Targeting the burgeoning IoT market, Skylo Technologies asked the FCC for a blanket license for up to 1 million mobile terminals that will connect with the Inmarsat 4-F3 and Skyterra 1 satellites, said an International Bureau application Tuesday. Skylo said the earth stations will transmit in the 1.6265-1.6605 GHz band and receive in the 1.525-1.559 GHz band. It said it's eyeing such applications as fishing vessels, trucking and agriculture.
Google sought FCC certification as a spectrum access system administrator in the citizens broadband radio service band in American Samoa. The company also reported recent growth in the CBRS market. Base stations being served by Google’s SAS continue "to rapidly increase, especially as relaxation of pandemic restrictions begins to allow significant growth in enterprise CBRS deployments,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-319.
Free Press and others asked FCC Wireline Bureau staff to consider letting emergency broadband benefit program applicants use pandemic electronic benefits transfer cards for eligibility, a filing said Monday in docket 20-445. P-EBT was created in response to school closures at the beginning of the pandemic, so cardholders "are likely currently participating in an EBB-eligible program," said groups including the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Food Research & Action Center. They recommended an FCC-Department of Agriculture partnership to inform P-EBT participants about EBB.
Citing "extraordinary circumstances," FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Friday released a draft order for the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund. The draft would adopt several proposals sought by education advocates and trade groups but excludes wireless providers' bid to include smartphones (see 2104060042). Rosenworcel thanked Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr's "encouragement to share a draft with the public." Ex parte presentations on ECF are prohibited after Wednesday at 6 p.m. EDT, said a public notice in docket 21-93. Rosenworcel says commissioners will likely vote on the rules by mid-May (see 2104140041). The program would mirror existing E-rate rules for eligibility and includes tribal libraries. Schools and libraries aren't required to be existing E-rate participants to apply, but entities not eligible for E-rate support won't be eligible for ECF. The draft puts Universal Service Administrative Co. in charge of administering funds. USAC will issue funding decision commitment letters for 50% of workable applications within 60 days after the first application window closes, 70% of workable applications within 100 days. Schools that bought services and equipment during the pandemic will be given priority in the first window, with any remaining funds awarded during a second one. USAC would make public pricing data for eligible services and equipment to put applicants in a "better bargaining position." Participating providers wouldn't be required to have eligible telecom carrier designation to contract with a school or library. The draft doesn't exclude providers participating in the emergency broadband benefit program from providing services through ECF. The draft lists Wi-Fi hot spots, modems, routers, combined modem-router devices and connected devices as eligible equipment. The commission defined connected devices as "laptop computers and tablet computers that are capable of connecting to advanced telecommunications and information services." Smartphones were excluded because they "lack the full functionality students, school staff, and library patrons need." There's limited exception for network construction because "in some instances, there is simply no commercially available service for purchase available to reach students, school staff, and library patrons in their homes." The document doesn't set minimum service standards. Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen, while backing the quick turnaround in a statement, was "disappointed that the draft order does not provide schools and libraries more flexibility" and doesn't "grant SHLB's request to waive a rule to let schools and libraries extend service from their buildings to surrounding households."
The FCC is accepting applications for COVID-19 telehealth program round two Thursday (see 2104120055), said a news release. The opportunity for eligible providers closes May 6 at noon EDT.
The FCC announced that the emergency broadband benefit programstarts May 12 (see 2102250066). “Help is around the corner” for families that have been “struggling to get online throughout this pandemic,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday. EBB got "off the ground in record time.”
