The FCC should tackle asymmetrical broadband in policy on the digital divide, Detroit Digital Inclusion Director Joshua Edmonds told Commissioner Geoffrey Starks during a webinar Thursday. Setting the standard at 25/3 Mbps prioritizes providers, Edmonds said: "Let's prioritize the consumer." Starks said 60% of Detroit schoolchildren lack access to broadband. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., said some single mothers can't afford broadband even with two jobs. Addressing the homework gap is an issue that binds urban, suburban and rural lawmakers, said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. With insufficient federal support, Detroit "had to take on the role of fundraiser" through public/private partnerships, Edmonds said. He said the city is a microcosm of digital inequity found nationally, and if it can be solved with additional help from state and federal government, "it's a replicable model." Put broadband at the top of any infrastructure stimulus plan, said Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance executive director.
Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., urged the FCC to require satellite operators buy U.S.-built satellites for relocating off the 3.7-4.2 GHz after the upcoming auction. Kennedy has raised concerns about the FCC C-band auction plan (see 2002130053). C-band incumbents previously committed to buying U.S.-built satellites for the transition, but “this is no longer the case,” Kennedy said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released Wednesday. “Now that the operators have been formally promised” up to $9.7 billion in incentive payments, “they have accepted proposals and are indeed moving forward with plans to procure launch vehicles, ground equipment and satellites from foreign manufacturers.” The "US. Aerospace industry has the capacity and ingenuity to meet objectives, on an accelerated timelines, for the FCC and satellite operators alike,” he wrote. The FCC didn’t comment.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., will livestream "Connecting Michigan: From Internet Inequality to Digital Equity" at fcc.gov Thursday at 1 p.m. EDT, he announced Tuesday. Panelists include Joshua Edmonds, Detroit director of digital inclusion; Amina Fazlullah, policy counsel for Common Sense Media; and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
The FCC North American Numbering Council got status updates at an online meeting Tuesday from several working groups preparing reports for July. Officials said the next meeting will be moved up a day to July 14. Brent Struthers, director of the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority, said 58 phone providers applied for STI-GA certificates to authenticate caller IDs as part of secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) rules. Twenty-three were approved, 12 are in the final testing stage, and most others are gathering additional documentation. Three STI-GA applicants were rejected and can try again once they meet requirements, Struthers responded to our question. The interoperable video calling WG plans a funding and governance model for a 10-digit numbering database to allow easier interoperability among video relay services for the deaf and hard of hearing and other video conferencing services (see 1906210017). IVC WG co-chair David Bahar, director-Telecommunications Access of Maryland, cited security benefits to developing a new database rather than reconfiguring an existing one for this use. The WG plans a report to NANC by June 28, which will be used to inform a NANC report to the FCC Wireline Bureau a month later.
Thirty-one global tech companies launched the Open Radio Access Network Coalition Tuesday “to promote policies that will advance the adoption of open and interoperable solutions” for networks. The FCC had focused on the issue, but a March 26 summit on 5G-focused open RAN technology was postponed because of COVID-19 (see 2003120071). “As evidenced by the current global pandemic, vendor choice and flexibility in next-generation network deployments are necessary from a security and performance standpoint,” said coalition Executive Director Diane Rinaldo (see also personals section), former NTIA acting administrator. “By promoting policies that standardize and develop open interfaces, we can ensure interoperability and security across different players and potentially lower the barrier to entry for new innovators.” “Intrigued,” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly tweeted: “Will be reaching out to new coalition … to hear issues & agenda. I’m supportive of end goal as is most every industry segment; very leery about any mandates to get there.” Members are Airspan, Altiostar, AT&T, AWS, Cisco, CommScope, Dell, Dish Network, Facebook, Fujitsu, Google, IBM, Intel, Juniper Networks, Mavenir, Microsoft, NEC, NewEdge Signal Solutions, NTT, Oracle, Parallel Wireless, Qualcomm, Rakuten Mobile, Samsung Electronics America, Telefonica, US Ignite, Verizon, VMWare, Vodafone, World Wide Technology and XCOM Labs.
