ICANN's meeting was in Hamburg; Phase 1 of the expedited Whois policy development process resulted in a new policy for generic top-level domain registration data; and the Governmental Advisory Committee wants ICANN to require registrars and registries make public data of legal persons, which they now could redact (see 2010210001).
The COVID-19 pandemic is an economic and public health challenge, with small businesses -- especially minority-owned ones -- bearing the brunt, Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday at an FCC tech supplier diversity event. (See also his prepared remarks). Black-owned businesses are shutting down at twice the rate White-owned businesses are, and the pandemic exacerbated preexisting issues like a lack of access to capital, he said. Much of the virtual showcase was an explanation of such resources as the Small Business Administration's. Melissa Bradley, founder of Washington startup accelerator 1863 Ventures, said there are other grant programs, though there's no good way of tracking them. They often are narrow in scope and focus on an underserved neighborhood or geography, she said. Sonja Wells, interim chief lending officer for Black-owned City First Bank, said it did about $32 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans, and could have done more. She said minority businesses often aren't as prepared with required documentation, such as audited financial statements, as they should be when applying for funding. In a discussion about available funding for LGBTQ-owned businesses, National Urban League Senior Vice President-Policy and Advocacy Clint Odom said lawmakers are listening to constituents more closely about social justice issues and "need to hear from you about such issues." Internet Association interim CEO Jon Berroya said a second benchmark survey on workforce data for companies in the internet industry is being prepared.
Liberty Latin America's proposed buy of AT&T's wireline business in Puerto Rico would cut major fiber network operators on the island from three to two, hurting competition, DOJ said in a Clayton Act complaint Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington (docket 20-cv-03064). In a proposed final judgment, Justice said Liberty and AT&T agreed to a consent decree that would see Liberty selling assets including a fiber-based network it has in the San Juan area and other fiber assets across the rest of the island, plus retail fiber-based enterprise customer accounts and the right to pull fiber through Liberty's conduit. It said the agreement would give WorldNet Telecommunications an option to buy segments of AT&T's aerial fiber-based core network. "The divestiture will place WorldNet in the position to become a strong competitor in the provision of fiber-based connectivity and telecommunications services to enterprise customers throughout Puerto Rico," DOJ said. Liberty didn't comment. Its $1.95 billion deal for AT&T's wireline and wireless operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands was announced 12 months ago.
The CohnReznick team was chosen to be C-band relocation payment clearinghouse. The FCC Wireless Bureau said in an order Thursday that partnering with a financial institution is a must for a clearinghouse team, but that institution doesn't have to be a signer to the clearinghouse agreement. The lack of a financial signatory had been a chief criticism by the Vertix Consulting team, who also sought the clearinghouse appointment (see 2008190045). The bureau said CohnReznick's description of how it would ensure clearinghouse funds' safety and security is consistent with the terms of the C-band clearing order and the clearinghouse request for proposals. Vertix didn't comment.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied en banc rehearing to utilities and local governments challenging 2018 FCC wireless infrastructure orders on small cells and local moratoriums. Challengers may opt to appeal to the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel in August mostly supported the FCC decisions, prompting September requests for rehearing by the full circuit (see 2009290047). Circuit Judges Mary Schroeder, Jay Bybee and Daniel Bress voted to deny one petition by American Electric Power and Southern Co., and supported denying another petition by the American Public Power Association, said Thursday’s order (in Pacer). Bress voted to grant the petition by Portland, Oregon, and other locals, but Schroeder and Bybee recommended denying it. “We were pleased Judge Bress voted to grant rehearing, but disappointed the Ninth Circuit did not take up the petition,” emailed Joseph Van Eaton, who represented Portland and several other localities. APPA is "reviewing the decision and conferring with members and counsel on next steps," a spokesperson said. The FCC is pleased the court denied rehearing and won’t disturb the agency’s 5G infrastructure actions, a spokesperson said. Thursday's decision "reaffirms a great win for the industry that will provide certainty and will help expedite 5G across the country," said a Wireless Infrastructure Association spokesperson. AEP didn’t comment.
Amazon, Comcast and Facebook were the top tech and telecom sector lobbying spenders during Q3, based on filings due Monday. Twitter, Ligado and T-Mobile reported major increases vs. Q3 2019; Huawei, CenturyLink and Google reported major decreases. NAB was among those earlier reporting decreases, while Charter was among those saying they increased spending (see 2010200059). Facebook shelled out $4.9 million, up 2%. Amazon reported $4.41 million, an 11% increase. Comcast spent $2.96 million, a 1% dip. T-Mobile's $2.64 million was a more than 19% boost. AT&T spent $2.53 million, an almost 22% decline. CTIA was up 3% at $2.35 million. Verizon spent $2.24 million, down more than 7%. Google posted $1.93 million, a more than 35% drop. Qualcomm spent $1.71 million, an almost 4% decline. Apple reported $1.56 million, more than 12% below last year. Ligado spent just over $1 million, a more than 51% rise. Dell was $850,000, down more than 15%. CenturyLink reported $570,000, a 40% drop. Twitter was $430,000, up more than 34%. The Competitive Carriers Association was little changed at $180,000. Huawei reported $100,000, down more than 94%.
