Commissioner Mignon Clyburn spoke positively of state broadband privacy efforts, following Congress repealing 2016 FCC broadband privacy rules. "When over 90% of consumers feel like they have lost control over their personal information ... government has a role to play when it comes to the protection," she told a Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners conference Monday, according to written remarks. "While I do not believe that any in the SEARUC member region have done so, over a dozen other states have introduced broadband privacy bills and I firmly believe that these federal and state privacy efforts do not have to be combative; they can be complementary. My goal of putting #ConsumersFirst holds true for privacy as well, which for me means that people and businesses who use broadband internet service should not reside in a regulation-free zone." FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and FTC acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen plan to harmonize internet privacy protections. Clyburn said FCC-proposed repeal of its 2015 broadband classification as a Communications Act Title II telecom service would "take away our strongest legal authority" for using USF to subsidize broadband, complicating "the fight to close the digital divide" and, potentially, state USF programs. She suggested it would be "mutually beneficial" for the FCC to adopt a nationwide Lifeline eligible telecom carrier application process accepted by all states. Clyburn said a Title II reversal also would add uncertainty to pole attachments and undercut FCC ability to use Section 253 to pre-empt state and local telecom barriers to tower siting and rights-of-way. She urged state regulators to work to reduce inmate calling service rates.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai completed his trip examining rural broadband in the Plains states Saturday with a visit to Wyoming and a speech to the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters (see 1706090052). “5 states. 14 cities. 1,672 road miles. 1 wonderful trip from WI to WY. Thanks to the countless people I met! Taking your stories back to DC,” Pai tweeted Saturday. In his Wyoming speech, Pai conceded the post-incentive auction repacking would displace some low-power TV stations and translators, and said the agency will “work to find new homes for as many of these displaced stations as possible.” The FCC “will use all tools at our disposal to find spectrum for displaced Wyoming low-power television stations and translators,” Pai said. He touted FCC-proposed elimination of the main studio rule and the upcoming FM translator window, and urged broadcasters to comment in the media deregulation proceeding: “Your voice makes a difference.” Pai also met with legislators in their home states Friday -- with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., according to Pai’s twitter feed. “Had a productive discussion with @FCC Chairman @AjitPaiFCC and telecom stakeholders from across SD on improving connectivity in rural areas,” Thune tweeted Friday.
The FTC is "better suited" to oversee broadband privacy practices than the FCC and the "public utility-like" ISP regulation should be repealed, blogged Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Seth Cooper Friday, who summarized experts' comments at a recent FSF event (see 1705310027 and 1705310057). If the FCC does retain ISP privacy oversight, it "should adopt only the fact-specific, complaint-based ex post approach of the FTC," he said. Cooper said he doesn't favor the FCC retaining any such authority, but the framework "should be tied to market power analysis and target specific instances of claimed consumer harm or anticompetitive conduct."
Groups again raised themes from previous proceedings in response to an FCC request for comments (see 1705250035) on what would accelerate adoption and accessibility of broadband-enabled healthcare solutions. Replies were due Thursday in docket 16-46, and some filings were made early (see 1706080060). “The Commission should focus its efforts on accelerating broadband deployment by continuing to remove barriers to the siting of wireless broadband infrastructure,” the Wireless Infrastructure Association replied. “By removing barriers to the deployment of infrastructure like distributed antennas systems (DAS) and small cells and encouraging an environment of rapid upgrades and installation of equipment on traditional macrocellular infrastructure through collocation, the FCC can facilitate greater coverage and capacity.” Communication Service for the Deaf stressed the importance of accessibility. “In part due to the speed with which the telemedicine industry is expanding, we urge the Commission to reinforce the need for telemedicine technology to be designed in accordance with the principles of universal design, to ensure the accessibility of such technology,” the group said. “Because telemedicine can be, and is, used in urgent care or life threatening situations, it is crucial that accessibility be a foresight in the development process, and not an aftersight.” The Health IT Now coalition said if employers follow through with plans, telehealth adoption in the employer market could reach 92 percent by 2018. Universal broadband deployment is critical, the coalition said. "Doctors, patients, and the public in general are increasingly reliant on smartphones and tablets.”
