Source: http://www.braddye.com/newsletters/2017/newsletter_april_7_2017.html
Timestamp: 2019-02-18 21:26:01
Document Index: 713686530

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 97', 'art 80', 'art 90', 'art 80', 'art 25', '§ 20', '§ 20', 'art 36']

Friday — April 7, 2017 — Issue No. 751
The following important notice, copied verbatim from the FCC's website, is about a recent ruling that effects Paging Service Providers.
UNIVERSAL SERVICE CONTRIBUTION METHODOLOGY; REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF A DECISION OF THE UNIVERSAL SERVICE ADMINISTRATOR BY CRITICAL ALERT SYSTEMS, LLC F/K/A/ NEP, LLC. WCB denies a request for review filed by Critical Alert Systems, LLC (CAS), formerly known as NEP, LLC, seeking review of a 2010 USAC contributor audit decision that finds that CAS did not accurately report certain revenues on its 2009 FCC Form 499-A. (Dkt No. 06-122 ). Action by: Acting Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau. Adopted: 04/03/2017 by ORDER. (DA No. 17-313). WCB DA-17-313A1.docx DA-17-313A1.pdf [Source: FCC]
FCC Releases Guidance for E9-1-1 Location Accuracy Benchmarks
The FCC released a public notice providing guidance to commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers on filing their certifications of compliance with E9-1-1 location accuracy benchmarks as required by the commission’s rules.
The initial benchmark requires CMRS providers to provide, as of April 3, dispatchable location or X, Y location (latitude and longitude) within 50 meters for 40 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls. CMRS providers must certify compliance with this benchmark no later than June 2.
In February 2015, the commission released rules to improve indoor location accuracy by requiring CMRS providers to meet wireless 9-1-1 location accuracy metrics at periodic benchmarks. Specifically, the rules provide that nationwide CMRS providers must demonstrate location accuracy by providing dispatchable location, or X, Y location within 50 meters, for the following percentages of wireless 9-1-1 calls within the following timeframes, measured from the effective date of the adoption of the rule:
Within two years: 40 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls.
Within three years: 50 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls.
Within five years: 70 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls.
Within six years: 80 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls.
Non-nationwide CMRS providers are subject to the same two- and three-year benchmarks as nationwide CMRS providers. At years five and six, non-nationwide CMRS providers are subject to the following horizontal accuracy requirements:
Within the later of five years from the effective date or six months of having an operational voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) platform in their network, 70 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls; and
Within the later of six years from the effective date or one year of having an operational VoLTE platform in their network, 80 percent of all wireless 9-1-1 calls including VoLTE calls.
The rules require carriers to establish an indoor location accuracy test bed and to validate indoor location technologies through the test bed process. The commission also requires CMRS providers to periodically collect and report aggregate data on the location technologies used for live 9-1-1 calls in their networks. 10 Nationwide CMRS providers must file quarterly reports aggregating live 9-1-1 call data from six representative cities.
Non-nationwide CMRS providers must report live 9-1-1 call data in one or more of the test cities or the largest county in their footprint, depending on the area served by the provider, but are only required to file their reports every six months.
How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Life and Livelihoods
Featured in: Big Ideas & Innovation, Economy, Technology
On a recent visit to Energy Institute High School in Houston, students were contemplating the impact of robots and artificial intelligence (AI) on their community.
Artificial intelligence, big data, and a set of enabling technologies like robotics are rapidly changing the employment landscape, but this was the first time I've seen this important conversation discussed in high school. AI will be the single most important change driver over the next two decades. Like these Houston Energy pioneers, very high school student should have the opportunity to study artificial intelligence and its influence on their life and work.
AI–the notion that machines could exhibit human intelligence–was conceived in the 1950s but it became a really big deal with the recent explosion of big data powered by cheap computing and storage (Moore’s Law) and lots of devices, sensors, cameras and RFID tags (the Internet of Things).
