ACA Connects "will take a serious look" at challenging the FCC's "all-in" video pricing rules, which are set for a vote during the commissioners' March 14 open meeting (see 2402210057), ACA President Grant Spellmeyer said. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks in an address Wednesday at the ACA Connects policy summit (see 2403060005) mentioned the all-in pricing draft order, saying it would curb the “indecipherable asterisks and fine print” that make comparison shopping difficult. Starks said the order is consistent with the TV Viewer Protection Act, which requires that MVPDs disclose the all-in price at the point of sale and within 24 hours of sign-up and let customers cancel without penalty. The item is part of a larger agenda with broad support against junk fees and favors greater transparency for consumers, said Best Best's Cheryl Leanza. She noted the Ticket Act (HR-3950), requiring greater transparency in prices for event tickets, and the No Hidden Fees Act, (HR-6543), which prompts greater transparency in hotel and motel costs. Leanza represented local government clients in the proceeding. Cable and satellite TV promotional materials and bills would prominently display an all-in price that covers programming-related costs, including broadcast retransmission consent fees and regional sports programming charges, under the draft order. The requirement would be only for ads where price is mentioned, according to the draft. Operators would have nine months to comply after the approved order is released. In advertising for bundled services, providers should have the option to either provide the full price of the bundle, including video fees, or separately list the bundle's all-in video portion, NCTA told aides to the five FCC commissioners and FCC Media Bureau staffers, according to a docket 23-203 filing Thursday. NCTA urged that franchise fees and public, educational and government programming fees be excluded from the all-in pricing. It also urged that the commission to give providers a year to implement the all-in rules. Joining NCTA in the meetings were representatives of Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox. In meetings with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Geoffrey Starks, Verizon reiterated its argument for exempting legacy plans no longer marketed or offered to consumers from the all-in pricing rule (see 2308010028). Pointing to existing federal transparency requirements as well as market forces, state cable associations said in a docket filing this week that the proposed all-in rules "rest on unsound legal footing, are unnecessary, and would produce results contrary to the Commission’s goals." Behind the filing were the Florida Internet & Television Association, Missouri Internet & Television Association, Ohio Cable Telecommunications Association and Texas Cable Association.
The FCC Wireline Bureau extended until May 1 the deadline to apply for the rural healthcare program. In an order Thursday in docket 17-310, the bureau extended the FY 2024 application filing window due to "two instances of outages of a program form that delayed some program participants’ ability [to] begin competitive bidding."
CTIA sought a tweak to the FCC’s proposed cyber mark order, set for a vote March 14 (see 2402220059). In a filing posted Thursday in docket 23-239, CTIA asked the regulator to clarify that “general purpose computing and networking equipment -- including routers,” is excluded from the order. Clarifying the scope of covered devices will “promote consistency with [the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s] efforts more broadly and ensure the FCC’s program conforms to the intended scope,” said the filing. “The clarification on the scope of ‘IoT device’ is useful not just to ensure definitional consistency, but also to promote broader consistency between two parallel workstreams by the FCC and NIST,” CTIA said. NCTA also sought clarity in meetings with Public Safety Bureau and commissioner staff. Clarifications will “make the program more successful in driving security improvements by making it more appealing for manufacturers to join,” NCTA said. Cablers asked for additional clarity on the definition of “IoT product” and “IoT product components.” The FCC should make clear that “decisions related to the certification and renewal requirements and processes should be based on NIST’s standards and guidance,” the group said. NCTA urged the launch of a “centralized registry that can be easily accessed by consumers to inform their purchasing decisions.” A searchable, “one-stop-shop” will “allow consumers to more readily research and compare products that bear the Mark, and it would support the efforts of network operators, security researchers, and other entities to enhance security across the IoT ecosystem.”
