The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied petitions for review of the FCC C-band clearing order, said a one-page judgment (docket 20-1142, in Pacer) by Judges Robert Wilkins, Gregory Katsas and Justin Walker. The court said Tuesday an opinion will be filed later. Oral argument was in October (see 2010280040). The court dismissed an SES appeal and petition for review. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted praise for the denial, saying the court "flatly rejected claims that we had no authority. And had we waited for Congress, as short-sighted partisan critics demanded, we'd still be at square one."

NAB and Public Knowledge back removing a conclusion from the draft order on broadcast internet that the FCC lacks authority to require broadcaster ancillary fees subsidize consumers for buying ATSC 3.0 equipment. “NAB indicated that it does not object to PK’s request that the Commission remove any conclusion regarding PK’s fees proposal,” said NAB and PK in a call last week with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, per a joint filing posted in docket 20-145 Monday. NAB and PK are usually opponents in FCC proceedings. “PK stressed that the Commission’s conclusion was at best premature and at this time it is unnecessary for the Commission to rule on its authority,” the filing said. PK said the same to an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, said another filing. The draft order should be changed “to simply state that because the NPRM did not consider the issue of FCC authority to create a coupon fund to alleviate consumer costs during an ATSC 3.0 transition, it is premature for the Commission to consider it at this time,” said the group. “Excluding a discussion about the FCC’s authority to create such a fund would alleviate PK's primary objection.”

The FCC cleared the first device authorized to use the 6 GHz band, allocated in April for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (see 2004230059), approving Broadcom's BCM4389 chip. “The Commission cleared the way for such advances with its landmark action earlier this year, making up to 1,200 megahertz of spectrum available for higher powered unlicensed use,” said Chairman Ajit Pai: “Today, we are starting to see the fruits of this work, and consumers will now start to benefit in a big way.” Vijay Nagarajan, Broadcom vice president-Mobile Connectivity Division, said it's a “red-letter day” for Wi-Fi. “We've shipped 100s of millions [of] Wi-Fi 6 devices,” he said: “We look to capitalize on this install-base of devices while also heralding the Wi-Fi Space Age with 6 GHz support.” The chip uses 6025-6985 MHz. “This module may only be marketed and sold to an OEM system integrator that has an agreement with the grantee and has been provided detailed instructions on installation conditions to ensure that the correct firmware is installed,” the authorization states: “Host systems must be intended for indoor use only, outdoor applications are NOT allowed.” Consumers are likely to have 6 GHz devices “in the first half of 2021,” Nagarajan emailed.

The FCC added to its list of items circulated on the eighth floor actions on an upcoming communications marketplace report and on amending rules on delegated authority to act on applications for review, said the circulation webpage. The market report item involves docket 20-60 and is focused on competition, according to filings. The FCC didn’t comment Monday on the thrust of the delegated authority item, but the listing refers to the sections of rules on limits of authority delegated to bureaus.

Three entities won more than $3.6 billion of the $9.2 billion awarded through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction to deploy broadband to more than 10 million Americans, said an FCC Wireline Bureau release Monday. It was below the $16 billion approved by the FCC. LTD Broadband received the largest amount, $1.3 billion to service 528,088 locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, Indiana, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, Ohio and Kansas. Charter won $1.2 billion for 1.06 million locations in Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Missouri, Oregon, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, California, Vermont and New Mexico. The Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium gets $1.1 billion for 622,147 locations in Missouri, South Dakota, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Montana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Oklahoma, Oregon, Kentucky, Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee, New York, Texas, Ohio, South Carolina, Indiana and Wisconsin. California will receive $695 million in rural broadband funding, Mississippi $495 million, Arkansas $424 million, Minnesota $408 million and Illinois $378 million. About 85% of serviced locations will receive gigabit-speed broadband, with the rest getting at least 100/20 Mbps. Winning bidders must submit a post-auction application for support by Jan. 29 and requests to assign some or all of their winning bids to related entities by Dec. 22. With $6.8 billion left over from Phase I, $11.2 billion will now be available for the RDOF Phase II auction, FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry tweeted Monday. “We have looked at the auction as a compelling way for Cable companies, specifically Charter, to expand their footprint with compelling returns,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors Monday: “The results of the auction point to a more competitive auction than we expected resulting in fewer subsidies awarded. Charter was the biggest winner, but won fewer markets than we expected.” New Street sees the auction as “an opportunity for Cable to further accelerate subscriber growth.” The Wireless ISP Association seeks “lessons learned that can help improve Phase II of the RDOF auction, which will even more granularly identify and then bring service to those who remain in the digital divide,” emailed Louis Peraertz, vice president-policy.