AI is a growing web of related technologies that, given ubiquitous use, broke through to the popular press in 2016. When Google’s DeepMind beat the world champion Go player in March and self-driving cars showed up in Pittsburgh in September, it became obvious that this new cluster of technologies was moving fast and had broad implications.
In the early 2000s, Bill Gates aimed Microsoft researchers at speech recognition. By the end of the decade, they were making progress with deep stacks of neural networks. In the last few years, the use of deep learning algorithms has produced accurate speech and image recognition–in some cases better than experts. AI routinely beats radiologists at tumor detection.
As illustrated above (image from Michael Copeland on blog.nvidia.com) from a blog by tech journalist Michael Copeland, deep learning is a subset of machine learning. If AI is forms of human intelligence exhibited by machines:
Machine Learning, a subset of AI, is using algorithms to learn from data and then make a determination or prediction.
Neural networks, a subset of machine learning, were inspired by the connections of the human brain. But unlike the brain, neural nets have discrete layers that direct the data flows. They’ve been around since the early days but were computationally intense
Deep Learning: While at Google in 2012, Andrew Ng put the “deep” in deep learning by adding layers of neural networks and then running massive amounts of data through the system to train it. (For more, listen to this Frank Chen video)
CEO Sundar Pichai has made AI central to the Google strategy, marking a shift from search to suggestion. In the “AI-first” era, Google products will help people accomplish tasks in increasingly sophisticated, even anticipatory ways.
The Venn diagram above illustrates how deep learning is a subset of AI and how, when combined with big data, can inform enabling technologies in many sectors. For examples, to AI and big data add:
Cameras and a sensor package, and you have self-driving cars.
CRISPR, and you have genomic editing.
Chatbots, and you have personalized retail and music.
The profound change is that rather than hard coding a solution, you can feed large datasets into a machine learning application and it can learn how to perform a task better and quicker than expert humans. The combination of deep learning and big data has resulted in impressive accomplishments in the past year–in addition to beating the world champion Go player (after analyzing millions of professional games and playing itself millions of times), also playing dozens of Atari video games better than humans and reading and comprehending news articles.
MIT’s Eric Lander said in a few years every biologist will be computational. It looks like the same will be true for doctors, mechanics, economists, water managers and soldiers–nearly every field is being transformed by the combination of AI, big data and enabling technologies.
CB Insights illustrates the explosion of AI startups transforming every industry in the graphic below:
A September Stanford study identified profound impacts in eight domains where AI is already having or is projected to have the greatest impact: transportation, healthcare, education, low-resource communities, public safety and security, employment and workplace, home/service robots and entertainment.
Life With Smart Machines
Back to those high school students contemplating futures with smart machines. Given the opportunity for a deep dive, they are likely to draw six conclusions:
Automation will change the nature of work for several billion people—enabling (and requiring) them to work with smart machines while increasing skill requirements and extending individual contributions.
Waves of job losses over the next decade will impact hundreds of millions of people, as roles based on repetitive rules application are likely to be phased out.
High skill jobs will be created in Smart Cities that skill up around emerging opportunities like custom manufacturing.
Human judgment becomes more valuable as machine intelligence makes predictions cheap. Empathy and social interaction, creativity and design thinking, and an innovation mindset will be increasingly in demand.
Income inequality is likely to grow with a divide between those who can code and leverage smart tools and those performing non-repetitive service jobs. Narrowing the divide will require a new social contract that may include a guaranteed income.
Ethical issues, such as genomic editing, security and privacy, and biases (taught and learned) will outstrip civic problem-solving capacity.
It’s Time To #AskAboutAI
An October White House report suggested that AI has the potential to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges and inefficiencies, specifically in education, healthcare, energy and the environment. On the other hand, AI is rapidly reshaping the employment landscape and surfacing mind-bending ethical issues like genomic editing. Given the opportunities and challenges, it is a topic every school community should be discussing—we think it’s time to #AskAboutAI.
