The FCC set-top box proposal is “a play for the FCC to get its hooks into video apps,” said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a speech to the New Jersey Broadcasters Association released Monday. “It would be harmful for almost every type of business involved in producing or distributing video content today.” The FCC plan (see 1606270069) would devalue content and expose it to theft, O'Rielly told the association Thursday: “The good news is that many parties, including NAB, are doing a very effective job raising these concerns in Washington. ... There is still time for the Commission to reverse its course, and I sincerely hope that it will do so.” O'Rielly also said the FCC should work to eliminate pirate radio: “The Commission must do all that it can to increase enforcement efforts and protect licensed radio stations from these insidious harmful operators.” O'Rielly said he's meeting with legislators “to change current law as it pertains to pirate radio, including addressing those people or companies that facilitate pirate stations via housing and funds, increasing the fines and penalties for violators, and easing the process for seizing pirate equipment.” O'Rielly said arguments that pirate radio addresses underserved segments of the population or provides opportunities for minorities should be disregarded. “Our society is not one in which citizens are permitted to pick and choose which laws they want to follow and ignore the others,” O'Rielly said. “We are not a candy shop.”
The world should look at making as many bands available as possible for wireless broadband, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Monday in a keynote speech posted by the agency. “I humbly suggest that we put as many bands as possible on the table to determine whether individually or collectively they can be used for dynamic, new wireless offerings,” O’Rielly told the Broadband for All seminar in Stockholm. “For each band, we must look at the incumbent uses and study whether sharing is possible without causing harmful interference to current offerings. There is the risk that such an approach leads to unnecessary work. In the short term, that may be accurate but this won’t be the last pass at this project.” Some bands may not pan out when given a closer look, O’Rielly said. “This isn’t a failure,” he said. “It is simply part of the process of ensuring effective spectrum policy and identifying the bands that may be used for wireless.” O’Rielly said he favors licensing spectrum where possible, but a mix of licensed and unlicensed is necessary. “Both licensed and unlicensed are represented in our current spectrum initiatives,” he said. O’Rielly said he regrets that other nations didn't agree on the need to study more high-frequency bands for wireless broadband during last year’s World Radiocommunication Conference. The FCC will soon approve rules making the 28, 37 and 39 GHz bands available on a licensed basis and the 64 to 71 GHz band for unlicensed (see 1606240026). Work remains, O'Rielly said. “While each and every detail may not be flushed out and further comment may be necessary on some issues, it appears that we are headed in the right direction and that these bands will soon be available for wireless use.” Experts agree the four bands won’t provide enough spectrum and the FCC needs to start looking at other high-frequency bands “now,” O’Rielly said. How successful the TV incentive auction will be remains unclear, he said. The main question now is whether the forward auction “can raise enough money to cover the cost of buying ... broadcasters,” he said. “At this point, we do not know how expensive it will be to acquire the broadcast spectrum. Today, rounds 46, 47 and 48 will take place, and this first stage of the broadcast -- or reverse -- auction is likely to conclude sometime this week.” O’Rielly also questioned how successful the U.S. will be in selling spectrum licenses in the 3.5 GHz shared band. The rules don’t help, he said. The FCC decided to license the spectrum by census tracts, “of which there are more than 74,000 across the U.S.,” he said. “Unlike in past auctions, it is unlikely that entities will be looking for nationwide footprints or even be willing or have the capability to bid on 74,000 licenses.” The FCC examination of the special access market could slow 5G deployment, he said. “While promoting wireline expansion is tough, the Commission has taken steps that are counterintuitive and likely to slow wireline backhaul expansion,” O’Rielly said. “The Commission’s recent proceeding to regulate special access will force providers to rethink deployment plans. Why would any provider continue to buildout wireline networks and provide backhaul knowing that the Commission intends to regulate their rates?”
The FCC circulated a draft inquiry on whether advanced telecom capability (ATC) is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely way -- along with possible steps to speed deployment -- pursuant to Section 706 of the Telecom Act. That is according to the agency's items-on-circulation list, which was updated Friday. An informed source said Monday that it would be surprising if there are major changes proposed to last year's Section 706 notice, including to the commission's 25/3 Mbps benchmark for fixed service. The commission in its February report found the pace of ATC deployment was inadequate to meet the statutory standard (see 1601280064). It also said "broadband" wasn't the same as ATC but was key to meeting the Section 706 test (see 1602010038). FCC spokespersons didn't comment Monday.
