The FCC and FTC would get their FY 2018 funding requests in the Senate Appropriations Committee bill released Monday. The committee allocated $322 million for the FCC, and $306.3 million for the FTC. The measure "puts the Senate in a position to find consensus on policies and funding to improve their overall operation,” said committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss. The House in September passed its funding bill HR-3354 also granting the agencies' funding requests (see 1709140063).

The FCC's Dec. 14 agenda will include "a concrete solution" for twilight towers, with the aim of streamlining wireless infrastructure deployment, Commissioner Brendan Carr tweeted Tuesday. He said the item, if adopted, will allow next-generation wireless deployments on towers. Twilight towers are towers built between 2001 and 2006 and that didn't necessarily go through review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act because the agency hadn't yet provided guidance on compliance. In a statement, Carr said the item would pave the way to excluding collocations on twilight towers from routine historic preservation review, treating them the same as older towers already similarly excluded.

Sprint and Indiana settled their dispute over costs of the 800 MHz rebanding that the state claims weren't fully reimbursed by the carrier (see 1710310041), said a joint request posted Friday in FCC docket 02-55. Sprint and Indiana expect to ask the FCC to dismiss the matter by year-end, but in the meantime want to postpone commencement of prehearing procedures for “not more than a month” to document the settlement and seek dismissal with prejudice.

Microsoft is coordinating TV white space deployments in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to help restore connectivity that has been down since hurricanes Maria and Irma. In the mountainous Utuado area of Puerto Rico, that spectrum has been used to re-establish connectivity to a food distribution site, a health clinic and the University of Puerto Rico, Technology and Corporate Responsibility General Manager Shelley McKinley blogged Monday. Those sites also are to act as internet hot spots for the community, it said. White spaces also reconnected city hall in Humacao, Puerto Rico, and a variety of sites in the Virgin Islands in St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas, it said, adding the spectrum is soon to be deployed in Barranquitas and San Lorenzo in Puerto Rico. Microsoft said the work is being done in conjunction with internet connectivity nongovernmental organization NetHope, government agencies, local ISPs and local TV broadcasters.

Four items approved at Thursday's FCC meeting were released by Monday afternoon -- orders on ATSC 3.0, media ownership, robocalling and wireless infrastructure. The agency released items on ATSC 3.0 and media ownership Monday. The ATSC 3.0 item authorizes a new broadcast standard and requires broadcasters to simulcast in the current standard during the transition process. The reconsideration order on media ownership gets rid of rules that barred broadcasters from owning duopolies in certain markets or from owning both a TV station and a newspaper in the same market. The recon order also eliminates a rule making TV joint sales agreements attributable for calculating broadcast ownership, and establishes an incubator program to encourage new industry entrants. Comments are due Jan. 23, with replies Feb. 22 on possible ways to ensure calls erroneously blocked as illegal robocalls can be unblocked and on ways of measuring the FCC's effectiveness in its robocalling efforts, said the robocall order and Further NPRM in Monday's Daily Digest. The commissioners 5-0 approved rules spelling out how voice service providers can block calls likely to be illegitimate due the lack of any legal reason to spoof certain kinds of numbers (see 1711160054). In the order, the agency also directs its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau to prepare, along with the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, a report on robocalling, including on the progress being made in combating illegal robocalls and the hurdles that remain. The FCC Friday released an order in docket 17-79 aimed at promoting 5G and other wireless infrastructure deployment by making it easier to replace utility poles under the National Historic Preservation Act (see 1711160032). The order eliminates a historic preservation review requirement "when utility poles are replaced with substantially identical poles that can support antennas or other wireless communications equipment," it said. The order excludes "from historic preservation review only those replacement poles that are situated no more than ten feet away from the original hole; are no more than 10 percent or five feet taller than the original pole, whichever is greater; and are consistent with the quality and appearance of the original pole." The FCC as of Monday afternoon hadn't issued texts of meeting items on wireline infrastructure deployment, Lifeline USF low-income subsidies (see 1711160021), its most recent spectrum frontiers order, which opened up additional high-band spectrum for mobile use (see 1711160026), or its NPRM on eliminating cable Form 325 reporting requirements.