We have four goals for this thought leadership campaign:
Predict labor market impacts including types of jobs and job competencies by 2030.
Identify emerging ethical and social issues that educators, parents and policymakers should begin addressing.
Advise educators, parents and policymakers on knowledge, skills and dispositions likely to be important in the automation economy.
Illustrate new impact pathways that combine domain expertise with data science (we call it cause + code)
We welcome your questions, comments and contributions to this campaign. The future is ours to shape—but it’s coming at us faster than ever.
Published: April 7, 2017, 11:25 am
Updated: April 7, 2017, 11:34 am
Trevor Boucher with the National Weather Service speaks during a town hall meeting with the deaf community about the importance of broadcasting information during severe weather.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday, the National Weather Service hosted a town hall meeting with the deaf community to address questions, comments and concerns about how severe weather threats are communicated. Representatives from CapCOG, ATX Floods, Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services, area news stations and other emergency organizations were present to open a dialogue about what deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the Austin-area want to see during severe storms.
Seeing is key. Bobbie Beth Scoggins, who was born deaf, stresses that deaf people need more visual cues because sound alerts are unavailable to people like her. Hearing people tend to take, for instance, weather radios for granted. A relatively affordable $30 NOAA Weather Radio needs a flashing light and LED readout attachment to be useful to deaf and hard-of-hearing people, which can push the price upwards of $100.
“I think what we saw this afternoon is just having to appreciate the frustration, the struggle and just noticing that, okay, there are no plans really to address these things as of yet,” Scoggins said.
Trevor Boucher is a local National Weather Service meteorologist who helped organize the meeting. He believes outreach is critical in this area where the deaf community is the second largest in the country.
“There’s really a two-fold problem,” Boucher said. One, that we’re not really aware of what’s going on in the deaf community as far as what they need, and the deaf community is not really aware of what’s available to them.”
The hope is that Wednesday’s discussion will start facilitating small steps that will eventually turn into big changes, including better closed captioning on television, changing highway alert signs to include weather messages and implementing text-to-911. Learn more about Austin’s text-to-911 rollout here.
“We have a beginning,” Scoggins said about how the meeting played out. “I think hopefully this town hall will be the first of many dialogs and discussions.”
One thing deaf community members can do is to register each year with STEAR, a free state system that flags your residence for special assistance from emergency responders, should severe weather strike.
I want to let you know about a pending supply disruption at Motorola. Motorola historically has 7 different operating systems across the globe. They have been working for over 2 years to retire these diverse and incompatible systems. The plan is to shut down all of these systems and bring all businesses back up under one new consistent system to serve their entire worldwide enterprise. Due to the software transition I have been informed that Motorola WILL NOT ship ANY product during the actual transition period. As of today, the planned last day to ship will be April 7, 2017 and shipments will slowly start to ramp up beginning on Tuesday afternoon April 18th. This will affect ALL Motorola customers and items — radios and parts. It is likely that once shipments resume, Motorola will prioritize strategic and contract customers. Therefore, the stop or delay in shipping for us could last even longer. Lastly, if you have ever been involved with a total operating software swap out you know that there are likely to be issues that extend the delay beyond that predicted.
Motorola is suggesting that any orders that absolutely need to be shipped prior to the shutdown be placed prior to March 16th. That date may be a bit aggressive, but it does serve as a warning that late placed orders may not be filled.
Friday, April 7, 2017 Volume 5 | Issue 69
IWCE 2017 “As Relevant As Ever,” Drew Over 7,000 Attendees
Government, public safety, transportation, utilities and enterprises rely on communications technology to keep the public safe, everything powered, communities moving, employees working and our lives and businesses working properly. Last week at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) over 7,000 communications technology professionals gathered in Las Vegas to learn, network and see new, innovative technologies from more than 400 exhibitors; 100 of those were new to the event, according to show executives.
