The FCC Wireless Bureau and the Office of Native Affairs and Policy are "ready to provide assistance" to potential applicants in the 2.5 GHz rural tribal priority window as they apply for unassigned frequencies on eligible rural tribal lands, said a public notice Monday on docket 18-120. The window is Feb. 4-Aug. 3 (see 1910180068). The staff will provide individualized guidance via RuralTribalWindow@fcc.gov or by phone. Information is at www.fcc.gov/RuralTribalWindow. The FCC has a mapping tool at www.fcc.gov/25-ghz-rural-tribal-maps. Applications and associated shapefiles will be placed on PN for review and comment after the filing window.
America’s Communications Association and NTCA urged the FCC to reject a request to lower the proposed 100/20 Mbps tier in its upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to 100/10. "The commission will not achieve the objective of reasonable comparability" under USF standards "by cutting in half the upload speed for one of the highest performance tiers from the previous auction to a level that is less than 25 percent of the average upload speed today," said the groups in a letter Monday for docket 19-126. USTelecom filed several ex parte letters on the RDOF docket, including one Friday. Fiber-to-the-home "should be supported but the commission must strike the right balance to cover more rural American locations with speeds well in excess of the baseline," it said: Adding a 50/5 Mbps tier "would allow providers to serve broad geographic areas with speeds twice the baseline" and adjusting the upload requirement to 100/10 "would cut the cost of service by half, freeing up more funding for more broadband across rural America."
With Citigroup holding a financial conference in Las Vegas Tuesday and Wednesday during CES, analyst Michael Rollins said he expects a mostly positive message from the companies participating. “Wireless should have another solid quarter of postpaid net add volumes and revenue growth within the industry, while longer-term competitive risks remain,” Rollins told investors Friday: “We expect positive commentary from Verizon as well as T-Mobile on postpaid volumes, while AT&T is likely to focus on the prospects to improve performance in 2020 after mixed metrics in 2019.” Residential broadband “seems to be trending positively” this quarter, he said. “The outlook for the wireless industry structure remains uncertain with the ongoing Court case brought by the State [attorneys general] to block the proposed T-Mobile and Sprint merger,” Rollins said. “We expect a lot of ‘what if’ questions to be asked of the management teams,” he said.
The Wireless ISP Association and Wireless Communications Association said the FCC should reject a Nov. 25 petition by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and others seeking changes to rules for the 2.5 GHz band. Commissioners approved revised rules for the educational broadband service band in July, with Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks dissenting (see 1907100054). The petition “fails to identify any material error, omission, or reason warranting reconsideration,” WISPA said in docket 18-120, posted Friday: “Petitioners’ efforts to maintain vestiges of the existing rules find little or no support in the record” and the use of the EBS never developed as expected. “The fundamental question at issue in the 2.5 GHz" order "is whether it makes sense in 2020 to maintain a restrictive licensing regime in the 2.5 GHz band that has resulted in 95 percent of the spectrum being leased from educators to commercial entities,” WCA said: “Today, commercial operators support nearly all of the deployments.”
FCC national security supply chain rules barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from networks funded by the USF take effect Friday, with Federal Register publication. Commissioners approved the order 5-0 at their November meeting (see 1911220033). Comments on the initial designations of Huawei and ZTE as covered companies are due Feb. 3 in docket 19-352. A Further NPRM seeks comment on additional actions. “The Commission proposes to require [eligible telecommunications carriers] receiving USF support to remove and replace covered equipment and services from their network operations,” the FNPRM says: “To mitigate the impact on affected entities, and in particular small, rural entities, the Commission proposes to establish a reimbursement program to offset reasonable transition costs. The Commission proposes to make the requirement to remove covered equipment and services by ETCs contingent on the availability of a funded reimbursement program.” Comments are due Feb. 3, replies March 3. Huawei and ZTE didn't comment Thursday.
