Tech companies told the FCC it should reject reconsideration petitions from CTIA, Verizon and the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition seeking changes to 6 GHz rules, approved 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). Other comments divided on what the FCC should do. Oppositions were posted Thursday in docket 18-295. “None presents any argument that would justify altering the carefully reasoned decisions in the Commission’s order,” said Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Ruckus Networks: “Most of the petitions merely repeat arguments already raised in the proceeding that the Commission explicitly rejected.” New America’s Open Technology Institute said similar. “The conclusions the Commission reached in its 6 GHz Report and Order were both well-reasoned and based on an extensive record,” the group said. The petitions “seek to delay or disrupt unlicensed access to this critical spectrum and all the innovation it has the potential to unleash,” said NCTA. “The sharp increase in fixed bandwidth demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of spectrum to better enable distance learning and teleworking and the importance of interference-free wireless backhaul links,” said the Wireless ISP Association. “Bare disagreement with the Commission’s conclusions -- without demonstrating any flaws in the Commission’s rationale for reaching those conclusions -- is insufficient grounds for granting reconsideration,” the Wi-Fi Alliance said. Southern Co. supported FWCC’s complaints. “The Commission relied upon hypothetical simulations, rather than actual field testing, to reach a determination that unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band would not cause harmful interference to primary, licensed incumbent operations,” the utility said: “Preliminary bench tests and field tests using the parameters established in the Report & Order have already raised concerns about potential harmful interference to licensed microwave systems.” The Utilities Technology Council backed the FWCC. “Interference must be prevented before it occurs, not after the fact because it will be far too late to undo the damage that could result," UTC said. Nokia supported higher power levels urged by Verizon.
The iconectiv petition asking the FCC to move to a competitive bidding process for selecting a toll-free numbering administrator (TFNA) (see 2006300003) got no clear industry consensus in docket 20-174 postings Thursday. AT&T said the TFNA's tariff use "is an anomaly" compared with competitive bidding and contracts the FCC uses for other numbering administrators. Going to a competitive process for the local number portability administrator resulted in hugely reduced costs, it said. Also backing the petition, USTelecom said FCC use of competitive bidding for numbering services shows market-based approaches lead to more efficiency. Now isn't the time to change TFNAs since the pandemic has been a major disruption to so many businesses already, and such a switch raises the risk of some kind of interruption that could hurt those relying on toll-free numbers, Unisys said. No one has shown that incumbent TFNA Somos hasn't been doing the job adequately, it said. Iconectiv should be commended for pointing out lack of Somos transparency, but its petition is meritless because it says TFN rates have gone up without reason when it's common knowledge Somos has been doing sizable technology upgrades, responsible organization Vanity International said. "This is nothing but a land grab by a 3rd party venture fund," it said. Iconectiv's complaint about use of a tariff-based approach would hold true no matter who is TFNA, and it would be nice to have multiple providers, but that isn't technologically feasible now, said EZ Texting. Somos is an independent, nonprofit TFNA, and someone else selected through competitive bidding might focus on cost control to the exclusion of protecting the public from scammers using toll-free numbers, Duke Energy said. Establishing a competitive bidding process for selecting a TFNA needs to carry guarantees the new TFNA provides the scam protection services Somos does, it said. Make sure new rules don't significantly interfere with or require changes to the way providers interface with the TFNA and don't require costly changes, said ATIS. Somos, in posting on meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Jessica Rosenworcel, said any consideration of changing processes to select a TFNA and changing the tariff structure requires issuing an NPRM. It said the current system "is working well." Its comments said similar.
Change the FCC’s draft inmate calling service order, set for a vote next week (see 2007160072), to either eliminate transaction fees on a single call or make clear the fees are capped at the allowed ancillary service amount, NCIC Inmate Communications said. “The draft Remand Order would perpetuate and codify the unjust and unreasonable single call rates that certain ICS service providers charge inmates and their families,” NCIC said: “The Remand Order would permit ICS parties to pass through egregiously-high third-party transaction fees, so long as they do not mark up the fee. In 2015, the FCC prohibited flat-rate calling, but certain ICS providers continue to charge between $9.99 and $14.99 for the completion of a single call” by “charging a per-minute rate subject to the interstate ICS cap, but then tacking on a third-party transaction fee,” NCIC said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-375. The United Church of Christ sought tweaks, in calls with aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. It’s good the draft requested comment on lowering interstate rates, and “the rates ultimately adopted should be lower than the proposed rates,” it said: UCC “is pleased that the draft … proposes to end the distinction between debit and collect calls and to lower the differential between jails and prisons and to vastly reduce the significantly higher rates dependent upon the size of a jail. The proposal to address international rates for the first time is welcome. The FCC should also seek comment on the particular needs of prisoners who are deaf and hard of hearing.”
