The FCC released a draft proposal Tuesday to ban equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from networks funded by the USF. Industry officials largely welcomed the order. Huawei signaled it will fight. Commissioners are scheduled to vote Nov. 19, after Chairman Ajit Pai circulated the item Monday (see 1910280054). The FCC also posted proposed new 911 location accuracy rules.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order Monday for the Nov. 19 commissioners’ meeting that would bar providers from using USF support to buy from suppliers deemed a threat to national security. Pai mentioned Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE (see 1910280021). FCC officials said the order singles out those two. Pai proposes to seek comment on rules requiring eligible telecom carriers remove from their networks existing equipment from the suppliers and on how to provide financial assistance to carriers to help them transition to a trusted supplier.
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Friday he doesn't support a recent recommendation to include an assessment on broadband usage to help support USF programs. Earlier this month, state members of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service asked the FCC in docket 96-45 to expand its contribution base to include a fee on internet access service (see 1910150045). "We're at a crossroads," O'Rielly said during commissioners' Friday meeting. He said the board would meet again when some of the state members suggest other ideas to address the contribution base. "It's difficult to find common ground," O'Rielly told us in Q&A. Many say the contribution factor is growing unsustainably (see 1909130003).
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz and Sen. Mazie Hirono, both D-Hawaii, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, urged FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Thursday to end his USF budgetary cap proposal. The FCC adopted its NPRM in May proposing to institute an $11.42 billion USF cap, over objections of Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks (see 1905310069). Comments opposed any cap (see 1908270053 and 1908290029). “Although we recognize the Commission’s stated goal to determine the effectiveness of each program, we believe that this proposal is contrary to Congress’ intent in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which explicitly directs the Commission to prioritize 'specific, predictable, and sufficient' support for universal service,” the senators wrote Pai. “If the Commission goes forward” with the proposal, “increased demand in one program could lead to both programs becoming underfunded, which would pit the programs against one another.”
Democratic FCC members joined the majority Friday, begrudgingly approving Charter Communications’ effective competition petition based on the existence of vMVPD AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now). Both they and the Republican majority said the Cable Act clearly justifies grant of Charter’s petition. Democrats concurred in their votes, citing the near-certitude customers in parts of Massachusetts and Hawaii will face big jumps in the cost of basic cable.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he will circulate an order for the Nov. 19 commissioners’ meeting that would bar providers from using USF support to buy from suppliers deemed a threat to national security. Pai will also propose that the FCC seek comment on a process to remove and replace such equipment from USF-funded networks.
A notice of inquiry for the FCC's annual broadband deployment report was adopted 3-2 Oct. 4 and posted Wednesday afternoon. Comments are due Nov. 22, replies Dec. 9, in docket 19-285. The NOI circulated in July (see 1908090012) and concerns were raised about incorrect data. Now, Democratic commissioners' concerns focused on lack of better data collection methods. The FCC proposed to maintain 25/3 Mbps as the metric for fixed broadband and will take comment on whether another approach is justified.
ISPs and state telecom authorities asked the FCC to delay the first-round auction for its $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund until it gets better broadband mapping data. In replies posted through Tuesday in docket 19-126, the California Public Utilities Commission, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) and Navajo Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, among others, supported delay.
The FCC sees 6 GHz as critical to the future of Wi-Fi and unlicensed, said Chairman Ajit Pai at the Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles Tuesday. The band will provide “huge 160 MHz channels that could be used for unlicensed innovation, the likes of which we only conceive now,” said Pai, interviewed by CTIA President Meredith Baker. The FCC is looking for “an accommodation” for public safety, business and other users of the band, he said.
Trade groups representing Connect America Fund ISP auction participants urged in interviews and filings with the FCC to fine-tune a draft order on reconsideration that would update broadband performance measurements for the rural, high-cost USF program. Commissioners vote on the order, in docket 10-90, Friday (see 1910040053). Interested parties met with officials, sometimes repeatedly, in recent weeks.