More radio stations reported outages as telecom problems decreased amid California public safety power shutoffs, the FCC Public Safety Bureau reported Tuesday. Twenty-one FMs reported being off air, up from four Monday. Two other FMs were out but sending programming to another station, same as Monday (see 1910280050). Three AMs said they were out of service, up from two Monday. Cellsites out of service due to public safety power shutoffs decreased to 1.8 percent Tuesday from 3.3 percent a day earlier. Outages decreased in Marin County to 35.5 percent from 57.1 percent. Cable and wireline companies reported about 224,000 subscribers out of service due to power shutoffs, down from nearly 455,000. And 911 calls to Fairfax Police Department are rerouting to another public safety answering point with location information.

Out-of-service California cellsites increased to 3.3 percent Monday, from 2.4 percent Sunday, amid public safety power shutoffs, the FCC Public Safety Bureau reported. Marin County was the worst, with 57.1 percent out of service, with 134 of 160 of the outages due to lack of power, said the disaster information reporting system communications status report. Sunday's report showed Marin County with just under 50 percent out. Cable and wireline companies reported nearly 455,000 subscribers out of service, up about 61,000 from Sunday and about 443,500 from Friday (see 1910250061). Six FM and two AM radio stations were off-air Monday, with two of the FM stations sending programming to others. No 911 outages were reported. The bureau expanded DIRS information collection to 32 counties Saturday from 14 in the original notice (see 1910240075).

Commissioner Christine Wilson hopes the FTC shares how the agency calculated its $5 billion privacy fine against Facebook in the “coming weeks.” She noted during an interview with The Communicators, which was online Friday and to have been on C-SPAN this weekend, that such information isn’t currently public. Addressing criticism of the Facebook settlement, Wilson said it's not unusual for release of liability. She noted the agency can still pursue action against FTC Act Section 5-related conduct that was previously unknown. Echoing repeated comments from Chairman Joe Simons, Wilson urged repeal of the agency's common carrier exemption. Competition works best when all players competing for the same kind of business have a level playing field, she said. Wilson's fully committed to maintaining the strength of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act as the agency reviews its COPPA rule (see 1910170051): "Innovation can't come at the expense of children's privacy.” She said robocall complaints are the most common submissions for the agency’s consumer complaint database, and the agency is working “diligently” with industry to “eradicate” the problem.

Emergency 911 call takers need at least a floor number or wing specification when getting Z-axis information from wireless carriers, District of Columbia Office of Unified Communications Director Karima Holmes wrote the FCC Thursday in docket 07-114. “The need for a vertical estimate is needed but if the estimate is given in indecipherable terms like XXXX above mean sea level (AMSL), it does not help articulate to the caller, call taker nor the responder of where the emergency is occurring.” Massachusetts State Police asked the same earlier this week (see 1910230041).

The FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment will be chaired by Anna Gomez, of Wiley Rein, and working groups will be chaired by Beasley Media CEO Caroline Beasley, Comcast Vice President-Global Public Policy Rudy Brioche, and Brookings Institute Fellow Nicol Turner-Lee, said a public notice on docket 17-208 Thursday. Beasley will head the Access to Capital Working Group, Brioche the Digital Empowerment and Inclusion WG, and Turner Lee the Diversity in the Tech Sector one. The rechartered ACDDE holds its first meeting Wednesday.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., predicted Thursday that other Democrats will participate in the working group he and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., formed to write a bipartisan net neutrality measure (see 1903120078) after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's Mozilla v. FCC ruling. The Oct. 1 decision largely upheld FCC rescission of 2015 net neutrality rules but said the federal agency can’t yet pre-empt states (see 1910010018). Wicker, Sinema and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai were among recipients of USTelecom's first “Broadband Heroes” awards, though Sinema didn't appear at Thursday's event. Wicker said the ruling is generally “good news” and will help improve chances for bipartisan consensus on net neutrality legislation. Lawmakers haven't shifted their views on rescinded rules since the ruling, which many see as a sign that movement toward a legislative deal's unlikely before the 2020 presidential election (see 1910010044). Wicker noted the importance of USTelecom member companies because they “will play a critical role in the deployment of 5G.” Pai emphasized the importance of career staff in shaping commission work, saying he's “simply pushing paper” in a Washington office.

