President Barack Obama declared his support Wednesday for ending state laws that restrict or prohibit municipal broadband deployments and said he would file a letter with the FCC urging the commission to use its authority to remove barriers to local broadband deployments, as expected (see 1501130067). “I believe a community has the right to make its own choice” on deploying broadband free from state restrictions, Obama said in a speech in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which has a municipal broadband network. He said “all of us,” including the FCC, “should do everything we can to push back on those old laws.”
President Barack Obama declared his support Wednesday for ending state laws that restrict or prohibit municipal broadband deployments and said he would file a letter with the FCC urging the commission to use its authority to remove barriers to local broadband deployments, as expected (see 1501130067). “I believe a community has the right to make its own choice” on deploying broadband free from state restrictions, Obama said in a speech in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which has a municipal broadband network. He said “all of us,” including the FCC, “should do everything we can to push back on those old laws.”
The net neutrality proposal expected to get an FCC vote in February may end up being approved largely as proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler, former FCC and other industry officials say. The Republicans will dissent, but Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn are likely to go along with the Wheeler proposal, especially to the extent it follows the direction laid out by President Barack Obama in November (see 1411100035), the officials said. This is especially the case for Rosenworcel, since she has yet to be nominated for a second term on the commission.
The net neutrality proposal expected to get an FCC vote in February may end up being approved largely as proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler, former FCC and other industry officials say. The Republicans will dissent, but Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn are likely to go along with the Wheeler proposal, especially to the extent it follows the direction laid out by President Barack Obama in November (see 1411100035), the officials said. This is especially the case for Rosenworcel, since she has yet to be nominated for a second term on the commission.
The FCC raised the minimum broadband speeds required of Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to 10 Mbps download Thursday, but CenturyLink complained the commission didn't provide enough in return to offset the costs, and that fewer expensive-to-serve rural ones will get service than had the commission done more (see 1411260040).
The FCC is expected to approve the order proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler to raise E-rate’s spending cap by $1.5 billion, at its meeting Thursday (see 1411170042). A number of significant other issues were up in the air, but education, library and industry lobbyists said they expected the commission to take steps to make it easier for schools and libraries to get connected to broadband, including requiring Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to submit bids to serve the institutions. Schools and libraries have complained about not getting bids from broadband providers to serve them.
The FCC is expected to approve the order proposed by Chairman Tom Wheeler to raise E-rate’s spending cap by $1.5 billion, at its meeting Thursday (see 1411170042). A number of significant other issues were up in the air, but education, library and industry lobbyists said they expected the commission to take steps to make it easier for schools and libraries to get connected to broadband, including requiring Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to submit bids to serve the institutions. Schools and libraries have complained about not getting bids from broadband providers to serve them.
A draft order FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated Thursday in preparation for possible action at the December commission meeting would, as we reported (see 1411190059), require providers receiving CAF support to offer broadband speeds of 10 Mbps downstream instead of 4 Mbps, a commission official told us.
The FCC should proceed “deliberately” before imposing “new, onerous and costly mandates” to provide backup batteries or power supplies to subscribers, American Cable Association officials told Chairman Tom Wheeler’s legal adviser Daniel Alvarez, as well as aides to the four other commissioners in separate meetings, according to an ex parte notice posted in docket 13-5 on Tuesday. The Nov. 13 and 14 meetings were among several in which providers urged caution in enacting new requirements on backup batteries, as the commission is set at Friday’s meeting to consider a draft NPRM Wheeler is circulating on issues related to the IP transition. Among them is whether the commission should take steps to oversee backup power, a top FCC official told us earlier this month, because unlike phone service on traditional copper lines, service on fiber and other networks rely on backup batteries during power outages (see 1410310047). While the item could change before Friday’s meeting, sources in industries involved in the debate expected the NPRM to seek comments on most issues, including the battery issue. An exception is that the NPRM is expected to make a tentative conclusion that incumbents have to offer competitive carriers an alternative at reasonable rates, terms and conditions when retiring last-mile services that competitors need to reach business customers, the sources said. In addition, industry sources were also expecting the commission to circulate an order before Thursday’s deadline to put items on December’s commission meeting agenda to increase CAF’s minimum broadband speed requirements from 4 Mbps to 10 Mbps. The commission declined to comment on Wednesday. Charter Communications Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Christianna Barnhart also told aides to commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn in meetings Nov. 13 and 14 that the commission should balance “the benefits of new backup power obligations with the cost to consumers and providers,” according to an ex parte notice posted Wednesday. Verizon Vice President-Federal Regulatory Affairs Maggie McCready and Vice President and Associate General Counsel William Johnson described to aides of commissioners Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai on Nov. 13 the company’s efforts provide “consumer-friendly backup power solutions for customers receiving service over fiber,” according to an ex parte notice.
The largest wireless companies teamed with public safety groups on an agreement to improve 911 location accuracy indoors. The goal is for first responders to have access to a “dispatchable location” through the availability of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies, AT&T, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), Sprint and others said in a news release on CTIA's website. The agreement was supported by CTIA and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, but criticized by groups representing state and local emergency bodies and first responders, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police.