The FCC failed to adequately respond to major hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, Free Press stated Tuesday. The nonprofit shared the FCC’s initial response to the group’s Freedom of Information Act request for copies of consumer complaints after the hurricanes. The FCC didn’t hold wireless and wireline carriers accountable for not building resilient networks or not responding quickly enough or sufficiently during hurricanes Irma and Maria, Free Press said. The FCC should form an independent commission to investigate, it said. “The disaster can’t be separated from the history of more than 100 years of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico,” said the report, “a history of wealth extraction, systemic racism and economic exploitation that left the islands’ critical infrastructure -- including the communications networks -- fragile and vulnerable.” It’s not fair that the FCC did a rigorous investigation of what happened after Hurricane Michael in Florida (see 1905090045) but not Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico, Free Press added. The commission disagreed with the report card. “It’s terribly misleading to claim that establishing a commission would be a more effective use of time and resources than the work we did and continue to do,” a spokesperson emailed. “This includes the analysis and report we already did on the hurricane, and the creation of the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund to provide short, medium and long-term funding to restore, harden and improve telecommunications networks in Puerto Rico. FCC staff and senior leadership have spent significant time working with local leaders to do everything we can to help in the recovery, resiliency, and eventually improvement of communications services for these hard-hit Americans.”

The FCC will deliver its report to Congress on the TV ratings system Wednesday but won’t release the report publicly until 48 hours later, an FCC spokesperson told us. Wednesday is the due date for the report, which was required in the 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act. It was provided to eighth-floor offices ahead of its release but was put out by the Media Bureau on delegated authority, requiring no commissioner votes, the spokesperson said. Parents Television Council President Tim Winter declined to comment on the report before he has seen its contents but said the bulk of the record supports improving the TV ratings system. PTC is widely seen as the impetus behind the directive from Congress, and the group delivered 1,400 petitions to the FCC calling for change last week (see 1905070046). Little action is expected to result from the report (see 1903010046).

FCC Chief Information Officer Christine Calvosa has left the agency, an agency official confirmed Monday. Calvosa replaced David Bray when he left the post in 2017. In February she went from acting to permanent CIO (see 1902040022).

Seeking an OK to combine, T-Mobile and Sprint urged the California Public Utilities Commission to enforce 50 voluntary commitments the carriers said they made over the course of the state's lengthy review. The carriers listed its pledges in an appendix starting on page 105 of a Friday reply brief in docket A.18-07-011. In that and other closing arguments, positions appeared largely unmoved from the opening round (see 1904290065). Reject arguments of opponents including the Communications Workers of America and consumer advocates who “have dug in their heels,” the companies said: “Intervenors seem intent on condemning Californians to the status quo, where AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and the cable companies dominate the wireless and broadband markets.” The combining firms urged prompt OK of the wireline part of its transfer in a separate reply. CWA urged denial: “Applicants have failed to provide evidence of verifiable, merger-specific public interest benefits.” The CPUC "Public Advocates Office opposes the proposed merger because it is not in the public interest,” PAO said. Alleged public benefits from 5G are “not unique to this merger,” with the record showing Sprint and T-Mobile would deploy 5G individually without the deal, it said. The Utility Reform Network understands technical benefits of combining networks for the companies, but the carriers didn’t show how that translates into direct benefits for consumers, TURN replied. The Greenlining Institute urged the CPUC to reject the carrier’s procedural attempt to split review into two proceedings "despite the fact the Commission consolidated Joint Applicants’ wireline and wireless applications, because those applications involved related questions of law or fact.” The California Emerging Technology Fund, which signed a pact with the carriers that included $35 million for CETF (see 1905080024), now “enthusiastically and wholeheartedly” supports the deal. Ion Media, meanwhile, told the FCC in a letter posted Monday in docket 18-197 it supports the deal. “The deployment of 5G networks promises to create a new alternative for video distribution for consumers all over the United States,” Ion said: “The New T-Mobile’s network, which is expected to deliver coverage, speeds, and capacity far superior to what either T-Mobile or Sprint could offer on their own, will enhance ION’s ability to provide the highest quality entertainment to consumers, at home and on the go.” But Dish Network told the FCC it shouldn’t approve the transaction because Sprint might otherwise fail as a company. “At no point during this proceeding have the Applicants attempted to assert that Sprint meets the definition of a failing firm under the Department of Justice’s Horizontal Merger Guidelines,” Dish said. “This is because -- as Sprint’s own statements demonstrate -- the company cannot make such a showing.”

