With a full complement of FCC commissioners possible soon, Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service state members told us they’re looking forward to reconvening with the federal side. At NARUC’s Sunday through Nov. 10 hybrid meeting, state regulators plan to discuss possible changes to the USF contribution mechanism and consider a resolution to support energy utilities expanding broadband. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is to speak on a Wednesday NARUC panel on USF contribution with consultant Carol Mattey and AT&T and NCTA officials (agenda).
The FCC is planning to allow employees to return to working at the agency’s headquarters starting Dec.1, according to a memo emailed to FCC staff by the agency’s HR department Monday and obtained by Communications Daily. The agency will shift from “mandatory telework” to “maximum telework,” allowing employees to come in if they choose. “We want to assure everyone that you should not be hesitant to take advantage of the maximum telework flexibility, doing so will not be seen in a negative light, and employees should do what they think is best given their individual circumstances,” said the memo.
Some House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee members signaled interest during a Tuesday virtual hearing in beefing up first responders’ communications infrastructure around the National Mall, the Capitol Building and other federal facilities in Washington, in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Other members cited the need for improving foreign language speakers’ access to wireless emergency alerts and other public safety communications platforms, and pressed Federal Emergency Management Agency Director-Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Antwane Johnson on how that entity has implemented fixes to prevent a repeat of the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054). The Tuesday hearing was a follow-up to an October one that highlighted communications issues first responders continue to face 20 years after the Sept. 11 attacks (see 2110070059).
U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit judges questioned whether the FCC failed to consider data Inteliquent submitted to the commission before the agency adopted its 8YY access reform order, Monday in case 20-1471 (see 2010090064). Central is whether the rate factors in cost or whether the FCC considered all data it received.
The Senate should move quickly to confirm Jonathan Kanter as DOJ Antitrust Division chief so he can fill leadership gaps at the department, antitrust attorneys said in interviews. Some expect Kanter to get a 2021 vote, given support from the Senate Judiciary Committee last week (see 2110280044).
The Biden administration is committed to releasing a national spectrum strategy, a goal the Trump administration never met. NTIA didn’t have a permanent administrator for much of the Trump administration, as been true so far during the Biden administration. President Joe Biden is trying to change that by nominating Mozilla Foundation Senior Adviser Alan Davidson to head the agency. Biden's also filling out the FCC by renominating Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and picking Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy’s Gigi Sohn for the vacant Democratic commission seat (see 2110260076).
Charter Communications will launch a field trial early next year that pairs its Wi-Fi service with citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band small cells for mobile subscribers, letting it offload wireless traffic that otherwise would be on Verizon's network through the companies' mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement. The test will involve thousands of pole-mounted small cellsites in an unnamed designated market area, CEO Tom Rutledge said Friday as the company announced Q3 results. Charter bought 210 licenses in 106 counties in the 2020 CBRS auction. Rutledge said Wi-Fi with CBRS has "an opportunity to make a significant change" in how much traffic is on Charter's network vs. using the MVNO.
The FCC’s first window for full-power FM noncommercial educational station construction permit applications since 2007 opens Tuesday, and anecdotal evidence suggests high interest. Three people involved with assisting with NCE applications told us they are turning away would-be applicants. Broadcast attorney Dan Alpert said 1,500 to 2,000 applications are expected. Each entity has a 10-application limit.
Nokia believes the 5G market “still may be two to three years away from the peak,” said CEO Pekka Lundmark on a Q3 earnings call Thursday. “The 4G market peaked and then it started to decline quite quickly after that,” but there are “good reasons to believe” that 5G’s peak “could actually last for a longer period of time,” he said, because “there will be so many new use cases compared to the previous generations.”
Open radio access networks with high security take work because they increase the potential attack surface, an Ericsson executive said at the Telecom TV ORAN summit Thursday. Speakers said few ORAN startups are likely to survive.