Public interest groups and two academics spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about their request that the agency update its approach to net neutrality rules to address issues concerning new services like network slicing (see 2403130057). “We asked the Commission to clarify: how technologies such as network slicing may be used to provide innovative offers as part of [broadband Internet access service] that are consistent with the open Internet rules, and under what conditions non-BIAS data services may be provided,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-320. The Open Technology Institute at New America made the filing, joined by Public Knowledge; Barbara van Schewick, director of Stanford Law School’s Center for attended and Society; and Scott Jordan, computer science professor at the University of California, Irvine.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied Essential Network Technologies and MetComm.net's Feb. 26 emergency motion to expedite consideration of their Feb. 14 E-rate program petition for review, said its order Monday (docket 24-1027). The petitioners haven’t demonstrated that delay “will cause irreparable injury and that the decision under review is subject to substantial challenge, or that the public interest otherwise warrants expedition,” said the order. Their petition for review challenges the authority of the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC) to stop processing the reimbursement of discounts for IT and broadband services that MetComm and Essential provided to schools under Section 254 of the Communications Act (see 2402200044). Their motion for expedited consideration argued that unless a briefing schedule is set that would allow for a D.C. Circuit decision on the appeal before the end of the court’s May sitting period, numerous elementary and secondary schools will be deprived of affordable IT infrastructure and broadband service for the new school year this fall (see 2403140002). But the FCC’s opposition said the petitioners have provided no compelling reasons for the D.C. Circuit to expedite review. “Under the circumstances, far from needing to expedite this case,” the D.C. Circuit “lacks jurisdiction to decide it,” because there is no final FCC action for the court to review, said the commission’s opposition.
President Joe Biden signed off Saturday on the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending package (HR-2882), the White House said. The Senate voted 74-24 Saturday morning on the measure, which allocates $390.2 million to the FCC, $425.7 million to the FTC and $535 million in FY 2026 funds for CPB. Congressional leaders omitted stopgap funding for the FCC's affordable connectivity program and money for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, despite repeated calls from the initiatives' backers (see 2403210067).
NCTA is seeking to intervene in support of the FCC and against four petitions for review consolidated in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the FCC’s Dec. 26 quadrennial review order for allegedly violating Section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act, said NCTA's unopposed motion Monday.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau fined Vero Broadband $48,000 Friday for violating commission rules on unauthorized transfers. Vero acquired Communications Act Section 214 authorizations and wireless licenses from San Isabel Telecom, Forethought.net, Brainstorm and Peak Internet without prior FCC approval, a notice of apparent liability said.
Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff to discuss its backing for the agency’s November proposal allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). Among those at the meeting were staff from East Moline School District 37, located in East Moline, Illinois, and SmartWAVE, a district vendor. The district found that during the COVID-19 pandemic “many families could not afford Internet service and that the vast majority of Chromebooks they handed out wouldn’t work with hot spots due to poor mobile coverage,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31: The district “worked with SmartWAVE Technologies to purchase access points and placed them on top of existing infrastructure like streetlights. All students are given a Chromebook, which then automatically connects to the network wherever they are situated.” The district found “this model is akin to extending its existing school WiFi network and devices into the community, which is much easier for their six-person IT department to manage, compared with tracking the service and devices provided by traditional mobile carrier hotspots,” SHLB said.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau on Friday approved special temporary authority allowing Morgan County, Indiana, to operate its travelers’ information station for a 15-day period at higher power levels than allowed under commission rules so it can “manage the expected influx of visitors, traffic congestion, and public safety surrounding the April 8 … solar eclipse.” The county can use 100 watts of power, rather than 10, starting April 1. The county is part of the eclipse's zone of totality.
The FCC wasted no time in setting the comment dates on a Further NPRM on a voluntary cyber trust mark program commissioners unanimously approved March 14 (see 2403140034). Comments are due April 24, replies May 24, in docket 23-239, said a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. The FNPRM was added to the order that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated at the request of commissioners (see 2403180046). “We seek comment on whether we should require manufacturers to disclose to the Commission whether firmware and/or software were developed and manufactured in a ‘high-risk country,’ as well as where firmware and software updates will be developed and deployed from,” the notice says.
CTIA warned of a “patchwork” of state net neutrality rules and called for national policies, filing last week in FCC docket 23-320. Because broadband internet access service “is an inherently interstate service, the Commission should exercise its preemption authority to ensure that BIAS is governed by a uniform national framework rather than disparate requirements that vary state-by-state,” CTIA said. “Commenters on both sides of the classification issue … agree and support broad preemption of state regulation of BIAS,” the group said. CTIA said “the need for uniformity is especially acute if the Commission seeks to regulate BIAS under Title II” of the Communications Act. “Proceeding case-by-case, imposing only a regulatory floor, or adopting a narrow view of preemption would spur litigation and regulatory uncertainty that could hinder investments in improved BIAS services beyond those inherent in Title II.”
Gogo Business Aviation requested a time extension to meet requirements of the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program but requested details remain confidential. “The Extension Request contains proprietary commercial and operational information intended to provide maximum disclosure to the Commission for its consideration of Gogo’s request for additional time in which to complete its [replacement] process,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-89. Gogo requested permanent confidential treatment and nondisclosure “because it is impossible to predict when the information contained in the Application would no longer be useful to Gogo’s competitors, other third parties, or, in light of the national security risks ... malignant entities that would seek to take advantage of potential security vulnerabilities in the nation’s communications networks.”