FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer will address the Communications Equity and Diversity Council at the group’s virtual meeting Friday, said an agenda Wednesday. Three working groups will present reports: Digital Empowerment and Inclusion on recommendations for addressing digital discrimination, Innovation and Access on solutions to reduce entry barriers in media, tech and communications services, and Diversity and Equity on how the agency can advance equity, civil rights and racial justice.

SpaceX's Starlink is "engaged in a public misinformation campaign" as it tries to keep service providers from accessing the 12 GHz band, some 5G for 12GHz Coalition members said in docket 20-443 Wednesday. Since it has access to more than 15,000 megahertz of spectrum, "Starlink’s political play is not only unnecessary -- given its ample spectrum allocations outside the 12 GHz band -- it threatens to preclude other providers from being able to offer as many options to consumers as possible," they said. SpaceX didn't comment. Signing the filing were AtLink Services, A-Side Technology, GeoLinks, Globtel Holding, Go Long Wireless, MVD Number 53 Partners, Xiber and BroadbandOne. The coalition said Wednesday Starry had joined (see 2207200057).

Andrew Schwartzman is senior counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society (see 2207120054).

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’ acting chief of staff and media adviser Austin Bonner has been detailed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said a news release Tuesday. “The White House is lucky to have her, and she will be deeply missed,” said Starks in the release. Wireline and National Security Adviser Justin Faulb becomes Starks’ chief of staff, and former Covington & Burling attorney Hannah Lepow will be his legal adviser for media and consumer protection, the release said.

NAB and tech industry groups still don’t agree on proposals to expand the base of regulatory fee payors, according to reply comments filed in 21-190 by Monday’s deadline. “It is inconceivable that Congress would prefer to see small broadcasters struggle to provide service to their local communities so they can subsidize massive technology companies,” said NAB. The FCC doesn’t have the authority to charge fees to companies it doesn’t regulate, said TechFreedom: “Especially after the Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA, an administrative agency can’t undertake new regulations just because it’s a good idea -- they must be grounded in clear statutory authority.” In the short term, the FCC should exempt broadcasters from paying for the costs of the USF and for Media Bureau full-time equivalents connected with broadband policy, and cap the fee increases for broadcasters in the current draft order at 5%, said NAB. A group of 53 broadcasters said the agency should credit application fees against regulatory fees. “Cherry-picking one type of regulatee to exclude from contributing their share of the Commission’s indirect costs would threaten the administrability of the regulatory fee program as a whole,” said CTIA. The FCC “lacks legal authority to add a new regulatory fee category for broadband internet service providers,” said the Wireless ISP Association. The agency should develop a reduced fee category for small satellites and charge an interim fee in the meantime, said Spaceflight and Turion Space. “It is essential to the development" of the on-orbit services industry, "and not premature, that the Commission act now so that regulatory fees developed for traditional" non-geostationary satellite orbit "are not imposed on OOS missions,” said Spaceflight. The Satellite Industry Association disagreed: “The record supports the Commission’s conclusion that OOS services are still too immature for their own regulatory fee category at this time,” said SIA. “An interim regulatory fee schedule as suggested by Spaceflight is unnecessary.”

Minor changes were made to an FCC Further NPRM on curbing access stimulation adopted during the agency's July meeting, according to a comparison with the draft (see 2207140055). The FNPRM seeks comment on USTelecom's request to amend the proposed definition of an IP enabled services provider. No changes were made to a notice of inquiry seeking comment on how to improve access to Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program for survivors of domestic or sexual violence.

