SpaceX and Japanese telecom operator KDDI expect to launch supplemental coverage from space commercial service in Japan by year's end, representatives of the companies told FCC Space Bureau staffers, according to a docket 23-135 filing posted Tuesday. They said the necessary regulatory arrangements for offering the service are being finalized with Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. As such, they urged the FCC to authorize commercial SCS service in the U.S.
Indian Peak Properties believes the FCC erred when it denied its petitions for declaratory ruling in an order on the agency’s over-the-air reception device (OTARD) rules, the company said in a brief this week filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2405060035). The FCC told the court its rules require a regular human presence at an antenna's location, and the agency had plenty of evidence that Indian Peak failed to argue its antenna fell within the rule's scope (see 2410210001). In a reply brief, the company said, “This case could have turned out differently had the Commission given notice of its secret procedure and new ‘human presence’ standard.” The FCC claims it “reasonably dismissed Indian’s petitions without starting a proceeding,” Indian Peak said: “Even if the Commission’s actions were reasonable as claimed by the FCC Brief … the agency’s failure to give fair notice of its interpretation of the Rule prejudiced Indian and warrants reversal of the Order.” The D.C. Circuit has not scheduled oral argument in the case (docket 24-1108).
CTIA and other commenters urged the FCC to proceed slowly when finalizing rules for a program that would allow schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 21-31 on a Further NPRM, which was approved as part of the hot spot item in July (see 2407180024). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented. “Wireless providers are significant contributors to the universal service fund, and CTIA strongly supports the efficient and effective use of all universal service support, including E-Rate funding,” CTIA said. “Stakeholders will be better able to comment on the controls in the program once they have gained experience with them” and “program requirements should not impose burdens that outweigh the program’s benefits, as that could deter participation,” the group said. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition said the FCC shouldn’t set "overly burdensome administrative requirements or punitive solutions that diminish a school or library’s flexibility to structure its lending practices.” Don’t mandate defined hot spot lending periods, SHLB advised: “Schools and libraries should be able to style their lending practices to better meet users’ educational endeavors.” SHLB also opposed “a data use threshold higher than zero to consider a line ‘used.'” Such thresholds would introduce “assumptions about acceptable and unacceptable broadband use that ignore variables in connectivity needs,” the group said. The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation and Mobile Beacon jointly called on the FCC to refrain from imposing new rules at this moment. “Adding burdensome new requirements, in the absence of any compelling need, will unnecessarily burden schools, libraries, and other program participants, and make it harder for students to connect,” they said: “The Commission should increase, not restrict, applicant flexibility.” The American Library Association earlier said final rules would be premature (see 2410040033).
NTIA officials met with staff from across the FCC to urge the agency to move forward on handset unlocking rules similar to those proposed in an NPRM commissioners approved 5-0 in July (see 2407180037). NTIA “supports reducing the burden on consumers by requiring automatic unlocking of devices whenever feasible,” said a filing posted this week in docket 24-186: “NTIA has been working to empower consumers and promote competition in this space for a long time, and we provided the Commission with some background on our experiences to date.” NTIA doesn’t oppose the 60-day waiting period proposed in the NPRM, “and we appreciate the anti-fraud goals that drive this proposal,” the filing said. “We also maintain that there should be no distinction in the rules between devices sold with prepaid and postpaid plans and are unconvinced by arguments that the prepaid subsidy model only works with locked devices.” NTIA noted that Verizon is required to unlock prepaid devices the same as postpaid devices, yet still offers “subsidized devices for use with prepaid services.” The rules should also cover tablets and other devices and not just handsets, NTIA said. Representatives of Public Knowledge, Consumer Reports and New America’s Open Technology Institute, meanwhile, said they spoke with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about unlocking rules. “A policy of automatically unlocking of all phones, both pre- and post-paid, 60 days after purchase would promote … goals of promoting competition in the handset and wireless markets, while preserving the ability of carriers to detect and prevent fraud and to offer low-cost handsets,” the groups said.
Rural and high-cost areas throughout Alaska remain "some of the hardest and most costly to serve in the country," the FCC acknowledged in a Monday order establishing the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF), complementing the 2016 Alaska Plan (see 2410150048). The order will take effect 30 days after Federal Register publication. Also adopted on Monday was a Further NPRM seeking comment on implementation of the fund.
The group behind recent FCC complaints against CBS and ABC over their news coverage filed an equal time complaint against NBC and its station WNBC New York Monday over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ weekend appearance on Saturday Night Live (see 2411040057). The complaint from the Center for American Rights echoes points first raised by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and calls for “a substantial fine” against NBC. “Broadcasters cannot abuse their licenses by airing what amounts to a free commercial promoting one candidate the weekend before the presidential election,” said CAR President Daniel Suhr in a news release. FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington backed the complaint Monday, saying “I urge Commission leadership to take these credible allegations seriously,” but multiple broadcast attorneys told us NBC appears to have satisfied the FCC’s rules.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit pressed LTD Broadband Tuesday on its challenge of the FCC's denial of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction long-form application (see 2405090056). Judges during oral argument questioned LTD and the FCC on the standard of review applied to the ISP compared with other RDOF applicants, as well as the potential impact on rural broadband access in the areas where LTD won bids.
NextNav countered a recent International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) study on the interference risk of the company’s proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band “to enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services (see 2404160043). IBTTA’s assertion “that the 5G base stations NextNav’s proposal contemplates will operate at more than 600 times the power level of current operations is accurate only if one disregards the limits of base station equipment, commercial incentives, and urban power limits, and then assumes operations at the extreme outer limits of the Commission’s rules for rural areas,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 24-240. “While NextNav requested a three-watt power limit for user equipment, the vast majority of devices, including all devices that can operate inside vehicles, will have 200-milliwatt maximum conducted output power with even lower [equivalent isotropic radiated power] due to negative antenna gain,” NextNav said. The IBTTA study was filed last month at the FCC by a coalition led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Competitive Carriers Association raised concerns about a Georgia Institute of Technology third-party mobile speed test app in the FCC’s broadband data collection mobile challenge process. The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force and Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on the app in September and replies were due Friday (see 2409170010). “CCA is concerned that allowing additional speed test apps alone will not solve the underlying issues that are undermining a vigorous and user-friendly challenge process as called for in the Broadband DATA Act and that are plaguing the Commission’s mobile availability maps,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-2. “The Commission must address these issues before it can expect CellWatch, the FCC Mobile Speed Test app, or future third-party apps to meaningfully contribute to the mobile challenge process,” CCA said.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau reminded amateur radio service and personal radio services licensees on Monday that the commission prohibits using radios to commit or facilitate crimes. “The Bureau recognizes that these services can be used for a wide range of permitted and socially beneficial purposes, including emergency communications and speech that is protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” the notice said. However, those using radio services for criminal purposes "may be subject to severe penalties, including significant fines, seizure of the offending equipment, and, in some cases, criminal prosecution."