The House Communications Subcommittee advanced the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and 10 other measures Tuesday on voice votes, as expected (see 2003090070). The timeline for the House Commerce Committee to mark up any of those measures remains uncertain, because of negotiations aimed at reaching a bipartisan deal on HR-4855 and other measures that have gotten GOP pushback and broader questions about Congress’ schedule given the spread of coronavirus.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden of Oregon and some other Communications Subcommittee Republicans appeared hesitant during a Thursday hearing to support swift advancement of the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926) or other resiliency bills. There was more widespread support by lawmakers and witnesses for the Fee Integrity and Responsibilities and To Regain Essential Spectrum for Public-safety Operators Needed to Deploy Equipment Reliably (First Responders) Act (HR-5928) and other measures.
House Communications Subcommittee leaders are eyeing an early March markup for the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926) and at least some of the seven other public safety communications measures it will examine Thursday (see 2002200060), industry lobbyists told us. Communications and public safety stakeholders endorsed several of the measures in written testimony. HR-5926 didn’t get universal praise. The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn.
The FCC believes its push to expand the scope of industry’s wireless resiliency cooperative framework to include electric utilities will help better address wildfire threats, Chairman Ajit Pai wrote House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, Rep. Anna Eshoo and two other Democrats in California’s House delegation, in letters released Friday. Matsui, Eshoo and Reps. Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson raised concerns in December that the FCC Public Safety Bureau’s review of the wireless resiliency framework “lacks targeted recommendations for wildfires.” The bureau sought additional feedback on the framework in April 2019 in light of seven hurricanes that hit the U.S. in 2017 and 2018 (see 1904010047). Eshoo, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and others have been pressing for more attention to the telecom impact of 2019 California wildfires (see 1911010039). “Expanding the scope of the framework to include electric utilities is especially important given the role a lack of power has played in cutting off access to communications to consumers,” Pai said in letters released Friday. “I have directed agency staff to engage with all stakeholders to ensure the whole swath of those responsible for keeping the communications networks up and running are participating in an expanded framework.” Matsui and the three other California Democrats filed their Emergency Reporting Act (HR-5918) in a bid to improve network outage reporting practices. The bill would direct the FCC to issue reports and do field hearings after activating the Disaster Information Reporting System. It would also require the FCC to do a rulemaking aimed at improving wireless carriers’ alerts to public safety answering points on network outages that prevent consumers from making 911 calls or hinder phone number identification. HR-5918 is one of eight public safety communications measures House Communications will examine during a Thursday hearing (see 2002200060). In a letter also released Friday, Pai told House Commerce Committee Vice Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., the FCC "remains committed to assisting Puerto Rico's efforts to strengthen and harden its communications networks," including through its Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks hosted a field hearing in Puerto Rico Friday about the need for network resiliency after widespread damage from hurricanes in 2017 and more recent earthquakes (see 2002200021).
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Feb. 27 hearing on the newly filed Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure, and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926) and seven other public safety communications measures, as expected (see 2002070044). The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn, the House Commerce Committee said Thursday. HR-5926, filed by House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., would require the FCC to issue rules to “provide for coordination among providers of advanced communications service during times of emergency.” It would mandate FCC rulemakings aimed at improving coordination between providers and public safety answering points and creating a master point-of-contact directory “to provide for effective communication during times of emergency between public safety and communications entities." The measure would make the FCC do triennial reviews of whether those rulemakings “are substantially improving the resiliency of advanced communications services in times of emergency.” HR-5926 “requires the creation of stronger, enforceable protections for consumers,” Pallone and McNerney said Thursday. “This will ensure that Americans have access to vital and lifesaving communications service before, during and after major disasters. We look forward to moving this bill through the Committee process soon.” Also on the docket: the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (HR-451/S-2748), the Preserving Home and Office Numbers in Emergencies Act (HR-1289), the Wireless Infrastructure Resiliency during Emergencies and Disasters Act (HR-3836), the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (HR-4194), the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act (HR-4856), a bill to direct the FCC to issue reports after activating the Disaster Information Reporting System and to make improvement to network outage reporting (HR-5918) and the Fee Integrity and Responsibilities and To Regain Essential Spectrum for Public-safety Operators Needed to Deploy Equipment Reliably (First Responder) Act (HR-5928). HR-451/S-2748 would repeal a provision of the 2012 spectrum law that mandates public safety move off the 470-512 MHz T band by 2021. HR-1289 would restrict the reassignment of phone numbers during a declared natural disaster except at a subscriber’s request. HR-2165 would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money (see 1905140060). HR-3836 would authorize states to require wireless companies to deploy infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters. HR-4194 would designate 988 the hotline code and give the FCC a one-year deadline to finish the nationwide upgrade of the legacy switches to support it (see 1908200070). HR-4856 would eliminate the option for people to opt out of receiving certain federal alerts on cellphones and require active White House and Federal Emergency Management Agency alerts be repeated. It would update the process for creating and approving state plans and examine the feasibility of expanding EAS to also distribute warnings to online streaming services (see 1910240060). HR-5928, filed earlier this week by House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. (see 2002180065), addresses both T-band mandate repeal and 911 fee diversion.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’s planned Puerto Rico field hearing on disaster preparation and response in Puerto Rico is a chance to draw attention to issues on the island, but the short lead time between the event’s announcement Thursday and its Feb. 21 date have caught some stakeholders by surprise, they told us (see 2002130012). “We’re playing catch-up to this announcement,” said Reuben Jusino, who consults on FCC matters for the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association. “We’re trying to get a turn at the table,” he said. “It’s an important opportunity.”
