The FCC deactivated the disaster information reporting system Monday after activating it Sunday for counties in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia due to a winter storm. In the final DIRS report Monday, no primary safety answering points were reported down, 0.7% of cellsites in the affected area were reported down, and one radio station was reported out of service.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., confirmed to us Monday he’s asking for a panel hearing on ethics concerns about Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn’s role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition given the shuttered sports rebroadcaster’s $32 million lawsuit settlement, as expected (see 2201130071). “My initial review of the confidential settlement raises several troubling questions about” Sohn’s “nomination,” Wicker said in a statement. “The possibility of the nominee’s future financial liability to a number of companies regulated by the FCC, and the timing of this settlement in relation to her nomination, demands a full discussion by the committee to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the ability for this nominee to act without any cloud of ethical doubt. The committee needs to hold a new hearing on this matter to provide the nominee an opportunity to fully address these concerns.” A committee GOP spokesperson confirmed Wicker obtained a copy of the confidential version of the settlement from involved broadcasters. Senate Commerce Democrats are highly unlikely to agree to hold the hearing, but amplified attention on Sohn’s Locast connections could be problematic because the majority has been eyeing a panel vote on the nominee Jan. 26 (see 2201070058). The White House and Senate Commerce didn’t comment Tuesday.

Total demand for USF programs topped $9 billion in 2021, reported the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service on Friday. About $5 billion in high-cost support was claimed in 2020, with FCC staff estimating a similar amount claimed in 2021. Demand for low-income programs in 2021 was more than $1 billion. More than 7 million consumers participated in Lifeline in 2020, with 7,000 tribal subscribers participating in Link Up. More than $1 billion of the $2.4 billion committed to E-rate in 2021 was disbursed. Total rural healthcare funding disbursed was $49 million as of June 30. The USF Q4 2021 contribution factor was 29.1%, down from 31.8% in Q3.

The Judicial Conference "has serious concerns" with the Open Courts Act (HR-5844) and wants "meaningful two-way dialogue" with the House Judiciary Committee about revisions to the bill before the committee acts on it, Judicial Conference Secretary Roslynn Mauskopf said in a letter dated Tuesday and released Thursday to House Subcommittee on Courts Chairman Hank Johnson, D-Ill. Johnson sponsored the bill. The legislation "may unduly constrain" the courts systems' ongoing update of Public Access to Court Electronic Records (Pacer) and the case management and electronic case files systems (CM/ECF), said Mauskopf, U.S. District judge in Brooklyn. She said that disagreements over aspects of the bill include judiciary opposition to increased filing fees and that while the judiciary isn't a fan of eliminating all Pacer fees, "we are not opposed ... in principle, so long as the alternative funding for PACER and CM/ECF is fair to litigants, effective, reliable, and administratively workable."

Network and information security is a Biden administration priority, said Ruth Berry, White House National Security Council digital technology policy director. The need to secure the entire network "could not be higher" due to risks from untrustworthy equipment vendors such as Huawei and the lack of competition and diversity in the telecom supply chain, she said at a Wednesday European Telecommunications Network Operators Association/USTelecom webinar. Europe sees progress on network cybersecurity issues, and many opportunities for common rules, from the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC), said Thibaut Kleiner, director-policy, strategy and outreach, European Commission communications networks, content and technology directorate. Another international concern is that online platforms and apps are generating increasing network costs, noted ETNO Director General Lise Fuhr. Kleiner said the COVID-19 pandemic was a "stress test" for European networks, and it showed that the regulatory framework hasn't harmed quality or reliability. It's fair to ask who should pay for network upgrades such as 5G, he said, but the EU hasn't reached the point where it needs to intervene in the relationship between telcos and platforms. The emergence of the "splinternet" is very worrying, said Kleiner: The EU continues to support ICANN and its internet governance and infrastructure, and hopes to publish Europe's vision for the internet sector's future at month's end. USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter welcomed the U.S. government push to establish an alliance for the future of the internet, which will address data privacy, data security, cybersecurity, competition policy and other issues. The original optimistic vision of the internet "is now in flux" as shown by misinformation, internet shutdowns and use of the network by autocrats, Berry said. The alliance is expected to launch in coming weeks, she noted: It will let governments recommit to original internet principles of openness, security and more, and will enable a global conversation on how to push back against challenges. The U.S. agrees with the EU that the global community should continue to manage the internet's fundamental infrastructure, without undermining the multistakeholder approach, she said. Another "burning issue" is the semiconductor supply chain, Kleiner noted: The EU Chips Act (see 2201100033) will align with a U.S. initiative.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated an NPRM that would update commission rules on telecom carriers' data breach notification requirements, said a news release Wednesday. The proposal would "better align the commission’s rules with recent developments in federal and state data breach laws covering other sectors." The NPRM proposes to eliminate the seven business day waiting period for consumer notifications of a breach, require notification of inadvertent breaches, and require that carriers notify the FCC, FBI and Secret Service of all reportable breaches. It proposes making similar revisions to the telecom relay service data breach reporting rule and would seek comment on whether the FCC should require specific categories of information to be included in consumer breach notices. "Customers deserve to be protected against the increase in frequency, sophistication, and scale of these data leaks, and the consequences that can last years after an exposure of personal information," Rosenworcel said. The NPRM wasn't released.

