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).
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.