The FCC took the next step on the next 5G auction Wednesday, seeking further comment on competitive bidding rules for a 2.5 GHz auction. The FCC imposed a tight deadline, with comments due Feb. 23. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has been under pressure to announce a start date for the auction, which many see as the lowest of low-hanging fruit ready for FCC action (see 2112100045). The notice asks whether use of “an ascending clock auction format -- a multiple-round auction with bidding for frequency-specific blocks -- would address certain concerns and suggestions raised by commenters with respect to both the single-round and simultaneous multiple-round (SMR) auction formats.” In a notice approved in January 2021, the agency sought comment on both a single-round and traditional SMR format (see 2101130067). Carriers disagreed sharply. T-Mobile and Verizon urged an SMR auction, while AT&T wanted one finished in a single round (see 2105040077). “To date, the Commission has used an ascending clock auction format in situations in which multiple frequency blocks of similar spectrum were offered, where a clock auction could be conducted more efficiently than could an SMR auction with license-by-license bidding,” the FCC said. A footnote cites the 28 GHz and 24 GHz auctions. The notice asks whether upfront payments and bidding eligibility proposed for the auction “remain reasonable and appropriate” under a clock auction format. The FCC said it doesn’t want “further comment on other procedures proposed” last year. Under the proposed approach “the clock price for a license would increase from round to round if more than one bidder indicates demand for that license,” the notice said: “The bidding rounds would continue until, for all licenses -- that is, all categories in all counties -- the number of bidders demanding each license does not exceed one. Once bidding rounds stop, the bidder with demand for a license becomes the winning bidder.” Commissioners approved the initial notice 5-0 during former Chairman Ajit Pai’s last meeting. The Office of Economics and Analytics and Wireless Bureau released the notice without a commissioner vote.

The proposed EU Chips Act will boost European digital sovereignty and technological leadership, the European Commission said Tuesday. It announced several measures to ensure a secure, resilient supply of semiconductors for the digital and green transition. Chip shortages forced factory closures in many sectors, and made "more evident the extreme global dependency of the semiconductor value chain on a very limited number of actors in a complex geopolitical context," it said. The legislation will make more than 43 billion euros ($49 billion) in public and private investment available and create mechanisms to prevent, anticipate and respond quickly to future supply chain disruptions. The EU wants to double its market share of chips to 20% in 2030. The Chips for Europe Initiative will pool resources from EU members, the EU, third countries and the private sector to boost research, development and deployment of advanced semiconductor tools. A new framework will ensure supply security and more funding for startups. Under a "coordination mechanism," governments and the EC will monitor the supply of semiconductors to estimate demand and anticipate shortages, and keep track of the value chain to chart weakness and bottlenecks. The EC proposed allowing that coordination between member countries and the EC to start immediately. European Parliament Internal Market Committee Chair Anna Cavazzini, of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance and Germany, welcomed the legislation but said it "falls short in addressing the need for circular economy by design, the reuse of chips and its raw materials" to meet the EU Green Deal's goals with diverse and short supply chains. The proposals need parliament and the EU Council approval.

Tech industry hiring got off to a “hot start” in January, adding 24,300 workers and 178,000 “occupations,” reported CompTIA Friday. January was the 14th straight month with tech employment growth “at the industry level,” it said. “By all accounts this was an exceptionally strong start to the year for tech employment,” said Tim Herbert, CompTIA chief research officer.

Comments are due March 9 in FCC docket 15-80 on potential safeguards for information sharing with government agencies and other entities in connection with the disaster information reporting system and the network outage reporting system, says Monday’s Federal Register.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel notified Congress Friday that providers requested $5.6 billion from an FCC program to cover the cost of ripping and replacing Huawei and ZTE gear from their networks, nearly three times the $1.9 billion allocated. The FCC received 181 applications from carriers, she said. “While we have more work to do to review these applications, I look forward to working with Congress to ensure that there is enough funding available for this program to advance Congress’s security goals and ensure that the U.S. will continue to lead the way on 5G security.” The Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireline Bureau, meanwhile, opened an online portal Friday for providers to report the extent to which their networks contain or use gear or services on the FCC’s “covered” list. Reports are due May 5. “If a provider cannot certify that it has no covered communications equipment or services it must then provide information regarding the locations, types, suppliers, historic and replacement cost, functionality, replacement plans, and a detailed justification of why such equipment was obtained," the FCC said.