Stephanie McCall, Show Director, IWCE said, “Over the past 40 years IWCE has evolved from a dealer- only show to a communications technology event. The response we received from attendees and exhibitors last week shows that IWCE is as relevant as ever. We continue to be committed to delivering outstanding education and a platform for technologies innovators to showcase their technology. This is a very exciting time for our industry. We are thrilled to play a role providing a forum for critical communications technology professionals.”
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) partner announcement was the buzz among event attendees. FirstNet was featured throughout the expo hall and conference program. In addition, FirstNet President T.J. Kennedy delivered a keynote address discussing the latest updates to the nationwide public safety broadband network. To view the video, click here. The week’s biggest announcement was made Thursday in Washington, D.C., by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who announced that FirstNet would sign a 25-year contract to AT&T to build and maintain the nationwide public-safety broadband network, Inside Towers reported. Leaders from FirstNet then held a Town Hall at IWCE on Thursday afternoon to discuss the announcement further. Click here to view the video.
IWCE 2017 was co-located with IWCE’s Network Infrastructure Forum, which brought together the industry’s wired and wireless players to examine communications technology infrastructure, and ETA International’s Education Forum, which offered nine training courses in popular technology areas along with certification. IWCE also celebrated the retirement and 60-year public service career of Chief Harlin McEwen with a Lifetime Achievement Award. McEwen is currently the Chairman of the FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee and has had a remarkable story of public safety service, as both a law enforcement officer and administrator. He has been an advocate for public safety telecommunications issues and the “unquestionable lobbying leader for public safety to Congress and the FCC,” according to McCall.
IWCE 2018 will take place March 5-9, 2018, in Orlando, Florida. To learn more, visit www.iwceexpo.com.
BloostonLaw Telecom Update Vol. 20, No. 15 April 5, 2017
REMINDER: Study Area Boundary Recertification Due Next Month
In addition to the obligation to submit updated information when study area boundaries change, all ILECs are required to recertify their study area boundary data every two years. The recertification is due this year by May 26, 2017. Where the state commission filed the study area boundary data for an ILEC, the state commission should submit the recertification. However, where the ILEC submitted the study area boundary data rather than the state, then the ILEC should submit the recertification by May 26, 2017. The WCB's data collection interface to allow for the recertification of data and instructions can be found at https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/study-area-boundary-data-collection.
BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Mary Sisak.
President Trump Signs Order Overturning Broadband Privacy Order; Status of CPNI Report Up in the Air
On April 4, President Trump signed into law a bill overturning the FCC’s Broadband Privacy Order, bringing to fruition many predictions about the future of the Order under the new administration. The bill itself is straightforward; it states, in whole:
That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services” (81 Fed. Reg. 87274 (December 2, 2016)), and such rule shall have no force or effect.
While the bill clearly affects the various portions of the Order aimed at broadband providers – data security requirements, customer notices, customer approvals such as opt-out and opt-in, and data breach notifications – it is important to note that one of the FCC’s primary goals in the Order was to harmonize the existing CPNI rules with the new broadband privacy rules so that a common set of rules applies to both. Hence, in many cases, the existing CPNI rules were modified and integrated into a common set of voice and broadband privacy and data security rules.
Presumably, the unmodified rules are back into effect, but it’s unclear whether the FCC will act regarding this year’s CPNI certification, which was eliminated by the Order. Carriers with any questions about what obligations now apply should contact the firm for more information.
On March 30, the FCC issued a Press Release announcing the tentative agenda for the agenda for the April Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 20, 2017. Pursuant to the FCC’s Public Draft Pilot Program, the draft text of each item is available to the public.
