Echodyne asked the FCC for a five-year extension of its waiver of rules allowing ground-based use of its EchoGuard radar. The radar detects objects on the ground and in the air. The Wireless Bureau approved a waiver in 2019, which expires June 12 (see 1906130051). Since the waiver was granted, the radar “has been successfully deployed by many Federal and non-Federal users without any complaints of interference,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 12-352: “With the product still in high demand, Echodyne seeks a 5-year extension under the same terms and conditions as the original grant.” The radar operates in the 24 GHz band.
The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition filed at the FCC a letter signed by groups that support the agency’s November proposal allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). Comments to the FCC were divided on the proposal (see 2401300063). “While the COVID-19 pandemic propelled a nationwide surge of off-campus connectivity, online learning and remote schoolwork have become common practice for many students and library patrons throughout their daily journeys -- even after the end of the pandemic,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31: Today, “learning simply does not stop after school or library operating hours or the moment a student or patron steps off the premises.” Signers included the American Library Association and other library and education groups, Common Sense, the Open Technology Institute at New America and Public Knowledge.
5G Automotive Association representatives met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on a June 2021 petition (see 2106030075) asking the agency to reduce by 20 dB the permitted level of unwanted emissions from the unlicensed services that share the 5.9 GHz band. Representatives discussed “the importance of granting the 5GAA Petition to ensure that the safety-critical benefits of C-V2X are not compromised by the risk of interference,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-138: “5GAA provided examples of how such interference would reduce the effectiveness of C-V2X by, for instance, delaying the receipt of safety messages, reducing the available driver reaction time to those messages.”
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Thursday hearing on a set of five bills aimed at improving U.S. network security, including the Future Uses of Technology Upholding Reliable and Enhancing Networks Act (HR-1513), the House Commerce Committee said Friday. The other bills are the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-820), Countering CCP Drones Act (HR-2864), draft Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act and draft Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (Routers) Act. First filed in 2022 (see 2210250067), HR-820 would require the FCC to publish a list of communications companies holding FCC licenses or other authorizations in which China and other foreign adversaries’ governments possess 10% or more ownership. HR-1513, which the House passed during the last Congress (see 2112020050), would direct the FCC to establish a 6G task force to provide recommendations on ensuring U.S. leadership in developing that technology’s standards. HR-2864 would add Chinese drone manufacturer Da-Jiang Innovations to the FCC’s covered entities list. The Promote Secure Connectivity to Taiwan Act would require NTIA assessment of “technologies available to increase the security and resiliency” of Taiwan’s communications networks. The Routers Act would have the Commerce Department “specify what transactions involving routers, modems, or devices that combine a modem and a router are prohibited” under then-President Donald Trump’s 2019 executive order, which bars transactions involving information and communications technologies that pose an “undue risk of sabotage to or subversion of” U.S.-based communications services (see 1905150066). “Our communications networks are an integral part of our lives, businesses, economy, and national security,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Communications Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “As we’ve grown increasingly connected and more reliant on technology, these networks have become a target for adversaries and bad actors. To remain competitive and secure, the U.S. must ensure our communications and technological infrastructure is protected against adversaries, in particular the Chinese Communist Party.” The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
The Utah Commerce Department received backlash from the communications industry and other groups about age-verification methods proposed in rules for implementing the 2023 Utah Social Media Regulation Act. The department’s Consumer Protection Division last week sent us written comments received by its Feb. 5 deadline on October's proposed rules.
The challenged FCC declaratory ruling authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi on school buses “defies unambiguous statutory limits on the FCC’s authority,” said Maurine and Matthew Molak's opposition Friday (docket 23-60641) to the FCC’s Feb. 6 motion to dismiss their petition for review in which the Molaks ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate that ruling (see 2402070002).
The in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing draft NPRM on the FCC's February agenda would set an overall ISAM licensing framework, but just as important is the NPRM's very existence, space experts tell us. “It's the arrival of ISAM as a serious part of the space economy," said Stephen Ganote, head of the space team at management consultancy Oliver Wyman. A 5-0 approval is likely, space experts say.
An FCC draft order allowing broadcasters to use FM boosters to originate geotargeted radio content would initially require that stations seek special temporary authority grants, agency and industry officials told us. In addition, they said the grants would permit use of the geotargeted content for a maximum of three minutes per broadcast hour. A further notice included with the item seeks comment on rules for a more permanent application process replacing the STA grants, which will need to be renewed every six months.
Wireless carriers are concerned and have many questions about the administration's processes for proposed studies under the national spectrum strategy that will examine the future of five bands as part of a possible spectrum pipeline, industry and government officials said. Carriers are most concerned about two bands, the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz, which they see as possible spectrum for full-power licensed use. Meanwhile, USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter urged the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees Thursday night to reach a deal on legislation to “unite behind a national spectrum strategy” and reinstate the FCC’s lapsed auction authority.
The FCC Media Bureau proposed a $720,000 fine against Nexstar for violating retransmission consent negotiation rules. In a notice of apparent liability in Thursday's Daily Digest, the bureau sided with Hawaiian Telecom in concluding that Nexstar breached its good-faith negotiation duties when it proposed renewal terms that would have barred HT from filing complaints with the FCC. The bureau said HT didn't meet its burden of proof on its assertion that Nexstar also violated the good-faith rules when it did not extend their retrans consent agreement until the parties reached a new agreement or an impasse. The proposed fine totals the $120,000 levied for each of the six Nexstar-licensed stations involved. Nextar emailed that it “believes the proposed forfeiture is unwarranted, excessive, and in violation of the law and we will challenge the FCC’s action.” HT and Nexstar reached a deal in July after a more than three-week blackout (see 2307210045).