CTIA questioned the legality of proposed backup power rules and other resiliency measures Friday. The California Public Utilities Commission proposed requiring 72-hour backup for all essential communications equipment (see 2003090026). The wireless industry thinks that's “overly prescriptive, unmoored from the record, impossible to achieve, and places the burden on wireless carriers to maintain power to their networks regardless of the severity of adverse conditions, such as those that prevent electric utilities from maintaining commercial power,” said comments in docket R.18-03-011. Santa Clara County supported requiring 72-hour backup power. In October, the county had one 66-hour outage and another was 94 hours, and Pacific Gas and Electric has promised future outages will be shorter, the locality said. The requirement could be longer than 72 hours, suggested a rural counties group. “It cannot be acceptable for 9-1-1 or emergency notification services to go dark for any period.” The Communications Workers of America said voluntary commitments aren’t enough.
Lawyer Russell Lukas of Lukas LaFuria appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit a lower court's dismissal of his lawsuit against the FCC over a Freedom of Information Act request, per a court entry Friday (docket 19-cv-00465, in Pacer). Lukas sued in 2019 after a FOIA request netted most of a Windstream filing with Universal Service Administrative Co., not a redacted exhibit. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in March in favor of FCC motions to dismiss. The agency didn't comment Friday.
The FCC and FTC told USTelecom gateway providers facilitating robocalls preying on COVID-19 fears would have all calls blocked to U.S. phone network traffic if they don't stop transmitting the robocalls within 48 hours, in a letter Friday to CEO Jonathan Spalter. The USTelecom Industry Traceback Group identified VoIPMax from the Philippines and Oberlo Peer BPO from Pakistan as originators, the letter said. The FTC sent cease and desist letters to SipJoin, Connexum and VoIP Terminator/BL Marketing. In a statement Friday, Spalter said, “Robocall scammers are out in force during this public health emergency, using COVID-19 to prey on vulnerable consumers. As soon as these scams started popping up, we began aggressively tracing them -- literally around the world." Gateway providers have a choice, said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. "Move forward as responsible network providers or see themselves cut off from the phone system. ... To any other service provider that’s carrying or is thinking of carrying such traffic, be warned: If you do so, you too will find yourselves excluded from our phone system.” The FTC "will not stand for illegal robocallers that harm the public, particularly in the middle of a health crisis,” said Chairman Joe Simons. The number of robocalls "is INSANE," tweeted Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. "It shouldn’t have taken this crisis for the FCC and FTC to join forces to do something about it. But it’s a good thing it’s happening. Because scam calls are multiplying during this pandemic and stopping them at the source is vital."
An FCC draft says advanced telecom capability is deployed to Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, an agency official told us Friday. An FCC spokesperson declined to comment. The annual broadband report circulated March 30, the circulation list said Friday. In comments last fall on a notice of inquiry for the 15th Communications Act Section 706 report, industry asked the FCC to stay the course (see 1911250002). Under statutory guidelines, the report should be issued by April 20. Last year's report missed its deadline due to bad data (see 1903060034) that was later corrected but not without controversy.
U.S. communications networks are holding up under increased demand during a pandemic, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday, after a conference call with industry groups and companies. He said providers report network usage up 20-35% for fixed networks and 10-20% for cellular networks in recent weeks, with increased demand in suburban, exurban and residential areas and during daytime. He said no providers expressed concern about their networks' capacity. Pai said the resilience is "in part to networks being designed to handle ever-higher peak traffic loads and in part to a market-based regulatory framework that has promoted infrastructure investment and deployment." He said the agency will "continue to closely monitor the situation." The FCC said the call was with ACA Connects, the Cloud Communications Alliance, Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, Incompas, NCTA, NTCA, Rural Wireless Association, Satellite Industry Association, Wireless ISP Association, Western Telecommunications Alliance, Altice, AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated Communications, Comcast, Cox, Dish Network, Frontier, Hughes, Mediacom, Northwest Fiber, Sprint, T-Mobile, TDS, TracFone, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, ViaSat and Windstream. President Donald Trump spoke similarly this week with major ISPs (see 2003310070).
