Viasat is backing Dish Nework's call for the FCC to put on hold consideration of SpaceX's pending second-generation satellite constellation application (see 2201280005). Viasat told the International Bureau Monday that with SpaceX having acknowledged its amended application contains inaccurate information and apparently certified its equivalent power flux density compliance without any apparent basis for doing so, the FCC and third parties can't assess that EPFD compliance or do simulations. SpaceX didn't comment.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel changed the leadership of several FCC bureaus, said a release Monday. Industry officials said the change doesn’t appear to be an omen of big shifts at the agency -- most of the new heads are longtime bureau staff who were already in the leadership of their departments. They said the staff changes are an expected outgrowth of Rosenworcel’s becoming permanent chair late last year. "The timing is based on the Chairwoman’s new term and appointment as permanent Chair," said an FCC spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed that the former chiefs remain employed by the agency. Until Monday's announcement, Rosenworcel had retained several bureau heads from the administration of former Chairman Ajit Pai. Holly Saurer, a longtime Media Bureau staffer who had been Rosenworcel’s acting media adviser, will become MB chief, replacing Michelle Carey. Michele Ellison, a longtime FCC Deputy General Counsel, who was general counsel in an acting capacity under Rosenworcel, will take the job on a permanent basis. Former Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief Debra Jordan will replace Lisa Fowlkes in that bureau’s top post. Alejandro Roark, former executive director for Latino civil rights group HTTP, is the new chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, replacing Patrick Webre. Prior to HTTP, Roark worked on tech policy for the League of United Latin American Citizens. Loyaan Egal, a former deputy chief in DOJ's National Security Division Foreign Investment Review Section who worked on Team Telecom matters, will become Enforcement Bureau acting chief, replacing Chief Rosemary Harold. Before DOJ, Egal was in the Enforcement Bureau, where he established and led the then-USF Strike Force. “I’d also like to thank Michelle Carey, Lisa Fowlkes, Rosemary Harold, and Patrick Webre, for their public service as they transition to new roles across the agency,” Rosenworcel said. See our news bulletin also.

National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) ad hoc committee members pressed the FCC about the rationale for rejecting the proposed 1 db interference standard in its 2020 Ligado order. Thursday's meeting was one in a series as part of a NASEM independent technical review of the order contracted by DOD, with the committee assessing the potential for harmful interference to GPS and satellite systems for DOD operations (see 2012040043). FCC staffers spent roughly 40 minutes going over the order and rationale, and often pointed to aspects of the order when asked questions. Committee member Preston Marshall, Google engineering director, challenged the FCC for deeming 1 db as a defective interference protection criteria but then "walk[ing] away completely" from finding more suitable protection criteria. "What it boils down to ... there were no alternatives offered," replied Office of Engineering and Technology acting Chief Ron Repasi. The committee and FCC representatives discussed whether Ligado had an affirmative direction to fix interference issues in military equipment, or just to negotiate for a fix. The commission order wanted a program where DOD and Ligado work together to figure out interference issues, said Paul Murray, OET associate chief. He said GPS manufacturers know how their gear performs and how it would respond to Ligado signals. "I don't want to say it's easy," but certain determinations can be made with such discussions "by people who know how to think about the problem," he said. Asked about whether the FCC is obligated to ever respond to or act on the reconsideration petitions, Murray said that while there's no deadline, "there are lots of things that are moving out there that may influence" what the agency does.

Intel is “very excited” about Tuesday's introduction of HR-4521 (see 2201260062), House Democrats’ proposed companion to the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260), said CEO Pat Gelsinger on a Q4 call Wednesday. President Joe Biden and members of his administration “have been clear on the importance of this transformational investment,” said Gelsinger. “It's encouraging to see the strong bipartisan and bicameral support as we continue to work together to address the long-term impacts of the semiconductor shortage, restore U.S. leadership in this critical industry and rebalance the global supply chain.” Gelsinger joined Biden last week to appeal for enactment (see 2201210085). The CEO spoke with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “at length on this subject" Tuesday, he said. He expects HR-4521 “will be debated on the floor next week, and hopefully, following what we expect will be passage in the House, a reconciliation process” with S-1260. Unprecedented chip demand “continues to be tempered by supply chain constraints,” said Gelsinger: IoT and data centers were affected. Intel shares closed 7% lower Thursday at $48.05.