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry applauds CTA’s decision canceling CES 2021 as a physical show and moving it all-virtual (see 2007280034), she told CEO Gary Shapiro in a North Virginia Technology Council video chat Wednesday. CTA co-produces NVTC’s webinars and Shapiro sits on its board. “Kudos to you for making such a sizable decision,” Barry told Shapiro when he asked how she reacted to the news. “It was clear the decision prioritized safety above all else.” Barry, a Minnesota native, said some of her “perspectives" on mentoring changed after George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis police custody not far from corporate headquarters. “CEOs now more than ever need to be in constant learning mode,” she said. “Your whole career, you look for mentors who are more accomplished than you and can help you get to that next level. My perspective now is I need to surround myself with people who are completely different.” Work from home happened “almost overnight, literally,” said Barry. Telework “started with people being interested in products,” she said. “It’s turning into productivity,” she said. “It’s less about I need a computer, and it’s more about I need a comfortable home office space.” Telework forced Barry to reinstall a landline, she said. “My cell reception is awful, and I have so many calls that I needed something stable.” As work from home grew progressively longer, “you’re not just buying an iPad, you’re trying to figure out how do I create a productive space.” And “work flexibility is going to stick, said Barry. The days are over of “everyone needing to be in the office all the time to get their work done,” she said. Remote learning is “another space where we were forced into change,” said Barry. There are “pockets of places” where school districts “have done an amazing job” transitioning, she said. “But across the U.S., I think you can see a pretty big gap in distant learning capabilities.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau clarified pole attachment rules Wednesday in light of a 2018 infrastructure order, in response to a September CTIA petition (see 1909090051). “The imposition of a ‘blanket ban’ by a utility on attachments to any portion of a utility pole is inconsistent with the federal requirement that a ‘denial of access ... be specific’ to a particular request,” the bureau ruled. “While utilities and attachers have the flexibility to negotiate terms in their pole attachment agreements that differ from the requirements in the Commission’s rules, a utility cannot use its significant negotiating leverage to require an attacher to give up rights to which the attacher is entitled under the rules without the attacher obtaining a corresponding benefit.” The FCC addressed other parts of the petition in June, clarifying 3-2 rules for collocation of wireless infrastructure on existing cell towers (see 2006090060). “The clarity that this ruling provides will help ensure that the legal rights of providers seeking pole access to build out and upgrade their networks cannot be denied by pole owners” and will be “particularly beneficial for smaller providers,” said ACA Connects President Matt Polka. The Utilities Technology Council was disappointed by the ruling. “While the FCC has done tremendous work funding broadband projects across the country, it continues to focus on the myth that pole attachments are some kind of barrier to broadband deployment,” the group said: “Numerous studies have proven that pole-attachment costs and regulations have little to no impact on broadband or wireless deployment.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau said Tuesday it will refresh its record on the “serious threat” from contraband wireless devices used by inmates in correctional facilities. “Developing a more comprehensive and current record will facilitate an evaluation of potential next steps necessary to eliminate this challenging public safety problem,” the bureau said. Addressing the problem has been one of Chairman Ajit Pai’s top priorities, and in 2018, he convened the first in a series of meetings (see 1802050034). Comments will be due 30 days from Federal Register publication, replies 45 days, in docket 13-111.
The Utilities Technology Council, American Public Power Association and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn the FCC’s April order opening up the 6 GHz spectrum band for unlicensed use. “Utilities and public safety entities use the 6 GHz band for mission-critical communications,” UTC said in a news release. “Despite numerous reports and submissions demonstrating the need for the FCC to act deliberately and carefully,” the FCC “approved an aggressive plan that will allow millions of new devices into the 6 GHz band without any proof or evidence that existing critical-infrastructure and public-safety communications will not be disrupted,” UTC said. Some other groups are also challenging the rules (see 2007240061).
CTIA and USTelecom got broad support for a June petition seeking regulatory relief on pro forma filings (see 2006050039). The paperwork is routine and involves a company assigning a license authorization from one wholly owned subsidiary to another, the two said then. In comments due Friday in docket 20-186, the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research noted that, according to the petition, the FCC Wireless Bureau processes an average of 600 pro forma applications per year. “Pro forma transactions can strain resources for license holders, delay business decisions, and divert the already strained resources to comply with the onerous and unnecessary fillings and review procedures required for such transactions,” the group said. The burdens from existing filing requirements are “significant,” NAB commented. “A single non-substantial internal transaction can result in filing requirements that strain resources, delay business decisions and divert sparse resources,” broadcasters said. “Pro forma transactions are by their very nature non-substantive; the associated filing requirements ought to be as well,” Verizon said. “For companies like T-Mobile, with a complex ownership structure and numerous licensee subsidiaries, a non-substantive ownership change can require a large number of burdensome filings,” the carrier said. The rules permit post-closing notice of pro forma transactions for common carrier radio station licenses, submarine cable landing licenses, international authorizations and common carrier satellite and earth station licenses, T-Mobile said: They require prior approval of pro forma transactions including private radio licenses, some experimental licenses and licenses held by designated entities. The Land Mobile Communications Council said it “fully supports this common-sense proposal that will reduce regulatory burdens.” Markets are "the most efficient means of assigning radio operating rights,” wrote the R Street Institute.
The National Consumer Law Center and five other groups appealed to the FCC Friday the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau’s June declaratory ruling Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules don’t apply to peer-to-peer texts to cellphones. NCLC and the Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Public Knowledge and the National Association of Consumer Advocates urged CGB last year to deny the P2P Alliance petition (see 1907120056). The ruling “repeatedly characterizes the statutory definition of” an automated telephone dialing system “in ways that deviate from the statutory language, and conflict with each other, with the Commission’s rulings, and with prevailing case law,” they said in docket 02-278. The decision “fails to reconcile its interpretation of an ATDS with recent decisions in” the 2nd and 9th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. They said the decision “ignores the actual automated capacity of the P2P systems and fails to apply the TCPA’s fundamental principle that the definition of ATDS refers to the ‘capacity’ of the ‘equipment’ used by the caller, not on how the individual calls are sent out.” NCLC Senior Counsel Margot Saunders cited pandemic and election texts.
The FCC 6 GHz order opening the band to Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (see 2004230059) doesn't protect all the various licensed users in the band, especially TV broadcasters, NAB said in a petition for review Friday. It asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to vacate and enjoin the order. The FCC didn't comment. APCO, which petitioned for reconsideration of the order (see 2005280047), told the FCC Friday it was dropping its recon petition (docket 18-295). APCO didn't comment further.