The FCC changed its rules for administrative hearings to streamline the process and facilitate more hearings being conducted on entirely paper, said an order Monday. “Trial-type hearings are costly and impose significant burdens and delays on both applicants and the agency that may not be necessary.” The rules will allow the presiding officer -- which under the revised rules could be an administrative law judge, the commission or a commissioner -- to designate matters for hearing on a written record whenever a dispute can be solved that way. “Alternatively, the Commission will order a hearing with live testimony and/or cross-examination when it is appropriate,” the order said. Parties can request live hearings, but the decision is up to the presiding officer. The FCC will determine in each hearing designation order whether a case will be overseen by an ALJ or the commission. Having the FCC preside could ameliorate case backlogs due to the agency's having only one ALJ, the order said. “We reject any claim that the independence and objectivity of the presiding officer can be assured only if an administrative law judge serves as the presiding officer.” Commissioners must recuse themselves from matters in which they aren’t impartial, and ALJ decisions are ultimately subject to FCC review, the order said. When the FCC is the presiding officer, it can delegate authority to a commission-appointed case manager to perform some presiding officer functions, including ruling on discovery options “and other interlocutory matters,” the order said. The new rules include a new, more lenient evidence standard for such hearings, based on the Administrative Procedure Act. The previous evidence rules had been based on the federal rules of evidence.

Wi-Fi 6 is becoming a “major influence” in the IoT that Silicon Labs is supporting, said General Manager Matt Johnson at the chip company's virtual conference last week (see 2009100068). The next-generation Wi-Fi technology was the impetus behind the company’s purchase of Redpine Signals’ connectivity business this year. Johnson touted power consumption and “always-on” Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi 6 brings to the IoT the ability to support "hundreds of nodes without affecting network performance,” Johnson told us. “It allows prioritization and management across all the devices with their unique and different needs, and it supports doing this with lower power, which is something Wi-Fi has not been traditionally good at.”

Dish Network got more time (see 2009110054) to meet the AWS-4, lower 700 MHz E block, AWS H block and 600 MHz license construction requirements that are part of its plans for a national 5G network. The FCC Wireless Bureau's order Friday said the license terms for AWS-4, lower 700 MHz E block and AWS H block licenses now run through June 14, 2023, and the company is obligated to provide 5G broadband service over them. It said by that 2023 buildout deadline, Dish must be offering 5G to at least 70% of the population in each economic area with respect to each AWS-4 and lower 700 MHz E block license, and to at least 75% of the population in each EA with respect to each AWS H Block license. It said the license term for Dish's 600 MHz licenses is unchanged from June 14, 2029, but the interim buildout deadline of June 14, 2023, is removed, and the final buildout deadline for it to offer 5G to at least 75% of the population in each partial economic area is moved up to June 14, 2025. There had been skepticism about Dish's ability to meet the old deadlines (see 1807100062), and the license modifications and construction deadline adjustments were proposed in October's T-Mobile/Sprint/Dish order (see 1911050016). The bureau said the waiver and extension grants and license modifications are conditioned on the company meeting the terms of the T-Mobile/Sprint/Dish order, including mandatory payments for not hitting deployment commitments. T-Mobile has since bought Dish. The new order dismissed as defective Rural Wireless Association and Communications Workers of America protests to the license proposals in the T-Mobile order. “RWA wishes Dish Godspeed in the deployment of its 5G network and hopes it will meet" buildout benchmarks "so there will be a 4th nationwide carrier on the scene by 2023,” emailed RWA Counsel Carri Bennet. “Our members look forward to working with Dish on ways to continue to serve rural Americans.” CWA didn't comment immediately, nor did Dish or T-Mobile.

