Pointing to electronic systems and databases not fully accessible during the partial federal shutdown, the FCC is again extending filing deadlines, said a public notice Tuesday (see 1901290014). Filings due Jan. 3-7 remain due Jan. 30. Now, those due Jan. 8-Feb. 7 aren't due until Feb. 8. Responsive pleadings to filings with new deadlines get an extension of the same amount of time after the comment deadline. Any transaction shot clocks that froze Jan. 2 when the agency closed restarted Tuesday. Universal licensing system applications and notifications due Jan. 3-Feb. 8 now have a Feb. 8 deadline. ULS filings held during the shutdown and afterward will be considered received as of Tuesday. The large number of ULS filings received during the shutdown will be entered in batches over weeks, with a Jan. 29 receipt date. Written provider responses to informal consumer complaints filed via the complaint center that became due during the shutdown now are due Wednesday. Online public inspection quarterly filings due Jan. 10, and all non-quarterly filings required for a station’s online public inspection Jan. 3-28, now must be submitted by Feb. 11. Filings during the shutdown must be resubmitted to the proper online public inspection file site. The FCC said it can't waive statutory deadlines but won't consider itself open for the filing of documents with statutory deadlines -- other than filings related to spectrum auctions -- until Wednesday. Special temporary authorities that would have expired Jan. 3-29 are extended until Feb. 8. Fee and other payments that can be made only through the fee filer system and due Jan. 3-Feb. 7 are extended by the same schedule as regulatory filings. Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee membership nominations to BDAC@fcc.gov are needed by Feb. 4. The tower construction notification system, electronic Section 106 system and antenna structure registration system resume Jan. 30. Related deadlines and tribal review timelines are tolled Jan. 3-30. Tribal nations have 30 days to review an application uploaded to the E-106 system. The PN supersedes earlier guidance. A separate PN said the Media Bureau will set new deadlines on NAB/NCTA's election cycle notification proposal in the Federal Register. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai got positive reactions for moving next month's meeting to Feb. 14, the day before the next shutdown would occur if there's no new budget, and making the tentative agenda the same as originally planned for this Wednesday (see 1901290031).

Providers cited anti-robocalling efforts to help consumers but seemed to make few changes in response to FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel's December call they provide consumers with blocking (see 1812120026). One exception was Verizon. "We currently offer free alerts about potential spam calls to customers with certain Android phones, and we will begin rolling out free spam alerting and blocking to all of our customers whose smartphones support those features starting in March," wrote Senior Vice President Kathleen Grillo, posted Monday. Senior Vice President Kathleen Ham wrote that T-Mobile "just rolled out to customers our 'Caller Verified technology, which, for now, implements [Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs/Secure Telephony Identity Revisited] standards for calls made to Samsung Note9 smartphones" on its network. "We need to help give consumers a fighting chance against robocalls and I will continue to press this agency and my colleagues to fix this mess," said Rosenworcel, releasing the letters. Also responding were: AT&T, Bandwidth, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Frontier Communications, Google, Sprint, TDS, U.S. Cellular and Vonage.

The House Commerce and Judiciary committees set a Feb. 13 hearing on T-Mobile's proposed purchase of Sprint, as expected (see 1901250004). That confirmed what communications sector lobbyists told us earlier Monday. The House Communications and House Judiciary's Antitrust subcommittee will jointly conduct the hearing, which will include testimony from Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure and T-Mobile CEO John Legere. The merger "would combine two of the four largest wireless carriers and the carriers with the largest numbers of low-income customers," said Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Communications Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., and Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., in a news release. "We must hold this hearing to examine the effects on important issues like jobs, costs to consumers, innovation and competition." The hearing is "good news,” said Public Knowledge Vice President Chris Lewis in an interview. PK expects the committees would have a “full and serious discussion on the implications of the merger. We want Congress to help promote that discussion and raise concerns about issues and ask important questions of stakeholders.” The group was among 14 that wrote House Commerce and Judiciary Democratic leaders in November urging the hearing (see 1811280071). Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and 12 other House lawmakers wrote Friday night in support of T-Mobile/Sprint. Both agencies should “carefully examine all dimensions of competition” in the communications market, “including investment, innovation, spectrum resources, the evolving nature of the wireless industry, and the prospect of expanded broadband deployment,” they wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim.