NTIA Administrator-to-be Alan Davidson is likely to take office Thursday, a Biden administration official and communications sector lobbyists told us. Davidson tweeted Tuesday he's "grateful" the Senate confirmed him (see 2201110066). "Now on to the work of connecting America and building a better Internet," he said. Davidson will be the agency's first permanent head in more than two years. NTIA didn't comment Wednesday. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., hailed Davidson's confirmation. "I look forward to working with [Davidson] to implement" distribution of $48 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act under NTIA control "to close the digital divide" and "to efficiently manage the federal government’s spectrum resources," Doyle tweeted. Also congratulating Davidson were Connected Nation, the Fiber Broadband Association, Internet Infrastructure Coalition, Lumen, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and Satellite Industry Association.

Some disagreement continued on an FCC Further NPRM aimed at gateway providers and curbing illegal robocalls, in replies Tuesday in docket 17-59 (see 2112130046). Gateway providers should be required to implement Stir/Shaken technology and robocall mitigation, said the National Association of Attorneys General. Extend the requirement to all providers and "enhance [the FCC’s] existing regime,” said USTelecom, which NCTA echoed. Verizon backed requiring all providers to certify a robocall mitigation plan and said the FCC shouldn't "mandate a burdensome stir/shaken obligation for intermediate providers." AGs backed a shorter implementation compliance deadline of within 30 days of Federal Register publication. The Voice on the Net Coalition backed Twilio's suggestion that providers blocking calls "should be subject to transparency and redress requirements." Impose a "know or should have known standard" on providers that may be trafficking in illegal calls, said the Electronic Privacy Information Center and National Consumer Law Center. Consider a "performance-based safe harbor" for providers that "meet or exceed a high standard of compliance," said YouMail. There are still some "misgivings about various aspects of this approach” because “we already have difficulty knowing who is an originator vs. an intermediate provider vs. a caller,” said ZipDX. Limit "any and all obligations” adopted in this proceeding to “foreign calls using U.S. numbers," said iBasis.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's household sold shares of Ford, Cisco and Ares Capital in December, per an Office of Government Ethics periodic transaction report posted last week. Each of the transactions was between $1,001 and $15,000. In her 2021 financial disclosure, Rosenworcel listed spousal assets including investments in various funds, a share in BakerHostetler, shares of CLP Holdings, Ares Capital and DuPont. Assets included a personal residence in Little Compton, Rhode Island, and $15,000 to $50,000 in rent or royalties from a Washington, D.C., rental property. Liabilities include mortgages on a personal residence, rental property and a home equity line of credit.

The FAA is warning the public that safety concerns remain as Verizon and AT&T prepare to turn on 5G in the C band next week. New Street’s Blair Levin emailed investors Sunday that the carriers are expected to proceed, after the statement last week from President Joe Biden (see 2201040070). “There is obviously some lingering tension and work to be done,” Levin said: But “the Presidential statement reframes the dispute, essentially binding the [Department of Transportation] and FAA to what the President said the parties agreed to.” The FAA warned that planned buffer zones around U.S. airports aren’t as strict as those in France, on which the U.S. approach is modeled. U.S. zones “only protect the last 20 seconds of flight, compared to a greater range in the French environment,” the FAA said: “5G power levels are lower in France. In the U.S., even the planned temporary nationwide lower power levels will be 2.5x higher than in France. In France, the government required that antenna[s] must be tilted downward to limit harmful interference. Similar restrictions do not apply to the U.S. deployment.” The FAA released the list of 50 airports Friday that will have buffer zones. “Many airports are not currently affected by the new 5G deployment, even though they are not on this list,” the agency said: “These include airports not in the 46 markets where the new service will be deployed and airports that do not currently have the ability to allow low-visibility landings.” The National Air Carrier Association said airlines want "to ensure that the first phase of 5G C-band deployment does not result in significant operational disruptions and that all segments of the industry have input into the process as we move forward.” Airlines For America, meanwhile, withdrew a December petition (see 2201030063) at the FCC asking the agency to block the start of 5G operations in the band, in a filing posted Monday in docket 18-122.