The FCC will auction off three more high-frequency bands in the second half of 2019, Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday as he unveiled the items for an Aug. 2 commissioners’ meeting. Pai said the meeting will focus on 5G, with draft rules for the first high-band spectrum auctions targeted for a vote. Pai also tentatively plans votes on a draft order to adopt "one-touch, make-ready" pole attachments and bar state and locality moratoriums on network buildouts, a draft order on broadcast ownership diversification through incubators and a draft notice of inquiry on creating a $100 million telehealth pilot program.
The FCC should try harder to thaw the separations freeze, two state members of the Joint Board on Separations and the state chair of the Joint Board on Universal Service said in interviews ahead of NARUC's summer meeting. They complained that the federal side of the Joint Board isn’t engaging to update separations factors set more than 30 years ago and first temporarily frozen in 2001. NARUC members plan to vote next week in Scottsdale, Arizona, on asking the FCC to extend the freeze’s 2018 expiration by two years, and other draft resolutions related to the Lifeline national verifier, IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) and a precision agriculture bill pending in Congress (see 1807030052).
CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
CTIA said the FCC is in no position to determine if any telecom companies are a threat to U.S. security, and it should work with the Department of Homeland Security, which has more expertise in the area. Other commenters also urged caution. The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC has already chilled investment in rural networks. Reply comments were posted this week in docket 18-89 on the NPRM approved 5-0 by commissioners in April (see 1804170038).
Senate GOP leaders are aiming to confirm FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks and Commissioner Brendan Carr to a second full term this week via unanimous consent, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday. The committee advanced Starks' nomination on a voice vote. Senate confirmation of Starks this week is seen possible, in line with expectations Thune was aiming to fast-track the nominee (see 1806200055). Starks would succeed former Mignon Clyburn, who left the commission earlier this month (see 1806070041). Starks would have a term ending in 2022, and Carr's additional five-year term would end in 2023.
Senate GOP leaders are aiming to confirm FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks and Commissioner Brendan Carr to a second full term this week via unanimous consent, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday. The committee advanced Starks' nomination on a voice vote. Senate confirmation of Starks this week is seen possible, in line with expectations Thune was aiming to fast-track the nominee (see 1806200055). Starks would succeed former Mignon Clyburn, who left the commission earlier this month (see 1806070041). Starks would have a term ending in 2022, and Carr's additional five-year term would end in 2023.
Groups that typically would be expected to rally behind FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks have remained mostly quiet in the weeks since President Donald Trump sent the nomination to the Senate (see 1806010072 and 1806040067). That appears to reflect concerns the groups cited soon after Starks emerged in March (see 1803090040) as the likely nominee: with almost no track record and little else to go on, self-described public interest groups and others are reluctant to say too much about the nomination. Starks’ lack of a record is widely viewed as one of his selling points and an important reason the Senate is likely to easily confirm him, communications lawyers and others told us. The Senate Commerce Committee set Starks' confirmation hearing for Wednesday in what's perceived to be a bid to fast-track approval (see 1806120047 and 1806130096).
Groups that typically would be expected to rally behind FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks have remained mostly quiet in the weeks since President Donald Trump sent the nomination to the Senate (see 1806010072 and 1806040067). That appears to reflect concerns the groups cited soon after Starks emerged in March (see 1803090040) as the likely nominee: with almost no track record and little else to go on, self-described public interest groups and others are reluctant to say too much about the nomination. Starks’ lack of a record is widely viewed as one of his selling points and an important reason the Senate is likely to easily confirm him, communications lawyers and others told us. The Senate Commerce Committee set Starks' confirmation hearing for Wednesday in what's perceived to be a bid to fast-track approval (see 1806120047 and 1806130096).
All signs point to an easy Senate confirmation vote for FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, but his lack of a clear public track record on many high-profile telecom policy issues likely portends tough questions from lawmakers in both parties in the weeks ahead, communications officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump at our deadline Monday formally nominated Starks, an Enforcement Bureau assistant chief, to succeed outgoing Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending June 30, 2022. Chairman Ajit Pai and some other commissioners lauded Starks’ selection Friday, though only some directly received a White House announcement about the nomination then (see 1806010072).