NTIA said FCC approval of Intelsat's license transfers as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization (see 2108270001) should include conditions on adoption of cybersecurity and system security plans that are guided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity framework. In a docket 21-375 petition Wednesday on behalf of the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector, NTIA said the proposed conditions on the transfer of Intelsat's authorizations come from a letter of agreement with Intelsat. DOJ, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security say conditions worked out with Intelsat include it not allowing disclosure or access to U.S domestic communications infrastructure records without prior consent. The letter said Intelsat consented to report within 48 hours any security incident. "This is a normal part of the FCC approval process," Intelsat emailed Thursday. "The conditions mentioned by the NTIA have already been agreed upon between Intelsat and Team Telecom [and] their sending it over to the FCC saying these are the conditions for approval and Intelsat and the government agencies have agreed, paves the way for the FCC to give its approval. We are expecting the FCC approval imminently." The agency didn't comment.

Free Press and Public Knowledge criticized Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Wednesday for setting a follow-up hearing on Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn (see 2202020069). The second meeting is expected to mainly focus on Sohn’s commitment to temporarily recuse herself from some FCC proceedings (see 2201270073) and her role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition. “It is unfortunate that” the absence of Communications Subcommittee Chair Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., while he recovers from a stroke “was seen by some as a reason to hold a second hearing on Gigi Sohn’s nomination, particularly when” Senate Commerce “could use the time as an opportunity to consider moving forward on privacy, spectrum, or a host of other issues pent up," said PK CEO Chris Lewis. “The hearing scheduled for next Wednesday seems like nothing more than an opportunity to give these baseless concerns raised by industry an opportunity to hobble the appointment of a consumer champion” to the FCC. “Perhaps one way to avoid that consequence would be for members to call on” Cantwell to request Sohn “withdraw her recusal letter and follow historic precedent, which is to accept the advice of the Office of Government Ethics and the FCC's General Counsel,” Lewis said. Cantwell’s decision means “we have to deal with Senator [Roger] Wicker’s [R-Miss.] disingenuous and blatant obstructionism over this crucial nomination,” said FP General Counsel Matt Wood. With Cantwell “caving to unreasonable demands from opponents to Sohn, we’re going to see a hearing full of political posturing that serves no one except industry players eager to draw out the calendar and keep the FCC deadlocked. There is plenty of blame to go around for this situation, with the White House’s indecision and delays last year, and [Wicker's] continued opportunistic nonsense.” Commerce didn’t comment.

Several groups lobbied aides to FCC commissioners on an order and declaratory ruling Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel recently circulated on broadband access in multi-tenant environments, said filings posted Wednesday in docket 17-142 (see 2201210039). Prohibit "sale-and-leaseback" agreements on wiring and give providers "ample time" to come into compliance with the new rules, said Verizon in separate meetings with an aide to Rosenworcel, Wireline Bureau staff, and aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington. There's "widespread competition and consumer choice in MTEs today," said NCTA in separate meetings with aides to Rosenworcel, Simington and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The group asked that any action taken applies to "all providers of broadband and other covered services." The Wireless ISP Association "fully support[s]" prohibiting graduated or exclusive revenue-sharing agreements, practices that circumvent cable inside wiring rules, and exclusive rooftop access agreements, it told a Rosenworcel aide, noting it backed "certain types of bulk-billing agreements."

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a vote a declaratory ruling and order requiring callers to obtain a consumer’s consent before delivering a “ringless voicemail,” a message left in a cellphone mailbox without ringing the phone. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act “prohibits making any non-emergency call using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a wireless telephone number without the prior express consent of the called party,” said a Wednesday news release. In 2017, All About the Message asked the FCC to declare that the delivery of a voice message directly to a voicemail box doesn’t violate the TCPA (see 1704180037). “Ringless voicemail can be annoying, invasive, and can lead to fraud like other robocalls -- so it should face the same consumer protection rules,” Rosenworcel said: “No one wants to wade through voicemail spam, or miss important messages because their mailbox is full. This FCC action would continue to empower consumers to choose which parties they give permission to contact them.”

The FCC, NTIA and other federal agencies awarding broadband funds should work with states and communities to keep grant rules uniform, said a NARUC draft resolution released Tuesday. The proposal by Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Tim Schram (R) is the only telecom resolution up for vote at the association’s Feb. 13-16 meeting. NARUC seeks to prevent duplicative state and federal funding to avoid overbuilding, the draft said. Federal agencies should use FCC broadband maps and adopt GAO guidance on data collection and tracking federal spending and projects, it said.