FCC's new rule “will hinder efforts to bridge the digital divide -- hurting the very people it aims to help,” Bradley argued. It empowers the FCC to “micromanage the internet” and “subverts” the badly needed broadband investments included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said.
PTC-220 sought special temporary authority for 180 days from the FCC to begin deploying recently acquired automated maritime telecommunications system spectrum licenses for positive train control in 53 East Coast counties. “PTC-220 has previously alerted the Commission that it would need additional spectrum in the future to deploy PTC and non-PTC rail safety applications,” said a filing posted Tuesday. “Originally, the freight railroads designed their PTC networks to operate on a single nationwide ‘Common Channel’ that controlled all locomotive radios,” PTC-220 said: “Real-world operation, however, revealed that the single Common Channel did not adequately handle congestion.”
Rural Wireless Association representatives spoke with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics staff on the group’s concerns about the commission’s proposal for a 5G Fund (see 2309110053). If carriers lose USF high-cost support for their service areas because of a 5G Fund reverse auction, “significant investments in their network and their communities will be forever stranded without support, which is a severe waste of taxpayer dollars that are being used to build out these 5G networks,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-32. “These are the same carriers that have been using their legacy high-cost support to upgrade and maintain their networks from analog to 2G to 3G to 4G and now 5G over many decades,” RWA said.
The FCC should address the remaining issues raised in a 2020 Further NPRM on the 6 GHz band, Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, urged during a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez. “In particular, I explained why the authorization of a somewhat higher maximum power level … for indoor-only use is particularly crucial for digital equity and inclusion, for continued U.S. leadership in next generation Wi-Fi, and for virtually all consumers, businesses and community anchor institutions,” he said, according to a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295.