The Senate Commerce Committee was believed to be still on track to announce plans Wednesday night to hold a Feb. 2 vote on Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn (see 2201250073), lobbyists told us. That would follow the leak of a confidential version of Locast’s lawsuit settlement that opponents think raises ethical questions about the nominee. Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., has been seeking a hearing on the settlement due to Sohn’s role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition (see 2201180064). Broadcasters agreed in the confidential settlement to accept $700,000 in Locast’s remaining cash and liquidation of the shuttered sports rebroadcaster’s used servers, two sources with knowledge of the agreement told us. Broadcasters agreed in the confidential settlement to release Sohn and other individuals from “liabilities of every kind and nature” due to the lawsuit’s claims, but this reflected an agreement among parties at the beginning of the case that any judgment wouldn’t involve individual liability, the sources said. The broadcasters have until Thursday to file a satisfaction of judgment but hadn’t as of Wednesday afternoon, the sources said. Bloomberg Law first reported the settlement’s details. Locast originally settled in October for $32 million (see 2110280039). Sohn, lawyers for SFC, NAB, Senate Commerce and Wicker’s office didn’t comment. Communications Workers of America President Christopher Shelton endorsed Sohn Tuesday night.

DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter worries that “merger remedies short of blocking a transaction too often miss the mark,” he told the New York State Bar Association virtually Monday. “Complex settlements, whether behavioral or structural, suffer from significant deficiencies.” When the Antitrust Division decides a deal is likely to lessen competition, “in most situations we should seek a simple injunction to block the transaction,” he said. “It is the surest way to preserve competition.” DOJ must give “full weight to the benefits of preserving competition that already exists in a market, rather than predicting whether a divestiture will actually serve to keep a market competitive,” said Kanter. “That will often mean that we cannot accept anything less than an injunction blocking the merger.” His division “will pursue remedies that are forward-looking in nature, especially in dynamic markets,” he said. “We will pursue remedies -- not settlements. We cannot compromise if there is a violation of the law.”

More than 1.1 million rural consumers would have access to at least 100/20 Mbps if the FCC adopts an ACAM Broadband Coalition proposal for an "enhanced" alternative connect America cost (A-CAM) model I program, the group said in a statement Monday. Buildout obligations for participating providers would increase to 90% of eligible locations at minimum 100/20 Mbps and 10% at minimum of 25/3 Mbps. Participating providers would receive either "80[%] of their A-CAM-derived costs for eligible locations" or up to $300 per month per eligible location, the group said in a letter Thursday in docket 10-90. "The proposal would update the current ACAM high-cost universal service program to bring the program’s deployment obligations in line with the speed standard adopted by Congress in the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act," the coalition said, by giving rate-of-return companies the opportunity to "receive six additional years of support at revised support levels in return for providing significantly faster broadband speeds to consumers more quickly than the current plan envisions." The group lobbied an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr and an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an order and declaratory ruling on broadband access in multi-tenant environments, said a news release (see 2111220047). “With more than one-third of the U.S. population [living] in apartments, mobile home parks, condominiums, and public housing, it’s time to crack down on practices that lock out broadband competition and consumer choice,” Rosenworcel said. The item would prohibit providers from "entering into graduated revenue sharing agreements or exclusive revenue-sharing agreements with a building owner," require that providers disclose "in plain language" to tenants any existing exclusive marketing arrangements with building owners, and "end a practice that circumvents the FCC’s cable inside wiring rules by clarifying that existing commission rules prohibit sale-and-leaseback arrangements that effectively block access to alternative providers." The FCC sought comment in September. The record "revealed a pattern of new practices that inhibit competition ... and limit opportunities for competitive providers to offer service for apartment, condo and office building unit tenants," Friday's news release said, noting such practices could affect consumer access to the affordable connectivity program. The proposal is "welcome news," said Consumer Reports Senior Policy Council Jonathan Schwantes in a statement, adding it's "time to finally put an end to practices and close loopholes that stifle broadband competition and consumer choice." There are "significant barriers to [MTE] competition," said a Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy letter posted Friday in docket 17-142. SBA recommended conducting an economic analysis examining the impact of prohibiting exclusivity agreements on competition and broadband deployment. Providers should be required to "be more transparent about any agreements."

