“The nationwide increase in violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) is unacceptable,” said the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment in a release Monday that referenced the March 16 spa shootings in Atlanta and a nationwide increase of violence against Asians. “We condemn the acts and words of hate and violence toward a community that is as much a part of the fabric of our nation as any other.” The committee's work to promote universal broadband and increase diversity in the communications industry “is more critical than ever,” it said, urging the public to “engage” with ACDDE meetings and file comments on its work.
Women are leading federal agencies that oversee telecom and tech policy “precisely at the right time,” despite holding acting titles, said former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn during an FCBA event Monday. “They are not acting. They are doing,” Clyburn said. “I think we are going to make a meaningful dent in the digital divide,” said acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, citing the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program and $7 billion in E-rate funds. Increasing diversity requires a “front-of-mind” approach when shaping policy, she said, and she's “keenly aware” she’s the only woman casting a vote on policies at the commission. “My hope is that we can continue to expand our definition of leadership, bringing in more diverse voices,” said acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley. “The workforce is changing, and we’re looking for ways that we can do a better blending.” Acting FTC Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter noted it was difficult finding another commissioner of any agency whom she could ask for advice on what to do after having a child last year, before she became acting chair. “It was very important for me to set the example and take parental leave,” Slaughter said. “I may have been the first, but I certainly won’t be the last.”
The FCC is seeking comment on wireless industry network resiliency efforts, the Public Safety Bureau said Friday. Comments in docket 11-60 will inform a report responding to congressional concerns about wildfires and other natural disasters that accompanied the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, the public notice said. “We seek updated information on specific measures mobile wireless service providers have taken in recent years to improve response readiness and network resiliency during natural disasters.” It asked what measures were most effective and how they can be improved. Comments are due 20 days after Federal Register publication.
Defining broadband based on symmetrical speeds could lead to "some areas being unnecessarily overbuilt while leaving fewer dollars to support areas in greater need," blogged Joan Marsh, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory. "Accurately defining unserved locations is essential to efficiently targeting subsidy dollars to those areas most in need of connectivity, including sparsely populated areas where there are currently no fixed broadband solutions at all," Marsh said Friday. Flexibility is necessary in the next generation of fixed wireless technologies, she said, because "wireless networks are not built to deliver symmetrical speeds, so any mandate around symmetrical performance could undermine delivery." NCTA expressed similar concerns earlier this month. The cable group said symmetrical speeds are "attractive on paper, but the idea that symmetry is required as a minimum standard for receiving public support is incongruous with the reality of how customers use broadband and the bandwidth needs of real-world applications."
The Biden-era FCC has a "seemingly endless list" of issues to be addressed, blogged former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday. The USF contribution factor has spiraled to "an unacceptable rate that now threatens the entire program," Wheeler said, and the FCC under then-President Donald Trump "failed to take any action." Wheeler criticized former Chairman Ajit Pai for waiting until his final days in office to suggest a solution and not acting sooner. A "logical solution," Wheeler said, "would have been to seek congressional help" or expand the contribution base to include broadband. The Trump-era FCC punted on further defining broadband service, he said. The FCC should consider reinstating net neutrality rules if it also wants to reinstate privacy protections for network users, he said, because "returning ISPs to common carrier status ... triggers their responsibility to protect the privacy of their subscribers." It should reconcile with calls to repeal Communications Decency Act Section 230 and the Trump FCC having spent the past few years "assiduously cutting the agency's authority" and "swiftly expanding that authority into previously untouched areas that probably infringe" on First Amendment protections, Wheeler said. The Supreme Court's Chevron doctrine will likely play a role in how the FCC practices administrative law amid speculation that justices appointed by Trump "may seek to overturn the Chevron precedent," Wheeler noted. The Biden FCC should decide whether to work closely with DOJ, as it did during the Obama administration, in reviewing transactions, Wheeler said, because "that cooperation became more of an exception than the rule" under Trump. It will also have to "catch up" on addressing the needs of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. To achieve anything, Biden must nominate a new commissioner and decide whether to reappoint acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, whose term expired in June 2020, Wheeler said. Pai declined to comment. The FCC didn't respond.
The FTC created a rulemaking group within the General Counsel’s Office with the goal of strengthening existing rules and creating “new rulemakings to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition,” acting Chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter announced Thursday. Rulemaking is “a critical part of the FTC’s toolbox to stop widespread consumer harm and to promote robust competition,” especially given threats to the agency’s FTC Act section 13(b) authority (see 2102040049), the agency said. The FTC’s “rulemaking power under section 18 has gotten a bad reputation for being too hard to use, but longstanding FTC rules, such as the Funeral Rule and the Eyeglass Rule, have provided significant benefits to consumers,” Slaughter said. The agency should “activate its unfair methods of competition rulemaking authority” due to the concentrated economy, she added. The commission wouldn't disclose now the names of those who comprise this group. The panel “will streamline rulemaking at the FTC, resulting in rules that are faster, more efficient, and more effectively address anticompetitive conduct than antitrust litigation alone,” said Public Knowledge Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman, saying it's "a much-needed change.” Consumer Reports thinks this “sends a clear message that the FTC is going to prioritize rulemaking going forward, which we hope will lead to stronger consumer protections and greater corporate accountability,” said Senior Researcher-Technology Competition Sumit Sharma.