The Transportation Department “issued a public call in the Federal Register soliciting solutions and suggestions on ways to improve government permitting,” Secretary Elaine Chao said at headquarters Friday during an event on the administration's infrastructure effort. “If you have ideas, we want to hear.” She recently said an administration infrastructure proposal is likely coming in Q3 and named broadband as one component (see 1706070029). “The excruciating wait time for permitting has inflicted enormous financial pain for cities and states,” President Donald Trump said at the event. The administration is “setting up a new council to help project managers” manage the federal bureaucracy, Trump said, promising “a new online dashboard allowing everyone to track every project through every stage of the approval process. This council will make sure that every federal agency that is consistently delaying projects by missing deadlines will face tough new penalties.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai continued along with his rural broadband road trip Friday, spending it in South Dakota, according to his Twitter feed Thursday and Friday. Thursday, Pai met with tribal leaders from South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin at South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation, he tweeted. "Received thoughtful input from Tribal members on everything from Treaty of Laramie in 1868 to FCC's Tower Construction Notification System,” said Pai. Friday, Pai visited broadband providers Golden West Telecom and Midco and landmark Mount Rushmore, he said on Twitter. "Inspiring to see etched visages of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln,” he said. Pai is expected to end his Great Plains Twitter travelogue in Wyoming (see 1706020053).
Roll Call reporter John Donnelly said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's apology (see 1706080058) for his manhandling by FCC security at the May 18 commissioners' meeting was appreciated, but "his version of the facts is inaccurate." In an email to us Friday, Donnelly said he "never attempted to enter a restricted area. ... Even if the guards had somehow convinced themselves that I was trying to enter a restricted area, that does not excuse what they did." He said if security guards had inadvertent physical contact with him, they should have said so or apologized then. That security asked him why he hadn't asked his question during the news conference instead of trying to catch Commissioner Mike O'Rielly afterward "tells you they knew I was a reporter and they felt justified in knocking me back," Donnelly said. He disagreed with Pai's denial he was pinned, saying he "could not move for several seconds as they leaned into me." The FCC didn't comment.
The FCC is looking for nominations for members and a chairperson for the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment, which will start service in the fall and last for two years, said a public notice. The committee’s mission will be to provide recommendations to the FCC on “how to empower disadvantaged communities and accelerate the entry of small businesses, including those owned by women and minorities, into the media, digital news and information, and audio and video programming industries,” the PN said. The FCC is seeking members from “various sectors of the communications industry, state and local regulators, and consumer and community groups, particularly from “organizations and other entities representing disadvantaged communities,” the PN said. Nominations are due by midnight June 28.
The FCC released an updated Mapping Broadband Health in America platform through its Connect2Health Task Force. “The 2017 platform now reflects the latest complete annual fixed broadband dataset from the Commission and updated health data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings,” the FCC said in a Thursday news release. “As telehealth, telemedicine, and other cutting-edge mHealth initiatives gain momentum across the country, this web-based mapping platform enables more efficient, data-driven decision making at the intersection of broadband and health.” The FCC said data is a first step for everything from “better leveraging broadband to help manage chronic health conditions for seniors in Giles County, Tennessee” to reducing post-surgical pain “through Virtual Reality applications in Barbour County, West Virginia.” The FCC said nearly half of U.S. counties have high incidents of chronic disease and a need for better broadband connectivity. “That translates to over 36 million people who live in counties with a ‘double burden’ of need -- an increase of 1 million between 2014 and 2015,” the agency said. The data shows preventable hospitalizations are 150 percent higher in the least-connected counties compared with other counties, it said. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said the data shows the situation remains bleak for many Americans. “By investing in this vital broadband health mapping platform and unveiling a new list of critical need counties, the Commission is providing the data needed to ensure connectivity reaches those communities most in need," she said. "I am confident that when relevant stakeholders work together across sectors, we will successfully break boundaries at the intersection of broadband and health policy.”
The latest legs of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s tour of Plains states to talk rural broadband brought him to Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota, according to his tweets Wednesday and Thursday. In Minnesota Wednesday, Pai visited a fiber-to home company, watched workers wire a neighborhood, and spoke with the Minnesota Telecom Alliance. In Iowa, Pai visited two facilities that deliver broadband to small communities there. He also met with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce in Sioux City to discuss broadband access and spoke about the issue on local KELO(AM) Sioux Falls, his tweets said. In South Dakota Thursday, Pai visited an Indian reservation. “Going to Rosebud Sioux Reservation to listen to, learn from Tribal leaders,” said Pai’s tweet. He's expected to visit Wyoming for the last leg (see 1706020053).