The FCC proposes to provide an 85 percent discount on qualifying connectivity services to support a three-year study on benefits, costs and savings associated with connected care technologies, it said. The agency released a draft NPRM Wednesday to advance the three-year, $100 million USF telehealth pilot called connected care and commissioners vote on it at the July 10 meeting. Commissioner Brendan Carr spoke during a visit to an Appalachian community healthcare clinic in southwestern Virginia Wednesday to demo how remote patient monitoring technologies including mobile apps used with smartphones, tablets and other devices can help track chronic conditions and improve outcomes.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said he's calling companies in to talk next week about insecure equipment in U.S. networks. Starks focused on that during a speech at Wednesday's FCBA lunch. Starks discussed use of equipment by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks during his initial news conference as a commissioner in February (see 1902080056).
Senators are aiming to attach amendments this week to the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act targeting Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei, 5G security and changes to the emergency alerts apparatus, among other telecom policy issues, as the chamber begins floor consideration of the measure. The Senate voted 88-11 Wednesday to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S-1790, a precursor to consideration of amendments.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to remove Section 230 immunity for big tech companies unless they prove to the FTC every two years that content removal decisions are politically neutral. The bill drew concern from House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. They warned against government regulation of speech.
The FCC plans to undo "unnecessary regulation" of transport services and facilities for ILECs, according to two draft orders released Wednesday that will come up for a vote at the commissioners' July 10 meeting, as the agency promised a day earlier (see 1906180053). An opinion and order from docket 18-141 would partially grant USTelecom's request for forbearance from DS1 and DS3 transport unbundling obligations for price-cap carriers, where endpoints for competitive fiber is located within a half mile. An order on remand from docket 16-143 would grant price-cap carriers nationwide relief from ex ante price regulation of their lower speed TDM transport business data services.
The FCC posted the draft order reallocating the 2.5 GHz band for auction and lifting educational requirements for the educational broadband service spectrum. Officials said Wednesday it's likely the item that gets the most attention headed into the meeting. Groups that promote greater use of EBS slammed the order after it was posted. Other July 10 meeting items also were released Wednesday: 1906190067 and 1906190044.
The FCC's draft kidvid order increases the flexibility of when children's television content can be aired, allows more multicast content to satisfy the requirements, gets rid of the now-obligatory E/I symbol for noncommercial stations, and expands the options for broadcasters to preempt children's content for live events, as expected (see 1906180080). Also on the July 10 agenda is a declaratory ruling to pre-empt part of a 2016 San Francisco ordinance that requires sharing of in-use multi-tenant environment (MTE) building wiring. A draft order and Further NPRM and a related draft NPRM would largely follow a joint NAB/NCTA proposal for updating cable carriage election notification rules and propose rules for other MVPD electronic notifications based on America's Communications Association advocacy.
The FAA expects to publish an NPRM for drone remote identification by September (see 1805210045), more than a year after the original deadline for issuing a final rule, said Deputy Associate Administrator-Office of Security and Hazardous Materials Angela Stubblefield. Remote ID would allow authorities to identify unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) through device registration.
A multiyear effort to pass a Pennsylvania small-cells bill hit another wall Tuesday after a House panel canceled voting on HB-1400 after a rush of local opposition. Wisconsin seems on the cusp of becoming the 27th state with such a bill meant to streamline 5G wireless deployment by pre-empting local government in the right of way. Debate on a New Jersey bill is picking up, while Florida could soon tighten requirements of a 2017 law that cities have challenged in state court. Maine enacted a small-cells bill earlier this month (see 1906070046).
Marshall Broadcasting asked for a hearing designation order against Nexstar over allegations the broadcaster exerted undue control over stations owned by Marshall and prevented the smaller broadcaster from getting financing, said a complaint filed with the FCC last week. Marshall in April filed a lawsuit against Nexstar over similar allegations in New York Supreme Court (see 1904030071).