Streamlined regulation and emergency spectrum authorization helped open broadband access during the pandemic, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday on a Lincoln Policy Network webinar. "There are some silver linings in this otherwise dismal time." Pai said the current FCC has been the most aggressive in freeing up licensed and unlicensed spectrum, some under temporary authority. "We've tried to do everything we can to remove spectrum constraints on innovation and investment," he said. It's harder now that "we don't labor" in "untilled fields anymore." When working with industry and government incumbents to share or repurpose spectrum, Pai said he asks his staff to tell him "what the engineering is without fear or favor." When the commission makes a spectrum decision, he said, "it's one I ultimately can defend in the court of public opinion, before Congress or in court."

The FirstNet board unanimously approved the first set of investments for enhancing the network for first responders. Members during a virtual meeting Wednesday OK'd Resolution 105, which provides $218 million for initial network upgrades “to set FirstNet on the path to 5G and to expand the dedicated fleet of deployable assets.” 5G will mean improved data rates for first responders, said Neil Cox, chair of the Technology Committee. Low latency is especially important to emergency medical services users, he said. 5G also means access to more spectrum “which brings more and more capacity to improve the throughput,” he said. It will mean more devices, including biometric sensors, motion detectors and high-speed cameras for first responders, he said. Moving toward 5G “takes into account the technology advances that are happening today,” Cox said. “We’re learning new architectures and technologies and how to deploy 5G and as commercial providers worldwide begin to transition to 5G, it’s strategically important that we ensure that the FirstNet network is keeping pace,” he said. “First responders expect the network to evolve and progress with technology,” said Jeff Bratcher, FirstNet chief technology officer: “They did not want to be stranded on outdated networks.” He said FirstNet is also active on 5G standards development within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project. FirstNet is expanding the number of deployables beyond the 72 now available, said Executive Director Edward Parkinson. They have been used at natural disasters and preplanned events like the July Fourth celebration on the National Mall, he said.

Team Telecom recommended the FCC deny OK for the portion of a Pacific Light Cable Network undersea cable system directly linking the U.S. to Hong Kong, DOJ announced Wednesday (see 2006170041). The interdepartmental body cited national security concerns; the commission declined to comment. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks tweeted Wednesday that the FCC "must protect" undersea cables because they are "critical to the future of cloud computing." He responded to our news of Team Telecom's recommendation. Starks added that it's the first Team Telecom committee recommendation. Team telecom found the application raised concerns PLCN would advance the Chinese government’s "goal that Hong Kong be the dominant hub in the Asia Pacific region for global information and communications technology and services infrastructure, which would increase the share of U.S. internet, data, and telecommunications traffic to the Asia Pacific region traversing [People’s Republic of China] territory and PRC-owned or -controlled infrastructure before reaching its ultimate destinations in other parts of Asia." But the DOJ, DOD and Department of Homeland body, formally called the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector, recommended the commission grant links of PLCN connecting the U.S. to Taiwan and the Philippines. That part lacks China-based ownership and is "separately owned and controlled by subsidiaries of Google" and Facebook, DOJ said. It would have a "condition that the companies’ subsidiaries enter into mitigation agreements." April 8, the FCC granted Google’s request for special temporary authority to commercially operate the segment of PLCN connecting the U.S. and Taiwan for six months. The other deployment "would have allowed for the highest capacity subsea cable connection between" the U.S. and Asia and "the first direct connection between" the U.S. and Hong Kong, Justice said Wednesday. "This raised national security concerns, because a significant investor in the PLCN is Pacific Light Data," which is part of Dr. Peng Group, China's No. 4 telecom services provider. Google has worked through established channels for many years to obtain cable landing licenses for various undersea cables, "and we will continue to abide by the decisions made by designated agencies in the locations where we operate,” a spokesperson emailed. Facebook looks "forward to working with Team Telecom and the FCC toward obtaining a full license that is consistent with this petition and the FCC’s views," a spokesperson emailed. China's embassy in Washington, PLCN and Dr. Peng Group didn't comment. There's heightened U.S. scrutiny of China and its trade and IP practices and threats over cybersecurity.

NTIA officials warned Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee leaders that the Trump administration’s long-awaited spectrum strategy (see 1907310033) won’t be ready before the group meets in July, CSMAC members confirmed Tuesday. The delay complicated the work of CSMAC’s Spectrum Strategy Governance Subcommittee, which is developing a report on potential major changes to federal oversight of spectrum, expected to be presented at the meeting (see [Ref:2004220059). The subcommittee was originally charged with working from the strategy to develop the report, CSMAC members said. NTIA didn’t comment. The exact date of the meeting hasn’t been set, but it’s expected to be virtual, CSMAC members said. The strategy has been in the works since October 2018. Last July was the original deadline for completing the document.