The FCC opened a docket Thursday asking how it can make available unassigned licenses in its inventory absent general auction authority. Comments are due April 8, replies April 22, in docket 24-72. The notice comes on the one-year anniversary of the expiration of FCC auction authority. “We are now compelled to ask what we can do with our current unassigned spectrum in order to keep innovation moving ahead in a global market for wireless that is not slowing down,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “I remain hopeful that the FCC’s auction authority will be restored quickly. … The agency stands ready to work with lawmakers to ensure we don’t find ourselves in the same place next year.” Rosenworcel said last year the FCC would consider a remnants auction of returned and unsold spectrum licenses if its auction authority is restored (see 2307280046). The FCC has most often made contested spectrum available through auctions, said the notice by the Wireless Bureau. “The Commission now faces a unique and historic challenge of how to facilitate the deployment of advanced wireless services across the country without using auctions to resolve mutually exclusive applications,” the bureau said. The bureau said it’s “compelled to explore how its existing regulatory tools could be used to provide the public with access to spectrum that would otherwise lie fallow.” The notice asks specifically about three alternatives for providing access: dynamic spectrum sharing techniques, nonexclusive site-based licensing and leasing inventory licenses. “We seek comment on each approach, as well as combinations of approaches … and any other methods that could be used to make Inventory Spectrum available to the public,” said the bureau.
USTelecom asked the FCC to grant broadband providers forbearance from Communications Act Section 214 requirements if it reclassifies broadband as a Title II service, meeting separately with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr. Imposing Section 214 requirements on broadband providers would "undermine innovation and investment in the broadband marketplace," the group said in an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 23-320. While USTelecom continued opposing the commission's proceeding on Title II reclassification, it also asked that the FCC limit any obligations to "requiring broadband providers to have an international Section 214 authorization to enter the marketplace" (see 2310190020). Verizon raised similar concerns in a meeting with staff of the Wireline Bureau, Wireless Bureau, Office of International Affairs, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and Office of General Counsel.
Comments are due May 6 for the FCC’s biennial 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act report to Congress, said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice in docket 10-213 Thursday. The agency is seeking comment on accessibility topics including internet browsers in mobile phones, the extent of barriers to accessibility in telecom, and the effect of CVAA enforcement on innovation. The PN is focused on whether there was progress on matters highlighted in the 2022 report (see 2210120059), such as accessibility to advanced communications services for Braille readers and apps that allow those with hearing or speech impairments to make phone calls. The PN also calls for updated information on accessibility for systems that allow remote work and remote healthcare. “Since our last biennial Report to Congress, accessibility needs have evolved, and we anticipate that this year’s report will highlight specific accessible devices and services, as well as those that may need improvement in this area,” the PN said.
The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comments by March 26, replies April 9, in docket 19-126 on a coalition request for amnesty for certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Connect America Fund II recipients, a public notice Tuesday said (see 2402280078). The coalition, which included nearly 70 ISPs, trade associations, state and local officials, and school districts, sought an amnesty period for support recipients "who cannot or do not intend to build their networks, a very short and expedited amnesty period of no more than a month that allows them to relinquish all or part of their winning areas without being penalized to the full extent that the commission’s rules provide."
The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a waiver allowing Quincy, Massachusetts, to use nonpublic safety frequencies 470.3 and 473.3 MHz in its public safety radio system. “The requested frequencies are considered interleaved because they are situated in between part 22 and part 90-designated spectrum bands, but they are not assignable to users under either part,” the bureau said. Quincy says there has been a significant increase in new buildings in the city and the additional channels will give it “added channel capacity for use as a fireground channel to address emergencies in the new buildings, or for use as an operations channel to coordinate evacuation of residents, or as a rapid intervention team channel to deal with a firefighter ‘MAYDAY,’” said the Wednesday order.
The FCC Wireline Bureau Wednesday approved AirVoice Wireless' revised compliance plan to continue providing Lifeline service, said a notice Wednesday in docket 11-42. AirVoice submitted a modification reflecting "an internal reorganization” and its acquisition out of bankruptcy of TAG Mobile, the bureau said.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks should ask the Media Bureau to develop a fuller record on the FM nonduplication rules before restoring them (see 2402270019), NAB said during an ex parte meeting with an aide to Starks last week, according to a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-310. The agency should “pause” action on a circulated reconsideration order because three years have passed since the rules were eliminated, the filing said. “The benefit of this significant passage of time is that the Commission can actually collect and analyze information to better understand whether, and in what circumstances, broadcasters are taking advantage of the rule’s elimination,” NAB said.