Preparing for and responding to disasters is “truly a partnership” among different levels of government and industry, said FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Debra Jordan at an FCBA virtual event Wednesday. The FCC works hard “at building relationships at the state, the regional and the national level, so when there's a disaster we can ... partner and immediately begin jumping on the task [at] hand, and hopefully have a level of trust going into this." The commission plans to do outreach this summer on how states and others can access its disaster information reporting system (DIRS) and network outage reporting system (D) databases, said Jordan. The FCC adopted a framework last year to provide access to state, federal and tribal nations, with information sharing rules taking effect in September, she said. “We will have an application process that will grant agencies access to this information after certifying to requirements for maintaining the confidentiality of the data, as well as the security of the databases.” Jordan urged more collaboration on wireless emergency alert testing to address lingering issues with geofencing and delivery. The FCC used to respond mainly to hurricanes, but climate change is bringing more wildfires, tornadoes and severe winter storms, noted the bureau chief. Communications industry compliance is “high” but “not where we want it to be” with the California Public Utilities Commission’s 72-hour backup power requirements for wireline and wireless facilities, said CPUC Communications Division Director Robert Osborn. “It's not 100%.” The COVID-19 pandemic made it tougher for staff to visit sites to confirm backup power is present, but the agency is hoping to do more soon, he said. Distinguishing between traditional and IP-based networks on resiliency is a “thing of the past,” said Osborn. “We really just need to focus on the communication grid as a critical infrastructure.” Since the CPUC efforts, “we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in the resiliency of our networks,” said California Office of Emergency Services 911 Branch Manager Budge Currier. “They’re surviving a little bit better during disasters.”

U.S. internet service costs in April were up 1.7% year over year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data released Wednesday. It said residential phone service costs increased 6% year over year, but wireless service was down 0.7%. Cable and satellite TV service rose 0.8%. BLS said April prices overall were up 8.3% year over year before seasonal adjustment, with food, airline fares and new vehicles being major drivers of inflation.

AT&T said Wednesday two of the better-known executives in its Washington, D.C., office are retiring. Joan Marsh, executive vice president-federal regulatory relations, and Tim McKone, executive vice president-federal legislative relations, are leaving. Marsh has been at AT&T for 26 years and McKone for 27. “Marsh has been a terrific community leader and committed to advancing AT&T’s regulatory agenda in Washington and state capitals across the country,” said Ed Gillespie, senior executive vice president-external and legislative affairs, in a statement: “McKone has been instrumental in sharing our vision with policy makers in Washington. Tim’s efforts on Capitol Hill for Southwestern Bell, SBC, Cingular wireless and AT&T have helped shape the company we are today.” Industry officials said the departures were voluntary but reflect AT&T’s ongoing cost-cutting (see 2204210061), with some higher-paid executives also leaving AT&T’s Dallas headquarters. Replacements haven't been named.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a declaratory ruling among commissioners that would let E-rate program funding be used to buy Wi-Fi for school buses, said a news release Wednesday. Rosenworcel announced the proposal at a National Coalition for Technology in Education & Training meeting. The proposal would "clarify that use of WiFi or similar access point technologies on school buses serves an educational purpose and the provision of such service is therefore eligible for E-rate funding," the news release said. It would also direct the Wireline Bureau to "include funding WiFi on buses in establishing E-rate eligible services for the upcoming funding year." The FCC allowed Emergency Connectivity Fund applicants to seek funding for Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2108240064). “Wiring our school buses is a practical step we can take that is consistent with the history of the E-rate program," Rosenworcel said.

The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system for the New Mexico counties of Colfax, Mora, San Miguel and Santa Fe due to wildfires, said a release Monday. A Tuesday DIRS report showed 0.9% of cellsites down in the affected area, and no public safety answering points down, no broadcasters out of service, and no cable and wireline subscribers out of service. The bureau issued PNs on emergency contact information for licensees that need special temporary authority and on 24-hour availability of staff. A public notice also reminded essential personnel about the availability of priority telecom services overseen by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for when local networks are damaged or congested.