Connect America Fund — an Order on Reconsideration that would amend the construction project limitation within section 54.303 of the FCC’s rules to permit carriers to report, for universal service purposes, capital expenses per location up to the established per-location per-project limit, rather than disallowing all capital expenses associated with construction projects in excess of the limit. (WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 14-58; CC Docket No. 01-92)
Wireline Infrastructure Deployment — a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice of Inquiry, and Request for Comment that would propose to remove regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment, suggest changes to speed the transition from copper networks and legacy services to next-generation networks and services dependent on fiber, and propose to reform FCC regulations that are raising costs and slowing, rather than facilitating, broadband deployment. (WC Docket No. 17-84)
Wireless Infrastructure Deployment — a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry that commences an examination of the regulatory impediments to wireless network infrastructure investment and deployment, and how the FCC may remove or reduce such impediments consistent with the law and the public interest. (WT Docket 17-79; WT Docket 15-180)
Business Data Services — a Report and Order that recognizes the strong competition present in the business data services market and modernizes the FCC’s regulatory structure accordingly to bring ever new and exciting technologies, products, and services to businesses and consumers. (WC Docket Nos. 16-143, 15-247, 05-25; GN Docket No. 13-5; RM-10593)
Reinstating the UHF Discount — an Order on Reconsideration to reinstate the UHF discount used to calculate compliance with the national television audience reach cap. (MB Docket No. 13-236)
Noncommercial Educational Station Third-Party Fundraising — a Report and Order that would adopt rules permitting NCE stations not funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to alter or suspend regular programming in order to conduct fundraising for third-party non-profit organizations so long as such stations do not spend more than one percent of their total annual airtime on such activities. (MB Docket No. 12-106)
Promoting Diversification of Ownership in the Broadcasting Services — an Order on Reconsideration that would allow noncommercial broadcasters greater flexibility to use a Special Use FRN for ownership reporting purposes and avoid the need to submit personal information to the FCC. (MB Docket No. 07-294; MD Docket No. 10-234)
The Open Meeting is scheduled to commence at 10:30 a.m., and will be streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live and on social media with #OpenMtgFCC.
D.C. Circuit Vacates FCC Order on Opt-Out Notices for Solicited Faxes
On March 31, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion holding that the FCC lacked authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) to regulate facsimiles that were sent with the recipient’s consent. As a result, the 2006 Order in which the FCC required the sender to include an opt-out notice on the faxes was vacated.
In holding that the FCC had exceeded the authority granted to it under the TCPA, the D.C. Circuit relied upon language of the TCPA itself, which makes it unlawful for a person or entity “to send, to a telephone facsimile machine, an unsolicited advertisement” and defines “unsolicited advertisement” as “any material advertising the commercial availability or quality of any property, goods, or services which is transmitted to any person without that person’s prior express invitation or permission, in writing or otherwise.” The court understood this language to mean that Congress intended to draw a line between solicited and unsolicited advertisements.
Shortly after the release of the D.C. Circuit’s opinion, newly named Chairman to the FCC, Ajit Pai, issued the following statement:
Today’s decision by the D.C. Circuit highlights the importance of the FCC adhering to the rule of law. I dissented from the FCC decision that the court has now overturned because, as I stated at the time, the agency’s approach to interpreting the law reflected “convoluted gymnastics.” The court has now agreed that the FCC acted unlawfully. Going forward, the Commission will strive to follow the law and exercise only the authority that has been granted to us by Congress.
FCC Adopts World Radiocommunication Conference Frequency Allocations
On March 29, the FCC released a Report and Order adopting rules to implement certain radio frequency allocation decisions from the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2012) (WRC 12) and conform existing rules to the WRC-12 Final Acts. Specifically, the Report and Order contains five major actions to support non-Federal spectrum requirements:
Allocate the 472-479 kHz band to the amateur service on a secondary basis and amend Part 97 to provide for amateur service use of this band and of the 135.7-137.8 kHz band.
Amend Part 80 to authorize radio buoy operations in the 1900-2000 kHz band under a ship station license.
