FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released a compilation of comments Wednesday supporting his proposal for converting 280 MHz of C band spectrum to 5G through an auction later this year. Whether the order will include aggregation limits is emerging as a key issue on the eighth floor at the FCC. FCC Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks both appear to favor some limits, while Commissioner Mike O’Rielly is a hard no, industry and FCC officials told us.
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) implementation is in its early days, with new rules taking effect last week, but it's generally assumed the number of transactions coming under Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) jurisdiction will quadruple, said David Plotinsky, DOJ National Security Division principal deputy chief, at an FCBA CLE event Wednesday. He said the number of telecom deals subject to CFIUS also likely will quadruple, though there's less concern about deals on "the pipes" of telecom than on data. CFIUS experts said prospective deals now have to take CFIUS issues and possible mitigation steps into consideration early in the planning.
The FCC acknowledges in the draft bidding procedures notice for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band it will provide compensation to DOD for sharing costs, as specified by the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act. Industry and government officials said DOD considered that critical, especially since CBRS could be a model for other bands. But there was some confusion whether the FCC would say CSEA language applied for the auction of priority access licenses, to start June 15 (see 2002040051). Commissioners will vote on the notice Feb. 28.
A proposed amendment to VeriSign's registry agreement with ICANN provoked a barrage of negative comments from some stakeholders and a fierce counterattack by the .com registry operator. The consultation, which ended Friday, sought input on a plan to amend the contract to allow VeriSign to raise the price for .com domains by a maximum of 7% annually in years in which there's no other price increase. Foes accused ICANN of, among other things, failing to act in the public interest. In return, VeriSign blasted domain speculators for undermining the process for their own gain.
Maine should fight a lawsuit by national ISP associations challenging a state ISP privacy law, said the American Civil Liberties Union and an ex-FCC official Tuesday. CTIA, NCTA, USTelecom and the American Cable Association sued Maine Friday in the U.S. District Court of Maine, before the regulations take effect July 1. Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed the bill in June countering Congress' 2017 repeal of 2016 FCC broadband privacy rules, after bipartisan votes in the legislature (see 1906060050).
The FCC indicates it wants a nationwide 988 suicide crisis hotline implemented in 18 months (see 1912120044), but telecom interests want a longer phase-in. Some also are urging the FCC to take a second look at expanded use of 211 for the hotline instead, as was recommended by its North American Numbering Council advisory group (see 1905080020), according to recent comments in docket 18-336. The FCC didn't comment. Reply comments on the 988 designation NPRM adopted 5-0 in December (see 1912120044) are due March 16.
Intelsat is getting shareholder pressure to hold out for sweeter terms with the FCC's C-band clearing plan, but it's considered unlikely to go that route. The FCC and Intelsat didn't comment. Competitive issues also continue to be raised in filings at the agency.
Eyes are on California's attorney general after his New York counterpart said she won't appeal last week's court decision denying states' challenge against T-Mobile/Sprint. T-Mobile's stock price was up after it was upgraded by UBS, while other analysts looked for bigger implications from last week's decision (see 2002110026).
The wireless industry is making another push for small-cells laws, after 28 states and Puerto Rico enacted them over the past four years. Remaining states should “take notice that they might be left behind if they don’t get with the program,” though the wireless industry's goal isn't all 50, said Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO Jonathan Adelstein in an interview. Representing skeptical municipalities, NATOA General Counsel Nancy Werner told us she thinks industry will have a harder time persuading remaining states because such laws aren’t proven to drive deployment.
The FCC’s latest broadcast ownership data shows falling minority and female ownership in 2017 and is already 3 years old, said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and groups opposed to media consolidation, about Friday’s report. “To effectively address the lack of media ownership diversity, we cannot use stale data and must get better at assessing the extent of the problem in a timely manner,” Starks said. “While supposedly the FCC improved data collection in 2016, the data released today is from 2017,” said Cheryl Leanza, the United Church of Christ Communications Office attorney who successfully represented Prometheus Radio Project and other petitioners before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the most recent FCC media ownership case. The data “is out of date upon release,” Leanza said.