Aides to Senate Commerce Committee supporters of the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) say revisions that the Commerce Department and military leaders endorsed Tuesday night will sway enough Republicans to ease the bill's path forward in the chamber. Senators told us much will depend on the language in a new substitute version of S-4207 that was still under development Wednesday afternoon. The bill would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority for five years, allocate $7 billion to the expired affordable connectivity program during FY 2024 and fully pay for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.
Country of origin cases
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology gave a green light to the inaugural test launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, according to a special temporary authorization granted Wednesday. The authorization expires Nov. 1.
The FCC must recognize that public TV stations are separate and distinct from commercial stations, and the proposed definitions of locally originated content in the agency's local content application processing prioritization proceeding should reflect that, America's Public TV Stations said in a docket 24-14 filing Tuesday. Recapping a meeting with Commissioner Brendan Carr's office, APTS warned that the definitions in the NPRM don't align with the local programming of public TV stations. It said those definitions could have implications in future rulemakings for what's considered local broadcast programming.
FCC commissioners unanimously approved an NPRM Thursday proposing specific reporting requirements on the nation's largest broadband providers regarding their border gateway protocol (BGP) security practices. "What was meant to be a short-term solution developed on the sidelines of an internet engineering conference is still with us today," Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said during the commissioners' open meeting. "While BGP has allowed network operators to grow and evolve the modern internet, it was not designed with explicit security features to ensure trust in exchanged information," Rosenworcel said. Also adopted was an NPRM proposing an update of the commission's letter of credit (LOC) rules for its USF high-cost programs serving rural communities and an NPRM changing low-power TV station rules.
Cash-strapped California has many challenges ahead as it seeks to connect everyone to broadband, said state, local and industry officials Wednesday at the livestreamed California Broadband Summit. Assembly Communications Committee Chair Tasha Boerner (D) said she has several concerns with state broadband policy, including that the California Public Utilities Commission is taking too long to distribute last-mile grants.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez told us during an exclusive Communications Daily Q&A that evaluating assessments made on consumers' bills as part of funding the Universal Service Fund is her top issue amid calls for contribution reform (see 2404190043). Sworn in in September, Gomez also mentioned concerns about USF's future and the affordable connectivity program. She also urged ISPs to create their digital equity plans with "intentionality."
The FCC should treat public TV stations differently from commercial stations in its locally originated content proceeding (see 2403120071), America’s Public Television Stations and PBS said during a call with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks Thursday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 24-14. The proposal prioritizing applications from broadcasters that originate local content “should not shift the long-standing understanding of localism as ‘issue-responsive’ programming,” the filing said. The NPRM proposes defining locally originated content as created within or very close to a station’s market, and that would exclude much public TV content, the filing said. The proposed definitions “do not align with the inherently local, community-responsive programming of public television stations, especially the programming of state and regional networks and local stations that engage in station collaborations,” the filing said. “Public television stations, which are locally owned and locally operated, are inherently local.” The FCC’s local content proceeding could have implications for what content is considered local in future proceedings, PBS and APTS said.
AT&T raised legal and constitutional concerns as it protested a California Public Utilities Commission proposed decision that denies it relief of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. But in other comments the agency received Thursday, some local representatives strongly supported the plan to dismiss AT&T’s application. “Upholding this decision is vital to ensure residents across California … continue to have access to basic telephone service,” said San Mateo County in docket R.23-03-003.
Broadband access, equity and deployment program funding is flowing more slowly than expected and likely won’t start in mid-2025 as originally expected, Diana Eisner, USTelecom vice president-policy and advocacy, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Most of the money will start to flow in mid-2026 or later, she predicted. It could even be the second half of 2026, she said.
National Cyber Director Harry Coker told the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee the Biden administration is focusing on cybersecurity in space and strengthening internet routing security. Meeting virtually late Thursday, NSTAC also received an update from cloud-service providers on a pending report about baseline security offerings that was initially expected to be finished this month (see 2312070053).