Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., insisted Thursday he's also making progress on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization, amid two House committees' success this week in advancing their own renewal bills. Wicker postponed a markup earlier this month of his original Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act (S-2789) amid committee members' objections (see 1911130055). That bill would renew STELA through 2024. The law is set to expire Dec. 31.
As in initial comments, industry and local governments divided in replies on CTIA and Wireless Infrastructure Association proposals seeking more changes to wireless infrastructure rules designed to accelerate siting of towers and other 5G facilities (see 1910300027). Industry and FCC officials told us it’s unclear when the agency might consider changes. WIA told us talks with municipalities' allies continue.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's Monday decision to pursue a public auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1911180026) has shifted some lawmakers' attention from forcing the commission's hand to ensuring proceeds from the sale are allocated for rural broadband deployments and other telecom priorities. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., are aiming to continue advancing the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855/S-2921) as a potential proceeds allocation mechanism. Kennedy discussed potential pay-for options for C-band proceeds during a Thursday Senate Appropriations Financial Services hearing.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will establish safety standards for autonomous vehicles (AV) when the technology is “proven,” acting Administrator James Owens told Congress Wednesday. Industry is making significant adjustments to the technology, and the agency doesn’t want to stymie innovation, he said during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.
FCC Media Bureau draft NPRMs on digital AM and same market, commonly owned radio stations sharing content generated little activity in the FCC’s electronic comment filing system and aren’t considered controversial for Friday’s FCC agenda (see 1910290053), broadcast attorneys told us. An FCC official told us that few changes to the draft versions are expected.
Potential cost impacts on Lifeline providers and subscribers played into an FCC decision to increase the program's broadband usage standards from 2 GB per month to only 3 GB on Dec. 1, instead of the 8.75 GB that had been outlined in a 2016 Lifeline order, said an order released Wednesday in docket 11-42. In deciding to waive, in part, the new broadband minimum service standards in answer to an industry petition, the FCC found it "reasonable to anticipate that a more than four-fold increase in the minimum usage allowance would require substantially greater network resources, and, in turn, the associated costs would be passed along to resellers and/or end-users," the agency said.
FCC commissioners are seeking various changes to the national security supply chain rules set for a vote Friday. FCC officials said the email chain has been active this week, with all the commissioners seeking edits from Chairman Ajit Pai and staff. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel laid out in detail the changes she wants in the order in a Wednesday speech at the 5G Securing Rural Engagement Initiative in Flowood, Mississippi.
A declaratory ruling interpreting the so-called VoIP symmetry rule, a modification of licensing for noncommercial educational full-service FM and full-power noncommercial educational (NCE) TV and low-power FM broadcast stations, and a proposal to change the deadline for when cable distributors have to notify subscribers if a channel is going dark, will be among the top items at the Dec. 12 FCC meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged Wednesday. Also on the agenda will be a previously announced NPRM for designating 988 as a national suicide prevention hotline number (see 1911190054) and items on sharing the 5.9 GHz band between auto safety and Wi-Fi and clearing the lower 3.1 GHz band (see 1911200055). The draft item texts are expected to be released Thursday.
The California Public Utilities Commission will weigh more disaster relief rules for communications providers in response to problems during recent public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), CPUC President Marybel Batjer said at a Wednesday hearing livestreamed from San Francisco. Many local officials and telco customers couldn’t attend the hearing due to another power shutoff Wednesday, the sixth in two months, she said. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen dismissed carriers’ arguments they couldn’t anticipate extended power shutoffs.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will seek a vote at the Dec. 12 FCC commissioners' meeting proposing to take most of the 5.9 GHz band away from dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), reallocating it for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. The Wednesday announcement was expected (see 1911190066). The NPRM follows months of discussions with the Department of Transportation and was changed in reaction to DOT questions, a senior official said on a background call with reporters. DOT remains concerned.