Refocus FCC efforts on shoring up Lifeline affordability and reaching out to all eligible consumers instead of setting up new barriers, stakeholders recommended in interviews this week and last. The FCC last week 3-2 denied a pause on a $2 monthly decrease in support for voice-only, while raising by 50 percent a monthly minimum for broadband to 3 GB (see 1911200015). The previous week, the agency issued a 3-2 order that would curb fraud and abuse, and a Further NPRM asks whether to ban free handsets with new signups (see 1911140064).
A full panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the FCC’s en banc appeal of the Prometheus IV ruling, which vacated and remanded many broadcast ownership regulations, said an order (in Pacer) released Wednesday (see 1911070067). “No judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing and a majority of the judges of the circuit in regular service not having voted for rehearing, the petitions for rehearing by the panel and the Court en banc are denied,” said Judge Thomas Ambro in the order. Ambro presided over the three-judge panel that ruled against the FCC and wrote the majority opinion. Attorneys and officials speculated the agency might seek U.S. Supreme Court review if the en banc appeal were rejected. “The rapid dismissal of the FCC and industry rehearing petitions is hardly surprising in light of the weakness of their positions,” said Benton Institute for Broadband and Society Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman, who represented public interest entities against the FCC in the case: “Chairman [Ajit] Pai should stop posturing and do what the court has told the FCC to do, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times.” The FCC didn’t comment.
The FCC isn’t expected to issue a 2018 quadrennial ownership review order this year, and many broadcasters aren’t betting on quick movement on that issue, licensees and broadcast attorneys told us. Broadcasters “weren’t ever holding their breath” waiting for the radio ownership deregulation and possible changes to top-four ownership restrictions that might have been expected in a 2018 QR order, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Anne Crump. The FCC didn’t comment.
The FCC and NAB petitioned Thursday for a full panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a three-judge panel’s 2-1 decision against the FCC in the Prometheus IV ownership case, as expected (see 1910250006). For 15 years, “the same divided panel of this Court has frustrated the Commission’s repeated attempts to modernize its media ownership rules,” the FCC said. Prometheus is “irreconcilable” with “the proper role of courts in reviewing agency action,” NAB wrote.
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly appears to have the support of several top Republicans to remain for another term, a factor officials told us makes him strongly favored for renomination. One stumbling block appears to be the timeline for President Donald Trump to re-up him amid a souring confirmations atmosphere on Capitol Hill caused by the House impeachment inquiry and 2020 presidential campaign. O'Rielly's term expired June 30 (see 1412170031). He can remain until this Congress ends at the beginning of 2021.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is unlikely to rush to address a remand on public safety, an issue remanded for further work by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday that largely upheld the FCC 2017 order overturning 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1910010018). Others said Wednesday because the issues involve public safety, the agency may feel compelled to respond (see 1910020028).
Evan Swarztrauber, an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, is expected to be tapped this week to replace Nathan Leamer as a policy adviser to Chairman Ajit Pai. Leamer was widely viewed as providing Pai with ties to key interest groups, especially those on the right. Other Pai aides have more of a legal or policy rather than communications background.
The FCC’s fourth court loss on quadrennial updates to media ownership rules (see 1906130052) rolls those updates back and could have consequences for pending and just-completed deals such as Nexstar/Tribune and Apollo/Cox and for future radio deregulation, said broadcast attorneys on both sides of the issue in interviews Monday.
Changing name to Benton Institute for Broadband & Society (see 1909170012), it hires current Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman from Georgetown Law’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic; he also keeps teaching at Johns Hopkins University ... New at Accenture: Cybersecurity expert Aaron Faulkner heads Accenture Federal Services Federal Cyber practice ... Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Robert Adler takes over as acting chairman effective Oct. 1 and was elected vice chairman by commissioners Friday, and heads CPSC until Senate OKs a new chairman; he succeeds acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle, whose term ends Oct. 27; she withdraws nominations as chairman and commissioner for another term.
Changing name to Benton Institute for Broadband & Society (see 1909170012), it hires current Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman from Georgetown Law’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic; he also keeps teaching at Johns Hopkins University ... New at Accenture: Cybersecurity expert Aaron Faulkner heads Accenture Federal Services Federal Cyber practice ... Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Robert Adler takes over as acting chairman effective Oct. 1 and was elected vice chairman by commissioners Friday, and heads CPSC until Senate OKs a new chairman; he succeeds acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle, whose term ends Oct. 27; she withdraws nominations as chairman and commissioner for another term.