Allocate eight frequency bands in the 4 to 44 MHz range to the radiolocation service for Federal and non-Federal use, limited to oceanographic radars. The FCC also amended Part 90 to provide for licensing of oceanographic radars, and require those radars currently operating under an experimental license to conform their operations to the adopted rules within five years of the effective date of this Order.
Reallocate the 156.7625-156.7875 MHz and 156.8125-156.8375 MHz bands to the mobile-satellite service (MSS) (Earth-to-space) on a primary basis for Federal and non-Federal use, limited to the reception of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) broadcast messages from ships. The FCC also amended Part 80 to permit ships to transmit AIS broadcast messages in these bands, and amended Part 25 to permit MSS satellites to receive in these bands and in the existing AIS bands.
Allocate the 5000-5091 MHz band to the aeronautical mobile (route) service (AM(R)S) on a primary basis for Federal and non-Federal use. AM(R)S use of the 5000-5030 MHz band extends the tuning range for the recently-established Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communications System (AeroMACS) that will support surface applications at airports. AM(R)S use of the 5030-5091 MHz band will support unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
Most of the rules will become effective 30 days after the publication of the Report and Order in the Federal Register. However, Sections 97.3, 97.15(c), 97.301(b) (d), 97.303(g), 97.305(c), and 97.313(k)-(l), because Section 97.303(g)(2) contains a new information collection requirement that requires approval by OMB under the PRA.
BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast, Richard Rubino and Cary Mitchell.
FCC Provides Guidance to CMRS Providers on E911 Location Compliance
On March 30, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued a Public Notice in which it provided guidance to Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) providers on filing their certifications of compliance with E911 location accuracy benchmark. The initial benchmark, which requires CMRS providers to provide, as of April 3, 2017, dispatchable location or x/y location (latitude and longitude) within 50 meters for 40 percent of all wireless 911 calls, must be certified by June 2, 2017.
Specifically, according to the Public Notice, a CMRS provider will be presumed to have met the two-year benchmark set forth at 47 CFR § 20.18(i)(2)(i) if it certifies either of the following by June 2, 2017:
As of April 3, 2017, (1) it provides service and reports live call data from one or more of the six Test Cities; (2) it is providing dispatchable location or x/y location information within 50 meters for 40 percent of all wireless 911 calls, (3) it has deployed the indoor location technology or technologies used in its networks consistent with the manner in which such technologies have been tested in the test bed, and (4) its deployment of location technologies throughout its coverage area is consistent with its deployment of the same technologies in the areas that are used for live call data reporting.
As of April 3, 2017, (1) it does not provide service or report live call data in one or more of the Test Cities, (2) it is providing dispatchable location or x/y location information within 50 meters for 40 percent of all wireless 911 calls, (3) it has deployed the indoor location technology or technologies used in its networks consistent with the manner in which such technologies have been tested in the test bed, and (4) it has verified based on its own live call data that it is in compliance with the two-year benchmark set forth at 47 CFR § 20.18(i)(2)(i)(B)(1).
The certification must be signed by an officer or director of the CMRS provider who is familiar with and has responsibility for the provider’s indoor location accuracy compliance.
Carriers interested in obtaining assistance with the filing should contact the firm for more information.
Comment Deadlines Established on Separations Freeze FNPRM
On April 2, the FCC published its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in which it proposed a further eighteen month extension of the freeze of jurisdictional separations category relationships and cost allocation factors for rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs). Comments are due April 17, and reply comments are due April 24.
As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC is proposing to extend the freeze to allow the Joint Board sufficient time to consider the impact of recent reforms on the separations rules and to allow the FCC the opportunity to fashion a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that “benefits from the Joint Board’s consideration of how best to approach separations reform.”
In 2001, the FCC froze, on an interim basis, the Part 36 jurisdictional separation rules for a five-year period beginning July 1, 2001. Over time, the FCC has repeatedly extended the freeze, which is currently set to expire on June 30, 2017.
