The FCC Wireless Bureau granted an emergency special temporary authority request by the Makah Tribe Friday to use unassigned spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to offer wireless broadband service at its reservation as part of an emergency COVID-19 pandemic response. The reservation is in Washington state and the stay expires in 60 days.
NARUC President Brandon Presley endorsed the Rural Broadband Acceleration Act (HR-7022). He’s gathering support for a petition to President Donald Trump and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., “urging them to take action to accelerate” the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Oct. 29 start. Wicker is considering ways to speed up the Phase I timeline in response to an earlier Presley-led letter. HR-7022 co-sponsor James Clyburn, D-S.C's office listed NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson among those supporting HR-7022. Lorea Stallard, deputy director of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) office in Washington, D.C., signaled support for the bill during a Thursday virtual meeting of the North Carolina broadband task force. It’s “a more narrowly tailored bill” than HR-6800, “but I think it would do a lot,” she said. The Wireless ISP Association criticized HR-7022 (see 2005280065).
An annual show billing itself as the largest cable telecom and tech event in the Americas was canceled due to the coronavirus, a spokesperson told us Wednesday night. The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and International Society of Broadband Experts scheduled the event in Denver Oct. 13-16. "SCTE•ISBE has received official notification that Governor [Jared] Polis’ executive order designating the Colorado Convention Center as a temporary medical facility has been extended through the remainder of the year," wrote SCTE•ISBE CEO Mark Dzuban. It's "giving careful consideration to alternative arrangements," he added. Thursday, CEDIA Expo 2020 was canceled. The Sept. 8-12 event also was to have been at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. Executive Vice President Brian Pagel of show owner Emerald Holding cited "the current status of the Colorado Convention Center as a medical care facility for non-emergency cases related to COVID-19; the latest federal measures." He also mentioned "restrictions on congregating and large gatherings imposed by states and other government and public health authorities; and the various company-imposed travel restrictions on employees affecting attendees and participating companies.” Polis' office and the convention center didn't comment Thursday.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission should increase USF payments to Lifeline eligible telecom carriers to provide more data during and after the COVID-19 emergency, said Q Link Wireless and five other ETCs. The ETCs responded Tuesday to a May 11 order in case 2016-00059 seeking comment on temporarily increasing USF compensation in exchange for increased minutes or data during the pandemic (see 2005210042). Several Kentucky ETCs are providing unlimited voice and data free, but services are to expire between May 31 and June 30 unless extended by network operator partners, they said. Over the past 45 days, the Kentucky ETCs had a 35% increase in voice and 37% in data compared with monthly average usage by Lifeline customers, they said.
The National Association of Attorneys General led a letter Thursday with 39 state AGs urging Congress to “ensure that all Americans have home internet connectivity necessary to participate in telemedicine, teleschooling, and telework” as part of future COVID-19 aid legislation. The House-passed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act includes emergency broadband funding (see 2005130059). House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., criticized HR-6800 (see 2005210049). “Unless Congress acts quickly, disparities in access to home internet connectivity will exacerbate existing gaps in educational and health outcomes,” the AGs wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other leaders. ISPs’ commitments via the FCC-led Keep Americans Connected pledge (see 2005210033) “are laudable, but they are not sustainable. Ultimately, we need a national solution to enable universal access to broadband internet.” The AGs seek increased USF funding and “flexible” money for state, territorial and local governments to expand broadband access.
The California Public Utilities Commission believes providers "should not be expected to choose" during a pandemic "between allocating resources to maintaining their networks at the highest levels of service" and competing for USF support in a reverse auction as complex as that for the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, the CPUC emailed us. In March, the CPUC asked for a delay of the auction's start date of 120 days or more. Tuesday, a draft auction procedures notice suggested a weeklong delay of the Phase I auction to Oct. 29 (see 2005190058). "The FCC’s proposal to delay the auction by one week does nothing to allay" CPUC concerns, it said Tuesday. "On top of that, the FCC’s challenge process allows no time for the CPUC to rebut challenges from incumbent providers. CPUC staffers estimate the challenges in California equate to hundreds of thousands of housing units, potentially reducing needed federal broadband dollars for our state by hundreds of millions." When asked about the weeklong delay in the draft public notice, an FCC spokesperson emailed that in seeking comment, the commission expected bidding to start Oct. 22 "but noted additional details and dates would be announced in the procedures public notice. If adopted, the procedures public notice has set Oct. 29 for an auction to begin."
Oklahoma legislators sought a study on expanding broadband. The House voted 86-0 Thursday and the Senate 45-2 Friday for SB-1002, sending the bill to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). An earlier version would have empowered rural electric cooperatives to provide broadband (see 1903200032).
North Carolina state legislators proposed more broadband spending and other connectivity measures, in bills introduced amid COVID-19. The bipartisan HB-1105 would appropriate $30 million for an Information Technology Department special supplementary grant process. Nineteen Democrats and one Republican introduced HB-1122 to allocate $35 million to such a program in FY 2020-21 and $50 million for the two following fiscal years, plus $5 million for a homework gap program. HB-1130 by 18 Democrats would appropriate $5 million for a competitive grant program to provide broadband outside the classroom for public school students. Six Democratic senators introduced a municipal broadband bill (SB-769) in the state that bans muni broadband expansion. Also Thursday in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an executive order authorizing and encouraging use of telehealth services during the emergency. Louisiana senators voted 34-0 that day to send to the House the bipartisan SB-406 allowing rural electric cooperatives to provide broadband.
California should align suspension of renewals for its low-income program with federal Lifeline, said commenters Thursday on assigned Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma’s proposed decision in docket R.20-02-008. California proposes suspension until June 17, but the FCC recently extended its suspension to June 30. Assurance Wireless, a T-Mobile subsidiary after the Sprint deal, supported the proposal but noted an apparent “conflict between the FCC’s and the CPUC’s suspension periods and associated de-enrollment rules.” That may be “easily avoided by aligning the federal and state renewal suspension periods.” The Greenlining Institute and other consumer advocates suggested the CPUC make the LifeLine suspension last either as long as the federal freeze or the governor’s order suspending renewal requirements of public purpose programs, whichever is longer.
Keep providing free internet to low-income families who need it amid COVID-19, said San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco and eight other California mayors in a Thursday letter to AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, Frontier Communications, Charter Communications and Cox Communications. San Jose's Sam Liccardo (D) and other mayors from both parties urged the companies to extend interim free service at least through July 31. Expand program eligibility including by permitting multiple households with the same address to enroll and qualifying as eligible all families with children at schools with a high percentage of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program, they said. Frontier "shares the concerns of California leaders and is responding to the meet immediate needs during the pandemic through an array of options that provide relief, expand internet access, and promote connectivity to the communities we serve," a spokesperson emailed. Other ISPs didn’t comment.