The FCC released drafts Wednesday on items it will address at the commissioners' Nov. 15 open meeting, headlined by digital discrimination rules and an order on providing survivors of domestic violence with safe and affordable access to communications. Other items on the agenda include the adoption of digital discrimination rules, the use of AI in fighting robocalls, SIM swap and port-out fraud and amateur radio changes. Commissioners will also consider a declaratory ruling and memorandum opinion in response to a 2022 petition by Minnesota Independent Equal Access Corp. (MIEAC) seeking relief from dominant carrier regulation of its interstate switched access service.
The FCC will take additional steps during its Nov. 15 open meeting to provide survivors of domestic violence with safe and affordable access to communications services, wrote Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a Tuesday note. Other items on the agenda include the adoption of digital discrimination rules (see 2310240008), the use of AI in fighting robocalls, SIM swap and port-out fraud, and amateur radio.
The FCC will consider an order next month that would implement requirements set by the Safe Connections Act, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Sunday at the National Conference on Domestic Violence. The item for the agency's Nov. 15 open meeting would also build on previous efforts to expand access to communications services for survivors of domestic violence (see 2207140055).
The FCC will look at ways to use AI, machine learning and patterns of use to help identify fraud in robocalls and robotexts, said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during an AARP webinar Monday. The FCC will launch a proceeding this week, she said. AI can also potentially be used to simulate the voices of friends or family, and the FCC needs to understand those dangers, Rosenworcel said. One of the ways policymakers get “in front of” problems is by starting a proceeding, she said.
The FCC approved an order authorizing the use of very-low-power (VLP) devices in 850 MHz of the 6 GHz band 5-0 at the commissioners' open meeting Thursday, as expected (see 2310160050). An accompanying Further NPRM asks about additional changes, including on the rules for low-power indoor (LPI) devices. Commissioner Brendan Carr said the FCC should have gone further and addressed the other major proposal in a 2020 FNPRM. Commissioner Nathan Simington questioned whether the concerns of band incumbents had been adequately addressed.
The era of FCC agreement on most items appears to be over. In addition to the fight over net neutrality, and perhaps the longest statement yet at a meeting by Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2310190020), Carr and Simington dissented Thursday on a declaratory ruling clarifying that the use of Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose and eligible for E-rate funding. But an order approving changes to rules for wireless emergency alerts, a notice of inquiry on broadband and maternal health and an NPRM on connectivity in Alaska were approved without dissents.
The FCC robocall response team announced 20 new Enforcement Bureau orders Monday to begin removing providers from the robocall mitigation database for noncompliance with Stir/Shaken requirements. The companies must show cause within 14 days on why they shouldn't be removed, said a news release. "Robocalls are a plague on our phones," said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: "That is why we are taking this action today and won't stop looking for new ways to get this junk off the line."
A draft order on expanding audio description requirements to all U.S. broadcast markets within 10 years is expected to be unanimously approved at Thursday’s FCC commissioners’ open meeting with few changes, said agency and industry officials. Though broadcasters asked for concessions and objected to proposals to expand audio description in the past (see 1904020059), they have been largely quiet this time around. The draft order’s docket,11-43, hasn’t had an ex parte filing on the proposal since May.
FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington sat down with Communications Daily last week to discuss his new role as a minority commissioner, the agency’s relationship with the NTIA, and his thoughts on proposals to reopen the record on virtual MVPDs and increase the agency’s collection of EEO information from broadcasters. Following are Simington's lightly edited responses.
Relative to the epic battles preceding the FCC’s last two votes on net neutrality rules, in 2015 and 2017, things have been relatively quiet on net neutrality since Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she would seek a vote on an NPRM Oct. 19 (see 2309260047). There have statements for and against, but nothing compared with the fights of the past, industry observers told us.