The potential departure of FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly may affect work to allocate part of the 3.1-3.55 GHz band for 5G, lawyers and commission officials told us. President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday DOD agreed to hand off a 100 MHz portion of the 3450-3550 MHz band for commercial shared use (see 2008100038). FCC work on the band isn’t as far along as some other frequencies and NTIA is raising concerns (see 2007070062).
Dish Network is making “very steady progress” on its 5G network buildout, and its commitment to open radio access network (O-RAN) “architecture” (see 2002190048) is “the most important thing” about the deployment, said Chairman Charlie Ergen on a Q2 call Friday: “We’re the only company in the United States that we know of that’s doing that from a clean sheet of paper.”
The satellite industry expects at least some changes to the FCC International Bureau earth station siting guidance that's the subject of a reconsideration petition, given the seeming unintended consequences of it, we're told. Since it's about staff guidance and not an order, the outcome isn't exactly clear. The Satellite Industry Association had petitioned for changes.
The U.S. government shouldn’t force a TikTok sale to any particular company, but the Chinese app’s data practices are an unacceptable security threat, Senate Republicans told us last week. The company is defending itself through lobbying, interviews and other public actions.
Responding to a spate of reported 911 dispatching issues, a Washington, D.C., auditor might conduct a long-awaited probe of the Office of Unified Communications next year. Alleged OUC incidents -- including sending first responders to the wrong address or multiple responders to the same place -- could show a systemic problem, said a neighborhood commissioner and firefighter union president in interviews last week.
Rules for the 70/80/90 GHz bands should be optimized for wireless backhaul and compatible applications, said T-Mobile and other carriers in comments posted Thursday in docket 20-133, in response to a June NPRM (see 2008050058). Others sought broader use.
The FCC approved rules for a C-band auction starting Dec. 8 as circulated, with the general approval of all five commissioners (see 2007280063). Jessica Rosenworcel partially dissented because of concerns about the approach on the C band approved 3-2 in February (see 2002280044). Geoffrey Starks also partially dissented, saying his earlier concerns remain. Chairman Ajit Pai announced the agency plans the next mid-band auction, of 2.5 GHz spectrum, in the first half of next year (see 2008060017).
The FCC approved eliminating rules restricting same-market, commonly owned radio stations from airing duplicate programming, 3-2 Thursday. It eliminated restrictions for both bands, as expected (see 2008040063). The draft applied only to AM.
The FCC approved 5-0 an order on remand and Further NPRM on rates for interstate inmate calling services, with ICS changes sought by overhaul proponents (see 2008040056). Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks said the agency should have acted much earlier. As on other items, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly voted yes but didn’t have a statement (see 2008060062).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other GOP lawmakers are pressing President Donald Trump to reverse course and reinstate his renomination of FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, officials told us. Trump abruptly withdrew O’Rielly’s renomination Monday (see 2008030072). The decision drew significant scrutiny amid perceptions it’s tied to O’Rielly’s reluctance to say he wants the FCC to clarify its rules in response to Trump’s May executive order on Communications Decency Act Section 230. Senate Republicans are making their case for O’Rielly partly because they think it would be difficult for the Senate to confirm a replacement this year (see 2008040061).