Tower Reporting NPRM Subject of Late Discussions Headed Into Thursday’s FCC Meeting
The FCC is set up to take up at its Thursday open meeting proposed rules requiring wireless carriers to make public a list of towers that are taken out of service during emergencies, though the item could still be pulled from the agenda. The NPRM was first circulated this summer, with CTIA asking instead that the commission issue a notice of inquiry preliminary to proposing rules (CD Aug 1 p2). The NPRM from the Public Safety Bureau is separate from the commission’s pending follow-up order on superstorm Sandy-related 911 call center outages. Consumers Union originally requested that the FCC require carriers to publish tower outage data.
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The NPRM remains controversial and has been the subject of last-minute discussions between staffers for acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and Commissioner Ajit Pai, industry and FCC officials said Wednesday. If the two offices reach an agreement, Clyburn is expected to pull the NPRM from the agenda and it would instead be voted on electronically, agency officials said. One official said that the NPRM is “bureau driven” and “at this point being very seriously negotiated.” An industry official said that by not holding a vote at the meeting Clyburn would call less attention to the order.
CTIA raised objections to the NPRM in a July 17 letter (http://bit.ly/1b6lIXY) to the FCC. Monday, Assistant Vice President Brian Josef again made the group’s case against the NPRM, in a call with Pai aide Nicolas Degani at the adviser’s request.
"CTIA and its wireless industry members are in strong agreement that resiliency and reliability of wireless networks are extremely important to wireless consumers and to public safety,” said a filing on that meeting (http://bit.ly/14iRd1I). “However, as expressed in its letter of July 17, 2013, CTIA urged the Commission to defer consideration of a notice of proposed rulemaking and instead seek additional information and data through a notice of inquiry on threshold issues such as consumers’ information needs during and after disasters, the type of information metrics that may be useful in those circumstances, and effective means of conveying that information."
PCIA filed in support of CTIA in August, also questioning whether the issue is ripe for an NPRM rather than an NOI or public notice. “PCIA’s members are committed to ensuring that their wireless facilities are functional at all times,” the group said (http://bit.ly/18X7nip). “However, PCIA questions whether CU’s proposed measurement of the percentage of non-functioning cell towers in each county affected by a disaster can accurately depict how well the wireless industry responds to emergencies, especially when disaster recovery requires cooperation among many entities.”