The Newseum building is being sold for $372.5 million to Johns Hopkins University, after a year-plus review of the media museum's "unsustainable operating costs," said its creator, Freedom Forum. The forum has committed more than $600 million for the museum, and said the property will remain open to the public through the year. Newseum Chair Peter Prichard said it's "ready to continue much of the Newseum’s important work for decades to come -- through digital outreach, traveling exhibits, and web-based programs in schools around the world, as well as hopefully in a new physical home in the area." Finding a new space is the museum's preference, said a spokesperson. Johns Hopkins "will use the building as a new consolidated center for its DC-based graduate programs," the Freedom Forum said Friday. The museum declined further comment. For the new owner, "transforming" 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW "will require a significant renovation, as well as a number of required reviews and approvals by regulatory agencies," the university said. "Construction could begin as soon as the fall of 2020 and will take about two and half years." JHU plans to keep operating the property's restaurant and residences "as commercial entities" in their current form, and it's buying the entire property, a university spokesperson emailed us. "The intention is to consolidate our DC presence there. We expect to eventually sell our current DC properties."

The FCC's January meeting agenda is a prime example of how the partial government shutdown is undercutting administration efforts at deregulation and needs to end, American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow Daniel Lyons blogged Friday. "Smart-siz[ing] the regulatory state" is long overdue, but eliminating outdated and overly burdensome regulations requires a bureaucracy that reviews its rules, gauges their ongoing necessity and manages the legal process for changing them, he said. The shutdown means deregulatory items that had been scheduled for the meeting -- an end to Connect America Fund Phase I support in some price-cap telco areas and eliminating requirements for broadcaster midterm equal employment opportunity reports (see 1901030039) -- are now kicked down the road, Lyons said. The agency announced last week the January meeting won't have agenda items (see 1901230058). President Donald Trump reached a deal on a continuing resolution to reopen shuttered parts of the government through Feb. 15, which Congress was expected to have approved as soon as Friday night (see 1901240016).

NAB warned that spectrum sharing often isn’t easy, commenting (see 1901230028) to NTIA on the national spectrum plan, as other groups filed last week despite the federal shutdown. “Widespread successful spectrum sharing involving sensitive information is likely to require a third party, trusted by all involved spectrum users, to act as a frequency coordinator,” NAB said. “All spectrum users involved in a sharing arrangement will need to have real-time communication with the trusted third party to provide up-to-the minute information on operating conditions and to facilitate interference reporting.” This third party must also have “enforcement capability to alter the sharing parties’ operating conditions to mitigate or avoid interference, and to shut down interference sources if necessary,” NAB said. The Telecommunications Industry Association said spectrum policies must be predictable, flexible and efficient, protecting those with superior rights. “Good spectrum policy decisions need to be made on a band-by-band basis, depending on the particular propagation characteristics of a band, existing service allocations, and existing incumbent services within a band,” TIA said. “While spectrum sharing approaches and technologies are increasingly becoming available, the existence of either should not, by itself, justify regulatory action to implement a sharing system.” APCO noted that "public safety communications systems are designed for the worst-case, highest-use scenario and therefore may require a much greater surge capacity.” Declare "spectrum is the quickest and most cost-effective way to provide access to broadband services to rural areas that lack access or choice,” the Wireless ISP Association asked. NTIA “should consider the growing socioeconomic benefits of unlicensed spectrum use cases," like Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi Alliance said. “This includes promoting shared spectrum access among Federal and unlicensed spectrum users.” Satellite operators need long-term access to spectrum, the Satellite Industry Association said. “Due to the long lead time to design, construct, and deploy satellite networks, satellite operators must obtain funding and spectrum rights years in advance of launch.”

