The FCC “pushed the deadline back” for developing a replacement for its electronic comment filing system (see 1909160019), GAO said in an April report released Monday. GAO included the FCC in a survey of Regulations.gov and other agencies’ electronic comment systems. FCC officials informed GAO in February that they expected “the new system to be completed” by April but by that time “could not provide updated time frames for completion,” the report said. As of February, “they had developed system requirements and were obtaining leadership approval for them.” After a discovery phase in which the FCC would identify “system requirements that will help [the agency] improve the security and functionality of the platform,” the commission planned to “move to an implementation phase” that “will include awarding a contract for the project, developing and implementing the new system, and going live with the new system,” GAO said. Three ECFS user groups said “they generally find the platform easy to access and use for submitting comments on proposed rules” but said “the search function is challenging to use and does not provide relevant or targeted results,” the report said. ECFS “allows users to focus searches to particular categories of documents," but "officials from two of these user groups said that it is not always clear what some of these categories mean because they are not defined which can make it challenging to determine how best to search for materials,” the report said. The FCC didn't comment. GAO said last month the FCC has made progress addressing ECFS security vulnerabilities after the disruptions during the 2017 net neutrality comment period, but needs to do more (see 2004240029).
The FCC is an interested party in Intelsat's Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see 2005140028), DOJ said in a notice of appearance (in Pacer, case 20-32299) Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond. The commission didn't comment.
The earth stations in motion order approved at Wednesday's FCC meeting (see 2005130057) and released Thursday (see here) includes a Further NPRM with more questions about potential ESIM out-of-band emission (OOBE) interference into the adjacent 28.35-28.6 GHz band used by upper microwave flexible use service (UMFUS), according to our side-by-side comparison of it and the draft. Verizon and U.S. Cellular raised concerns about such potential interference (see 2005050034). The order said the agency will still take and process ESIM applications using the 28.4-28.6 GHz band to avoid holding up potential ESIM operations, but approval will be conditioned on compliance with future determinations in the proceeding. The FNPRM asks if such steps as a guard band provide adequate protection if there's excessive interference with UMFUS. The approved order deferred consideration of allowing ESIMs operate in the 28.35-28.4 GHz band while the FCC studies the potential for ESIM OOBE interference in the adjacent 27.5-28.35 GHz band.
New satellites and other C-band clearing expenses -- an estimated $1.2 billion worth through the end of 2021 and $1.6 billion in total -- helped prompt Intelsat to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, said in its application with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond. Chief Financial Officer David Tolley said in a declaration (in Pacer, case 20-32299) the company intends to clear the lowest 120 MHz of the band by the Dec. 21, 2021, deadline to be eligible for $4.87 billion in accelerated clearing payments. Tolley said Intelsat has close to $15 billion in debt, but "business prospects remain healthy." He said it also has "materially lower revenues" due to COVID-19's effect on such key customers as airlines and cruise ships, and on its business carrying broadcast signals of sports and other live events. Tolley said the company has a commitment for financing that needs court approval but would give it enough working capital to clear the C band, fund the bankruptcy case and let Intelsat operate. An accompanying motion asked for permission to incur obligations for the clearing. It said its three-part clearance plan involves building and launching multiple satellites over the next 30 months to replace the capacity lost from the C-band compression upgrades and relocating teleport sites from urban to rural locations to mitigate 5G interference. The company asked the court to authorize it to implement the clearance on an accelerated schedule. The FCC emailed Thursday that it "appreciates Intelsat's statement that '[o]ne of the primary catalysts' for its voluntary filing for bankruptcy is a 'desire to participate in the accelerated clearing of C-band spectrum.' We will continue to move forward with the C-band auction process and look forward to working with satellite operators, wireless companies, and others toward that goal." Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., said Intelsat’s bankruptcy announcement “reveals what many suspected all along: Intelsat had no intention of accepting the FCC’s deal” on the C-band auction. The FCC “should withdraw its offer, take control of America’s spectrum and save taxpayers billions of dollars instead of shelling out that money to foreign companies,” Kennedy said. He has repeatedly raised concerns about the FCC’s C-band auction plan, including its proposal for $9.7 billion in incentive payments to Intelsat and other satellite incumbents (see 2003100022). SES also said it plans to make the accelerated C-band clearing deadlines (see 2005140055).