Ian Mason said Sunday he doesn't plan to work for NTIA, despite stakeholders saying otherwise Friday (see 2005010068). The agency confirmed he wasn't working there after initially not commenting.
The new FCC seal was inspired by both the original seal and those of other federal agencies, said FCC IT Project manager Umasankar Arumugam, the new seal’s designer (see 2004300060). Arumugam works for NCI Information Systems, a contractor for the agency. “I wanted to represent all of the current communication technologies in the seal and make the design a little more contemporary, while still borrowing elements from the legacy seal, such as the sky and land concepts represented by satellite and towers,” he emailed: The typography's serif font “is both formal and can evoke a sense of trust, making it ideal for an authoritative seal.” Arumugam worked on the seal during his free time, has designed user experiences for several FCC systems, and worked on Broadband.gov and the FCC Accessibility Clearinghouse, an FCC spokesperson told us.
Stakeholders disagreed how the FCC should update rules on informing state and local governments about disruptions to communications networks, in comments posted through Friday in docket 15-80 (see 2004270046). Communications Workers of America District 7 supports the proposal for access to the network outage reporting system and disaster information reporting system. The need-to-know list should include county and municipal offices of emergency services, said The Utility Reform Network. USTelecom disagrees. "Access by local governments would exponentially increase the number of individuals with access to sensitive information, thus intensifying the potential risks of breaches or inadvertent disclosures," the group said. "As local governments do not directly regulate the reporting entities, there is no compelling reason to allow cities access ... absent special circumstances." CTIA wants safeguards to confidential NORS and DIRS data and "adequate tools" to aid investigations after data breaches. If confidential data can't be protected from public view, Verizon said, "there is a risk that service providers will provide only a bare minimum of responsive information in their outage reports and be far more guarded in their discussions with Commission staff."
The public interest in the FCC disclosing the IP addresses, user-agent headers and related time stamps of net neutrality proceeding comments filed in its electronic comment filing system "is great because the importance of the comment process to agency rulemaking is great." That's according to Judge Lorna Schofield of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in an order Thursday (in Pacer, docket 18-cv-08607) granting a summary judgment motion by New York Times Co. It sued after the agency denied its Freedom of Information Act request for the application programming interface proxy server log containing the requested information (see 1809200023). The order denied an FCC motion for summary judgment and a Times motion for Plaintiffs’ motion for reasonable attorneys’ fees. The commission didn't comment. Litigation "should not have been necessary to get this vital information," emailed Benton Institute Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. "I hope the Commission will now comply promptly rather than drag things out with appeals that will not succeed." Tweeted Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: "It's time for the agency to come clean."
Michigan State University law professor Adam Candeub joined the Commerce Department as deputy assistant NTIA secretary (see 2005010060), making him the agency’s deputy administrator, NTIA said Friday. Doug Kinkoph remains acting administrator “performing the non-exclusive functions and duties” of the assistant secretary of commerce-communications and information, the agency said. Kinkoph has led NTIA since December, when former acting head Diane Rinaldo left (see 1912230065). There hasn’t been a permanent NTIA administrator since former head David Redl left in May 2019 (see 1905090051). Candeub in the past has focused on social media and First Amendment (see 1911150047). Last year, he represented Canadian blogger Meghan Murphy in a lawsuit against Twitter, which had permanently banned her because of tweets about transgender people. He previously worked in the FCC Media and Wireline bureaus. Candeub didn’t comment and referred us to NTIA. Former Charter Communications Group Vice President-Advanced Engineering Jim Medica joined NTIA as a senior adviser. He previously worked from Time Warner, Cisco, MCI and Skadden Arps. After we reported that industry officials believed that former Breitbart reporter Ian Mason joined the agency in a junior policy adviser role, Mason said that was incorrect. He had applied for a job there but decided against accepting a job offer, he said by phone on Sunday. The agency hadn't initially commented on reports of Mason’s appointment. Sunday, it confirmed he's not working there.