NTIA is inappropriately trying to set prices in Virginia through the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program by demanding that the state put a specific rate on low-cost plans, former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blogged Friday. “Despite repeated public reassurances by [Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo] and select staff that BEAD implementation would reject setting specific broadband rates -- an act prohibited by provisions of the infrastructure law -- that’s exactly what is this underhanded attempt is all about,” the Republican wrote. “Contrary to claims being made, setting a price is ratemaking. And by putting Virginia’s application in purgatory, Secretary Raimondo is trying to bend the state to Commerce’s will.” NTIA and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development didn’t comment.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission will soon seek more data and schedule additional meetings and workshops as part of a pole-attachments proceeding (docket 2023-00300), the PUC informed Maine lawmakers last week. The commission sent legislators an interim report Thursday, as a 2023 state law required. The PUC is required to study pole-attachment requirements’ effect on broadband expansion. The interim report describes the history of pole attachments in Maine, commission efforts over the past decade to update rules and comments received in the current proceeding. The Maine PUC said it lacks "specific recommendations or suggested legislation at this time.” In comments last month, cable companies urged the PUC to quickly align the state’s Chapter 880 pole-attachment rules with the FCC’s December order (see 2401160035). A final report is due Dec. 1.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the FCC’s motion suspending the briefing schedule on Maurine and Matthew Molak's petition for review to vacate the commission’s Oct. 25 declaratory ruling that authorizes E-rate program funding for Wi-Fi on school buses until the court resolves the FCC’s motion to dismiss the Molaks’ petition (see 2402070002), said a clerk’s order Thursday (docket 23-60641). But the 5th Circuit, in a separate clerk’s order Thursday, denied the FCC’s unopposed motion for extra time to reply to the Molaks’ opposition to the motion to dismiss (see 2402120064).
The Wireless ISP Association is asking NTIA to finish its study of the 37 GHz band within three months so that the FCC “can complete its work to make the spectrum available as soon as possible for rural broadband deployment and other purposes.” The 37.0-37.6 GHz band was one of five bands targeted for further study in the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048). “In addition to fostering American innovation and technical leadership,” the band “can promote rural broadband deployment,” WISPA said. “Accelerating” a study of the band “will allow the FCC to implement a non-exclusive licensing scheme that promotes shared use and deployment among federal and commercial users, while providing federal users with protection from harmful interference,” the group said.
Representatives of LG Electronics USA said the FCC’s proposed cyber trust mark program should include self-attestation by participants and “maximize device manufacturer participation,” in a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The Commission should limit the scope of the program to IoT devices and other integrated components of the device, such as built-in software, over which the manufacturer can reasonably exert control; it should not expand the scope of the program to include a broader ‘product’ ecosystem that the IoT device manufacturer cannot control,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-239.
ISPs and industry groups generally supported the FCC's proposal that builds on its Alaska Plan high-cost USF program by transforming it into an Alaska Connect Fund. Reply comments were posted Friday in docket 23-328 (see 2310190056). Some urged that the commission reconsider its eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designation requirement for support recipients and sought a technology-neutral approach.
An FCC order and Further NPRM on robocalls and robotexts and an order allowing use of wireless multichannel audio systems (WMAS) included a number of changes over the draft versions, based on side-by-side comparisons. Commissioners approved them 5-0 Thursday (see 2402150053 and 2402150037). In an apparent win for carriers, the FCC changed parts of the robocall/robotext FNPRM, opening the door to a pivot away from a mandate.
The FCC announced an in-person workshop March 6 that will provide information about identifying and evaluating opportunities "to develop more robust broadband infrastructure and services in tribal communities." The commission said in a public notice Wednesday that the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana will host the workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. On March 5 at 2 p.m. there will be an "optional tribal library tour."
The FCC Thursday launched its enhanced competition incentive program (ECIP), which commissioners approved 4-0 in July 2022 (see 2207140055). The order was approved in response to provisions in the Mobile Now Act, enacted in 2018 (see 2203310036). ECIP “incentivizes wireless licensees to make underutilized spectrum available to small carriers, Tribal Nations, and entities serving rural areas in furtherance of the Commission’s ‘100 percent broadband policy,’” said an FCC news release. The Wireless Bureau will now accept applications for the program, the commission said.
Wireless ISPs are interested in the lower 12 GHz band and need “additional spectrum for fixed point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services, especially in rural areas that may lack sufficient access to broadband,” WISPA told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The association urged that the FCC make the band available, where possible, “on a secondary and opportunistic basis governed by automated frequency coordination” in areas where multichannel video distribution and data service spectrum is in use and to protect direct broadcast satellite operations, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-443. “Under this approach, incumbent MVDDS [providers] would be able to expand their operations in their licensed areas with the AFC ensuring interference protection from secondary users under standards adopted by industry stakeholders,” WISPA said. The group urged “a similar spectrum access model” for the adjacent 12.7-13.25 GHz band. DirecTV representatives, meanwhile, spoke with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington to refute the latest Dish Network report on safe use of fixed wireless in the lower 12 GHz band (see 2312270045). The representatives discussed the band's importance “for delivery of video to millions of subscribers” nationwide, the company said.