An FCC order rejecting China Mobile’s application to provide telecom services in the U.S. is expected to be the most contentious item at Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting. The order itself isn’t controversial, but questions are expected on whether the regulator needs to do more to address upfront the security of 5G networks, agency and industry officials said. FCC Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks raised concerns about whether the agency is engaged enough on security issues.
The FCC's coming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, "a natural evolution" of the USF serving high-cost areas, is "promising," but more may be needed from stakeholders, an observer blogged for the American Enterprise Institute. It's good Chairman Ajit Pai would use "the reverse auction methodology that proved successful during Connect America Fund Phase II," wrote Boston College Law School professor Daniel Lyons, and it appears "technologically neutral." Lyons seeks "greater cooperation with state regulators." They "have valuable insight regarding the location and prioritization of broadband gaps," so the FCC "should leverage states’ expertise and interest by partnering with the states to deploy buildout funds," he said, as occurred with New York. Lyons' "biggest critique" is the plan "appears primarily to be repurposing existing High-Cost Fund dollars, rather than providing new sources of buildout funding." Congress could "replace the outdated surcharge-based universal service program with a more traditional program funded directly by an annual grant from the Treasury," Lyons said. The FCC and NARUC declined to comment. Lyons, who noted he's long been a USF contribution system critic, thinks the entire program "should be moved on-budget" and so funded by congressional appropriation, he emailed us. "The existing contribution mechanism is structurally flawed and unsustainable, and each part of the program would benefit from explicit congressional oversight. I don't have any recommendations for total dollars, though it seems the current amount is probably a good starting point for analysis." Lyons noted he has no business relationships with recipients of USF money. No imminent FCC action is seen on the fund (see 1905010188).
The Texas House voted 143-1 Tuesday for a bill to scale back a 2011 state law against strategic lawsuits against public participation. The SLAPP bill, received Wednesday by the Senate, got support from AT&T and opposition from Yelp and free speech advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union (see 1904010050). The House voted 114-31 Wednesday for HB-669 to expand state USF to rural broadband, despite telecom opposition at a March hearing (see 1903250062).
Frontier Communications stock closed down Wednesday 22 percent at $2.21 after reporting (see 1904300217) Q1 sales and operating income fell from the year-ago period as some customers departed. CEO Dan McCarthy said Tuesday the telco may add customers because of broadband buildouts it's doing, some with government subsidies such as through USF. It has about 30 percent penetration of Connect America Fund households, he told analysts: "We do like it. We think that there is more room to really drive that" trying to get customers "in different ways." The carrier likely will pursue what he called the CAF Phase III program. "We think there are opportunities to work with the" FCC for better targeting of such households and having higher speeds, McCarthy said. "You’ll see us actively participate with industry and industry groups." Frontier "should still be able to grow into that 50-60 percent penetration over time" of such dwellings, the CEO said. A $20-some billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund would repurpose funding from CAF, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. The agency Tuesday assigned a docket to the proceeding (see 1905010029).
California lawmakers moved a cavalcade of privacy bills, including several tweaking last year’s California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), in hearings this week. The Assembly Appropriations panel Wednesday unanimously cleared three without discussion. No members voted against five privacy bills, or two other bills on wireless data throttling of public safety users and e-commerce marketplace transparency, at a Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee hearing Tuesday.
An Indiana bill to combat robocalls cleared the legislature unanimously Wednesday. The House voted 97-0 and the Senate 49-0 after a conference committee worked out a final bill that gives exemptions to ISPs and financial institutions (see 1903210010). It goes next to the governor. Several other state legislative chambers passed broadband bills. The Washington state Senate passed SB-5511 to create a state broadband office and grant program, and to expand state USF’s purpose to include broadband. The Senate voted 48-0 Wednesday to concur with House amendments. In Iowa, state senators concurred with a House amendment and voted 50-0 Wednesday to pass broadband grants HF-772. Colorado senators voted 35-0 Wednesday for SB-107 aimed at making it easier for rural electric cooperatives to provide broadband, though co-ops have raised red flags about its restrictions (see 1904150043). SB-107 goes next to the House. The Texas House voted 123-12 the same day for HB-2423 to set up a Public Utility Commission broadband office and establish a grant program (see 1903250062). It goes to the Senate.
Public safety issues rarely dominate the agenda of any FCC chairmen, as in 2004 when one of the biggest focuses of then-Chairman Michael Powell was the 800 MHz rebanding, aimed at protecting safety users from interference. Four years later, then-Chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a failed plan to reallocate the 700 MHz D block for public safety. The main contender, Frontline, dropped its pursuit of the band, which went unsold at auction but now is part of FirstNet. Every chairman since has focused on a few public safety issues.
Public safety issues rarely dominate the agenda of any FCC chairmen, as in 2004 when one of the biggest focuses of then-Chairman Michael Powell was the 800 MHz rebanding, aimed at protecting safety users from interference. Four years later, then-Chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a failed plan to reallocate the 700 MHz D block for public safety. The main contender, Frontline, dropped its pursuit of the band, which went unsold at auction but now is part of FirstNet. Every chairman since has focused on a few public safety issues.
Representatives of New America’s Open Technology Institute met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about the future of the Lifeline program. “We reiterated OTI’s longstanding support for Lifeline and our concern that a budget cap could cause eligible Americans to lose access to vital communications services and discourage wireless providers from participating in the program,” the group said in docket 17-287. OTI said the FCC should “fully implement” the national verifier before taking on other systemic changes to the program. Last we were told, Carr hadn't yet voted on the USF budget NPRM (see 1904030026), and he declined to comment about the matter to us on April 12.
The record shows the FCC should allow maps for USF support in Alaska using an accuracy standard of 50 meters, the Alaska Telecom Association (ATA) said. In March, FCC staff rejected as "overly broad" an ATA request to waive a requirement that carriers receiving Alaska Plan USF support submit fiber network maps accurate within 7.6 meters (see 1903040026). GCI sought review. “Alaska Plan participants have demonstrated in multiple filings the burden of the 7.6 meter standard,” ATA said. “Applying the 7.6 meter standard imposes tremendous additional burden on Alaska Plan companies, burden which will not increase the utility of the maps.” NCTA and America’s Communications Association also filed in support of GCI: “As GCI makes clear in its application, requiring such a granular level of location information about fiber facilities would be prohibitively expensive and there is no public interest benefit to requiring such a strict definition.” Comments were posted Wednesday in docket 16-271.