FCC staff denied some and granted other emergency alert system waivers that communications systems apparently sought in 2012 and 2013, and that in some cases have since stopped operating. About five petitioners sought to escape an obligation to get EAS alerts in common alerting protocol, because of issues like having small systems, it not being economically feasible to provide CAP warnings, and/or not getting broadband. "The Commission has established a presumption in favor of granting temporary waivers based upon the physical unavailability of broadband," said Friday's Public Safety Bureau order. CableAmerica Missouri and KJAY lacked such access and "continued to operate legacy EAS equipment at least until the time of their most recent filings," said staff, OK'ing those requests. "The public has not been deprived of EAS alerts." They got waiver from June 30, 2012, until the identified systems "were taken out of service or rendered compliant." West River Cable Television also got temporary waiver until its systems went offline. Universal Cablevision went out of business March 24, 2015, the order said. "We dismiss its waiver as moot." Argent's request was incomplete, and it didn't provide more details, the bureau said, dismissing the request without prejudice to refile a complete submission. FCC representatives didn't answer questions for more details.
The House Commerce Committee’s telecom agenda is set to be dominated in the coming weeks by leaders’ work to reach a deal on legislation on allocating the proceeds of a coming FCC auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Committee members are being pressed by a planned Feb. 28 FCC vote on Chairman Ajit Pai’s C-band plan, which he unveiled Thursday (see 2002060057) and released Friday. Other items are also percolating, including on public safety communications, network resiliency and broadband.
The New Jersey Broadcasters Association has claimed for years that the state’s emergency alerting system is out of date and on the brink of failure. Now, things may come to a head, some warned. Microsoft ends support in January for the Windows 7 software that the state’s EMnet software runs on means the problem has worsened, said NJBA President Paul Rotella.
President Donald Trump signed the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (Pirate) Act (HR-583/S-1228) Friday, as expected (see 2001080061). The law increases fines for illegal pirate operations from $10,000 per violation to $100,000 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $2 million. It also streamlines FCC enforcement to empower state and local law enforcement agencies (see 1901170042). The Pirate Act “provides the FCC with additional tools to combat pirate radio,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “These transmissions can interfere with licensed radio signals -- including broadcasters’ sharing of vital public safety information with their communities. To enforce the law and protect American radio listeners and lawful businesses, the FCC has made a concerted effort in recent years to step up our enforcement efforts against pirate radio stations.” Trump’s signing of the Pirate Act is “great news for the efforts to eliminate these illegal operators causing harm to their communities and local broadcasters,” tweeted FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who supported increased pirate enforcement (see 1707280046). “The burden is now on [the FCC] to implement & enforce its provisions until every last pirate has ended operations,” he added. “Pirate broadcasts have long been a nuisance to millions of radio listeners and pose a public safety threat by interfering with communications between airline pilots and air traffic controllers,” said NAB Executive Vice President-Communications Dennis Wharton in a statement. “We're pleased that on a bipartisan basis, Congress and the White House are giving the FCC and law enforcement authorities additional tools to put illegal radio operators out of business.” The Hill also weighed in. “This law will help protect our public airwaves from illegal pirate radio disruptions, which is crucial to safeguarding important public safety communications like our nation's Emergency Alert System and critical aviation frequencies,” said House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden. R-Ore., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “This legislation … arms the FCC with needed tools to take down illegal broadcasts and strengthens the penalties for the bad actors engaged in this criminal activity.”