The FCC should adopt technical rules to open the C band for 5G, while protecting fixed satellite service operations, AT&T said. The rules should employ “a Power Flux Density threshold for validating 5G harmful interference to FSS earth stations” and recognize that 5G channels more than 50 MHz from the FSS band edge "will have no measurable impact on earth station operation,” it said. The FCC should also address grandfathered telemetry, tracking and control earth stations “on a highly individualized basis, including requiring investments in site-specific interference management tools, and reject the potentially sweeping preclusive effect of … overbroad generic regulations,” AT&T said in docket 18-122, posted Wednesday. America’s Communications Association also renewed its attack on the C-Band Alliance plan (see 1910220065). “CBA’s work in progress seems to rely on the use of further video compression and elimination of standard definition feeds,” ACA said: “Such a plan to clear 300 MHz would require significantly more than three years to complete and would cause irreparable harm to all industries that rely on the C-band, particularly the pay TV industry.” ACA met with staff from the International and Wireless bureaus, the Office of Economics and Analytics and Office of General Counsel. The Aerospace Vehicle Systems Institute (AVSI), meanwhile, filed data at the FCC on potential out-of-band interference from operations in the C band to radio altimeters using the adjacent 4.2-4.4 GHz band. The data is “very preliminary” but shows a decline in altimeter performance from increased use of the band for 5G. AVSI said the FCC should consult with the FAA “to assure public safety in the national airspace.” An altimeter measures the height of an aircraft above the terrain. CBA didn't comment.

Facebook and Amazon reported increases in Q3 lobbying spending over the same period in 2018 amid ongoing Capitol Hill antitrust interest in the tech sector. Disney, USTelecom and NetChoice were among those that said earlier Monday they increased spending (see 1910210077). Google reported a 50 percent drop to $2.98 million. Comcast, AT&T and NAB also had declines. Facebook said it spent $4.8 million, up nearly 70 percent. Amazon reported just over $4 million, an 11 percent increase. AT&T laid out $3.24 million, down almost 16 percent. Comcast reported just over $3 million, down more than 11 percent. NAB's dropped more than 12 percent to $2.98 million. NCTA increased expenditures more than 5 percent to $2.94 million. Verizon's spending increased 4 percent to $2.43 million. Charter's decreased 2 percent to $2.23 million. T-Mobile's increased more than 7 percent to $2.21 million. CBS' spending stayed level at $900,000. Fox upped expenditures almost 22 percent to $780,000. Dish Network increased 13 percent to $590,000.

America’s Communications Association attacked C-Band Alliance's proposal to reallocate the band for 5G. ACA questioned why CBA hasn't filed details on a new plan to repurpose closer to 300 MHz for 5G. ACA questioned whether other parties will have time to assess a new proposal before the FCC acts, as expected in December (see 1910100052). “CBA’s failure to submit its supposed new plan on a timely basis is far from the only problem with its evolving position,” ACA said in docket 18-122, posted Monday: “CBA would need to explain away its prior claims that 200 MHz is the maximum amount of C-Band spectrum it could possibly refarm. Making things worse still, CBA has had trouble proving to the satisfaction of C-Band users that it could repack them in 300 MHz without causing harm. Yet now it seems intent on jumping from one incomplete task to an even more daunting project.” CBA didn’t comment.

Comments on FCC-proposed FY 2020 regulatory fees will be due Nov. 22, replies Dec. 23, says Wednesday's Federal Register. It seeks comment on assessing all satellites it approves to communicate with U.S. earth stations, including foreign-licensed satellites with U.S. market access, on reallocating International Bureau full-time equivalents, on adjusting VHF broadcaster fees, and on lowering the fee for full-service radio station incubator licenses. The agency approved the NPRM in August (see 1908280021). In a docket 19-105 posting Tuesday, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters said it's unclear why the NPRM proposes only partial reduction in fees for incubator licensees instead of full reduction. They said waiving all fees for a license period "would profoundly demonstrate" endorsement of incubation and create big incentives to take part.