Enterprise communications systems (ECS) should have the same E-911 functionality as other phones, 911 and public safety groups commented last week on a September FCC notice of inquiry (see 1709260040). That includes the ability to dial 911 directly without additional digits, automatic location identification and location-based routing to the correct public safety answering point and call-back capability if a call is interrupted, the National Emergency Number Association commented in docket 17-239. APCO called the lack of those capabilities “a significant shortcoming in 911 emergency response.” The National Association of State 911 Administrators concurred. “Just as E911 for landline, wireless and VoIP has resulted in improvements in the speed at which emergency responders are able to reach the caller, so would E911 for ECS,” NASNA commented. State commissions also rallied behind the cause, with NARUC last week passing a resolution supporting required direct dialing of 911 in hotels and other enterprises (see 1711130035). Verizon agreed people should be able to dial 911 without a prefix. But AT&T urged the FCC to “first ‘do no harm’ by not impinging on enterprise owners’ discretion to adopt customized 911 calling solutions that enhance public safety.” Enterprise owners can address many of the issues raised in the NOI, the carrier commented. The Telecommunications Industry Association urged the agency “to consider the complexity of the ECS marketplace and the diverse needs of its users before acting to add regulations.” The Ad Hoc Telecommunications Users Committee said “not to interfere with the wide discretion currently enjoyed by companies to develop solutions that best meet the safety of their employees.” FCC action on direct 911 dialing isn’t necessary because Congress may pass Kari’s Law (S-123), the American Hotel & Lodging Association commented. The bill passed the Senate in August and was sent to the House.

Matthew Berry, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's chief of staff, criticized Democrats for opposing some items the agency adopted at Thursday's commissioners' meeting. The meeting "revealed contrast between a majority looking to the future, and a minority that is stuck in the past and trying to strangle technological innovation. The good news is that progress prevailed," he tweeted, which Pai "liked." A spokesman for Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Friday in response that "Clyburn’s record on enabling opportunities and spurring innovation for businesses and in communities large and small speaks for itself.” The office of Jessica Rosenworcel didn't comment.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said modified agency actions Thursday contradict worries that commissioners won't be able to alter final decisions under the agency's policy of releasing draft items before monthly meetings. "Any concern making documents available ahead of @FCC meeting prevents changing text need only see number of substantive changes made to items at yesterday’s @FCC open meeting. Thanks @AjitPaiFCC!" He used the hashtags #FalseArgument, #TransparencyWorks and #NextCirculationItems, in Friday's tweet, which Pai retweeted. O'Rielly attached a link to a tweet by Communications Daily noting our Special Report story (see 1711060006) on the draft release policy, which O'Rielly supports expanding to items on circulation. NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan replied to O'Rielly's tweet, saying it's "hard to argue with this kind of governmental transparency."

The FCC now will adhere to a one-year deadline for decisions on approvals of new technology and services within its jurisdiction, said Chairman Ajit Pai in a speech at a Cato Institute event in New York Friday. “This process is what’s called for in a provision of the Communications Act -- Section 7,” Pai said. “You’ve probably never heard of it, and for good reason. It’s been on the books for decades, but it’s never been enforced. At long last, it will be,” Pai said. That one-year deadline is “lightspeed” in the “regulatory world,” Pai said.

Dish CEO Charlie Ergen, in meetings with Chairman Ajit Pai and the four FCC members, said the company is on track for 2018 deployment of its narrowband (NB) IoT network. In a docket 17-183 ex parte filing posted Thursday, the company said it finalized development contracts with radio access equipment vendors and expects to sign a chipset vendor within weeks. It said it's negotiating with vendors to provide the core for its NB IoT network and last month issued a request for proposals to tower companies to start negotiating lease agreements. It said ultimately all its terrestrial spectrum, including its 600 MHz licenses, will be part of a 5G network. The company urged the commission to act on a MVDDS 5G Coalition petition (see 1604260068) to initiate a rulemaking designed to permit multichannel video distribution and data service licensees to use their 12.2-12.7 GHz spectrum to provide a two-way 5G mobile broadband service.