A cease and desist letter from President Donald Trump's presidential campaign to broadcasters airing a commercial critical of Trump’s response to COVID-19 is a potential abuse of power, said Common Cause Friday. The letter from the campaign warns that the advertisement is false and misleading, and warns broadcasters they must “cease and desist from airing it immediately to comply with FCC licensing requirements.” The FCC “has no authority to revoke broadcast licenses for airing political advertisements critical of the President’s actions,” said Common Cause Media and Democracy Program Director Yosef Getachew. The FCC, White House and NAB didn’t comment. Thursday, Free Press urged the FCC to force stations airing false information about COVID-19 -- including from Trump’s own news conferences -- to air disclosures and corrections (see 2003260065).
President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (HR-748) Friday, soon after the House voice voted to pass the bill. The Senate passed the measure Wednesday (see 2003260063). HR-748, Congress’ third bill to address the effects of COVID-19, includes telehealth provisions and pandemic-related appropriations for the FCC, Rural Utilities Service and CPB. The measure allows the register of copyrights to temporarily toll, waive, adjust or modify deadline and timing provisions through December 2021 if an executive-declared national emergency disrupts or suspends ordinary copyright system functions. The law gives the register discretion over the reasonableness, scope and severity of the alterations. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., wants additional telecom language in “future legislation.” Congress “must ensure affordable treatment for all, expand distance learning programs and access to the internet for low-income Americans, protect consumers from price gouging and prevent critical services from being shut off during this crisis,” he said. Several other Democrats also want a fourth COVID-19 bill to include broadband capacity and distance learning provisions, including Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. (see 2003250046). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said Congress “must do more … but this bill is an important step in the right direction.” House Commerce ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., hopes “as this public health crisis evolves, we can put the political swords down, focus on finding solutions and prove to the American people that we are in it together.” Commissioner Geoffrey Starks believes the FCC “must do more to advance its own ‘connectivity stimulus,’” including examining “its statutory authority and funding resources and take bold action to respond to the current crisis.” NTCA believes additional legislation should include language from the recently filed Keeping Critical Connections Act (HR-6394/S-3569), said CEO Shirley Bloomfield. HR-6394/S-3569 would set up a $2 billion fund at the FCC to compensate ISPs with fewer than 250,000 customers for providing free or discounted broadband services during the pandemic to low-income households that can't afford to pay their bills. NAB plans to advocate for future COVID-19 bills to include "further relief for broadcasters who keep communities safe with life-saving emergency information and fact-based journalism," said CEO Gordon Smith. ATA, CTA and the Wireless ISP Association also praised HR-748.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks wants a longer deadline extension for comments on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s Mozilla v. FCC net neutrality decision. Given the importance of ensuring broadband connectivity for the most vulnerable to and most active in the COVID-19 response, the agency needs feedback on how its net neutrality decision affects Lifeline participants and public safety, he said Wednesday. Noting the continually shifting crisis, California's Santa Clara County emailed us it "didn't know yet" whether it might seek a further deadline extension. The county was among the parties seeking a 30-day extension, and the FCC said Wednesday it will grant a 21-day one (see 2003250041).
Lobbying continues on the 6 GHz item expected to get a commissioner vote in April (see 2003190051). The 5G Automotive Association said rules must protect cellular vehicle to everything in the upper 5.9 GHz band. “The modest safeguards 5GAA requests are necessary -- particularly at this point in time, when the full uses of portable unlicensed [very low power] operations in the 6 GHz band remain largely unknown,” the group said. Filings were posted Thursday in docket 18-295. CableLabs, Charter and Comcast told Office of Engineering and Technology staff low-power indoor operations across the entire band “at an 8 dBm/MHz radiated power spectral density (PSD) will unleash unparalleled innovation with the deployment of Wi-Fi 6 and future generations such as Wi-Fi 7, which will bring multi-gigabit, high compute connectivity, and support the continued expansion of broadband performance for Americans in communities of all sizes.” CTIA and member companies argued (see 2003050058) for exploring licensed use of the upper part of the spectrum, in a call with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, plus Wireless Bureau and OET staff. The U.S. “needs to double its licensed mid-band spectrum to keep up with leading nations,” CTIA said. Qualcomm said the rules must be technology neutral. Without a rule ensuring equal access “asynchronous nodes can starve synchronous nodes, particularly in dense environments where this new unlicensed band is needed most, and thus curtail the demonstrated performance benefits of synchronous access, including greatly improved throughput and latency,” the company said.
The FCC is soliciting nominations for a new advisory committee focused on stopping robocalls to hospitals, said a public notice Wednesday. The Hospital Robocall Protection Group will work to issue best practices for carriers to combat such calls, and how hospitals can protect themselves. It stems from the Traced Act. “Health care facilities are critically important, especially in the face of the current pandemic, and the last thing they should have to worry about is receiving robocalls that distract,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The group will have an equal number of representatives from hospitals, voice providers that serve hospitals, robocall mitigation companies, consumer groups, VoIP providers, state government officials, and one member each from the FCC and FTC. Best practices are expected to be issued within 180 days of the group’s establishment. Nominations are due “as soon as possible” but by May 1 (see the release).
Former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell tweeted Tuesday that he has been hospitalized for the second time with “double pneumonia and likely #COVID19.” McDowell, now a partner at Cooley, tweeted Saturday that he likely had the disease and said Sunday he had been released from the hospital after three days. Cooley didn't comment Wednesday. McDowell's tweet Tuesday asked readers not to text or tweet him but said prayers were welcome. Many said they were doing just that.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., urged ISPs and wireless carriers Tuesday to temporarily make available as much data as possible to customers amid increased reliance on home networks during the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted many ISPs agreed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s call for them to keep everyone online during the epidemic (see 2003130066), but “more can be done.” Increasing “data caps for hotspots is the fastest way to connect Americans temporarily who do not have Wi-Fi at home,” Walden said. That “temporary action can fill the gap during this crisis,” but “it could cause network congestion in the long-term if everyone were to rely on this access. We must not lose sight of the bigger problem: the need to deploy broadband in the long-term.” The “broadband divide has never come more clearly into focus than now where states, including Oregon, are saying online school work won’t count in part because not all students have access to broadband,” he said. CTIA didn't comment.
Increase Lifeline support, some 250 groups asked the FCC Monday. United Church of Christ, Public Knowledge, NAACP and others want to "immediately prohibit disconnections of Lifeline consumers," require providers to offer unlimited voice and texting plans and commensurate voice-only financial support, and create an emergency Lifeline broadband benefit. "The Commission has ample precedent to take this action," the groups said, citing actions taken after Hurricane Katrina. Eliminate the non-usage rule and continue to waive recertification and reverification requirements "for the full length of the emergency," they said. Give low-income households $50 monthly (see 2003230042) "to fill in the gaps once the initial corporate commitments for 60 days of free service end," they asked.
The FCC is expected to issue an order soon delaying one or more filing deadlines during COVID-19. Commissioner Brendan Carr said last week relief may be on the way (see 2003190049). The FCC has delayed deadlines in the past when the government closed. Here, the delay would help commenters caught up in the pandemic. An extension is expected soon on the FCC’s net neutrality refresh, with filings now due April 29, after various groups complained (see 2003120070) because one topic is how the reclassification of broadband service affects public safety, a key issue to state and local governments dealing with the coronavirus, industry officials said. Unclear is whether the FCC will extend other deadlines.
The FCC is rechartering its World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee for another two-year term, the agency said Friday, effective April 2. The committee oversees industry work in preparation for the conference, next scheduled for 2023.