The FCC released drafts of rules Tuesday to modernize unbundling and resale requirements for LECs, update suspension and debarment rules for telecom relay services programs, and modify cost recovery rules for IP-captioned telephone service (IP CTS), a form of TRS. Commissioners tentatively will vote at their Nov. 19 meeting (see 1910280054). Deregulating what incumbents must provide rival telecoms would include transition periods.
Stakeholders are debating how Lifeline is regulated after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded to the FCC rules on its authority to make broadband eligible for the program. That ruling came in partly upholding the agency's 2018 net neutrality order reclassifying broadband as a Title I information service (see 1910010018). The 2-1 court decision points up uncertainty with Lifeline, stakeholders agreed in interviews this month.
The FCC released a draft proposal Tuesday to ban equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from networks funded by the USF. Industry officials largely welcomed the order. Huawei signaled it will fight. Commissioners are scheduled to vote Nov. 19, after Chairman Ajit Pai circulated the item Monday (see 1910280054). The FCC also posted proposed new 911 location accuracy rules.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., saw positive signs for moving forward on legislation to mandate an FCC-led public auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band after all subcommittee Democrats and several Republicans showed a clear preference for such a plan during a Tuesday hearing. The panel also was a forum for castigating the C-Band Alliance's proposal for a private auction of the bandwidth, as expected (see 1910280040). All sides continued to meet with the FCC. Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to propose a private auction plan for a vote at commissioners' Dec. 12 meeting (see 1910100052).
Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Christine Wilson support the FTC studying advertising and data collection practices. Speaking to reporters after a Monday Brookings Institution event, they recommended another FTC Act Section 6(b) study. Slaughter said the commission is in active discussions about an ad-related data collection review.
Integration plans between T-Mobile and Sprint are further along than expected, since the deal has taken longer than expected to complete, said T-Mobile CEO John Legere on a Q3 call Monday. “The silver lining is that we have had more time to prepare for the coming integration,” Legere said: “We have detailed integration plans and we are preparing to start deploying Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum soon after closing” on buying that smaller company. He said with the state attorneys general court case to be heard in December, 19 state governments have now endorsed the deal.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order Monday for the Nov. 19 commissioners’ meeting that would bar providers from using USF support to buy from suppliers deemed a threat to national security. Pai mentioned Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE (see 1910280021). FCC officials said the order singles out those two. Pai proposes to seek comment on rules requiring eligible telecom carriers remove from their networks existing equipment from the suppliers and on how to provide financial assistance to carriers to help them transition to a trusted supplier.
Tuesday's House Communications Subcommittee hearing on repurposing spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 1910220070) is expected, like other Capitol Hill panels this year, to largely criticize the C-Band Alliance's proposal for a private auction of the bandwidth, communications policy-focused lobbyists said in interviews. House Communications, the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee examined the FCC's C-band proceeding in hearings since May (see 1910170038). The House Communications panel will begin at 10 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. A consortium of major satellite operators affiliated with CBA ahead of the hearing upped what they said their private auction plan would clear, as expected (see 1910250062).
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is crafting alternative legislation to a bill that overwhelmingly passed the House and would create a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office (see 1910230025), a Wyden aide told us. He and frequent partner here Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently placed holds on the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (HR-2426/S-1273), according to aides.
The C-Band Alliance faces pressure to provide an update on its revised proposal to make as much as 300 MHz available for 5G. Industry officials said an FCC filing could come soon, especially with a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on the band scheduled Tuesday (see 1910220070). If commissioners are to vote on an order on Dec. 12, as expected, Chairman Ajit Pai would have to circulate an order in less than a month. A CBA update could still come before Tuesday’s hearing, industry officials said. CBA didn't comment Friday.