The FCC will provide paid internships and invest additional resources in recruiting students from educational institutions serving minorities starting in January, said a news release Thursday. It's a joint effort by Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. For the past several years, the FCC only offered voluntary, unpaid internships, the release said. “Establishing a paid internship program will help students who would otherwise have to forego an internship due to financial constraints,” Pai said. “My goal for this initiative is for our communications sector to better reflect the diversity of people across the country,” Starks said. “We can’t produce effective communication policies if we don’t accurately account for the diversity of issues Americans face.” CTA Vice President-Policy and Regulatory Affairs Jamie Susskind, a former aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, praised the initiative. “As someone who was a former FCC intern, as well as someone who used to hire FCC interns, it would have been great to have paid internships,” she tweeted. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council hopes this "will encourage those the FCC regulates -- and others in the industry --- to do their part to achieve a diverse pipeline in terms of talent, ownership, and in the supply chain," said Chair Ronald Johnson.

Whether a U.S. District Court is bound by a federal agency's interpretive rule was center stage Thursday as the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument on issues the Supreme Court remanded in its Carlton & Harris Chiropractic v. PDR Network junk fax decision last year (see 1906200055). Judges repeatedly pressed the attorney for the plaintiff-appellant and a lawyer from amicus briefer DOJ on the issue. Carlton attorney Glenn Hara of Anderson and Wanca and the judges discussed the merits of the FCC rule. Hara said the FCC made clear multiple times it treats junk faxes differently than phone calls because of different governing statutes. Telephone Consumer Protection Act practitioners always take pains to differentiate between the two, since "they're different worlds," he said. But it's immaterial under pro se rules whether the junk fax sender is a for-profit or nonprofit entity, he said: Because there has been no discovery, it's unclear whether the PDR faxes are indirectly commercial, trying to solicit further business. Hara also complained of "an abuse of discretion" by the U.S. District Court in Huntington, West Virginia, for dismissing the plaintiff's complaint without allowing an amended one. A district court has to follow an interpretive law because statutory language that talks about orders doesn’t distinguish between legislative and interpretive rules, said DOJ lawyer Mark Stern. Judge Pamela Harris said the 4th Circuit is having difficulty with the new arguments that have come to it since the SCOTUS remand. "I'm finding this frustrating," she said. PDR lawyer Kwaku Akowuah of Sidley Austin said his client always takes the position the lower court was right in its reasoning that it wasn't bound by the rule and could look at the statute. Court proceedings, held remotely, were delayed about two minutes partway through due to frozen screen. Also hearing the case were Judges Albert Diaz and Stephanie Thacker.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai pressured the wireless industry to step up work on geotargeting for wireless emergency alerts, in letters sent Thursday. Commissioners approved an order 5-0 in 2018 (see 1801300027) imposing a Nov. 30, 2019, deadline for carriers to more accurately “geo-target” wireless emergency alerts. Pai asked ATIS to task its Wireless Technologies Systems Committee “with producing best practices that refine … discretionary parameters to further improve enhanced WEA geo-targeting.” The best practices should include the recommended frequency for retransmitting WEAs, the recommended number of location checks devices should perform when determining whether to display an alert, the recommended time devices should wait to get a fix on their location during each check and “the recommended processes to ensure that WEA-capable mobile devices display WEAs received during active voice or data sessions when the device is located within the targeted geographic area,” Pai said. He asked for a document by Q2. A letter to CTIA asked for annual updates, beginning in July, on industry’s “estimates of current and projected market penetration rates of mobile devices that support enhanced WEA geo-targeting." Pai noted CTIA recently informed commission staff that some 18% of active smartphones now support enhanced WEA geotargeting. Pai sought a commitment by Oct. 1. A letter to Qualcomm noted “the availability of enhanced WEA geo-targeting is dependent upon the capabilities of the mobile device’s chipset, many of which are produced by Qualcomm.” Pai asked for a commitment by Oct. 1 that “all Qualcomm-enabled 5G devices currently sold, and to be sold, in the United States will support enhanced WEA geo-targeting -- as Qualcomm has communicated previously to FCC staff.” Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes blogged that geotargeting is an important enhancement to WEAs, launched in 2012. “We expect the improvement to become more widely available over time, as consumers purchase new smartphones,” she said.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau shut down the disaster information reporting system for storms Marco and Laura, said a public notice in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which requested the DIRS be activated for the storms, asked the FCC to close down the reporting. Tuesday’s DIRS report, the last for these storms, showed the effects on communications declining (see 2009080052).