The FCC made changes to its final order on the affordable connectivity program and NPRM on its outreach grant program released Friday, with Commissioner Brendan Carr partially dissenting and Commissioner Nathan Simington concurring in part (see 2201070060). Carr dissented because the order didn't include safeguards against potential fraud in identity verification. "I worry that by not requiring this information, we are turning a blind eye to fraud already happening while leaving the door open for even more benefits going to ineligible households," Carr said. Simington concurred to "draw attention" to ACP recipients not being required to provide "any portion of their social security number" and to his concern that it's "impossible to prevent a consumer from endlessly enrolling in high-cost plans for which such customer has no intention of paying their share of the bill." Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel thanked Carr and Simington for "their ideas to improve accountability measures," saying she looks forward to "working with federal, state, and local partners to identify ways to ensure that those who are eligible have opportunities to enroll with the broadband provider of their choosing." The order "repeatedly affirms our decision to spend that money in ways that advance our digital equity goals," said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Providers seeking reimbursement for a connected device must include details about the device's market value instead of the proposed applicable wholesale cost. The order clarified that "tablets with cellular calling capabilities" aren't eligible for reimbursement. The program will continue to follow a market value-based approach for reimbursement of connected devices with additional accountability requirements. Universal Service Administrative Co. is required to do quarterly "program integrity reviews." USAC will make data public on household enrollment similar to the tracker used for the national verifier. About 265,000 households are enrolled in ACP, the order said. Few changes were made to the NPRM. It included a question about how to administer a pilot focused on outreach to households in federal public housing assistance programs and other agencies. It asks how the enhanced, up to $75 monthly benefit should be administered to households in high-cost areas.

The biggest news this week on the C band is that, despite the “noise,” Verizon and AT&T were able to turn on the band in key markets, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Thursday. “The last 72 hours probably had more press stories about spectrum than any 72-hour period in history,” including a question at President Joe Biden’s news conference (see 2201190064), he said. “The dispute will leave a problematic residue in terms of spectrum policy but the important thing for investors is that AT&T and Verizon were able to begin 5G transmissions, the constraints on the service will not affect their ability to attract subscribers, and the battle did not cause a delay that would have materially worsened their competitive position relative to T-Mobile,” Levin said. Verizon and AT&T had to agree to new conditions to “placate” the FAA because they need to play catch up with T-Mobile, Mark Giles, lead industry analyst at Ookla, blogged Thursday. “It was critical for both telcos that the delay to their C-band launch was only temporary,” he said: With the C band, “the margin of difference” with T-Mobile “will be substantially reduced, and then it will largely come down to how many 5G cell sites each operator deploys, and when they can turn on additional spectrum resources -- the race is on.” The FAA said Thursday it has cleared 78% of the U.S. commercial fleet to do low-visibility landings at airports near C-band deployments, including some regional jets. That’s up from 62% Wednesday. “The FAA is working diligently to determine which altimeters are reliable and accurate where 5G is deployed,” the agency said: “We anticipate some altimeters will be too susceptible to 5G interference. To preserve safety, aircraft with those altimeters will be prohibited from performing low-visibility landings where 5G is deployed because the altimeter could provide inaccurate information.”