On April 3, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced the formation of the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force to implement the upcoming Universal Service Fund-related auctions. The Task Force will oversee both the Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF-II) and Mobility Fund II (MF-II) auctions.
Chairman Pai named Chelsea Fallon as Director of the Task Force, with Michael Janson and Kirk Burgee as Deputy Directors. Thom Parisi will serve as the Chief of Staff of the Task Force. Senior leaders from across the agency will also serve on the Task Force, including representatives from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, the Wireline Competition Bureau, the Office of Strategic Policy and Analysis, the Office of the Managing Director, and the Office of General Counsel.
Chairman Pai said, “I’m pleased that we continue to move forward aggressively to close the digital divide in the United States. The Task Force I announce today will help ensure that taxpayer funds are allocated efficiently for rural broadband deployment and that all Americans who want Internet access are able to get it.”
Currently, Chelsea Fallon is Deputy Chief, Industry Analysis and Technology Division, Wireline Competition Bureau; Michael Janson is Assistant Bureau Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; Kirk Burgee is Associate Bureau Chief and Chief of Staff, Wireline Competition Bureau; and Thom Parisi is Legal Advisor, Wireline Competition Bureau.
Post-Auction Procedures, File Formats Available for Incentive Auction Results
On March 31, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the availability of educational materials regarding incentive auction data files for both the reverse auction (Auction 1001) and forward auction (Auction 1002), and the immediate post-auction process for the forward auction. This includes documents specifying the formats of the results files for each auction and other files that will be publicly available after release of the Incentive Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice.
The FCC also added an online tutorial for the immediate post-auction process, designed to help forward auction bidders familiarize themselves with the steps that will follow the conclusion of the auction. The tutorial provides a timeline of the immediate post-auction process for the forward auction, a preview of the Incentive Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice, information about making post-auction payments and requesting refunds, and information about the licensing process.
Apr. 12 – Comments are due on Mobility Fund Phase II FNPRM.
Apr. 12 – Deadline to file opposition to disclosure of 4G Form 477 data.
Apr. 27 – Reply comments are due on Mobility Fund Phase II FNPRM.
The seal of the Federal Communications Commission hangs behind commissioner Tom Wheeler’s chair inside the hearing room at the FCC headquarters Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — When Congress voted to overturn internet privacy rules last month, the swift action by Republican lawmakers sent a clear message: They were just getting started.
The next target is net neutrality, which is the guarantee that all internet content is equally accessible. That could be followed by cuts in broadband subsidies for low-income households and a relaxation in rules preventing media consolidation in local markets.
Republican regulators and lawmakers have been waiting for this moment. Coordinating across the government, they are putting several telecommunications and technology policies created during the Obama administration on the chopping block. Already, Ajit Pai, the Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who was appointed to the agency by President Barack Obama and named to lead it by President Trump, has begun chipping away at the low-income broadband subsidy and net neutrality rules created by his Democratic predecessor.
“There was a good bit of overreach by the past F.C.C. that caused a lot of confusion,” said Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, who was vice chairwoman for President Trump’s transition. “We are going to have technology and telecommunications policy that is light touch.”
In a major philosophical shift from the Obama administration, Republican leaders have said they will look for proof of harm before creating new regulations for telecom firms. They believe antitrust and consumer protection laws suffice for government oversight of the sector.
“The F.C.C. needs a more evidence-based approach,” said Roslyn Layton, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who was on Mr. Trump’s F.C.C. transition team. “No one is writing in and asking for Title 2 reclassification of broadband. Consumers are complaining about unwanted calls and billing problems.”
The changes have been a boon for telecommunications and cable firms that had for years fought unsuccessfully against a Democratic-led F.C.C.
They have cheered Mr. Trump’s decision to renominate Mr. Pai after his term ends in June. They want to overturn net neutrality and other rules so they can start offering new business plans that consumer groups have protested.