Bidding in the reverse phase of the incentive auction is expected to end Wednesday, according to the FCC Public Reporting System. Though the final round of the auction was expected to be round 52, the bidding schedule includes two additional rounds, 53 and 54. The additional rounds may not be needed, but are on the schedule to address the possibility of stations moving from UHF to the VHF band or staying in the VHF band that may not have been able to be placed by the auction system prior to those rounds, an FCC spokesman told us. BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk also forecast Monday the imminent conclusion of the reserve auction. The end of the first stage will only trigger a disclosure by the FCC on the initial “bogey” that will have to be topped in order to end the auction, Piecyk wrote. “The size of the bogey will provide some indication of how long the auction could last and how much cash broadcasters could take home,” he said. “However, the bogey is not an indicator on the value of spectrum or what wireless operators are willing to spend. After the bogey is set, our next data points will not start to hit until the end of July, when we expect the forward auction to begin, allowing the wireless operators and Comcast to start bidding on spectrum.” To close, bids in the forward auction must be high enough to pay for the provisional winning bids from the reverse auction plus $1.75 billion of clearing costs and a small amount to cover FCC administrative costs, he wrote. Guesses on the size of the bogey are “all over the map” and BTIG isn’t predicting, Piecyk said. “Consensus for the forward auction appears to remain around $30 billion.”
FCC attorneys hailed a ruling upholding the net neutrality order but weren't keen about the possibility they may have to defend further broadband reclassifications under the Communications Act if there's a change in agency leadership. "It was a great victory that we hope will last a good long time and won't be subject to further [court] review," said FCC Associate General Counsel Jacob Lewis at an FCBA seminar Thursday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently upheld net neutrality rules and reclassification of broadband internet access service as a Title II telecom service (see 1606140023). Asked about the possibility a Republican-run FCC could again reclassify broadband and return to the Title I information service classification, Lewis called it "an interesting question" and said the agency faces some additional burden when it changes its mind. Initial service classification decisions are easier, as reclassification decisions have to deal with "more water under the bridge," he said. Deputy Associate General Counsel Richard Welch said FCC attorneys were "comfortable litigating" one FCC broadband change of mind, but he suggested additional reclassifications could create more difficulties. Lewis added, "Hopefully, we don't change our minds so often" that courts review "our ability to change our mind."
The Association of Global Automakers/Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers petition seeking tighter out-of-band emissions from U-NII-3 (5.725-5.85 GHz) band-enabled devices fails because the automakers had plenty of time to comment when the FCC was considering revisions to the rules and because the automaker groups don't show any significant error in agency thinking when it loosened those OOBE limits earlier this year, said a coalition of technology and public interest groups in a filing posted Friday in docket 13-49. The relief the automaker groups seek would unnecessarily harm Wi-Fi in the U-NII-3 band, they said, and an alternative route to addressing auto industry interference concerns would be to move vehicle-to-vehicle crash-avoidance applications from channel 172 to the upper portion of the U-NII-4 band. "This is the perfect moment to make this change" since dedicated short-range communications crash-avoidance device deployment is in its infancy and that relocation would have minimal effect on DSRC, they said. The filers also said stronger OOBE restrictions on heavily used U-NII-3 "would be far more burdensome" than modifying future DSRC plans in channel 172. The joint filers were Aerohive Networks, Broadcom, Charter Communications, Open Technology Institute at New America, Public Knowledge and Ruckus Wireless. In a separate filing, the Information Technology Industry Council also backed rejecting the auto industry petition, saying safety uses of the band deserve protection, but current rules and testing procedures are more than adequate, and the petitioners didn't raise any new interference evidence. If automakers' groups were caught by surprise by the proceeding, "it can only be due to their own lack of attention" since multiple parties' petitions for reconsideration and comments made clear the OOBE limits might be revisited, NCTA said in opposition to the petition. NCTA called the petition "riddled with unsupported assumptions and logical gaps" and echoed the call for moving automakers' devices to the safety channel in the upper U-NII-4 band, which would allow for more efficient U-NII-4 sharing. The auto groups didn't comment Friday. Other interests earlier last week also sided with the telecom groups (see 1606230063).
Reconsideration petitions on the FCC much-debated Lifeline order rained into the commission Friday. The agency received petitions from CTIA, NASUCA, NTCA, USTelecom and others in docket 11-42. “There are aspects of the Order where the Commission ignored requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), unnecessarily increased administrative burdens, as well as areas where the Commission should have been clearer,” USTelecom said. The FCC didn’t provide enough notice for changes to the carrier recertification process or port freeze requirements in the order, it said. The wireline association said the FCC should reconsider the effective date of the streamlined federal eligibility criteria and obligation to offer Lifeline broadband internet access service (BIAS) requirements. USTelecom said the date should be delayed until Dec. 31, 2017, or 12 months after Office of Management and Budget approval of the order, whichever is later: “A December 1st obligation to offer Lifeline broadband does not allow adequate time to modify systems to identify those locations where Lifeline broadband must be made available.” Among other requested changes, USTelecom urged reconsideration of the FCC decision that voice should continue to be supported in census blocks with a single Lifeline provider. And it should reconsider the exception to its minimum standard requirements for fixed providers that haven’t deployed broadband networks in specific geographic areas, it said. Also, the commission should reverse its decision that high-cost carriers with state eligible telecom carrier designations are subject to BIAS Lifeline obligations, it said. In a joint petition, NTCA and WTA also urged the FCC to reconsider the exception to the fixed broadband minimum speed standard, saying “it represents a failure to properly leverage the High cost universal service program and will inadvertently punish certain low-income rural consumers.” The FCC should reconsider phasing out support for voice-only service, and exempt rural Lifeline providers using satellite backhaul from the 150 GB minimum usage allowance standard, they said. CTIA asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to set long-term minimum capacity standards for mobile broadband at 70 percent of the average mobile data usage per household. “The record raises serious questions about whether the 70 percent average of mobile data usage per-household standard adequately accounts for the affordability of Lifeline broadband service for the lowest-income consumers who otherwise would stand to benefit the most from the Commission’s recent modifications to the Lifeline program,” CTIA said. NASUCA urged reconsideration of the decision to remove Lifeline support for stand-alone voice services and said the agency failed to adopt regulations so that customers who can’t afford bundled services can maintain basic voice service, failed to require payment arrangements for backup power for Lifeline customers, and failed to require USF contribution from broadband services. NARUC has challenged the Lifeline order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 1606030053).
