Comments are due June 10, replies June 25, on an FCC Wireless Bureau notice seeking comment on the effect of semiconductor shortages on “the U.S. communications industry” and FCC “priorities and initiatives.” The supply chain is complex and “while the current shortage so far has had an outsized impact on automakers, reverberations are being reported throughout the U.S. economy as a whole, including in the communications sector,” said a notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest.
The FCC made few changes to its Emergency Connectivity Fundrules from the draft (see 2104300084), our analysis found. The application filing window was modified to prioritize prospective purchases, with an additional round if it's determined that more funding for prospective purchases is necessary. The commission moved up the program's start date to May 1, 2020, as sought by education advocates (see 2105050052). The rules in Wednesday's Daily Digest gave limited exceptions to buy datacasting services. The commission is "including datacasting among the technologies eligible for funding,” said America’s Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler. “The unanimous endorsement of datacasting by members of the Commission is a powerful testament to the value of this technology in bridging the 'homework gap.'” Rules take effect upon Federal Register publication. Meanwhile, the emergency broadband benefit program started Wednesday (see 2102250066). “This program will have a tremendous, positive impact on so many American households,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
The FCC 2022 quadrennial review could be a way to try to tackle broadcast diversity and localism items, and auction 109 could help stem the trend of radio stations closing during the pandemic, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks told the Media Institute Tuesday (prepared remarks here). He said his chief policy focuses include broadband access and media diversity. He said lack of an affordable broadband connection is a sizable problem for communities of color. Starks said FCC data shows declines in numbers of radio stations due to the pandemic, but "perhaps the tide will turn" with the agency's July 27 auction of radio construction permits. He said as the nation heads to a post-pandemic time, the radio industry's business fortunes should rebound somewhat. He called the Supreme Court's Prometheus decision (see 2104010067) a win for agency deference, even though it found the challenged ownership rules weren't necessary, giving the FCC space to revisit its rules in the QE with diversity "front and center as consideration." He said media consolidation might be considered a less significant problem due to growing internet and streaming competition to broadcast TV, but broadcast TV's importance during the pandemic reinforces the inherent value of having multiple voices in a public arena. Post-Prometheus, "we should have all ideas on the table," he said, adding he was pleased with Commissioner Brendan Carr's call to reinstate the broadcast incubator program. Starks said the FCC looking into reinstatement of collection of minority employment data from broadcasters (see 2103260038) "is long overdue." He said not having that equal employment opportunity data hampered the agency from fulfilling its statutory duty to monitor broadcast employer practices and ensuring broadcasters provide opportunity.
The FCC will likely open an Emergency Connectivity Fund application filing window in June, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters Tuesday. Whether to prioritize retrospective reimbursements, which was proposed (see 2104300084), "was an issue in our deliberations," Rosenworcel said. Commissioners agreed to open the first filing window for prospective purchases, a change sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr, with a second for additional prospective purchases if it's determined that not enough funding was allocated for the first window. Any remaining funds will then go toward an additional filing window for retrospective purchases. "The idea was we want to be able to make a difference and get more students connected than they are right now," Rosenworcel said. Rules included changes sought by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on data collection (see 2105100061). It's "a smart addition," Rosenworcel said. "Distance learning is not going away," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. This "will help close the homework gap that persisted long before COVID-19," said Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y. Democrats praised the FCC’s implementation plan, including Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell of Washington, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
The Wi-Fi Alliance, NCTA and others opposed an Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network petition (see 2105030042) for stay of the FCC's 5-0 November order opening 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi, while allocating 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything (see 2011180043). Most of the order takes effect July 2. “AREDN fails to demonstrate that it will likely prevail on the merits,” the alliance said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-138. “Contrary to AREDN’s assertions, the Commission has broad, exclusive authority to manage spectrum designated for non-federal operations under the Communications Act and therefore was well within its ability to reallocate the 5.9 GHz band,” the group said: AREDN hasn’t demonstrated it would suffer any harm, while other groups would if a stay were granted. “The 5.9 GHz Order is a key component of the Commission’s efforts to deliver immediate and long-term improvements to in-home broadband delivered over Wi-Fi,” said NCTA: “The COVID-19 public health crisis has only intensified reliance on Wi-Fi networks and further underscores the importance of making new unlicensed spectrum available.” AREDN “has it backwards,” said Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Institute. “The authority of the Secretary of Transportation to mandate safety equipment for vehicles does not extend into the subject matter jurisdiction of a sister agency.” Wireless ISPs use the band under special temporary authority, the WISP Association said. “As many STA holders have indicated in their initial STA requests and renewal applications, demand for bandwidth capacity is not expected to subside post-pandemic because more people will continue to work from home and use telehealth, especially in rural areas where medical facilities are not often nearby.” A lawyer for AREDN emailed that the FCC isn’t allowing replies to the oppositions, and declined further comment.