The U.S. had a successful World Radiocommunication Conference, NTIA acting Administrator Doug Kinkoph said in a year-end blog post. “Nearly a dozen NTIA employees were part of a U.S. delegation that secured important agreements on 5G allocations in the ‘millimeter wave’ spectrum,” Kinkoph said Tuesday: “The delegation’s success at this conference will directly benefit U.S. industries as they seek to maintain and advance American technology leadership across the globe.” Others, including FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, said the conference had mixed results for the U.S. (see 1912180045).
The internet access provider industry "is doomed" if IAPs end up liable for $100,000 per user-downloaded copyright infringement, Santa Clara University Director-High Tech Law Institute professor Eric Goldman blogged Monday, citing the $1 billion jury verdict (in Pacer, docket 18-cv-950) earlier this month awarded in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, in a music industry suit against Cox Communications. He said Cox undoubtedly will appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said IAPs being hit with secondary copyright liability claims stems from "a breakdown in the détente" associated with the failed Copyright Alert System, and that solution, while "terrible," was better than standards courts keep suggesting. "The judgement is unwarranted, unjust and an egregious amount." Cox emailed. "Today, you can download a song for a dollar. This judgement is for nearly $100,000 per song. We plan to appeal the case and vigorously defend ourselves. We provide customers with a powerful tool that connects to a world full of content and information. Unfortunately, some customers have chosen to use that connection for wrongful activity. We don’t condone it, we educate on it and we do our best to help curb it, but we shouldn’t be held responsible for the bad actions of others.”
Comments are due Jan. 29, replies Feb. 28, on call blocking issues, said a Monday notice by the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau in docket 17-59. On Dec. 20 the bureau sought comment on “the availability and effectiveness of call blocking tools offered to consumers, the impact of the Commission’s actions on illegal calls, and the impact of call blocking on 911 services and public safety.” The bureau plans to use the comments to the commission’s first staff report on call blocking (see 1912200017). A June declaratory ruling allows carriers to block telecommunications traffic without a consumer request (see 1906060056).
Democratic 2020 presidential hopeful Andrew Yang said Sunday he wants to address “the race to deploy 5G,” which he believes is “a race [the U.S.] must win” against China and other competitors. Yang tweeted he wants to “scale up federal investments and coordination [in 5G] and fund the training and apprenticeship of tens of thousands of technicians.” He also tied the 5G issue into his proposal for a $1,000 monthly universal basic income, saying that would ensure “we all are in better position to benefit from and participate in our shared progress. 5G would have massive ramifications on the economy and workforce.” Yang’s main tech policy focus in the presidential campaign has been highlighting his concerns with China having a significant edge over the U.S. in artificial intelligence because of Chinese government investment (see 1912200062).
The pre-Christmas announcement of Ivanka Trump's CES keynote appearance next week (see 1912230018) drew frenzied tech-industry responses, many opposed, others in favor. "Here are the facts,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro on Facebook. Trump, a White House adviser, “volunteers to serve her country," with a focus on women's advancement, entrepreneurship and training Americans in skills the tech industry needs to fill vacant jobs, he said. Trump has worked in support of extended parental leave for federal workers, he said. She's also a “passionate advocate for entrepreneurs and the competitive market,” he said. The CES "focus on and commitment to entrepreneurs and 1300+ entrepreneurs exhibiting in Eureka Park" make Trump a "logical" federal government choice to speak at the Las Vegas show, he said. Shapiro met recently with her at the White House, discussing the future benefits of artificial intelligence, self-driving and other technologies, he said. She “challenged me that all this great technology is also causing millions of ordinary Americans unease about the future of their jobs,” he said. “She said our industry should do something about it and she challenged us and others to hire and reskill Americans to commit to training and hiring Americans.” On partisan comments assailing Trump as a CES keynoter, Shapiro said: “My sadness is that hatred blinds and divides us." Many of the comments he has seen about her speaking at CES, he said, "are derogatory, sexist and misogynist about a person who did not choose her father but is doing the best she can to use her brains and business experience to make our nation better.” Some commenters posted on Twitter and Facebook that they would not be attending CES because of Trump's participation (see here, here and here). Others praised the decision to invite her (see here and here).