"Middle mile is not working for the little guy in Rural areas," Alaska Technologies wrote the FCC International Bureau in a posting Tuesday in support of SpaceX's pending modification to allow more than 2,800 planned satellites to orbit at a lower altitude (see 2007140001). Government-subsidized internet service should become unnecessary in rural Alaska once SpaceX's Starlink is fully operational, it said.
To improve broadband mapping data, the FCC is requiring facilities-based fixed service providers to report service coverage and identify where services are offered. Tuesday's order requires providers report speed and latency. Terrestrial fixed wireless service providers must report coordinates of their base services. The FCC disagreed with Incompas' proposal to exempt providers using unbundled network element loops, special access lines and other leased facilities to provide broadband access to end users, arguing that such exemptions "could result in an understatement of coverage" because incumbents aren't required make the same service available to end users. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said this data collection will "be an invaluable tool" to address challenges to broadband deployment: "I'm excited that we can look forward to having a better picture of America's broadband needs." Commissioner Geoffrey Starks noted unanimous approval: "This decision, combined with the mapping funding Congress appropriated last month, will move the commission toward significantly better data practices." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel sought more action and acknowledged this decision as "the beginning of building a better foundation" for broadband policy. Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen was "disheartened" by excluding schools and healthcare providers from the mapping effort, saying "the commission has lost sight of the bigger picture imperative to map the full scope of broadband availability."
Frontier Communications got West Virginia's OK of its bankruptcy reorganization, with conditions. The Public Service Commission cleared a Dec. 18 settlement Friday with PSC staff, the agency’s Consumer Advocate Division and Communications Workers of America. The telco promised to spend $200 million by Dec. 31 in West Virginia and deploy fiber to 150,000 locations. Another Friday order required service quality reporting in response to a state audit in case 18-0291-T-P (see 2008060027). That will help the company “correct its course as necessary to assure improved quality service to its customers and improved relations with its employees,” it said. PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane said the orders “allow Frontier to proceed with its bankruptcy reorganization, emerge a stronger corporate structure and make much needed investments in West Virginia’s internet infrastructure.” The carrier got FCC clearance Thursday and needs OK from California, Connecticut and Pennsylvania commissions. Don’t let California get a better deal than West Virginia, the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council wrote the PSC earlier Friday in docket 20-0400-T-PC. "West Virginia has been on the receiving end of empty promises in the past and we ask that the Commission exercise its jurisdiction to the fullest extent allowed.” The telco made fiber promises to states that waited to clear the bankrupt carrier's reorganization, including fiber to 150,000 West Virginia locations and 350,000 California locations (see 2101140032).
Washington state’s attorney general office said it's “encouraged” by changes to a privacy bill that failed in two previous years due to enforcement and other questions (see 2003120035). The AG office recommends adding a sunset date to the right to cure in SB-5062, and seeks a private right of action, said AG office Legislative Director Yasmin Trudeau at a Senate Environment, Energy and Technology virtual hearing Thursday. Consumer advocates raised concerns that the bill, with opt-out rather than opt-in protections, puts too much onus on the consumer to exercise their rights compared with companies. It provides an “illusion of privacy protections,” with too many exemptions and not enough teeth, said American Civil Liberties Union-Washington Technology and Liberty Project Manager Jennifer Lee: That “corporate-centric approach” failed in previous sessions. Including a private right of action needn’t lead to a flood of complaints if appropriately limited, said Washington State Association for Justice Government Affairs Director Larry Shannon. The bill fails to cover Google and Facebook, while preempting local governments from making stronger protections, said Consumer Federation of America Director-Consumer Protection and Privacy Susan Grant. SB-5062 builds on the General Data Protection Regulation and California Privacy Right Act, said Microsoft Senior Director-Public Policy Ryan Harkins. Business groups including the Washington Technology Industry Association and Washington Retail Association also supported the bill. The bill would exempt nonprofits for five years, but the American Heart Association thinks it should never apply, said Senior Attorney Kristen Knauf. Millions of dollars in compliance costs mean that much less funding for cardiovascular research, she warned. Sponsor Sen. Reuven Carlyle (D) said he worked hard to incorporate suggestions: “This has been a long two-and-a-half years on this issue.” The committee plans to meet again Jan. 21 on SB-5062.
