The digital divide is narrowing "substantially," with Americans without a 25/3 Mbps connection dropping from 26.1 million at the end of 2016 to 21.3 million a year later, the FCC said Wednesday in its 2018 broadband deployment report. But the agency's minority Democratic commissioners dissented, saying the report is built on a shaky foundation of invalid data -- sentiments echoed by some observers. "The rosy picture ... is fundamentally at odds with reality," Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said. The agency withdrew and reworked an earlier draft due to "drastically overstated" deployment data from one ISP (see 1905010205).
As T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to concessions to get their deal OK'd, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he'd recommend approving the deal. He would suggest commissioners greenlight the transaction, with an FCC release saying that "in the coming weeks," he will "present his colleagues with a draft order that would resolve this matter."
As T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to concessions to get their deal OK'd, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he'd recommend approving the deal. He would suggest commissioners greenlight the transaction, with an FCC release saying that "in the coming weeks," he will "present his colleagues with a draft order that would resolve this matter."
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday he will ask commissioners to vote June 6 on a declaratory ruling allowing carriers to block unwanted calls to their customers “by default” and giving consumers the ability to block callers not on their contact list. Pai said an accompanying Further NPRM will ask how caller ID authentication standards can help with call blocking.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday he will ask commissioners to vote June 6 on a declaratory ruling allowing carriers to block unwanted calls to their customers “by default” and giving consumers the ability to block callers not on their contact list. Pai said an accompanying Further NPRM will ask how caller ID authentication standards can help with call blocking.
Commissioner Geoffrey Starks lent support to a call from House Commerce Committee Vice Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., for the FCC to begin collecting data on the broadcast workforce's racial, ethnic and gender diversity. Such information could “empower” the agency to improve its oversight of the industry, Clarke and Van Hollen wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Friday. The lawmakers said they were concerned the FCC hadn't been collecting the diversity information since 2004, when it first considered reinstating Form 395-B, saying the absence of that data “limited” the agency's ability to “evaluate” potential discrimination by broadcasters. “When Congress codified Form 395-B collection, our hope was that this data could empower the FCC to better evaluate its [equal employment opportunity] rules, while also providing policymakers and researchers with valuable insights regarding diversity in broadcasting,” Van Hollen and Clarke said. "Over time, the importance of these objectives has only increased.” They requested a “detailed summary of your reasoning, as well as an explanation regarding why you chose not to refresh the record” on the form's reinstatement given the FCC's current reconsideration of the issue (see 1904290176). Starks and fellow Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel were pushing for the FCC to consider EEO enforcement amid February approval of an item eliminating midterm EEO reports (see 1902140053). “For 20 years, the FCC has ignored a statutory mandate to collect broadcast workforce diversity data,” Starks tweeted Friday. “I proposed steps to conclude a 15-year-old EEO rulemaking and was inexplicably denied. I’ll keep asking.”
The FCC is looking at revoking Communications Act Section 214 certifications of China Unicom and China Telecom, Chairman Ajit Pai said after the commissioners’ meeting Thursday. Commissioners voted 5-0 to deny China Mobile’s long-standing Section 214 application. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, as expected (see 1905060057), said the FCC is going too little to shore up 5G security.
Commissioners disagreed on the significance of an NPRM reallocating the 1675-1680 MHz band for 5G, approved 5-0 at Thursday's meeting. Ligado, which wants to combine the spectrum with other bands it controls, has pushed for the NPRM, but still has work to do before it can make 40 MHz available for 5G. The company is hoping for FCC action this summer on its broader license modification proposal, officials said. The band must be shared with weather satellites.
NTIA Administrator David Redl resigned Thursday, prompting speculation among communications sector officials and lobbyists about his reasons for leaving. Most were confident Redl's departure won't hinder NTIA's ongoing work, though they also believe the agency is probably unlikely to have another permanent head before the 2020 election. Redl had led the agency for about 18 months. The Senate confirmed him in November 2017 (see 1711070084).
The FCC is looking at revoking Communications Act Section 214 certifications of China Unicom and China Telecom, Chairman Ajit Pai said after the commissioners’ meeting Thursday. Commissioners voted 5-0 to deny China Mobile’s long-standing Section 214 application. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, as expected (see 1905060057), said the FCC is going too little to shore up 5G security.