Satellite and wireless interests remain at odds over FCC International Bureau guidance for deploying earth stations in bands higher than 24 GHz, in docket 17-172 replies Wednesday. The guidance got satellite opposition and heavy lobbying (see 2008060055). The Satellite Industry Association said there's general agreement the FCC contradicted itself on the definition of roads and on contour guidance: The only voices otherwise "are a small cadre of wireless commenters [using] the Bureau’s inaccurate and unlawful 'guidance' in an effort to impede broadband deployment by competitive satellite operators." Viasat said the guidance's assertion satellite operators have to account for state road determinations when siting earth stations is unlawful and the spectrum frontiers order "left no room for interpretation or need for 'guidance.'” The company said wireless interests "are simply wrong" about Transportation Department regulations, which clearly say it's the federal government, not states, that decides which state roads are treated as highways. Amazon's Kuiper said wireless interests try to brush off the significance of guidance about roadways that earth station contours can't cross, but it's "not a small change" and the approach wireless advocates are backing "would impose a considerable burden that substantially increases the difficulty" for a fixed satellite service trying to find earth station sites. OneWeb backed SIA. Defending the guidance and urging dismissal of SIA's petition, T-Mobile said arguments it goes beyond or contradicts FCC rules ignore the agency's intent and are unreasonable in interpretation of spectrum frontiers decisions. Verizon said no SIA backers identify where the guidance is contrary to rules, instead they focus on not getting more flexibility. Wireless operators have spent billions of dollars on millimeter wave spectrum and satellite operators had the option of buying exclusive use licenses in areas where they planned earth stations, but opted not to bid, it said.

The FCC got suggestions of changes to its broadband mapping and data collection rulemaking approved in July (see 2007160062), in docket 19-195 comments posted Wednesday. USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association said the FCC shouldn't require providers to supply testing or other latency verification and it should exclude non-mass market business-only services. They said that verification can't happen until the fabric is created and that geocoordinates should become the standard format when evaluating outside data. They said the FCC should end broadband deployment data collection that's part of its Form 477. Connected Nation said the FCC should either collect speed information below 25/3 Mbps in three speed tiers or the baseline should be reporting at 3 Mbps/768 kbps with two speed tiers, and should collect round-trip latency information, defining the points on the network between which latency is measured. The Competitive Carriers Association said a standard way of reporting signal strength has benefits, but mobile operators look at a wide variety of variables that influence a link budget. CCA said the agency should provide guidance on in-vehicle penetration on a per-frequency basis and make sure verification procedures aren't a sizable burden. AT&T said providers shouldn't have to submit “business-only” broadband service availability data, but all carriers should have to identify the latency capability of fixed broadband service. It backed requiring service technologies to certify to the same latency threshold but said there's a need to differentiate among technologies with higher latency standards. The Broadband Data Act doesn't require changing the broadband data the commission collects from satellite providers because what the agency gets now is accurate, nor is latency information needed, Hughes said. If the FCC decides it wants additional latency information, all providers should report whether their service offerings fall above or below a certain threshold, Hughes said. Incompas said when the FCC refers to its facilities-based definition for broadband providers that must file polygons, it should use a different definition of facilities-based provider, or it will end up with results overstating availability. Next Century Cities urged collecting additional location-specific speed and pricing data. WTA said the approach to defining locations should differ for broadband mapping and Connect America Fund buildout purposes. CTIA's petition for reconsideration said the FCC should look again at its disparate treatment of link budget information of mobile and fixed wireless providers, and at its requiring modeling of in-vehicle usage coverage in addition to outdoor stationary coverage for each mobile wireless technology.

About 22% of cellsites are out of service in the five Louisiana counties where the FCC’s disaster information reporting system remains active for storms Laura and Marco, said Tuesday’s DIRS report. One public safety answering point is rerouting calls, and 74,181 cable and wireline subscribers are out of service. No TV stations are down, but six FM stations and one AM are out of service, the report said. The FCC narrowed the areas covered by DIRS Friday.