June 26, 2020 by Jonathan Make and Monica Hogan|Agencies
The FCC stopped taking COVID-19 telehealth applications, it announced Thursday (see 2006250069). "Based on the applications received to date, demand for funding exceeds available" money. Some $200 million was allotted. The FCC doesn't "want to impose burdens on health care providers who may prepare new applications that cannot be funded under the current appropriation." The program has approved 444 requests in 46 states plus Washington, D.C., for $157.64 million, the agency announced. The latest awards were disclosed this week. A Wireline Bureau public notice has details on the cessation of accepting new requests for money. The bureau began taking applications for the congressionally mandated program April 13 after the commission approved program rules earlier that month (see 2004010042). The bureau was directed to review applications and award funding commitments on a rolling basis until funding exhausts or the pandemic ends. The bureau prioritized funding applications targeting areas hardest hit by the coronavirus and where the support will have the most impact on healthcare needs, as Congress directed. The American Telemedicine Association has asked Congress to expand the program in the next COVID-19 legislative package, a spokesperson emailed Thursday. Commissioner Brendan Carr has been a proponent at the agency for telehealth funds. “Less than two years ago, we set out to establish a new FCC telehealth program to support the trend towards connected care," Carr said in a statement to us. "I am pleased that this leg work enabled the FCC to stand up the emergency telehealth initiative in record time. And I am pleased with the interest that health care providers have shown in participating. I look forward to the FCC’s continued work on these efforts, including the upcoming Connected Care Pilot.” The FCC didn't answer our questions.
The FCC Wireless Bureau seeks comment on a request for waiver of 450 MHz general aviation air-ground radiotelephone service rules by Aura Network Systems and A2G Communications. “Petitioners seek relief of certain rules that dictate the types of services that may be provided, specify minimum separation between co-channel stations, limit the amount of spectrum assigned in a particular area, and set a minimum power limit for ground and airborne stations,” said Wednesday's notice. They argue waiver is needed “to provide new voice and data applications, including service to unmanned aircraft systems, to the broadest base of aviation subscribers possible.” Comments are due July 24, replies Aug. 10, in docket 20-185.
The Department of Agriculture plans $86 million to fund rural broadband to expand and upgrade service in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, USDA said Wednesday.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended through Sept. 1 a waiver for competitive LEC Inteliquent of certain access stimulation rules, in an order effective Tuesday. During COVID-19, staff said conference calling services from Zoom and Cisco WebEx spiked and "materially increased Inteliquent’s ratio of terminating-to-originating traffic," designating it an access stimulating CLEC that without the waiver would have made it subject to financial responsibilities (see 1909260055). The original waiver was in March (see 2003270016).
The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment by July 8 in docket 20-183 on last week’s T-Mobile outage (see 2006180047). The bureau “is conducting an investigation into this outage given the large area affected and the critical importance of dependable and resilient 911 service throughout the United States,” the Tuesday notice said: “To permit a thorough and accurate analysis of this outage, the Bureau … invites interested parties to provide all relevant information concerning the causes, effects, and implications of this outage.” T-Mobile didn’t comment Tuesday. Its officials attributed the problem to a fiber outage.
The FCC is expected to consider vertical location accuracy for wireless calls to 911, and the digital opportunity data collection, at the July 16 commissioners’ meeting, agency and industry officials said in interviews. Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to release a blog post on the meeting Wednesday, with drafts the following day. Pai is expected to circulate a notice on data collection, also sought by carriers that want the FCC to act on a new Mobility Fund. A March broadband data law requires data collection but doesn’t fund completing mobile coverage maps. The 911 accuracy and broadband mapping “are good for them to be working on,” said Carri Bennet, counsel to the Rural Wireless Association. CTIA, the Competitive Carriers Association and the major public safety groups didn’t comment. The FCC declined comment Monday.
All four broadcast network affiliate groups emphasized the importance of retransmission consent revenue due to decreased ad revenue, and expressed concerns about increasing competition for programming and vMVPDs, in a call with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Chief of Staff Matthew Berry Tuesday, said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-60. The affiliate groups “stressed the importance” of local ownership relief, “the continued absolute importance of the existing and long-standing exclusivity rules,” and accurately defining the local video market. The FCC should continue to “educate” DOJ about the ad market, close its inquiry into the exclusivity rules and "take a fresh look” at the long-stalled vMVPD proceeding, the groups said.
Several areas require more discussion and clarity as the FAA tackles unmanned aerial system traffic management (UTM), the agency's Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) was told Friday in a virtual meeting. “As UTM is rolled out, we recognize that there are many instances that could require airspace to be limited for a period,” said Max Fenkell, Aerospace Industries Association director-unmanned and emerging aviation technologies, who presented a report on UTM. One question that “came up constantly” was would UAS volume reservations “be available only to public safety or would a similar ... tool be available to commercial entities,” he said. Another question is whether manned aircraft operators would be required to participate in UTM, Fenkell said. Rules make participation optional and a “more robust discussion” is needed, he said. The DAC agreed to forward the report to the agency. DAC member Robie Roy, Lockheed Martin vice president-technology, said spectrum for drones remains a big issue. “All of this interconnectivity is not going to be effective unless we pay attention to spectrum allocation, usage, etc.,” Roy said. He noted the Commerce (Department's) Spectrum Management Advisory Committee is looking at spectrum for drones (see 2004220059). The FAA should work with CSMAC, said David Silver, AIA vice president-civil aviation: “We’re aware of the effort, and we think it’s very important.” Spectrum is “the lifeblood” of the drone industry, Fenkell said: “We need to look at all possible options including … aviation spectrum.”
The few comments filed were mixed on a proposal by IEE Sensing for a waiver allowing VitaSense, “a system that detects children left in vehicles and provides this information to the vehicle’s warning systems” to operate in the 76-81 GHz band (see 2005060054). Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said the technology is needed to address the overheating of children “who have unknowingly been left in or entered vehicles without adult supervision.” Deny the petition, said ADC Automotive Distance Control Systems. The band is used for advanced driver assistance technologies, providing a 360-degree view of a vehicle’s surroundings, the company said. These radars “must operate seamlessly, continuously and in an RF environment that mitigates interference risks to the greatest extent possible,” ADC said. “A full notice-and-comment rulemaking proceeding would be necessary to address the myriad of questions about compatibility of in-cabin sensors with external vehicular radars that are posed but not answered by the IEE Sensing Petition,” said engineering company Robert Bosch. Comments were posted Thursday in FCC docket 20-144.