Rep. Anna Eshoo and 12 other Democratic members of California’s House delegation urged Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland to “withdraw” DOJ from the federal government’s lawsuit at U.S. District Court for Eastern California challenging that state’s net neutrality law (case 2:18-cv-02660). The department is expected to leave that legal challenge once President-elect Joe Biden takes office next week (see 2101070067). The arguments DOJ and industry groups made in U.S. v. California “extend further than even the FCC’s” order rescinding its 2015 net neutrality rules “and have implications on the ability of California and other states to regulate many communications and technology policy issues,” Eshoo and others wrote Garland Tuesday. Others signing the letter were House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, Jared Huffman, Ro Khanna, Barbara Lee, Mike Levin, Ted Lieu, Jerry McNerney, Jimmy Panetta, Jackie Speier, Eric Swalwell, Mike Thompson and Mark Takano. Biden’s transition team and DOJ didn’t comment Wednesday.
Consider alternatives to verify providers' eligibility for the emergency broadband relief fund due to "the shortcomings of the National Verifier database," digital and civil rights groups led by Public Knowledge told FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, per a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-445. Free Press, MediaJustice, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Gigi Sohn of the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy participated. Set criteria for new entrants that encourage "participation by a broad array of providers," including noneligible telecom carriers, the groups recommended, and include periodic reporting so Universal Service Administrative Co. can track how much funding remains available throughout the program and a method for notifying program participants about their eligibility for Lifeline services. The groups raised concerns about public awareness of the fund and recommended the commission use some administrative funds for marketing campaigns (see 2101070052). Adopt "plug and play" materials to inform and reach eligible participants, they said. Starks has been meeting with such groups on their recommendations.
Mobileye crossed a “threshold” and can build high-definition autonomous-vehicle (AV) maps, said CEO Amnon Shashua, senior vice president of its Intel parent. “We’re basically mapping the world, all automatically, everything done in the cloud.” It plans deployments in Detroit, Paris and Tokyo, he told a CES media briefing. “If we figure out how” to land regulatory OK, Mobileye will “deploy” in New York City in months, he said Monday. New York State Department of Transportation officials didn’t respond to questions. Self-driving robotaxis will be “somewhat of a game-changer when they become ubiquitous,” said Shashua. “Removing the driver from the equation could reduce the cost of transportation considerably, even rivaling the cost of public transportation.” He thinks affordable consumer AVs at scale with Level 4 autonomy -- one notch down from full autonomy -- are possible in 2025: “We’ll have a number of years of practicing from a regulatory point of view. Regulation is critical here. It’s difficult to leap directly to a consumer level from a regulatory point of view. Going through a regulation of a fleet is much easier.”
The Supreme Court should hearAndrews v. New Jersey on law enforcement access to phone and computer passwords, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed Thursday. A prosecutor secured a court order directing Essex County sheriff's officer Robert Andrews to turn over passwords for two cellphones. Andrews challenged, citing Fifth Amendment protections, but the New Jersey State Supreme Court said those protections don’t apply to passwords. “The Fifth Amendment protects us from being forced to give police a combination to a wall safe,” said Jennifer Granick, ACLU surveillance and cybersecurity counsel. “That same protection should extend to our phone and computer passwords, which can give access to far more sensitive information than any wall safe could.” SCOTUS said in October it wouldn't hear a similar Pennsylvania cellphone privacy case (docket 19-1254) on when it’s permissible for police to require someone to unlock an encrypted device (see 2010050042).
Frontier wants the FCC or West Virginia Public Service Commission to expand the carrier’s eligible telecom carrier designation in West Virginia due to the carrier winning a Rural Digital Opportunity Fund bid. The carrier petitioned the FCC in case the PSC declines to exercise jurisdiction over the telco’s Wednesday request there, said Frontier’s FCC filing posted Thursday in docket 20-34. Frontier urged the PSC to clear the petition by June 6 in case 21-0010-T-PC. The PSC declined to comment Thursday.
Massachusetts will provide internet subsidies to job seekersthrough June. Gov. Charlie Baker’s (R) office also said Tuesday the Massachusetts Broadband Institute will expand its Wi-Fi hot spot program statewide. The programs are funded by $9.2 million in the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan.