The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance wants changes to draft 3.45 GHz auction rules that stress the importance of sharing, similar to those for the citizens broadband radio service band. CTIA urged the FCC to adopt the draft order and NPRM, with flexible-use licensees and "standard-power commercial use of the band.” Lobbying continued, with a vote scheduled for March 17 (see 2103090034). Filings were posted Wednesday in docket 19-348. “Adopt rules similar to the C-Band rules,” DSA said, suggesting as language to be added: “Nevertheless, we recognize the value of frameworks that foster innovation and opportunistic use, such as the CBRS rules, and we therefore commit to finding opportunities to adopt the CBRS framework elsewhere in the 3 GHz band.” The FCC proposes “an effective coordination regime modeled after the AWS-3 framework to facilitate coordination between new flexible-use licensees and incumbent federal operations, and it correctly avoids adding unnecessary complexity to 5G buildout by declining, for example, to authorize a use-or-share framework,” said CTIA and representatives from AT&T, T-Mobile, UScellular and Verizon, in calls with aides to all four commissioners. CTIA also sought tweaks. The association said the proposed two-step out-of-band emissions limit “would be unique to the 3.45 GHz band and to the United States, thereby requiring development of a radio specific to this band and risking slowing production and deployment.” CTIA urged instead "a -13dBm/MHz OOBE limit at the channel edge, which has proven successful in promoting deployment while protecting adjacent incumbents.” Executives from Comcast's NBCUniversal and Nexstar said the order correctly gives the five incumbent S-band digital Doppler weather radars “180 days to transition to the 2.9-3.0 GHz band after grant of new flexible-use Licenses,” which allows time “to procure, install, and test the new equipment necessary.”
Opening conversations on a “micro level” can be a catalyst for change in recognizing systemic racism and working toward equity and inclusion, said Kimberly Hulsey, a legal recruiter with Major Lindsey, during an FCBA webinar Tuesday. Ensure new associates have representation, equal access to assignments and clients, access to speaking opportunities and support for growth, said Wiley's Anna Gomez, who heads FCBA’s diversity and inclusion committee. “If management is very sincere about increasing the diversity, managers have to be tasked with that, and their compensation has to be linked to that,” said Hulsey. Employers must insist those they do business with are focused on equity and inclusion, said Clint Odom, T-Mobile vice president-strategic alliances and external affairs. Build a pipeline, so when a diversity hire on a law firm partnership track leaves, others are still on track, he said. “Your ability to hire people who are diverse is not constrained by Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act.”
Experts welcomed a proposed FCC notice of inquiry on open radio access networks during an Open RAN Policy Coalition webinar Wednesday. The draft NOI, set for a vote March 17 (see 2102240063), will help “white board … what these opportunities are” and figure out gaps, said Jayne Stancavage, Intel global executive director-digital infrastructure policy. “It is an important step to sort of gather these thoughts.” The world won't necessarily be divided into two 5G -- one built on ORAN and another on equipment from the major Chinese carriers, she said. “The operators are taking different steps on different timelines, and some will go one path, some will go another,” Stancavage said: “Some might go with traditional architecture.” Uptake rates will vary, she said: Variations on when enough spectrum is available for 5G will mean different timelines. As ORAN becomes more prevalent, Huawei and ZTE will also likely incorporate it, said Christopher Roberti, U.S. Chamber of Commerce senior vice president-cyber, intelligence and security policy. Government funding of ORAN research would help accelerate deployment, said Mehran Hadipour, Robin vice president-business development and tech alliances: “It would really open the floodgate … and get a lot more ORAN infrastructure in place. You have to reduce the transition costs by creating open standards … then also add models that bring incremental revenue.” Roberti wants funding from Congress: “The administration should continue to foster open, public-private dialogues … with like-minded governments.” The launch of 4G “was the dawn of Netflix and Facebook,” Roberti said. “With 5G, we’ll have to see.” There will be gradual growth and then “a huge explosion … things that we can’t imagine right now, but we won’t be able to live without in two years,” he said. Providers are trying to figure out how ORAN fits with the way they deliver service, Hadipour said. “It’s beyond just deploying antennas and ORAN infrastructure on top of that,” he said: “It has really become, 'How can I integrate this new model and technology into my infrastructure?’”
Former FCC official Adonis Hoffman declined a nomination for Tegna’s board over professional conflicts of interest, as well as a 2014 incident at a hotel where Tegna CEO Dave Lougee mistook Hoffman, who is Black, for a valet, according to SEC filings and a statement submitted to Standard General. “The conflicts were primary” in refusing the nomination, and “the incident was a matter of principle,” Hoffman told us via email. “I have serious concerns whether Lougee and I could function as colleagues at TEGNA or afford each other the level of professional comity and respect required of a well-functioning board.” Lougee explained in a letter to Tegna employees, filed with the SEC: “As I was leaving the event and looking for my car, I ran into Mr. Hoffman and mistakenly thought he was a hotel valet. Mr. Hoffman was understandably offended and upset. I immediately apologized to him and felt terrible. I don’t condone racism of any kind, I take full responsibility for this mistake, and am truly sorry for the pain I caused Mr. Hoffman.” Hoffman said the conflicts stem from his having served as a strategic adviser to media and broadcasting companies, some of which are direct competitors to Tegna. “Based on TEGNA’s previous response to other well-qualified directors, I am under no illusion that Lougee would do whatever necessary to derail my election to the board,” Hoffman's statement said. Tegna’s board faced internal conflicts last year (see 2003310054). “Whether that would be based on the adversarial nature of the proxy process or Lougee’s demonstrated cultural insensitivity does not really matter,” he said. Tegna’s board hired an outside law firm to interview Lougee about the incident and did a human resources review of his file, it said in a letter sent to us by a spokesperson. “No information has come to our attention in connection with this review or otherwise suggesting Dave has ever been accused of any incident of a similar nature,” Tegna said. “Nevertheless, we care about even one such incident and view this as a reminder of the importance of continuing down the path of our strong commitment at TEGNA to issues of diversity.”
The Wireless ISP Association asked the FCC to auction the upper 40 MHz of the 3.45 GHz band by county, rather than by partial economic area, in calls with aides to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. Other groups also sought smaller license sizes (see 2103040061). WISPA would leave the remaining 60 GHz to be sold as PEAs. “Using county-based licenses for the upper 40-megahertz will promote greater participation in the auction by smaller providers interested in obtaining licensed mid-band spectrum for rural coverage,” WISPA said. T-Mobile urged 10 MHz rather than 20 MHz licenses and sought a simplified out-of-band emissions (OOBE) mask. Adopting citizens broadband radio service rules wouldn’t work, the carrier said. “While CBRS-style rules support lower-power operations and may have been appropriate for the 3.5 GHz band because of the need to protect incumbent radars and to address coexistence concerns, those circumstances do not apply to the 3.45 GHz band,” T-Mobile said: It wants a 40 MHz limit on buys by any bidder. New America's Open Technology Institute asked a Starks aide to model rules on those for CBRS: “CBRS is already proving that an integrated band with both licensed spectrum and shared [general authorized access], operating under common technical rules, promotes innovation, competition and more localized deployments by a wide variety of ISPs, enterprise and other institutions.” The “unique issues that led to lower power levels in the CBRS band are not present here, and allowing power levels comparable to C-band will maximize the efficient use of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band,” the Competitive Carriers Association said in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Proposed aggregation limits “will invite greater participation in the auction and promote competition by ensuring at least three licensees in each market,” CCA said. Lockheed Martin raised interference concerns for its three primary radar manufacturing and test facilities in New York and New Jersey. Filings were posted Monday in docket 19-348.
Congress and the FCC should “explore how to improve” the Telecom Act as a way to revamp “our system of universal service contributions,” acting commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in letters to Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., released Friday. The GOP leaders wrote Rosenworcel in February to raise concerns about long-term funding sustainability. The current USF funding mechanism “is based on assessments to the interstate portion of carriers’ end-user telecommunications revenues” that are “born out” of the 1996 law, Rosenworcel said. The FCC recognizes its “important responsibilities as a steward” of USF and its Wireline Bureau is exploring reinterpreting statute to allow program funding to be used for remote learning (see 2102080054). “We will be mindful” of the senators’ concerns, “including how this effort could complement other sources of funding, the need to engage in reasoned analysis by experts at the agency including the Office of Economics and Analytics, how to account for school needs in light of remote learning and re-opening plans, and how to develop smart programmatic controls,” Rosenworcel said.
Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu is joining the Biden administration as member of the National Economic Council and special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, Wu and the White House confirmed Friday. This doesn’t mean President Joe Biden fully subscribes to Wu's support for breaking up big tech companies (see 1907160064), White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “His hiring is a reflection of the value of his expertise,” she said. “If administration policy was determined by every person that was hired, we'd have 400 different policies.” Wu was one of net neutrality’s earliest advocates and was considered a potential contender to be Biden’s pick for FTC chair (see 2101210067).
S&P addressed major C-band auction bidders Thursday. S&P moved Verizon to stable from positive based on its $45 billion in bids, noting the carrier must pay an additional $8 billion in incentive costs to satellite operators. Verizon's adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio will likely increase to about 3.2x this year, from about 2.6x in 2020, “and will remain substantially above our 2.5x threshold for an upgrade over the next couple of years,” S&P said. AT&T bid $23.4 billion and is likely on the hook for an additional $4 billion, the firm said. S&P changed the carrier to negative from stable since its debt-to-earnings ratio is likely to rise to 4x from about 3.65x at the end of 2020. “Ongoing declines in business wireline and video due to secular and macroeconomic pressures, coupled with investments in HBO Max and potentially weak advertising trends at WarnerMedia in 2021, creates higher operating uncertainty and could result in leverage remaining at or above 3.75x through 2022,” S&P said. T-Mobile bid $9.3 billion, with an expected $1.6 billion in incentive payments, S&P said. “Despite the increase in leverage to fund the purchase of spectrum in the auction, our rating on T-Mobile is unchanged because we expect leverage will remain comfortably below our 5x downgrade threshold over the next year,” the firm said: T-Mobile has “good prospects to reduce leverage to the mid-3x area by 2023 as synergies ramp up and [Sprint] merger costs wind down, coupled with service revenue growth.”
Allowing geostationary orbit (GSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) downlinks in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band on a co-primary basis with incumbent services got satellite operator backing and wireless concerns in docket 20-330 comments posted Thursday. Hughes, Telesat, SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Thales said the FSS allocations would help meet growing demand for more Ka-band downlink spectrum for high-throughput satellites. They said 17/24 GHz rules could be updated and extended to 17 GHz FSS networks. To protect incumbent direct broadcast satellite and broadcast satellite service operations, Hughes backed limiting geostationary FSS operations in the swath to low-density applications like gateways and feeder links. Inmarsat said FSS satellites that sought authorization in the 17 GHz band exponentially increased in the past 10 years, and growth will continue, with it launching Ka-band payloads on its GX6A and GX6B satellites and next three Xpress satellites over two years. Backing the NPRM, Viasat said the FCC should allow earth stations in motion to operate in the 17 GHz band in the same manner as GSO FSS earth stations and give blanket-licensed earth stations there the same level of interference protection as a conforming earth station that wasn't blanket licensed. Amazon's Kuiper urged a Further NPRM to consider allowing non-geostationary orbit FSS use of the 17.3-17.7 GHz band, saying it would "remedy the imbalance" between accessible uplink and downlink spectrum available to Ka-band systems. CTIA said it's "premature" to look at the 17 GHz allocations since it's intertwined with the 12 GHz band NPRM, and issues there haven't been considered. It said the proposed technical fixed service protections are outdated and may not protect it, and proposed FSS allocations and service rules could hurt some uses of the frequencies. AT&T urged operational requirements to protect incumbent DBS and terrestrial fixed service via such steps as wider minimum orbital spacing requirements between GSO FSS downlinks and existing and proposed incumbents' satellites and restriction of GSO FSS downlinks to gateway-type earth stations.
Uniform organizational rules that create a standard for exercise of delegated authority across FCC bureaus and offices when they dismiss procedurally defective applications for review take effect April 5, says Thursday's Federal Register. It says offices and bureaus will have clear authority to dismiss applications that don't comply with procedural requirements.