Commissioner Ajit Pai photographed in his office on August 16th, 2013.
Credit: Christopher Gregory for The New York Times
“The repeal of net neutrality would be a clear positive for broadband network providers,” analysts at Pacific Crest Securities wrote in a research note after the election. Internet service providers “would be able to charge for access to the network and for ‘fast lanes,’ which would increase potential monetization.”
Momentum is with the Republicans. Last month, they voted to overturn privacy rules (scheduled to take effect later this year) that required internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast to get permission from a customer before tracking and selling data browsing and app activity. Mr. Trump signed the measure on April 3.
Lawmakers said the F.C.C.’s rules were much stricter than any privacy requirements placed on web firms like Google and Facebook. They argued that the privacy watchdog duties should fall to the Federal Trade Commission, which does not have strong privacy regulations but requires companies to self-police the privacy policies they promise to customers.
Republicans lawmakers moved against the privacy rules under the Congressional Review Act, a procedure used to overturn new agency rules.
The lawmakers say their next target is the F.C.C.’s declaration in 2015 that broadband should be treated like a common carrier service, such as the phone. That utility-like categorization strapped new rules on broadband providers.
The F.C.C. chairman and lawmakers have promised to undo those rules soon. Ms. Blackburn said in an interview that the F.C.C. will likely create an order to overturn them.
Democrats and consumer groups have protested, saying the internet has become essential for work, education and commerce, and needs greater oversight.
“The recent weeks are prologue, and I am fearful that we are moving in a direction that will unravel and undo some incredible gains we’ve made for consumers,” said Mignon Clyburn, the sole Democratic commissioner at the F.C.C.
The reclassification of broadband also served in 2015 as the foundation for the F.C.C.’s net neutrality rules, which ban broadband providers from blocking or slowing down of traffic on the internet. Google, Facebook and Netflix have been the strongest corporate backers of net neutrality, but smaller start-ups could be most affected.
Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, via Associated Press
Without strong net neutrality rules, an internet service provider like Verizon or Charter could give preference to certain content, making it harder for an independent streaming service like Vimeo to compete.
An example is AT&T’s free service offering mobile streaming of DirecTV videos to customers that does not count against data limits. Consumer groups have balked, saying the practice puts competing video providers at a disadvantage because their videos do count against those customers’ monthly data limits.
Mr. Pai has already signaled his approval of such “zero rating” programs, saying they did not appear to violate net neutrality — and that they are popular with consumers. In January, he closed an investigation into zero-rating promotional streaming programs by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.
But net neutrality will not be easy to undo. A federal appeals court upheld the regulations last year in a case brought by Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and other internet service providers. Congress could try to overturn the rules but could not use the Congressional Review Act to do so because net neutrality was created more than a year ago.
Republicans will also look for ways to cut fat in programs they deem wasteful or abused. One target could be the Lifeline broadband subsidy for low-income households. Mr. Pai prevented nine providers from offering the subsidy weeks into his role at the F.C.C.
He has also pointed to longtime media ownership rules that prevent a local TV station from also owning a newspaper in the same town. F.C.C. rules also prevent sharing of resources between TV stations. Mr. Pai has said the convergence of tech and media have made such rules too outdated. Companies like Netflix and Google are a bigger threat to broadcast television stations than media consolidation, Mr. Pai said.
The greatest uncertainty surrounds telecom and tech mergers. AT&T’s proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner is being reviewed by antitrust officials at the Justice Department. Republicans are expected to be generally more permissive of mergers, but Mr. Trump remains the wild card.
The president has said he would not allow the merger, and analysts say his complaints about news coverage by CNN, which is owned by Time Warner, could complicate the approval. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said he would not be influenced by politics in decisions at the agency.
“This will be the first big test,” said Bradley Tusk, who leads the investment firm Tusk Ventures. “If you aren’t in Trump’s wheelhouse, expect to get a more traditional Republican look at mergers.”
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