Efforts to build infrastructure for 5G are starting to hit a “stall speed” due to a lack of support for the FCC from the White House, said Commissioner Brendan Carr Tuesday in an interview on the Ruthless Podcast. Carr said the Biden administration hasn’t supported the FCC in spectrum battles with other federal agencies the way the Trump administration did. Carr also urged Section 230 reform, which he said is opposed by “media gatekeepers.” He said he’s “hopeful” about Elon Musk’s possible purchase of Twitter but said laws also are needed. Carr said he doesn’t know if there was evidence of Twitter suppressing conservatives on social media, but he wouldn’t be surprised if there was “a run on shredder trucks and burn bags” in Silicon Valley. The biggest challenge now facing the FCC is the specter of waste, fraud and abuse of the recent wave of federal infrastructure funds, Carr said. “I’m really worried we’re going to see billions of dollars wasted,” he said.

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen and other top executives from the company met with FCC staff to push for action on 5G in the 12 GHz band. “The 12 GHz band represents 500 megahertz of spectrum that is well-suited for terrestrial, two-way 5G use cases, while still protecting satellite operations,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-348: “Given that the enormous benefits of allowing 5G terrestrial operations in the 12 GHz band can be realized without interfering with existing operations, the Commission should act expeditiously to unlock the power of 5G-ready spectrum in this band.” The Dish officials also asked the FCC to increase authorized power levels in the citizens broadband radio service band. Dish met with staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering & Technology. The FCC has faced continuing pressure to act on the 12 GHz band from the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition (see 2203210056). Ergen thinks the 12 GHz band is "the ideal frequency" for fixed wireless, he said on a quarterly earnings call Friday (see 2205070001).

The C-band Relocation Payment Clearinghouse paid out $2.39 billion by the end of March to satellite operators in Phase I accelerated relocation payments, it told the FCC in a docket 18-122 quarterly report Monday. It said it continues to accept and review claims for lump sum payments and claims for C-band relocation cost reimbursements. It said it had received 1,191 claims totaling $1.87 billion by March 31, including 1,058 earth station operator lump sum claims for $184 million and 129 satellite operator claims for $1.69 billion. It said 794 approved claims for $55.5 million were sent to the overlay licensees for lump sum payments and relocation cost reimbursements. It said it approved 69% of lump sum claims received by March 31.

The News Media Alliance and MPA-The Association of Magazine Media are combining into a single organization called the News/Media Alliance, said a joint release Friday. The arrangement is expected to be completed this summer, subject to regulatory approval,” the release said. The trade groups are both 501(c)(6) nonprofits and need regulatory approval from state authorities, Chavern told us. News Media Alliance is one of the primary organizations involved in the push for the Journalism Competition Protection Act (see 2204200049). "The two organizations have overlapping missions and advocate on many of the same issues,” the release said. David Chavern, current News Media Alliance CEO, will be CEO of the new entity. MPA CEO Rita Cohen “will work with the newly merged organization,” the release said.

The FCC is racking up expressions of interest in participating in wireless emergency alert tests in combination with the agency. The FCC released a public notice last month seeking partnerships with local emergency agencies to gather data on how WEA is performing at the local level (see 2204210050). A national WEA test showed the “need for localized WEA testing to confirm WEA’s performance at the local level and to generate data on WEA’s geotargeting performance,” said an April 21 notice by the FCC Public Safety Bureau. The FCC sought “testing partners that represent the diverse environments where WEAs are sent (i.e., dense urban, urban, suburban and rural areas).” So far, more than 20 have filed in docket 22-160, from diverse markets. The Maricopa County, Arizona, Department of Emergency Management Friday became one of the first large county entities to offer to work with the FCC. The county, which includes Phoenix, “conducts annual siren tests around a commercial nuclear power plant and has included WEA in the past several years,” it said: Maricopa “coordinates volunteers annually for these tests and will be able to utilize these volunteers and other municipal participants for this test.” The county said it conducted a WEA test in 2019 “with substantial press and public outreach and will continue to provide public awareness campaigns on the use of WEA and this upcoming test.” Monroe County Emergency Management offered the ability to test in an area that starts in the mainland of Florida and extends through the entire Florida Keys. Idaho offered to involve the entire state in a test. “Our city is a very diverse urban locality (53 square miles) and home to the world's largest naval station,” said the Norfolk, Virginia, Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response: “The diversity and demographics of the city will provide a unique platform to ensure all citizens can be contacted during emergency notifications.” The Ingham County, Michigan, Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said it’s interested in participating in the testing. “This would be countywide and include the City of Lansing and Michigan State University,” the county said. Ingram said it also has an agreement with Eaton County for a two-county test.