The U.S. Export-Import Bank focused on 5G during a teleconference Thursday, part of its “Strengthening American Competitiveness” initiative. Chair Kimberly Reed said EXIM’s goal is that at least $27 billion of the bank’s funds be dedicated to exports that compete directly with China. “For us to be successful … it’s going to be critical for us to achieve tangible results in the form of completed deals that help specific businesses here in America generate exports and support U.S. jobs,” said Senior Vice President-Program on China and Transformational Exports David Trulio: “Economic security is national security.” There's “no more important strategic technology race than the race to establish secure 5G,” said James Jones, former U.S. national security adviser, now at the Jones Group International. 5G “underpins” all the major technologies of the future, including artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and biotechnology, Jones said. “The consequences” of losing “are much larger and geopolitical in nature” and will determine what the world will look like, he said. China’s goals are “to subsidize, to win market entry and leverage geopolitical gain,” he said: “The strategy is being demonstrated all over the world as one of penetration, expansion and domination.” The U.S. can’t get other countries to not buy 5G technology from China without offering an alternative, he said. Samsung is based in South Korea but has a strong presence in the U.S., with many jobs here, said Terry Halvorsen, chief information officer-information technology and mobile communications. “Today, the world works in partnerships, and strong ally partnerships, strong business partnerships are needed to do well,” he said. “5G is going to play an amazing role in the new economy, particularly as we look at what the new world order is becoming with more mobile workers, more social distancing,” he said: The U.S. will need “trusted partners.” Juniper Networks has found that the pricing of Chinese 5G gear and the financing provided are “far more aggressive than what a U.S. publicly traded company can provide,” said Michael Liebsch, managing director-Juniper Financial Services. “We have to partner” to provide “a full end-to-end solution” and then figure how to provide financing versus one of the Chinese competitors, he said. Security underpins every other concern, said Quinn Bottum, Swoop Search chief technology officer. Companies are spending billions of dollars on security, but a hacker can spend thousands and take a system down, he said: “To really bring the value out of 5G, we have to solve that inflection point of security.” The goal is to not have U.S. companies lose deals based on foreign financing, Trulio said: “We want them to compete on a level playing field based on the quality of their products and services and financing should not that ends the deal in terms of who wins and loses.” The Chinese Embassy didn’t comment.
Republican FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O’Rielly defended recent tweets from President Donald Trump critical of NBC, Comcast and NBC reporter Chuck Todd (see 2005110046), answering our questions during news conferences. “The president has every right to criticize any news publication,” O’Rielly said. Some tweets tagged the FCC and Chairman Ajit Pai, and Trump previously urged the agency to take away NBC’s “license.” Carr has vocally condemned on First Amendment grounds calls by Free Press for the commission to act against false information broadcast about COVID-19. Carr drew a distinction between Free Press and the president’s tweets, noting FP filed a petition, explicitly seeking action against broadcasters. The president was expressing a view about Todd’s reporting, said Carr, saying he believes in the pushback between subjects and reporters. O’Rielly called the NBC report on Attorney General William Barr that was the focus of Trump's criticisms “crappy” and said the news outlet’s subsequent apology was “half-assed.” O'Rielly said protocol norms between the White House and the FCC stopped during the administration of then-President Barack Obama, who O'Rielly said pressured the agency to change its stance on net neutrality rules. Since that happened, such protocols have "gone out the window," he said. NBC News didn’t comment.
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council will meet June 10, via conference call, says Wednesday's Federal Register. The CSRIC meeting starts at 1 p.m. EDT.
The FCC approved an order aimed at streamlining rules and procedures for the final stage of the 800 MHz band rebanding, as proposed in a Further NPRM approved 5-0 last year (see Notebook at end of 1910250036). The order, released Tuesday, said the FCC will no longer require the transition administrator give the commission "an annual audit or conduct other financial reconciliation of Sprint’s rebanding expenditures.” The TA no longer must review and approve amendments to frequency reconfiguration agreements “with respect to cost creditability,” the docket 02-55 order said. While eliminating some requirements, “we affirm that the Transition Administrator will continue its tracking, reporting, analytical, and mediation functions as needed to facilitate the rebanding program's goals and assure its successful conclusion,” the order said. Commissioners approved the original rebanding order in July 2004, aimed at addressing interference to 800 MHz public safety radio systems caused by what was then Nextel’s “enhanced” specialized mobile radio system. Nextel was later bought by Sprint and then Sprint by T-Mobile. T-Mobile didn't comment. Also on the 800 MHz band, the FCC approved an order revising parts of the rules for public land mobile radio use of the spectrum, approved 4-0 by commissioners in 2018 (see 1810220050). The Land Mobile Communications Council filed a recon petition seeking modification and clarification of some of the technical rules for coordinating interstitial channel applications and got some of what it sought (see 1812280024). “We allow for some 800 MHz interstitial channel applicants to streamline their applications, clarify standards for calculating interference contours that define the distances that must be maintained between interstitial and incumbent stations, and refine certain technical elements of the interstitial channel rules,” said the order in docket 15-32. LMCC proposed that in calculating the potential for a proposed station to receive interference from an adjacent-channel incumbent, “it should be assumed that the proposed station will operate at maximum effective radiated power for its proposed antenna height,” the FCC said: “We do not agree with this element of LMCC’s proposal, which could artificially constrain the availability of interstitial channels even where applicants propose to operate at less than maximum power.”
The FCC Technological Advisory Council meets June 4, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. EDT, via conference call, the FCC said Monday. TAC will hear presentations from its four working groups.
Dish Network's wireless strategy "is slowly coming together," and the company won't require outside funding for its network -- which should cost at least $10 billion, not counting spectrum purchases -- at least until July 2021, S&P said Friday. Dish has funding options including its spectrum assets, S&P said. It said Dish's wireless business will likely entail startup losses of $100 million to $200 million a year through 2021. It said key to its wireless business plans will be some kind of partnership to spread the costs. Dish didn't comment but on an earnings call last week, Chairman Charlie Ergen said on a Q1 investor call Thursday that company 5G network financing wasn't a concern (see 2005070049).