The FCC deferred until Jan. 1 the start of its next five-year deployment obligation term for legacy rate-of-return carriers receiving Connect America Fund broadband loop support (CAF BLS) this year, said a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register (see 2305310053). The deferment takes effect Wednesday, allowing the commission to "address the future budget and deployment obligations for CAF BLS carriers and give the commission additional time to evaluate the impact of" NTIA's broadband, equity, access and deployment program along with other "broadband program commitments made by eligible providers."
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., signed on Tuesday to the Eyes on the Board Act (S-3074) hoping to limit children's access to social media at school. Under the bill, schools receiving federal E-rate and emergency connectivity fund money must block access to distracting and addictive social media apps or websites on subsidized services, devices and networks. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and two other Republicans filed the measure in October (see 2310180042). It would require schools receiving ECF and E-rate funding to limit screen time, similar to what the Children’s Internet Protection Act already requires. In addition, it would mandate an FCC-created database of schools’ internet safety policies. “Social media is a powerful tool, but spending too much time on it can significantly hurt anybody’s well-being,” Fetterman said in a statement from Senate Commerce Republicans. “It even contributed to my own mental health struggles. Cyberbullying and online harassment are real. We need to make sure that at school, our children are focused on learning, and E-rate will do just that.” Cruz praised Fetterman Tuesday for joining “this bipartisan effort to protect kids in the classroom and give parents information with the transparency needed to know that their children are safe.”
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel warned the FCC’s Disability Advisory Committee Tuesday that despite the FCC’s best efforts, the affordability connectivity program will run out of funding in April (see 2401250075). DAC approved a report from its Audio Description File Transmittal to IP Video Programming Working Group. The other four commissioners also spoke Tuesday.
DirecTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun, Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor and Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer are staking out dueling positions on whether Congress should revisit retransmission consent legislation. In written testimony ahead of a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing, all three echo Puck News Sports Correspondent John Ourand in suggesting that the sports media marketplace remains in a state of flux but take a range of positions on whether that will make legislating more difficult in the short term. The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn.
CTIA broke with some trade associations in urging FCC approval of a November proposal permitting schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). Other industry groups questioned whether the FCC has authority under the Communications Act to expand the E-rate program as proposed in November (see 2401180033). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented on the NPRM. Replies were due Monday in docket 21-31.
FCC Enforcement Bureau announces Alice Suh Jou, ex-DOJ, as assistant bureau chief and Jolina Cuaresma, former Common Sense Media, as senior policy counsel, with both to participate on Enforcement Bureau-led Privacy and Data Protection Task Force … Future of Privacy Forum appoints Anne Flanagan, ex-World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as vice president-AI … Incompas hires Keith Matthews, Mortgage Bankers Association, as digital media manager.
During a session with FCC staff, DirecTV reiterated its criticism of Dish Network's study that purports to show no serious interference risks from terrestrial use of the 12 GHz band (see 2312270045). In a docket 20-443 filing Monday recapping a meeting with the Space and Wireless bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology staffers, DirecTV said the study didn't consider its direct broadcast satellite antennas that terrestrial operators would need to protect. DirecTV said because it constantly broadcasts on the full 500 MHz of 12 GHz spectrum to deliver service, it "is always 'talking,'” meaning there is no way to use “listen before talk” strategies to allow other systems to share the band.
The North Shore Emergency Association asked the FCC to extend by two months the deadlines on an FCC Wireless Bureau notice seeking comment on a request from Garmin International (see 2310060031) for a waiver of rules concerning certification of the hand-held general mobile radio service (GMRS) devices it manufactures. Comments are now due Feb. 12, replies Feb. 27 (see 2401120031). “This is not a normal or routine matter,” the group said in a filing posted Monday in docket 24-7. The waiver request “seeks to overlay completely incompatible digital emissions” on both the GMRS and family radio service (FRS) channels, North Shore said: “The practical consequence would be to make totally obsolete every piece of existing GMRS and FRS equipment on these channels, thus effectively deleting them from the very few frequencies currently available in GMRS and FRS.”
Oppositions to an Edison Electric Institute petition for reconsideration of the FCC's December declaratory ruling on pole attachment and replacement costs are due Feb. 13 in docket 17-84, said a notice in Monday's Federal Register. However, the notice lists an incorrect reply date. An FCC spokesperson confirmed replies to opposition are due Feb. 23. EEI sought reconsideration of the circumstances where a utility pole owner must provide a copy of its easement to an attacher and clarification on when a pole replacement isn't "necessitated solely" by an attachment request in its petition.
TruConnect urged the FCC to also freeze benefit transfers for affordable connectivity program subscribers when the new enrollment freeze begins Feb. 8 (see 2401110072. The company made its argument during meetings with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks. TruConnect also met with Wireline Bureau staff, said an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 21-450. "An enrollment transfer freeze may provide additional time for Congress to renew ACP program appropriations by enabling the program funds to last longer than the projected late April expiration of funds," the company said.