FCC Chairman Ajit Pai proposed accelerated relocation payments of up to $9.7 billion for C-band incumbents to clear the band quickly for an auction to start Dec. 8, in a speech (see 2002060031) Thursday at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Those would be above compensation for relocation costs, estimated to be between $3 billion and $5 billion, he said. Pai has the three votes he needs for approval at the commissioners' Feb. 28 meeting (see 2002060048) with quick endorsements of Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr.
Chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC Enforcement Bureau completed an investigation of whether carriers violated federal law by disclosing consumers’ real-time location data (see 2001310041). One or more enforcement actions will be announced in coming days. Pai announced the probe's conclusion Friday in a letter responding to a November query from House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and other committee Democrats (see 1911080051). The agency declined other comment.
Chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC Enforcement Bureau completed an investigation of whether carriers violated federal law by disclosing consumers’ real-time location data (see 2001310041). One or more enforcement actions will be announced in coming days. Pai announced the probe's conclusion Friday in a letter responding to a November query from House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and other committee Democrats (see 1911080051). The agency declined other comment.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears to be preparing to play C-band hardball, officials indicated. Pai is considering a proposal that satellite operators be given incentive payments totaling about $5 billion to move, regardless of how much money comes in through an auction (see 2001280063). Senior aide Nick Degani apparently told the companies in a meeting last week that if they won’t go along the FCC could “sunset” their licenses, forcing them off the band. Intelsat stock closed down 30 percent Wednesday at $3.78.
The FCC plans to prioritize bids for high-speed, low-latency broadband networks in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, said a draft rulemaking for docket 19-126 released Thursday. RDOF is one of several items that circulated from Chairman Ajit Pai. So far, it's shaping up to be the most watched item, and legislators expressed some related concerns.
Commissioners approved an NPRM 5-0 on clearing 3.1-3.55 GHz, seen by some as a sleeper item with big implications. The item sparked a debate among members on whether the FCC is doing enough on mid-band spectrum. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., sat through 90 minutes of the meeting, signaling his ongoing concerns about setting rules for an upcoming auction of the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band.
Almost two years after Chairman Ajit Pai announced the media modernization effort, many items taken up under that umbrella have had a small scope, an uncontentious docket, and sometimes don’t even draw formal responses from the opposing party. General agreement and a tight focus aren't bad things, broadcast and MVPD attorneys and FCC officials said of the program. “That the items are often unanimous is a compelling case for getting rid of the rules,” said Matthew Berry, Pai’s chief of staff.
The FCC made permanent a five-year budget approach to E-rate category 2 spending for libraries and schools in an order released Tuesday afternoon and OK'd Nov. 20 in docket 13-184. The vote was 5-0, with Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks concurring, as expected (see 1912020046). The order replaces a two-in-five-year budget approach deemed problematic by commenters. Funding floors for small and rural anchor institutions will be increased to $25,000. The new rules take effect in the 2021 funding year, when all E-rate applicants will begin new fixed five-year budget cycles. It extends the five-year pilot through the 2020 funding year. The agency declined to add services to its eligible services list. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said that while he "would have been open to a much more fundamental review of our E-rate budgetary framework" and he disfavors the use of fundamentally flawed expenditure formula, he voted yes to offer applicants "stability and predictability in seeking funds for internal connections." He added he wants to discuss including network security in a future list of eligible services, but doesn't want to open discussions to "vast new laundry lists of permissable expenditures." Rosenworcel is concerned urban libraries will see funding levels cut. "The agency takes steps to strengthen the program by cementing in place essential E.Rate 2.0 reforms" like allowing school districts or library systems as a whole to seek money, she wrote. "I am concerned that the record before us supports a greater per pupil allowance than what is adopted." Commissioner Geoffrey Starks sees "work to do. Five years ago, the Commission established a goal of 1 Mbps internet access per student. Unfortunately, 62 percent of school districts still do not meet that standard."
The FCC made permanent a five-year budget approach to E-rate category 2 spending for libraries and schools in an order released Tuesday afternoon and OK'd Nov. 20 in docket 13-184. The vote was 5-0, with Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks concurring, as expected (see 1912020046). The order replaces a two-in-five-year budget approach deemed problematic by commenters. Funding floors for small and rural anchor institutions will be increased to $25,000. The new rules take effect in the 2021 funding year, when all E-rate applicants will begin new fixed five-year budget cycles. It extends the five-year pilot through the 2020 funding year. The agency declined to add services to its eligible services list. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said that while he "would have been open to a much more fundamental review of our E-rate budgetary framework" and he disfavors the use of fundamentally flawed expenditure formula, he voted yes to offer applicants "stability and predictability in seeking funds for internal connections." He added he wants to discuss including network security in a future list of eligible services, but doesn't want to open discussions to "vast new laundry lists of permissable expenditures." Rosenworcel is concerned urban libraries will see funding levels cut. "The agency takes steps to strengthen the program by cementing in place essential E.Rate 2.0 reforms" like allowing school districts or library systems as a whole to seek money, she wrote. "I am concerned that the record before us supports a greater per pupil allowance than what is adopted." Commissioner Geoffrey Starks sees "work to do. Five years ago, the Commission established a goal of 1 Mbps internet access per student. Unfortunately, 62 percent of school districts still do not meet that standard."
Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., touted her bid to use a rider in the FCC’s FY 2020 budget to pressure it to complete an investigation into wireless carriers' location tracking practices, including the sale of customer location tracking data allegedly accessed by bounty hunters (see 1805240073), during a podcast released Monday with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. The House passed the FY 2020 budget bill in June including FCC appropriations (HR-3351) with Trahan’s amendment, which proposes reallocating $1 in FCC funding to “highlight the importance of completing its investigation” (see 1906260081). “It's been over a year” since Congress requested the review “so that we could better assess” the “policy prescriptions to safeguard American consumers,” Trahan said. “It was mind-blowing … to hear that, for just for a few dollars” bad actors “could buy this information and … enable them to prey on victims.” Congress “will be in a position, once we have the data, to remedy this situation,” she said. “Passing this was a great first step” in “getting the results” of the probe so “we can then legislate and make sure that consumers' personal security isn't” at risk. House Communications Subcommittee Democrats criticized FCC Chairman Ajit Pai over the length of the investigation during a May hearing (see 1905150061). House Communications Democrats pressed Pai in November to provide an update (see 1911080051). The agency didn’t comment.