Update rules on unlicensed use of the 60 GHz band, said Facebook, Intel and Qualcomm in a Tuesday posting in docket 14-177. “To the extent the FCC proposes to revise this Part 15 unlicensed rule” to allow radar operations in the band “at higher power than presently permitted and with a 10% duty cycle in a 33-millisecond period, the agency should also propose to include a provision to ensure such radar operations do not completely occupy the … band and inhibit communications applications,” they said. Tesla and others sought waivers to use the spectrum (see 2103160059).
Virtually all tech associations and companies, except for TechNet, maintained silence days after the FTC’s long-awaited “Nixing the Fix” report found “scant evidence” supporting OEMs’ “justifications” for restricting third-party and independent repairs (see 2105070013). Right-to-repair advocates were jubilant after the FTC 4-0 said it would consider “reinvigorated regulatory and law enforcement options” to address the problem. “It was worth the wait,” said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens of the two-year FTC investigation into repair restrictions that began with an April 2019 notice of inquiry (see 1905160073) and a July 2019 daylong workshop (see 1907160058). The report “systematically demolishes” the OEMs’ case for disallowing device consumer self-repairs or fixes done through technicians who are independent of factory-authorized service networks, Wiens told us Friday. “I feel like we've been trapped in 'Groundhog Day' dealing with the same tired arguments over and over. No, repairing your battery isn't going to undermine the cybersecurity of an iPhone.” Wiens expects the report “should finally break us loose of that cycle,” he said. “I'm hopeful this will unleash a wave of pent-up legislation.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comment on a protective order for submitting and requesting information through its robocall mitigation database, said a public notice Monday in docket 17-97 (see 2104200042). Comments are due 10 days after Federal Register publication, replies 15 days after.
Tech companies urged the FCC to act on an order allowing client-to-client operations in the 6 GHz band, the subject of a January notice (see 2101110031), in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Apple, Broadcom, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm participated. The companies discussed “how client-to-client operations can enable important new use cases, subject to strict limits to protect incumbents from harmful interference,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “When client devices are near one another it’s more spectrally efficient for them to transfer data directly using lower transmit power levels,” they said: “Using lower transmit power conserves power and precious battery resources.”
As the FCC is expected to have voted on emergency connectivity fund rules by this week (see 2104300084), stakeholders raised concerns prioritizing retroactive purchases and not taking a tech-neutral approach could shut many schools and libraries out. “There are a lot of good things about the order,” Schools, Libraries, Health & Broadband (SHLB) Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen told us. He cited not requiring competitive bidding and excluding smartphones. “Rules tend to favor hot spot deployment,” he said, and don't "give the schools and libraries the flexibility to look at other technologies that may serve their market better.” The FCC declined to comment Friday. Dozens of advocates, industry groups and providers spoke with staff to lobby for more flexibility. Schools and libraries should be allowed to use ECF funds for smartphones, T-Mobile told Wireline Bureau staff. Samsung agreed and told acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks' staff that smartphones “support video conferencing platforms, internet browsing, e-mail, document editing and sharing, and other software necessary to ensure full participation in remote learning activities.” Qualcomm told Rosenworcel’s staff it's “disappointed” with the decision. Whether schools and libraries that have already purchased services and equipment should get priority for reimbursement was a sticking point for education advocates (see 2104260070). The draft rules appear to favor retroactive purchases, Windhausen said. Prospective purchases should be given priority, ACA Connects told Commissioner Nathan Simington's and Commissioner Brendan Carr's staffers, because it would otherwise "be inequitable." One application filing window that prioritizes future purchases would "provide more certainty that support would be available for the upcoming school year," said Verizon. CTIA disagreed and echoed T-Mobile's call to include smartphones. The State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance recommended starting retroactive reimbursement March 1, 2020, instead of the proposed July 1, 2020. Final rules should allow eligible schools and libraries to use funds for constructing self-provisioned networks, said Motorola, because “the limited exception to permit funding of network construction where there is no commercially available option is administratively unworkable." ENA Services recommended tweaking the language to require schools and libraries only certify that they were unaware of existing services to be reimbursed for new construction. NTCA agreed that a limited exemption for self-provisioning should be granted and raised concerns about allowing reimbursement for purchasing hotspots.