The FCC on Wednesday approved 5-0 opening 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi, while allocating 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything, as expected (see 2011170058). Commissioners overruled the Department of Transportation, which asked that the band be preserved for safety applications. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said the order was tweaked to speed use of the spectrum for C-V2X, and he would have preferred to see more changes. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted to concur. Wi-Fi advocates said the FCC appeared to approve a change they sought that will make it easier to convert routers to use the spectrum.
Senate Commerce Committee GOP leaders are eyeing a vote to advance FCC nominee Nathan Simington to the full chamber amid likely uniform Democratic opposition and lingering uncertainties about whether there’s unanimous GOP support. FCC Republicans, meanwhile, sidestepped questions about whether they will cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition, given objections from President Donald Trump. Chairman Ajit Pai announced a national-security-heavy agenda Wednesday for commissioners' Dec. 10 meeting but avoided saying he’s acquiescing to Democrats’ calls for him to stop work on major items (see 2011180065).
Open radio access networks require a “very consistent and standardized architecture” to ensure interoperability among the network's different components, AT&T Chief Technology Officer Andre Fuetsch said at a virtual TelecomTV ORAN summit Tuesday. Fuetsch, chairman of the O-RAN Alliance, said ORANs and virtual RANs (VRANs) are similar but not the same.
Opening salvos Monday from the FCC and broadcasters in their Supreme Court appeal of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Prometheus IV decision (see 2010020059) focused on showing the 3rd Circuit overreached by repeatedly knocking down FCC quadrennial reviews and retaining jurisdiction, and that the court should have deferred to the agency. The 3rd Circuit “flouts well-established principles of judicial deference to the Commission’s reasonable policy judgments” and “freezes in place” outdated rules, said the FCC brief.
Despite the satellite industry heavily lobbying the FCC on the required re-coordination of earth stations that haven't been built out within a year when they share bands with upper microwave flexible-use service (UMFUS) (see 2011050010), satellite interests told us the draft order to be voted on at commissioners' meeting Wednesday is likely unchanged from what was released. The industry could look at a petition for reconsideration next, we were told.
The National Lifeline Association plans to take the FCC to court over Monday’s Lifeline minimum service standard order from the Wireline Bureau (see 2011160056), emailed NaLA attorney John Heitmann of Kelley Drye. “That T-Mobile evidently was persuaded by the Chairman’s office to commit to providing 4.5 GB for free to its Assurance-branded retail Lifeline customers” is “inadequate” justification for an MSS requirement “that will leave wireless resellers and their customers in a position where co-pays will be imposed on consumers who cannot afford them,” Heitmann said. “NaLA intends to seek relief soon from the D.C. Circuit.”
Communications Decency Act Section 230 needs to be updated, and one gap is the lack of transparency about content moderation decisions and algorithms, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told us he wants to treat the addictive nature of social media apps, particularly with young people, as a public health issue. He likened Big Tech to Big Tobacco.
Despite opposition from the Department of Transportation, ITS America and others, FCC members are expected to approve an order Wednesday that reallocates the 5.9 GHz band for sharing with Wi-Fi and vehicle-to-everything technologies. A few tweaks are expected. It's unclear how the FCC will address 5G Automotive Association and automaker complaints that they face delays deploying cellular V2X because of a transition of “indeterminate length” in the draft rules. Commissioners were waiting for a revised draft with final changes Tuesday.
Social media companies need guidance on moderating content, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told us in response to questions about Tuesday’s hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Graham’s Earn It Act (S-3398), co-led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would establish a commission led by the attorney general to develop voluntary best practices for social media companies (see 2008050039).
The FCC Wireline Bureau set the Lifeline minimum service standard for broadband at 4.5 GB monthly effective Dec. 1 (see 2011160051). Staff acted on delegated authority after an order circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai that would have done the same didn’t get enough commissioner votes (see 2011020065). The MSS is currently 3 GB.