Wiley will move to a newly constructed building at 2050 M St. NW in Washington, D.C., said real estate developer Tishman Speyer. Wiley, currently at 1776 K St. NW, is leasing 166,000 square feet on floors three through seven of the new location, an 11-story, 340,000-square-foot building that also houses CBS’ Washington bureau. The move is “the DC market’s largest relocation deal so far in 2020,” said Tishman Speyer.

FCC Technological Advisory Committee Chairman Dennis Roberson rejected claims by three House Armed Services Committee members that his associations with TAC and Roberson and Associates is a potential conflict of interest that could call into question commission approval of Ligado’s L-band plan. Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and two House Armed Services Republicans sought an FCC inspector general probe, citing RAA’s 2016 work on behalf of Ligado counsel Covington & Burling (see 2006120033). TAC reported on interference limits policy and harm claim thresholds in March 2014 and RAA began working on Ligado’s behalf 13 months later, Roberson told us Friday. He didn’t lead TAC’s work on interference limits, which he noted weren’t specifically related to what’s at issue in the Ligado debate. “I was very surprised” when made aware of the claims, especially because of “how far what is suggested is from both the way I personally operate and the way the FCC conducts its business,” Roberson said. “It’s an indictment towards me” and “an indictment of the process the FCC uses. Both are very wrong. Personally I am very careful” not to intertwine RAA work with TAC. He said he hasn’t been contacted by House Armed Services. He said it’s appropriate for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to handle the commission’s response and for the IG to decide on an investigation if it chooses. Armed Services didn't comment Monday.

The FCC's C-band order, if not stayed, will mean "irreparable losses and competitive harm" to small satellite operators ABS Global, Empresa and Hispasat because they will be left with significantly less spectrum while their competitors will reap taxpayer-funded satellites and billions of dollars that should go to the Treasury, the three said Monday in an emergency motion for a stay. The SSOs told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (docket 20-1146, in Pacer) the stay must be granted by June 22, the order's effective date, or the big C-band satellite operators, their customers and wireless companies will start incurring clearing costs and doing auction preparation they will claim can't be undone fairly. Barring that stay, expedite briefing and argument so the spectrum auction set for Dec. 8 doesn't happen before the SSOs' appeal of the order is decided, they asked. The FCC emailed it's "confident that this misguided effort to delay the clearing of this critical band of spectrum to support 5G services will fail. These companies don't use C-band spectrum in the United States and have failed to show that they will suffer any imminent or irreparable harm from the procedures the FCC has put in place. In any event, their legal arguments are meritless." Its Wireless Bureau denied the SSOs' stay request last week (see 2006110041). Intelsat said it signed agreements with Maxar and Northrop Grumman for six new satellites for the C-band relocation -- four from Maxar, two from Northrop. It said it's in talks with satellite manufacturers about a seventh satellite for the C-band transition.

“Recurring racial violence and hostility against the Black community, compounded by the disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color, have lain bare the ages-old social, health, and economic inequities and systemic racism that continue,” said the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment in Friday's Daily Digest. The group helps the agency “promote policies that favor diversity of media voices” and the public interest, as the agency is statutorily obligated to do, it said. “We invite members of the public to continue to engage with the ACDDE in its examination of these issues.” The group believes in "protection of constitutional rights." It supports "inclusive and smart solutions that enable all Americans to thrive in a digital world."

C-band satellite operators' transition plans now are due June 19, after the FCC Wireless Bureau ordered a seven-day extension. Eutelsat (see 2006100005) and Claro (see here) sought extensions for their plans, and the bureau said Friday a delay for all satcom operators won't delay the transition process. It said it's not altering other transition plans deadlines. The bureau denied an NCTA and ACA Connects petition asking for an extended comment deadline on the C-band lump sum (see 2006100005).

Wireless ISPs and low earth orbit satellite providers participating in the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund phase I auctions must prepare more detailed responses for their short-form applications after the FCC added new questions for those bidding in the gigabit performance tier, said a public notice released Thursday on auction procedures. The FCC emphasized "the level of detail we expect to see in responses from service providers proposing to bid in the Gigabit performance tier" and clarified applicants should include information on upstream speeds. The agency will provide examples of information it seeks on "base station configurations and channel bandwidths, as well as traffic and propagation assumptions." It wants satellite providers to describe how their proposed networks will deliver the proposed performance tier and latency requirements "to all planned locations in a mass-market consumer service." Commissioners approved the item Tuesday (see 2006090031). Stakeholders disagree which tiers spectrum-based broadband providers should participate in (see 2006020036). “The Wireless ISP Association is "generally pleased" the PN "places no restrictions against any fixed wireless providers being able to apply to bid in the Gigabit performance tier," a spokesperson emailed. NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs and Business Development Mike Romano tweeted his support of added FCC scrutiny.