The FCC opened docket 20-32, "Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America," it said Monday. Chairman Ajit Pai announced the $9 billion USF rural wireless program in December (see 1912040027).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he plans to seek a vote on an $9 billion 5G fund “in the coming months,” in a Jan. 24 letter to leaders of the House Commerce Committee posted Friday. The Mobility Fund II program, emphasizing 4G, no longer makes sense, Pai said. “5G deployment in rural America is currently in a much more nascent stage,” he said: “The most sensible and efficient approach for determining which areas in rural America will be eligible for a program focused on 5G will likely be different than the optimal approach for determining eligibility for a program focused on 4G LTE.” Pai said the FCC will look closely at which services quality and deployment benchmarks. The MF-II 5-0 commissioners' order "decided that auction winners would have to demonstrate coverage of at least 40 percent by three years, 60 percent by four years, 80 percent by five years, and 85 percent by six years across all areas for which they would receive Mf-II support in a state,” he said.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an item Tuesday for an NPRM implementing Section 13(d) of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (Traced Act) (see 1912310028), per Friday's circulation list. The act requires the FCC to establish a registration process for a neutral, third-party consortium to lead efforts to trace back the origins of suspected unlawful robocalls.
The FCC Disability Advisory Committee will meet Feb. 26 to receive updates from staff and reports from its subcommittees, said a Thursday Federal Register notice. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. EST in Commission Meeting Room.
DOJ scheduled a Feb. 19 workshop on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1912190079). Proponents say 230 allowed the internet to flourish; others fear associated immunity is interpreted too broadly, Justice said Thursday: It “intends to examine these issues and identify and discuss potential solutions.”
The National Digital Inclusion Alliance's FCC comment on Lifeline was incorrectly attributed to a different group (see here and 2001280005).
AT&T reported mixed results Wednesday for Q4, with growth in wireless and declines elsewhere. There were 229,000 postpaid phone net adds. Entertainment reported 945,000 premium TV-subscriber cancellations, an improvement over a nearly 1.2 million loss the same quarter last year. Communications Workers of America slammed AT&T for cutting almost 38,000 jobs since 2018. “AT&T continues to cut jobs and reduce capital expenditures even as the company announced record operating and free cash flow for 2019 and more than $5 billion in stock buybacks in the past four months,” the union said. The telco didn’t comment. Executives stressed overall economics, on a call with analysts, saying the company cut net debt by $20.3 billion throughout 2019. “We'll continue to invest aggressively and at top-tier levels into our core businesses,” CEO Randall Stephenson said: “We expect to invest $20 billion in 2020. Leading in 5G is critical for AT&T, and we're not slowing down. We're more than 75 percent complete on our FirstNet build.” The company has plenty of spectrum to deploy 5G, said President John Stankey. “Our strong spectrum position gives us a leg up and allows us to execute a different 5G deployment strategy than our competitors,” he said: “We have the low and mid-band spectrum to deploy 5G nationwide. We cover 50 million people today and expect to be nationwide" in Q2. Revenue was $46.8 billion, down from $48 billion a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA declined to $14.4 billion, from $15 billion. The quarter ended Dec. 31. “Wireless subscriber growth improved, though not as a result of improved churn as we expected,” NewStreet’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors: “Pay-TV trends were quite a bit worse than we expected, and the path to stabilization in 2020 appears more tenuous. Everything else was a little worse than we expected too.” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett said as AT&T sheds costs, it’s up against two clocks. “One clock is counting down to the next recession,” Moffett told investors: “We don’t know when a recession will come, of course, but when it does, AT&T will have to have reduced its leverage to a sustainable level.” The second “is counting down to the obsolescence of at least two of AT&T’s most important businesses,” WarnerMedia and DirecTV, he said. The stock closed down 4 percent Wednesday at $37.05.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said lawmakers should amend Communications Act Section 706 to prevent potential future abuse of World War II-era language that “allows the president to shut down or take control of ‘any facility or station for wire communication’ if he proclaims ‘that there exists a state or threat of war involving the United States.’” Current law allows suspension of wireless service “not only in a ‘war or threat of war’ but merely if there is a presidential proclamation of a ‘state of public peril’ or simply a ‘disaster or other national emergency,’” Rosenworcel said during a Tuesday speech at the State of the Net conference. “There is no requirement in the law for the president to provide any advance notice to Congress.” The Section 706 language “is undeniably broad,” she said. “If a sitting president wants to shut down the internet or selectively cut off a service, all it takes is an opinion from his attorney general that Section 706 gives him the authority to do so. That’s alarming. Because if you believe there are unspoken norms that would prevent us from using Section 706 this way, let me submit to you that past practice may no longer be the best guide for future behavior. Norms are being broken all the time in Washington and relying on them … is not the best way to go.” DOJ didn't immediately comment.
Dish Network won’t sign any strategic partnerships for its potential wireless business until after a decision by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on states' challenge of T-Mobile's Sprint buy, said Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen in closed-door testimony Dec. 18. Dish had been talking to some of the potential partners for several years, but the deal was “a catalyst for them to engage in more serious and timely discussions,” he testified, according to a redacted transcript (in Pacer) released Tuesday. Dish expects to be "a little larger than Sprint” by 2025, including prepaid and postpaid subscribers but not wholesale customers, he said. Dish’s model shows it could be competitive and generate enough profit and cash flow to grow the business, he said. Plaintiff states in Jan. 15 closing arguments sought to cast doubt on Ergen's "rosy" predictions in the business model he presented in the closed-door testimony (see 2001150077).
An advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing "very much" supports a draft item up for an FCC vote Thursday that would make permanent a pilot allowing at-home call handling for video relay services (see 2001090025). Claude Stout, executive director for Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, told us the trial went well, and the FCC had the needed safeguards. TDI isn't seeking changes to the item's language: "We think it's fine as written," Stout said. The draft order in dockets 03-123 and 10-51 simplifies safeguards, but Stout said it retains important ones, such as requirements that home workstations have locked doors so children can't interrupt a call. Proposed requirements also include sound proofing to protect callers' confidentiality, and a virtual private network connection to a provider's system. Proposed rules don't require a separate home broadband connection dedicated solely to VRS call handling. Home communications assistants would be subject to unannounced home inspections, the draft said. The pilot began in 2017 (see 1711010015), and participants ZVRS and Purple Communications received extensions (see 1910310034). Stout said he expects additional VRS providers to participate in the at-home calling program. The program benefits all, Stout suggested: The FCC's telecommunication relay services fund should have reduced outlays because interpreters would spend less time at call centers and thus be subject to less reimbursement; VRS providers wouldn't need to expand call center operations as often if more employees worked from home; and part-time workers experienced in American Sign Language wouldn't need to commute to call centers, freeing up time to use their signing skills elsewhere in the community such as at schools or churches. Allowing VRS calling assistants to work from home also offers much-needed network redundancy during power outages or other emergencies at a VRS call center, Stout said. Workers at home could take overflow calls if events caused unexpected demand for VRS calls, he added. The program also allows VRS providers to attract skilled interpreters for whom working at a call center isn't a practical option, Stout said.