Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, who earlier met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to oppose giving FirstNet and AT&T control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2407010041), discussed the band with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. Vestberg repeated arguments that the FCC shouldn’t provide AT&T free access to mid-band spectrum valued at more than $14 billion. “If the Commission chooses to make the 4.9 GHz band available for public safety and commercial wireless use, it must assign this spectrum through an appropriate competitive process (e.g., auction, bidding process, etc.) rather than gifting the spectrum to one commercial provider,” said a filing Thursday in docket 07-100. AT&T didn’t comment. The filing doesn’t clarify how Verizon arrived at the $14 billion figure.
Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Open Technology Institute at New America asked the FCC to expand its draft order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services to include partnerships with nontraditional providers (see 2406270068). The draft order “would only provide subsidy for traditional, commercially available hotspots and services, which could skew the market and prevent schools and libraries from considering lower-priced and higher quality options,” the groups said: They asked the commission to consider allowing support for alternative services and devices, including anchor-enabled networks, “outside of those offered by traditional mobile carriers.” The groups met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, and Wireline Bureau staff, a filing posted Friday in docket 21-31 said. The Wireless ISP Association, meanwhile, met with aides to Starks and Gomez on whether the FCC has legal authority to adopt the order. With those meetings, the group has now met with aides to all five commissioners (see 2407100028).
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed the FCC's net neutrality order until Aug. 5. In an order Friday (docket 24-7000), Judges Jeffrey Sutton, Eric Clay and Stephanie Davis granted an administrative stay "to provide sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the motion to stay" the order. The judges gave a July 19 deadline for filing supplemental briefs on the application of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 Brand X decision. The FCC didn't comment. "This is big," former FCC Commissioner Rob McDowell, now at Cooley, posted Friday on X. The stay decision "inherently signals the court’s determination of appellants’ likelihood of success on the merits against the FCC," he said.
The FCC said Friday it launched an investigation after AT&T revealed that a bad actor breached its network in April and accessed call and text records for nearly all its wireless customers from mid-2022 and for a single day in January 2023. The breach included calling data from customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s network. In an SEC filing, AT&T said that a suspect was apprehended.
The FCC Media Bureau’s Audio Division will now accept letter requests from AM stations seeking authorization to operate with increased power for the two hours pre-sunrise or post sunset, a public notice said Thursday. “Once an AM station requesting PSRA and/or PSSA has received the operating parameters calculated by the Audio Division for such authorized operation, it may commence such operation immediately,” the PN said.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked Gray Television and the FCC Wednesday to prepare supplemental briefs on the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overruling Chevron deference (see 2406280043) on Gray’s pending appeal of a $518,000 forfeiture order. Oral argument in the 11th Circuit case was held in May (see 2405150055). The case concerns the FCC’s ruling that Gray violated an FCC rule -- often called Note 11 -- barring stations from using affiliation deals to skirt ownership limits. Gray has argued that before the FCC enforcement action, the rule was used only to bar swaps of station affiliation, while Gray’s 2020 deal involved the outright purchase of a station’s affiliation. The 11th Circuit order directs Gray and the FCC to file supplemental briefs “addressing whether and to what extent” the Supreme Court's Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling “impacts the analysis on the appropriate deference to afford the FCC’s interpretation of Note 11 in this case.” Broadcast attorneys told us the request for supplemental briefs is likely a positive sign for Gray -- at oral argument a three-judge panel appeared split on the FCC’s interpretation of Note 11. Gray and the FCC didn’t comment. The order gives Gray 14 days to file a supplement. Once that is filed, the FCC has 14 days for a response, and after that filing, Gray has an additional seven days for a final supplemental filing.
Nearly 15% of cellsites in the Texas area that Hurricane Beryl hit were down Thursday, an improvement from Wednesday’s 20%, according to the FCC’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2407100056). Eight public safety answering points are having their calls rerouted, one fewer than Wednesday. 455,820 cable and wireline subscribers are without service, an improvement from 527,700 the previous day. Four FMs and two AM stations were listed as out of service compared with Wednesday’s five FMs and one AM.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency could serve as a one-stop “clearinghouse” for industry stakeholders to report cyber incidents, Paul Eisler, USTelecom's vice president-cybersecurity and innovation, said Thursday. Eisler discussed CISA’s proposed cyber incident reporting rules during a USTelecom webinar. He noted the telecom sector reports cyber incidents to a long list of agencies, including the FCC, FTC, DOJ, SEC and state government entities. Having cyber officials fill out “five different” reports for one incident distracts them from fending off future attacks, he said. There needs to be “concrete, tangible” steps to address solutions after an incident, he said. USTelecom, NCTA and Microsoft filed comments in CISA’s latest round of public comments on the proposed regulations (see 2407030059).
The Wireless ISP Association said the FCC should stick with revised rules for the 4.9 GHz band, allowing nonpublic safety use of the spectrum on a secondary basis (see 2301180062). The commission “correctly held” that a band manager model “would ensure that public safety operations are fully protected, while promoting spectrum efficiency, fostering innovation, and reducing equipment costs,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 07-100 said. WISPA noted that the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance has urged the FCC to change the rules: “PSSA is incorrect that secondary, non-public safety access on a preemptible basis would complicate the Band Manager’s ability to fulfill its frequency coordination and band management responsibilities,” WISPA said.
CTIA wants the FCC to make several tweaks to the draft order and Further NPRM that let schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2406270068). The item is set for a commissioner vote July 18. The FCC should consider increasing the $15 funding cap for services and $90 for hot spots, a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-31 said: “The Draft Order indicates that these values represent median costs, meaning that fully half of the costs in the sample were above these levels. Using median costs as funding caps could unduly restrict the range of offerings available to schools and libraries.” The requirement to monitor usage should rest with applicants, not providers, CTIA said. In addition, the FCC should consider removing the limitation on devices with ethernet ports, the group said. “This limitation is not necessary to ensure appropriate use of the funding and the Draft Order offers no explanation for its inclusion.”