FCC-proposed Media Bureau reorganization (see 2003300052) will likely be approved on circulation before the May meeting, an agency official said in an interview this week. That and other officials said the reorganization is an administrative formality, combining the Engineering Division with the Industry Analysis Division, after last year's creation of the Office of Economics and Analytics resulted in IAD economists and analysts moving to OEA. Employees' roles won't change, but the two MB divisions have some natural symmetry in who they report to, we were told. The agency emailed us that the changes would "integrat[e] MB’s technical expertise with its adjudicatory matters and policy making proceedings. The consolidation would serve the public interest and improve the Commission’s operations to streamline the organization of the Media Bureau." Fewer MB personnel post-OEA creation is emblematic of longer-term staffing trends. The agency's FY 2020 budget request estimated 133 full-time equivalents for the bureau. Two years before, it was 153, and in 2013, it was 181.
Litigation may be next for T-Mobile and the California Public Utilities Commission, after the carrier closed on buying Sprint without OK (see 2004010069). Assigned Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen ruled Wednesday that T-Mobile and Sprint may not combine California operations until after the PUC issues a final decision. Both carriers “have California subsidiaries that are public utility telephone corporations under state law, and subject to the jurisdiction of this agency,” so merging California operations needs commission OK, the commissioner wrote in docket A.18-07-011. T-Mobile didn’t comment Thursday. Litigation is certain, blogged Tellus Venture Associates President Steve Blum, predicting the carriers will ignore the order. “T-Mobile says its mobile business isn’t governed by California law. Rechtschaffen says it is, and it’s a good bet his fellow commissioners agree.” The agency “could sue to enforce its claimed jurisdiction over wireless mergers,” American Enterprise Institute Daniel Lyons blogged Thursday. “Even if it won, it would be difficult to unwind the merger.” Stakes “may be higher than simply California’s ability to attach conditions to the deal,” he said. “Other states may be satisfied with the law’s present ambiguity and have reason to fear a court battle that might limit state authority further.” Communications Workers of America slammed closing early, commenting to seek conditions to preserve jobs, current pay levels and employee rights. The California Emerging Technology Fund mostly supported the CPUC’s proposed conditional OK, asking the commission make the carriers' commitments to CETF enforceable and scale back some new proposed conditions. Proposed conditions aren’t enforceable and don’t mitigate anti-competitive effects, commented CPUC’s Public Advocates Office. They don’t protect universal service, said The Utility Reform Network. The deal would harm communities of color, said the Greenlining Institute.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended E-rate deadlines to alleviate administrative burdens on school administrators transitioning to online learning and libraries dealing with COVID-19, it said Wednesday on docket 02-6. The order extends one year to June 30, 2021, the service implementation deadline for special construction for all funding year 2019 applicants and to Sept. 30, 2021, for nonrecurring services for FY 2019. It grants schools and libraries an automatic 60-day extension to file requests for review or waiver of Universal Service Administrative Co. decisions; gives an automatic 120-day extension of invoice filing deadline; and allows an additional 30-day extension to respond to certain USAC information requests. Last month, the bureau directed USAC to extend the deadline for FY 2020 E-rate applications to April 29, and temporarily waived gift rules (see 2003180054).
The canceled NAB Show would have been April 18-22. See our calendar.
Wednesday was Census Day, FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks reminded. Rosenworcel tweeted a phone number for those lacking broadband. Many libraries that had planned to provide access during the first largely online census (see 2001120001) closed due to the pandemic. The Census Bureau said Friday it's temporarily suspending in-person interviews. “Americans can fill out the census online until August 14 -- but only if they have access to the internet," Starks told us in a statement. "Anything we do now to get Americans connected on an emergency basis as part of the COVID-19 response will also help increase online census participation. It’s another good reason why we need to get a connectivity stimulus.” While a third of households responded to the census, "we have a long way to go, made more difficult by the coronavirus,” emailed Rosenworcel. “The Census Bureau’s field operations are on hold for the moment, but once we get through the worst of this crisis, they will need to direct those resources to where responses are lagging and internet access is scarce. So, the FCC should do everything within its power to assist the Census Bureau.”