Reverse unbundling network element rules based on "material errors in fact and law, omissions, and unsupported findings," Sonic Telecom asked the FCC in a petition for reconsideration in docket 19-308 posted Tuesday (see 2101070021). The rules were "based on data it knew is untrustworthy and unsubstantiated theories and predictions," Sonic argued, and its compromise proposal didn't include any fiber-to-the-home builder serving urban areas. The regulations were a product of "many months of good faith negotiations and significant give and take on both sides" and endorsed by the FCC in a bipartisan manner, a USTelecom spokesperson emailed: "At the eleventh hour a single company is seeking to upend this historic agreement and clog the FCC’s busy docket on what is a settled matter. That is their right, but we have a solid framework in place.”
T-Mobile wants “simple, streamlined rules” for the emergency broadband benefit program, it said in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “T-Mobile is uniquely positioned to help those in need because it is one of the largest Lifeline providers in the country and offers a variety of cost-effective pre- and post-paid broadband plans, including in-home broadband, that rival wireline offerings,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-445.
Refrain from acting to curb 6 GHz unlicensed use, the Wi-Fi Alliance urged the FCC in a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295: The need “was significant pre-pandemic and has only increased with hundreds of millions of Americans relying on Wi-Fi."
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks hosts an online panel Thursday at 2 p.m. EST on black-owned businesses and the digital divide, the FCC said Monday. Representatives from the African American Mayors Association, Black Economic Alliance, Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice, and U.S. Black Chambers will speak.
Reconsider net neutrality rules, Public Knowledgepetitioned for FCC reconsideration Monday. Incompas filed similar last week (see 2102050042). The commission "failed to follow proper procedure" when it issued a public notice to "refresh" the record rather than adopt an NPRM, PK argued. "In its rush to get its deregulatory orders out the door, the commission cut many procedural corners," said Kathleen Burke, PK policy counsel, in a statement: "This alone provides ground for the FCC to reopen and reverse its previous determinations."
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comment by Feb. 20 on Zoom's request to access North American numbering plan phone numbers in Arizona and Georgia, a public notice said Friday on docket 20-419.
Ed Markey of Massachusetts led a letter with 36 other members of the Senate Democratic caucus Thursday urging the FCC to "leverage the E-Rate program to begin providing connectivity and devices for remote learning." The agency seeks comment through Feb. 16 on such petitions (see 2102010064). “Use your new leadership of the FCC to depart from the … erroneous position" under then-Chairman Ajit Pai that existing statute didn't allow for this, the senators urged acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Others signing the letter included Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell of Washington and outgoing Communications Subcommittee lead Democrat Brian Schatz of Hawaii. "We welcome this valuable input," an FCC spokesperson said. "We share the same goal of closing the Homework Gap and getting every child the connectivity they need right now."
The FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division temporarily suspended early terminations of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting-period review of mergers and acquisitions, over the objections of FTC Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson. The commission said it expects the suspension to be "brief." Given "the confluence of an historically unprecedented volume of filings during a leadership transition amid a pandemic, we will presume we need those 30 days" for reviewing the competitive implications of a proposed transaction "to ensure we are doing right by competition and consumers," said FTC acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Phillips and Wilson said the suspension seems "unwarranted" without better explanation, and past suspensions have been done only in response to a crisis.
Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington visited Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to promote telehealth services for pediatrics, a news release said. Children's National Hospital won funding through the COVID-19 Telehealth Program in May to support 15 healthcare sites.
Amazon has continuously tried to stifle competition from other broadband non-geostationary orbit satellite operators, demanding exclusive access to orbit protection from earlier processing round systems and holding 30 ex parte meetings to object to SpaceX's system but none regarding authorization of its own. That's according to SpaceX staffers in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, said an International Bureau ex parte posting Monday. Amazon didn't comment Tuesday.