Dish Network will pay $210 million in a settlement with the FTC, California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio for Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations by a telemarketing firm working for the direct broadcast satellite company, it said in an SEC filing Friday. The money will be paid by Jan. 3, Dish said. It said it also will drop its petition for writ of certiorari filed with the Supreme Court (see 2012020017). The settlement comes after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March upheld a lower court's verdict against Dish but vacated the $280 million verdict against it and remanded that (see 2004150004). Under the settlement filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois (in Pacer, docket 09-cv-03073), Dish will pay a $126 million civil penalty to the federal government, nearly $40 million to California, just over $13 million to Illinois, about $14 million to North Carolina and about $17 million to Ohio.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated digital divide issues, and more focus needs to be put on items such as better pedagogy for remote education and the lack of broadband affordability for many, speakers said Thursday at an Axios broadband event. NCTA President Michael Powell said the number of Americans without broadband availability could dramatically decline over the next five to 10 years with proper government support. But economics is also a hindrance, and low-income access efforts like NCTA's K-12 Bridge to Broadband program need to be a higher societal imperative, he said. Beyond connectivity, more work is needed on adapting educational curricula to remote learning and teaching students digital skills, he said. Without such efforts, even with more universal connectivity, "you're still going to get suboptimal results," Powell said. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said lack of granular data about who has broadband is "frustrating," but it's already well established that 77 million people in the U.S. lack adequate home fixed broadband connections, large numbers of people in urban areas are unconnected, and communities of color are persistently "on the wrong side of the digital divide," with particularly high rates of adults lacking broadband connections. Starks said "help is on the way" in tackling rural access issues, but broadband affordability and digital literacy -- particularly with seniors often not realizing the must-have nature of broadband -- are also key problems. Expand the E-rate program, he said. Plinio Ayala, CEO of IT career training nonprofit Per Scholas, said artificial intelligence will disrupt industries such as hospitality, retail and transportation, and the pandemic accelerated that. He said workforce development programs like his and others need more private and public sector investment. Comcast said Thursday it was giving Per Scholas $1 million to scale its operations. Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of online educational software firm DreamBox, said 15 million U.S. students are falling behind educationally because they lack "persistent, consistent" broadband access. Treat broadband like a utility, with sustained funding for access and devices in schools, she said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., filed for cloture Thursday on FCC nominee Nathan Simington. Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and other GOP leaders have been eyeing a floor vote on Simington as soon as next week, after the Senate Commerce Committee voted 14-12 Wednesday to advance the nominee (see 2012020069). A mid-week floor vote appears likely given McConnell’s decision to file cloture Thursday, lobbyists told us. Senate Commerce member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Charter praised the move to advance Simington, while Free Press and New America’s Open Technology Institute criticized it.

Wireless infrastructure rules take effect Jan. 4, says Thursday's Federal Register. The FCC voted 3-2 for the order Oct. 27 (see 2011030054).

The 2019 revised rules for the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band (see 1907100054) was partisan and controversial, so until a new FCC is in place the agency should table a draft order denying a reconsideration petition by the School, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition and other educational groups, the SHLB and others said in a docket 18-120 letter to be posted. They said implementation of the EBS order should be put on hold. The groups pointed to lawmakers' "pencils-down" calls for the FCC (see 2011100061) and then-Commissioner Ajit Pai's similar call in 2016 (see 1611150052). Though commissioners agreed on some aspects of the 2.5 GHz order, such as the tribal priority window, the 3-2 vote showed they "were plainly divided on the future of the 2.5 GHz band," the groups said. They said Congress "is still actively considering this issue" via legislation to extend the rural tribal priority window for 180 days. The commission didn't comment. According to its items on circulation list, a recon order regarding the 2.5 GHz band has been on circulation since Oct. 16.