Increasing diversity is good for business, said acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and others told the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. The virtual event Wednesday was to educate diverse business owners and provide networking opportunities in the communications industry. Diversity also is “a moral imperative,” Rosenworcel said. “Inclusion isn’t expensive, exclusion is,” said Internet Association CEO Dane Snowden. Doing business with minorities is “good for business, good for the economy, and promotes global stability," said Edith McCloud, acting national director of the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). New entrants, minority-owned businesses and smaller businesses face barriers for large government contracts, speakers said. There’s an “upswing” toward consolidation in procurement contracts, said Tony Crescenzo, president of government contractor Intelligent Waves. Smaller companies should align themselves with bigger companies, he said. Increasingly stringent cybersecurity requirements could freeze out smaller businesses, said Major Clark, acting chief counsel at the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. More contracts went to small businesses from companies than from the federal government, said Angela Washington, an MBDA business development specialist. AT&T requires suppliers include diverse businesses in their subcontracting, said Executive Director-Supplier Diversity Jalayna Bolden. Legislation stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and focused on broadband infrastructure could provide an avenue for training, “upskilling” and more money to flow to diverse businesses, said Jonathan Adelstein, president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association: “The industry needs to include diversity as part and parcel of what they do.” Grant programs are available to minority-owned businesses involved in building broadband networks, but they must demonstrate their businesses will remain viable when grant money dries up, said Scott Woods, senior broadband specialist at NTIA’s BroadbandUSA program. The FCC and other federal agencies should "examine existing engagement strategies for including minority business enterprises in current and future procurement opportunities," Washington said in the event chat window.
Boeing representatives urged the FCC to issue an NPRM on enabling use of the 5030-5091 MHz band for unmanned aircraft systems, in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. There's "need for licensed spectrum to support the communications needs of the growing UAS industry,” said a filing posted Wednesday in RM-11798: “The parties discussed the extent to which adopting licensing and service rules for the C-band is a critical component of that overarching endeavor, which likely will include a variety of spectrum options to support UAS operations, including commercial wireless providers operating under flexible use licenses.”
The enrollment process for the FCC's $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program is "expected to begin soon," said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Associate Chief Ed Bartholme, during an agency webinar Tuesday. The EBB program is "large, and there are many moving parts," said CGB Chief Patrick Webre. Jaymie Gustafson, Universal Service Administrative Co. outreach director, demoed the online enrollment process. FCC staff fielded audience-submitted questions about eligibility and how to apply. Some participating providers may use an alternative method for verifying household eligibility, said Jessica Campbell, Wireline Bureau attorney-adviser for the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, so "check with the provider first." Wireline Bureau staff urged eligible service providers to participate in the program so consumers in their area can sign up for the benefit. "We're still continuing to accept and review provider applications," Campbell said. The application flow is "the same for the Lifeline and EBB programs," Gustafson said. A forthcoming outreach toolkit, which includes social media and printable content, will be available to advocacy groups and officials interested in promoting the program to their communities, said CGB Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division Chief Lyle Ishida. Materials will be available in at least a dozen languages and accessibility formats, Ishida said.
Education advocates and industry groups disagreed whether the FCC should allow retroactive reimbursements and set technology standards for schools and libraries in the $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (see 2104140041). Replies were due Friday in docket 21-93. Schools that "made the decision earlier on to invest in connectivity for remote learning" should be reimbursed for purchases since the pandemic's onset, said Incompas. AT&T said retroactive payments would put schools that couldn't afford that at the "back of the line," a view echoed by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Prioritizing retroactive reimbursements would help "most likely more well-off schools and libraries," said ACA Connects (see 2104120052): It "should only be allowed for eligible purchases that have not been funded by any other source." USTelecom and NTCA agreed. Reject calls to allow ECF funding for self-provisioning, said Verizon: "Because self-provisioning requires large upfront expenditures, the schools receiving" that support "would consume a disproportionate share of the ECF and leave too little support for other schools." WTA agreed: This would lead to "substantial delays in the availability of eligible services that are needed immediately." Self-provisioned networks are the "most cost-effective" for students without residential broadband, said groups including New America’s Open Technology Institute, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Center for Rural Strategies and Public Knowledge. Avoid minimum service standards because "there is no consensus on the appropriate capacity needed for remote learning," said the Wireless ISP Association: "To narrow the fund’s scope to include only those services offering certain broadband speeds could have the unintended consequence of penalizing students who live in areas" with slower speeds. NCTA and GCI Communication agreed. CTIA said questions about "adequacy of mobile broadband for remote learning are unsupported by the record and flatly contrary to the experience of millions of students during the pandemic." The Competitive Carriers Association, T-Mobile and UScellular said similar. Defining "connected device" should be done in a "flexible, technologically neutral way," said Apple.