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Ajit Pai agreed on one thing at Friday's press conference following the agency's monthly meeting: The commission will move ahead with its regulatory agenda in the wake of its net neutrality court victory. Responding to a reporter's question, Wheeler denied the agency was slowing down or backing off on its plans for big-ticket items such as broadband privacy, special access, cable set-top boxes and media ownership. But he wouldn't say whether particular items would come before or after the November election, other than a media ownership proposal that he said will come this month: "We will move them as they become ripe. We just extended the privacy reply comment period, and I'm not going to say it is going to have to be done by the second Tuesday in November or by Thanksgiving or whatever the case may be." Asked a similar question, O'Rielly and Pai said they didn't see any evidence of an FCC slowdown or shift, other than a possible compromise on cable boxes. "It does take time for those items to materialize," O'Rielly said. "I'm fully anticipating those issues we talked about are coming; it's just a matter of when. I believe privacy is going to happen before the election." Pai also said the "ideological views" of Democratic FCC majority remain strong and he expects it's moving ahead on the major items. Neither Republican was willing to predict the ultimate outcome of the net neutrality litigation, but Pai said he expects critics of the order to appeal. O'Rielly suggested supporters of the net neutrality and broadband reclassification order could "be a little more magnanimous in their approach, rather than cheerleading and running around celebrating." He said the court didn't say it agreed with what the FCC did, just that it was deferring to its decision-making under Chevron deference. Opening the news conference, Wheeler thanked and lauded fellow Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn, plus FCC staff, for putting together the net neutrality order, and the agency's attorneys for defending it in court.
The FCC hasn't made any decisions on zero-rated services, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said during a news conference Friday. Protesters outside FCC headquarters Friday pressed for action, as expected (see 1606230065). The FCC didn’t put specific language on zero rating in last year’s net neutrality order despite pressure to do so, Wheeler said. “The issue of zero rating is … broad and it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation,” he said. “We’re collecting information, as I’ve been telling you for months. We’re in ongoing discovery mode.” Wheeler has offered a similar answer several times in the past. Wheeler said he appreciated the “input” from the pro-net neutrality groups “and all the other input that we have gotten on the topic.” Consumers, "not government, should choose what plans and services they want," said Brad Gillen, executive vice president of CTIA. "Surveys routinely show that the vast majority of Americans want free data so they can use more content and services without it counting against their data plans.” The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council expressed concerns about the zero-rating protests. "Innovation and competition in the form of free data practices are significant tools in the struggle to connect Americans who cannot afford to pay for the full Internet experience," said MMTC President Kim Keenan. "To keep the internet affordable for consumers who are heavily reliant on mobile devices as their only gateway, we need the FCC to carefully explore the public interest benefits before interrupting free data practices. Otherwise, these consumers will lose."
The state of Globalstar's broadband terrestrial low-power broadband system (TLPS) remains in limbo, with two FCC commissioners having yet to vote. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Friday he hasn't voted on or made up his mind about Globalstar. An agency official tells us likewise for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel voted no (see 1606030041). Asked after the commissioners' meeting Friday about the likelihood of changing his vote, Pai said the Globalstar issue "involves a fundamental question: Do we want to grant special rights to a particular company to unlicensed spectrum? I think the answer should be no ... the agency has not bestowed largess upon a competitor in that space." Meanwhile, Globalstar continues to lobby the FCC on approval, with the company repeatedly talking to the agency about the possibility of opportunistic sharing of Wi-Fi channel 14 where TLPS isn't otherwise deployed. A big part of any such approach would be Globalstar's network operating system protecting the company's mobile satellite service and other services from interference, the company said in an ex parte filing Thursday in docket 13-213. Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute and, separately, the Wireless ISP Association pushed for that condition on Globalstar's TLPS plans (see 1606140020), and Globalstar discussed the idea at other recent lobbying meetings. The ex parte filing recapped a meeting with Chairman Tom Wheeler aide Edward Smith.