The biggest change in the item on the new enhanced competition incentive program, approved by commissioners 4-0 Thursday, was a series of questions on private networks in a Further NPRM that go beyond language in the draft, based on a side-by-side comparison. The FCC posted the ECIP order Monday. The questions were added at the urging of Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2207140055). “Many emerging private wireless use cases have the potential to unlock efficiencies in areas that are not only less populated but also associated with more moderate levels of enterprise demand,” the final FNPRM says: “For example, small farms can still benefit from smart agriculture, just as small businesses in any number of rural industries can leverage wireless technologies to enhance their operations -- and increasingly may need to do so to stay competitive as larger firms do the same. Similarly, smart infrastructure, which can be deployed outside of population centers, may not always be operated by a single customer (e.g., a large utility) that can generate a large amount of concentrated demand.” The FCC asks “to what extent can secondary market transactions fulfill demand for these applications, and to what extent will these applications rely on buildout by the original licensee?” Given “the centrality of these and similar use cases to the public interest benefits of 5G and other advanced wireless technologies, how can we ensure that our construction requirements, both population-based and alternative, encourage spectrum deployment in all areas with private wireless demand?” it asks: “Should we modify our population-based requirements to ensure that spectrum is available and put to use in these locations? If so, how?” Only Starks and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel filed written statements.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a notice of inquiry Friday on "increasing the national standard for minimum broadband speeds and proposed setting a long-term goal for broadband speed," said a news release. The NOI would "kick off the agency’s annual evaluation of the state of broadband across the country." Rosenworcel proposed setting the national broadband standard at 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. “The needs of internet users long ago surpassed the FCC’s 25/3 speed metric, especially during a global health pandemic that moved so much of life online,” Rosenworcel said: “The 25/3 metric isn’t just behind the times, it’s a harmful one because it masks the extent to which low-income neighborhoods and rural communities are being left behind and left offline." If adopted, Rosenworcel's proposal would set the national broadband speed at 1 Gbps/500 Mbps in the future. The FCC in 2015 updated the broadband speed to 25/3 Mbps. Rosenworcel also proposed that the commission "consider affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access as part of its determination as to whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion." "We applaud Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s announcement today that she is proposing to increase the national standard for minimum broadband speeds and to set a long-term objective as well," said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. Incompas is "pleased" Rosenworcel took the "important first step toward increasing internet speed benchmarks, and we encourage the entire FCC to think bigger and bolder by setting gigabit goals," said CEO Chip Pickering: "The US invented the internet, but we have fallen behind China, Europe and other nations who have set much higher standards than are currently being proposed." “Ensuring that today’s internet speeds are sufficient for current and future use has been a persistent challenge in the urgent effort to bridge the digital divide," said a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association spokesperson. Friday's announcement is "a strong step in the right direction."

The FCC is “coordinating with NTIA like never before,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters Thursday (see 2207130047). There’s “more engagement between our agencies than I think there’s ever been in history,” Rosenworcel said, which “is a good thing because we have more work to do than ever before,” including ensuring NTIA is “in the know with mapping.” The FCC is contacting providers required to file information in the broadband data collection system, state broadband officers and other stakeholders to “make sure they understand how it works," Rosenworcel said, noting an initial map will be available in the fall: "All of this work is being discussed on a nearly daily basis between my staff, office, the agency, and our colleagues at NTIA." Commissioner Brendan Carr told reporters he's “all for moving as regulatorily possible” because the maps are “the key” to NTIA’s funding. “We should be sensitive” to concerns about NTIA using the first iteration “without the opportunity to … true up if a state is undercounted” because the FCC spent about $100 million on the maps “for the precise reason of making sure that these funding decisions are smart and based on accurate maps,” Carr said: “I think I’ve seen some positive sounds out of NTIA about making sure the allocation is done pursuant to a tested, accurate map.”

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters Thursday the FCC still has much to work through as it examines 5G in 12 GHz (see 2207130031). “It’s a really complex proceeding,” she said: “We have a very substantial technical review that’s underway.” Rosenworcel noted recent filings offering additional data “and at the same time we’ve gotten lots of consumers filing in our comment system,” she said: “We are still doing the technical review, our docket continues to grow, and it’s taking a lot of time and resources, but that’s OK because we want to reach the right answer.” Commissioner Brendan Carr said his view hasn’t changed in recent months and the FCC’s decision will be based on “a very technical analysis.” Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen, meanwhile, and others from the company met this week with all four commissioners on 12 GHz and other issues. Dish disputed SpaceX’s claims 5G in the band would harm its Starlink broadband offering (see 2207060012). “Starlink’s latest filing, part of an ongoing misinformation campaign initiated by the company, is both scientifically and logically flawed,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-443: “It is therefore not surprising that the study does not appear to be authored by any third-party expert engineers.”