The FCC asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject a petition by Children’s Health Defense and four individuals asking for a stay of the revised rules for over-the-air reception devices OK’d by commissioners in January (see 2101070068). The group hasn’t shown that its members are at risk or that the case is likely to succeed, said Tuesday's posting (in Pacer) in docket 21-1075. “Children’s Health does not challenge the FCC’s radiofrequency exposure limits in this case, or dispute that the antennas at issue comply with those limits,” the FCC said: “It nevertheless contends that, by expanding the permissible uses of the hub or relay antennas covered by the [OTARD] rule, the FCC has injured its members who wish to avoid exposure to radiofrequency-emitting antennas.” The group sought a stay (in Pacer) last week. The group responded (in Pacer) Wednesday that the individuals who sought review were either sick as a result of RF exposure, or their family members were: “Exposure from a new OTARD system will make them sicker, over their objection and despite extraordinary efforts to avoid exposure. It will utterly destroy their lives and may even kill them. This is clearly irreparable harm.”
Proponents urged the FCC to allow client-to-client operations in the 6 GHz band, and incumbents opposed the C2C change, in replies posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. This was consistent with initial comments (see 2102230056). “The record in this proceeding supports the need to make the band even more useful by facilitating the applications that client-to-client communications will support,” said the Wi-Fi Alliance. Many opponents seek "to re-litigate the Commission’s sound decision to permit unlicensed device access to the 6 GHz band,” the alliance said. C2C will become the standard worldwide, said Apple, Broadcom, Commscope, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm. “Peer-to-peer use cases like those that would be facilitated … are standard in other bands for many consumer electronic devices in the United States,” the companies said: “They include onboarding smart home equipment using smartphones, sharing streaming video from one device to another, and sharing files among users or devices quickly and efficiently.” Low-power indoor C2C would “improve the performance of current" uses and enable new ones, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said. Comments “overwhelmingly oppose allowing client-to-client communications, and the proponents have failed to provide sufficient technical information to show that such operations would not cause harmful interference to licensed microwave systems,” said utility and public safety groups, led by APCO, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, Edison Electric Institute and Utilities Technology Council. C2C would “significantly increase the interference potential to licensed microwave systems,” they said. CTIA urged caution, noting that, working with Southern Co., it did some of the only 6 GHz interference testing. Results “provide prima facie evidence that even devices operating in compliance with the existing rules will cause harmful interference to incumbent users,” the group said. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said the proposal poses a risk to vehicle-to-everything uses of the band and could also affect the 5.9 GHz band.
Commissioner Nathan Simington advocated Wednesday for a light regulatory touch for broadcast regulation, despite not having a model for it, as a way the FCC can help tackle the business woes facing local journalism. "The wolf is now at the door" for stations, and the commission "can get out of the way" as they try to find new sustainable business models when faced with advertising dollar competition from tech giants like Google, he said at a Media Institute talk. He said diversity of ownership is important, but there won't be such diversity "in a world of collapse." Concerns about consolidation can be misguided, as modern broadcast group owners look to maximize the value of individual stations, "not turn each ... into a mouthpiece," Simington said: They seem to see strong local journalism as an asset and aren't prone to acquiring an outlet "only to gut it and make it a clone," because that would be against the group's business interests. "I want finality" from the Supreme Court in its awaited Prometheus decision, he said. Then, the FCC likely will be "eager to take up" the 2018 quadrennial review, Simington said. He said there needs to be a discussion about media ownership reflecting that some parties the agency had hoped to see invest are opting to put their money elsewhere. He said "sensible, slimmed-down regulation" will promote investment in the broadcast industry. Asked about politics at the FCC, Simington said the agency so far in his tenure has "engaged in .... strongly bipartisan and thoroughly reasoned policy. I’m very happy with the spirit of compromise ... among current leadership," and he expects it will continue once there's a 3-2 Democratic majority. A spokesperson for acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel emailed she "values collaborating with her colleagues in support of carrying out the mission of the FCC and appreciates the unique perspective they each bring to the agency.” Simington called President Joe Biden administration's infrastructure plan, with its 5G and broadband components, "very ambitious," and some aspects are worth study. He's concerned about any infrastructure plan that determines where infrastructure should be allocated. He said a 100/100 Mbps standard for broadband makes sense in much of the country but also flies in the face of digital divide issues such as markets that have never been able to attract a provider and urban areas where infrastructure isn't the chief problem.
The record is “insufficient” to justify changing 6 GHz rules to allow client-to-client communications, NAB said in replies posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment in January (see 2101110031). Make changes after the FCC and industry have “real-world experiences with unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band,” NAB said. Southern Co. called for a revamped process for testing interference from 6 GHz devices to band incumbents, in a call with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Southern remains very concerned about the potential for harmful interference to licensed 6 GHz systems,” the utility said.