Google told NTIA it and other companies are developing technologies to improve spectrum sharing. Google commented on the national spectrum policy, as did others though the agency is mostly shut (see 1901230028). “Dynamic spectrum databases and automated admission technologies hold the promise of revolutionizing wireless communications and transforming network deployments by incumbent operators, neutral hosts, and end users, catapulting the United States into its 5G future,” Google said. “Government policies that incorporate opportunistic spectrum use can enable more efficient use, lowering barriers to entry for new products, applications, and use cases, which are essential for economic development and achieving 5G." Google noted the many advantages that will come with 5G. It said use of databases for sharing “is fully compatible with traditional licensing in the same spectrum bands, enabling wireless carriers and other providers to meet quality of service needs.” The GPS Innovation Alliance said spectrum management decisions must consider “the unique characteristics” of global navigation satellite system services and GPS, protecting them from harmful interference.

The federal judiciary can extend paid operations through Jan. 31 and maybe Feb. 1, despite the partial government shutdown, but "no further extensions ... will be possible," projected the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, noting the previous estimate was for funding through this week. "Extensions have been achieved" by "deferring non-critical operating costs and utilizing court filing fees and other available balances," said the office Tuesday. "Most of the measures are temporary stopgaps, and the Judiciary will face many deferred payment obligations after the partial government shutdown." If existing funding runs out before lawmakers appropriate new funding, "the Judiciary will operate under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act, which permits mission critical work," including case resolution, the office said. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which reviews many FCC cases and is to hear argument on challenges to the net neutrality reversal order Feb. 1 (see 1901230060), said oral arguments on its calendar "will go on as scheduled." Deadlines remain.

The partial government shutdown could have lengthy FCC aftereffects, said former Chairman Tom Wheeler in a blog post for the Brookings Institution Tuesday. Returning from month-plus shutdown “is not a situation where employees walk back in and pick up where they left off a few days before,” Wheeler said. “So much new has piled up on the Commission’s plate that the first thing to do upon returning is to assess the new pile, the second step is to catch up on other developments in the intervening period, then the third step is to reprioritize.” Only then “can the Commission get back to full productivity.” By making it difficult to get new tech reviewed or consult with FCC experts, the shutdown is likely causing delays for the advance to 5G and slowing progress on T-Mobile buying Sprint, Nexstar/Tribune and the resolution of the Sinclair hearing designation order, Wheeler said. He criticized “the Trump FCC” for using the shutdown as reasons not to respond to congressional requests for information on carriers selling location information and to delay the net neutrality court case. The shuttering has “proven a convenient excuse” for the FCC “to avoid unpleasant explanations of their activities,” Wheeler wrote. Wednesday, the agency didn’t comment.

The FCC will hold a scheduled commissioners’ meeting Jan. 30, without the planned agenda items, said a public notice Wednesday (see 1901230035). As expected (see 1901180015), the meeting will instead consist of “announcements only,” the agency said. The FCC didn’t comment on whether the January agenda items would be pushed to a future meeting or approved on circulation. Details of the meeting depend on how long the shutdown lasts, the PN said. If the shutdown ends and the FCC “resumes normal operations” before Tuesday, the meeting will be held, as usual, in the Commission Meeting Room. If the shutdown continues through Tuesday, it will be conducted over conference call, the PN said. If the meeting is held via call, the public can listen in on an audio-only feed by calling 866-233-3841, pass code 463377, the PN said. “Call-in capacity may be limited depending on the volume of call.” In either scenario, the start time was moved to 11 a.m. "This could very well be one of the FCC's most productive meetings," cracked ex-Commissioner Robert McDowell in response. “Given the length of the shutdown so far, proceeding with the announced agenda wasn’t possible, even if the Commission were to resume operations soon,” emailed telecom attorney Steve Augustino of Kelley Drye. “The option of a delay could crowd the February meeting, so this is the only practical solution.” Use the agenda-less meeting to provide guidance on priorities after operations resume, he recommended. “The agency should signal what will be tackled first,” he said. “We have quite a backlog of work that is piling up, and there could be a flood of calls and filings on the first day of normal operations.”