FCC workers and their National Treasury Employees Union praise the agency's precautions to protect employees from COVID-19. But NTEU filed an unfair labor practices grievance against the agency Monday over continuing contract negotiations during the pandemic, President Tony Reardon emailed us. The FCC acted faster than some other federal agencies, but critics told us none has responded quickly or well.
With the FCC expected to soon circulate a Ligado approval order (see 2004100060), NTIA and various federal agencies are making another push to stop the momentum. The military estimated the funding and time needed to replace military GPS receivers potentially affected by Ligado's L-band plans is in the billions of dollars and decades. Given the general pushback from agencies on every move to open up more spectrum for 5G and the lack of a unified spectrum policy, Chairman Ajit Pai's moving forward here makes sense, said Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld.
Public safety answering points are adapting to call-volume changes from the coronavirus and adjusting internal procedures to keep call takers healthy, 911 officials said in interviews this month. The New York City Fire Department Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (FDNY EMS) is having “record call volume,” Deputy Commissioner Frank Dwyer emailed.
A proposed ad hoc Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee working group held a single call after last month’s BDAC meeting, aimed at making sure wireless infrastructure gets built despite COVID-19. Citing complications of working within the rules, members told us they shifted to informal discussions between industry and local governments and likely won’t seek a charge from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to make coronavirus issues an official BDAC issue. Other WGs hold weekly meetings.
The Trump administration’s reported plan to create a COVID-19 data surveillance program with healthcare and tech companies lacks transparency, Democratic lawmakers wrote the White House Friday. They noted the industry's “checkered history” protecting patient and user privacy. Some stakeholders also raised concerns.
The telehealth industry fears the $200 million the FCC has available for emergency COVID-19 funding will quickly run out, before all forthcoming applications are considered. Stakeholders we spoke with this month are seeking additional funding, but called the funds included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act a good start. Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Don Young, R-Ala., proposed an additional $2 billion in such spending Friday via their Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act (HR-6474).
Following limited waiver of kids' TV programming preemption rescheduling, the FCC could get other requests for broadcast rules waivers or changes in the face of the pandemic, experts told us late last week. The agency got kudos from the children's programming advocacy universe and the White House for Thursday's waiver.
Almost a year after denying China Mobile’s application for certification under Section 214 of the Communications Act, the FCC appears poised to revoke authorization for at least China Telecom as well. Those certifications were left as unfinished business when commissioners denied 5-0 China Mobile’s application at their May meeting (see 1905090039). Executive branch agencies, led by DOJ, recommended last week the FCC revoke China Telecom U.S. authorizations for international telecom services (see 2004090060).
European telcos will provide cellphone location data to help analyze COVID-19's spread, under recommendations unveiled Wednesday by the European Commission. The proposed "toolbox," which is intended to support steps to return to normality and which the EC said will be finalized April 15, includes a common EU approach for modeling and predicting the virus' evolution via aggregated, anonymized mobile location data. The use of telecom metadata has buy-in from mobile operators and EU data protection officials. Some privacy advocates are concerned.
Some seek to upgrade rural internet speeds amid the public health crisis by overhauling the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Increasing standards could fit into a legislative agenda likely focused on COVID-19, rural officials said in interviews this week. Consumer advocates urged the California Public Utilities Commission to reprioritize CASF. Comments were due Thursday.