The Wireless Infrastructure Association spoke with aides to all five FCC commissioners to argue for approval next week (see 2010060060) of the compound expansions draft order, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-250. The order “will promote broadband deployment and provide greater certainty,” WIA said. CTIA also supported the order: “By revising its Section 6409(a) rules to streamline review of site expansions of up to 30 feet, the Commission will facilitate the collocation of antennas and associated ground equipment on existing towers to enable 5G, advancing the Commission’s longstanding policy to promote more intensive use of existing infrastructure, while recognizing localities’ role in local land use decisions.” NATOA spoke with aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks about concerns (see here and here). “While we continue to believe that Section 6409(a) of the Spectrum Act cannot be reasonably read to allow for new deployment outside the tower site, should the Commission nevertheless amend its rules to this end, the permitted distance of the excavation or deployment from the site should be relative to the size of the existing tower site,” NATOA said. The group criticized the lack of a cap on the allowed size of deployments: “It could allow additions to tower sites of unlimited size -- an outcome that cannot be reconciled with a statute requiring approval only of modifications that are not substantial.”
Dish Network and RS Access (RSA) arguments that 5G and incumbent direct broadcast satellite services can safely share the 12 GHz band are an attempt by terrestrial licensees to increase the value of their licenses at the expense of fellow incumbents, AT&T said in an RM-11768 post Monday. Given all the effort going toward preventing adjacent-band interference in the FCC C-band clearing proceeding, neither Dish nor RSA explains why the 12 GHz interference picture would be any different, especially when vastly more earth stations are in the 12 GHz band than in the C band, it said. RSA didn't comment. Dish Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Blum told us the company and others, including many public interest groups, see a neutral NPRM on 12 GHz being in the public interest and worthwhile, and it would be a missed opportunity to overlook 500 MHz of centimeter wave spectrum. Small government interest groups support expanded access to spectrum for 5G, but the 12 GHz petition would come "at a cost of severe interference to the latest generation of satellite broadband networks that are a year out or less from providing full service." They said such non-geostationary operators would have a tougher time providing service, especially in remote and rural areas "where 5G is a very, very distant reality." Signatories included Americans for Tax Reform, American Consumer Institute, TechFreedom, Digital Liberty and National Taxpayers Union. Dell CEO Michael Dell talked up the 12 GHz petition in a call with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, per a Monday posting. Dell met with Commissioner Geoffrey Starks earlier this month (see 2010090048).
Industry and the National Emergency Number Association agreed the FCC needs to do more work before reporting to Congress on feasibility and cost of making Wi-Fi access points and other communications technologies available for access to 911 during times of emergency. Replies on a Public Safety Bureau notice were due Friday in docket 20-285. The FCC must file a report as a requirement of Ray Baum’s Act. “In light of the significant technical and security issues raised in this proceeding about relying on Wi-Fi access points as a backup for wireless 9-1-1, the FCC should seek the guidance of relevant technical expert bodies on these issues prior to submitting its study to Congress,” CTIA said. Access points supported by fixed wireline are “just as challenged as mobile wireless services to remain operational during severe emergencies,” it said: “Other Commission proceedings demonstrate the increasing resilience of mobile wireless networks even where fixed wireline backhaul and commercial power is unavailable for extended periods of time.” Connecting through access points “appears to be technically feasible, but work must be done to ensure quality assurance to 9-1-1 and to its callers,” NENA commented. Such connections “must meet, at the very least, the public’s expectations for reliability and service; meeting these expectations may be challenging absent regulatory authority,” the group said. ACA Connects said it’s not “technically feasible” today to use Wi-Fi “to provide a backup path to 911 when mobile networks are down.”
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of San Francisco granted the FTC a temporary restraining order and asset freeze (docket 20-cv-06919) against a pair of businesses accused of an inmate calling scam. In the Oct. 6 order, which was unsealed last week and announced by the FTC Friday, the judge said there has likely been consumer harm from defendants Marc and Courtney Grisham and their Inmatecall.com and Inmatecallsolutions.com businesses seemingly falsely claiming to provide unlimited calling plans for a set monthly rate and claiming affiliation with telecom providers that have exclusive contracts for prison and jail call services. "There is good cause to believe that immediate and irreparable damage to the Court’s ability to grant effective final relief for consumers -- including monetary restitution, rescission, or refunds -- will occur from the sale, transfer, destruction, or other disposition or concealment by Defendants of their assets or records," said the order. The defendants couldn't be reached Friday for comment.