The FCC offered demonstrations of new and existing features of its mapping broadband health in America platform, in a letter Thursday from Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to Senate Commerce Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. The agency will release the updates next month, allowing users to "delve deeper into the intersection of broadband connectivity and health" throughout the country, Rosenworcel said. Commissioners heard details about the update's inclusion of maternal health data from the Connect2Health Task Force during their open meeting Thursday (see 2410170026). The platform updates "represent a significant step forward in our work to understand the intersection of broadband connectivity and maternal health," Rosenworcel said.
Citing "unanticipated and exorbitant inflationary effects of network construction," Cable One is dropping out of the rural deployment opportunity fund program in Idaho, while Fidelity Cablevision is doing the same in Missouri, according to nearly identical docket 20-34 letters Friday. Cable One -- authorized to receive $3,225,684 in RDOF support over 10 years for 863 locations in Idaho -- said it has made "significant investment" in the state, but "the planned RDOF deployment in Idaho is no longer viable due to unforeseeable costs that have increased dramatically since the conclusion of the RDOF auction." Fidelity -- authorized to receive a total of $37,979 in RDOF support over 10 years for 39 locations in Missouri -- used identical language about its planned Missouri deployment. Both said the requested blanket amnesty relief that the FCC declined would have solved those inflationary pressures. In July, the FCC Wireline Bureau said no one had shown a need for widespread relief from RDOF and Connect America Fund Phase II default penalties, and thus it wasn't providing a blanket amnesty.
California, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and Washington collected and distributed more than $110 million in 988 fees in 2023 for 988 Lifeline purposes, according to the FCC's latest annual 988 fee accountability report to Congress. The reports are required under the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act. Published in Friday's Daily Digest, the report said collection and distribution of 988 fees will be more prevalent in coming years. Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon reported establishing a funding mechanism but did not collect or impose 988 fees, while Maryland and Vermont recently passed legislation establishing fee-based funding mechanisms to support 988.
Noting the lower 37 GHz band's importance to Starry's fixed wireless access operations, CEO Alex Moulle-Berteaux discussed lower 37 GHz coordination regime with Commissioner Brendan Carr and other FCC staff. Moulle-Berteaux urged a two-phase coordination process modeled on the existing 70/80 GHz band and largely following the process outlined in the recent lower 37 GHz band public notice (see [Ref;2408090034]), said the docket 24-243 filing Friday. That approach would let users and services develop technologies in the band, while allowing co-equal co-primary coordination into the band, he said. Starry said tweaks could come over time, reflecting better dynamic sharing technology and allowing more intensive use. Company officials also met with the offices of the other four commissioners and staffers from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.
A February FCC order allowing wireless multichannel audio system (WMAS) operations in the broadcast TV and other low-power auxiliary bands, on a licensed basis, is effective Nov. 18, said a Friday notice in the Federal Register. Commissioners unanimously approved the long-awaited order, which wireless mic companies had promoted (see 2402150037).
Groups representing electric utilities on Friday opposed a controversial proposal giving the FirstNet Authority effective control of the 4.9 GHz band. The Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Utilities Technology Council expressed “grave concern” about rumors the FCC is considering an order that would “cede local control of the 4.9 GHz band from public safety organizations” to the authority. Taking control from public safety users “could undermine their ability to tailor communications solutions to their specific needs,” the utilities said: It could “stifle the development of non-commercial applications in the band.” The filing said “fundamental questions have been raised about FirstNet's legal authority to operate outside the 700 MHz band, and its past performance with AT&T raises concerns about service prioritization for public safety.” The filing was made in docket 07-100. The FCC has not yet posted it. The FCC should also consider the communications needs of critical infrastructure entities, the groups said.
The FCC released its September directions on applying for designation as a cybersecurity labeling administrator (CLA) or lead administrator under the new voluntary cyber-trust mark program (see 2409100052). The notice for Monday's Federal Register provides guidance on the application format, filing fees, selection criteria, the sharing of expenses, lead administrator neutrality and confidentiality and security requirements. The notice also said written comments on the Paperwork Reduction Act information collection requirements imposed by the rules are due Dec. 20. Commissioners approved the cyber mark program 5-0 in March (see 2403140034).
Consumer and public interest groups on Friday asked the FCC to act on a handset unlocking mandate, proposed in a July NPRM (see 2407180037). “Wireless users are subject to unnecessary restrictions in the form of locked devices, which tie them to their service providers even when better options may be available,” the letter said: “Handset locking practices limit consumer freedom and lessen competition by creating an artificial technological barrier to switching providers.” Among the 15 groups signing on were Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Consumer Reports, the National Consumers League, the National Consumer Law Center and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. T-Mobile, meanwhile, warned that the mandate would harm consumers. It estimates prepaid customers “would see subsidies reduced by 40% to 70% for both its lower and higher-end devices, such as the Moto G, Samsung A15, and iPhone 12,” said a filing made Thursday in docket 24-186: “A handset unlocking mandate would also leave providers little choice but to limit their handset offers to lower cost and often lesser performing handsets.” T-Mobile also questioned whether the FCC has the legal authority to impose the rules. Company representatives spoke with staff from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court on Friday denied a U.S. government motion to hold in abeyance a challenge of the FCC's Oct. 25 declaratory ruling authorizing E-rate funding for Wi-Fi on school buses pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision in another case (see 2410090025). That case, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, considers whether the Hobbs Act permits a “party aggrieved” by an agency’s “final order” to seek review in a federal court of appeals and “allows nonparties to obtain review of claims asserting that an agency order exceeds the agency’s statutory authority.” The 5th Circuit denied the motion without commentary (docket 23-60641).
The FCC proposal that mandates "consumer choice in captioning delivery method" for IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS) providers could "hinder competition and innovation," ClearCaptions said in separate meetings with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. Instead, ClearCaptions suggested launching a notice of inquiry that will "collect information to determine if such a feature is in the best interest of IP CTS customers," according to an ex parte filing Friday in docket 03-123. The company also expressed concern with the validation process for the telecom relay service user registration database (TRS-URD), saying the system "would not consider formatting variances as validation features."