The recently renewed FCC Consumer Advisory Committee (see 1904120044) meets June 3 at 9 a.m. in the Commission Meeting Room to discuss CAC members’ roles and responsibilities and issues to address, said Friday's Federal Register.

Three groups seek an NPRM to start the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1905010188) as soon as possible to develop rules this year and hold an auction in 2020. America’s Communications Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and NTCA told the FCC that rules for the current Connect America Fund Phase II program "provide a sound foundation upon which to develop the rules for the RDOF. No doubt certain parameters of the new program will require updating and revision based upon lessons learned from the CAF Phase II program and auction. But, because a proven framework exists, we can build on that to quickly analyze shortcomings and make targeted refinements." The filing posted Friday in docket 19-126 noted that a recent news report quotes an FCC spokesperson "saying that the Commission will start this year to launch the RDOF and hold the auction in 2020." The agency declined to comment now.

The FCC scheduled a tribal workshop June 12-13 at the Chickasaw Nation in Norman, Oklahoma. The event will provide information to help tribal nations get better broadband, telecom and broadcast services and infrastructure, and to encourage tribal participation in the regulatory process, said a Thursday public notice. The FCC invited Agriculture Department officials to share information on relevant programs, and a Universal Service Administrative Co. representative will do an E-rate training, the agency said.

The FCC seeks comment on the FY 2019 regulatory fee schedule and modifications to regulatory fee authority made by 2018’s Ray Baum’s Act, said an NPRM released Wednesday evening (see 1905080079). The item had been slated for Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting. The FCC is proposing to collect $339 million in regulatory fees due in September. The act deleted what was called outdated language in FCC rules governing regulatory fees, and the NPRM seeks comment on “how these deletions and changes impact the Commission’s responsibilities in assessing and collecting regulatory fees.” The NPRM also seeks comment on continued phasing-in of direct broadcast satellite regulatory fees, continuing to “base non-common carrier and common carrier satellite and terrestrial IBC fees on the per Gbps rate.” The agency is “proposing to hew closely to our prior annual process for adjusting and amending fee categories and the fee schedule,” the NPRM said. It seeks comment on ”ways to further improve our regulatory fee process to make it less burdensome for all entities.” Comments are due June 7, replies June 24.

Backhaul, roaming and coordination problems slowed wireless restoration after Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle last year, the FCC Public Safety Bureau reported Thursday. Backhaul wasn’t resilient enough, reciprocal roaming was inadequate, and coordination among wireless providers, power crews and municipalities was lacking, it said. Wireless providers in hurricane-prone areas should make roaming agreements as part of pre-storm preparations; diversify backhaul technologies, such as by using microwave or satellite links; and work on best practices related to cooperation and coordination with local utilities, the report recommended. Communications providers should participate in coordination trainings, and they and power companies should make coordination agreements for mutual preparation and restoration efforts, it said, and the FCC should work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on harmonizing restoration practices across sectors. Recovery efforts often led to outages, with “numerous” cases of third-party crews damaging communications equipment while doing other restoration work, the report said. “Hurricane Michael demonstrated starkly how some wireless providers in the Florida Panhandle were able to rebound from this devastating storm through foresight and appropriate planning, while others stalled in their efforts to restore full service,” it said. “Some providers appear not to have comported with the Wireless Resiliency Cooperative Framework (Framework), the voluntary commitment that several nationwide service providers proposed and committed to abide by in 2016. Specifically, it appears that some wireless providers demurred from seeking assistance from potential roaming partners and, therefore, remained inoperable.” The bureau disagreed with carriers that claimed the framework worked as intended. “The effusive praise given by Framework signatories that commented in this docket simply does not ring true, in light of the lengthy wireless outages in Bay and Gulf Counties,” it said. “At least tens of thousands wireless customers had to wait days, unnecessarily, for their mobile phone service to be restored while their provider held off entering into roaming arrangements.” Chairman Ajit Pai urged wireless, other communications providers and power companies to implement the bureau’s recommendations. “It will come as no surprise to the residents of the Florida Panhandle that there is significant room for improvement on the recovery efforts seen in the wake of Hurricane Michael.” Wireless carriers didn’t comment.

The FCC adopted an NPRM Wednesday on FY 2019 regulatory fees that had been slated for Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting. It's deleted from Thursday’s agenda, said a notice of deletion.