FCC OK's E-rate NPRM -- With Carr-Sought Tweak

Citing a GAO report identifying fraud risks in E-rate's competitive bidding process, FCC commissioners during a meeting Tuesday unanimously approved an NPRM to establish a central online bidding portal and seek comment on requiring additional documentation from applicants (see 2111300047). The NPRM had a tweak that Commissioner Brendan Carr sought. Members also adopted 4-0 an NPRM on revising the commission’s non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) spectrum sharing rules and proposals to improve emergency alert system accessibility.

“I don’t think I’ve been cautious” as acting chair, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters after her first meeting as permanent chair: “I try to be thoughtful about things that my colleagues will offer their support for, but I don’t think we have held back or decided not to open new dockets or proceedings because of my acting status. We’ve done a lot of big things in the last year.” Rosenworcel looks "forward to a point where we have a full slate of commissioners at the FCC” but having four members “has not slowed the agency down,” she said when asked about Gigi Sohn’s pending nomination as commissioner (see 2112100067).

E-rate “has been the force behind making sure that schools and libraries in every corner of this country have access to high-speed broadband,” Rosenworcel said: “But great programs do not thrive without continuous attention and care.” Rosenworcel told reporters the NPRM is “an important effort to strengthen” E-rate and “it's my hope that we can find a way forward.” It's “the first official step to putting that recommendation into effect,” said Commissioner Nathan Simington, saying he's “satisfied” that the item “asks the right questions to make sure the resulting order does not harm the ability of E-rate applicants and providers to effectively use these funds.”

“I am very pleased that we are taking up the recommendations by GAO that we can improve ... the E-rate process,” Carr told reporters: “I think it's important that we move with dispatch.” The final item included some changes sought by Carr, Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith told reporters. That includes questions about the date of implementation of the portal and whether establishing it for FY 2024 is feasible, Monteith said.

The final item includes additional questions about issues raised in ex parte letters the commission received, Monteith said: “We think it is obviously a good item and the time is right to explore … ways in which we can improve the E-rate program.” It’s aimed at “streamlining program requirements for applicants and service providers, strengthening program integrity, preventing improper payments, and decreasing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse,” Monteith said during the meeting.

"While we appreciate that the FCC has expanded the scope of the NPRM to reflect some of the questions SHLB and other stakeholders raised earlier this month, we remain worried about the direction of this proposal," said Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen: "The proposed national competitive bidding portal would burden E-rate applicants and service providers with an unnecessary ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach."

NGSO FSS

Beyond updating its spectrum sharing rules for NGSO FSS systems, to try to promote the booming commercial broadband satellite marketplace, the FCC should speed up its application processing and do more coordination with other federal agencies, Rosenworcel said. That came after the commissioners adopted the spectrum sharing NPRM 4-0.

International Bureau lawyer Clay DeCell said the agency seeks comment on a requirement that NGSO FSS systems approved in later processing rounds protect systems OK’d earlier and on how to define that protection, sunsetting protections for earlier-approved NGSO systems, and facilitating coordination through sharing such information as satellite beam pointing data. Rosenworcel said the aim is a level playing field for operators. She said first-mover advantage can be good in providing companies with certitude, “but it’s not a good thing if it shuts out competitors” from entering the space. After the meeting, she said the agency is “taking a hard look at our satellite policies from front to back ... to make sure we can move at appropriate speed for this new space age."

Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the approved draft includes his edits about seeking comment on working spectral efficiency incentives into the agency’s spectrum sharing policy. He said he's looking for ways the FCC might encourage satellite operators to adopt spectrally efficient technologies.

Amazon Kuiper representatives had conversations with aides to Starks and other commissioners last week (see 2112130032). The company suggested the agency ask how it could encourage spectrum efficiency by operators.

EAS

Commissioners also unanimously approved an NPRM and accompanying notice of inquiry on proposals to make emergency alert system messages more accessible. The final version -- which seeks comment on ways to make the text component of EAS messages convey as much information as the audio portion -- doesn’t substantively differ from the circulated draft (see 2112060057), Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes confirmed. Comments will be due in docket 15-94.

Rosenworcel said that recent tornado damage in the Midwest is a “stark reminder” of the need for accessible, easily understandable warning systems. Insufficiently accessible messaging “can cause real confusion,” she said. The FCC is “looking for all the good ideas” on improving EAS accessibility, Rosenworcel said.

Along with prioritizing common alerting protocol (CAP) versions of EAS messages, the draft proposes requiring a predetermined script as the visual message for nationwide EAS tests triggered through the legacy system, to make it clearer the alert is a test message. The NOI seeks comment on ways to improve the legacy EAS system.

Proposals to improve the text portion of EAS stem from requests by consumer groups going back a decade, emailed Christian Vogler, director of Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program. “It took the FCC ten years to get to the meat of this issue that we raised so many years ago, but as they say, better late than never.” Vogler said he's “thrilled” by the agency proposal to increase the use of more textually rich CAP messages: “Alerts don't help, if you have no clue as to what to do with it.”

Having broadcaster EAS systems more widely disseminate CAP messages was previously proposed as a way to increase the use of multilingual emergency alerts, but Fowlkes and Rosenworcel said on post-meeting news-media calls that this proceeding is focused on improving accessibility.

All forms of EAS on all media, including radio, should be fully accessible, said Eric Kaika, CEO of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Alerts should include warnings in sign language, described audio, Braille, in multiple languages and accessible by screen readers, Kaika said.

The deaf and hard of hearing community is dependent on alerts shown on TV or through their wireless device, if they have one, Kaika emailed. “So for the DHH [deaf or hard of hearing] driver in a car driving on a country road in Kentucky, they won’t be aware of alerts unless they check their phone and are within the network service area,” Kaika said. “We would like to see these alerts be pushed through the internet, through digital radio, and perhaps social media platforms.” The agency did an inquiry about emergency alerts for Internet platforms in early 2021 (see 2105170064).

FCC Meeting Notebook

Rosenworcel insisted work is progressing toward Verizon and AT&T being able to start using their C-band spectrum for 5G. “I remain optimistic we’re going to find a solution for 5G deployment that occurs both swiftly and safely,” she told a news conference. Rosenworcel was asked if she supports a proposal by the two carriers for interference protections around airports (see 2112070047). “We’re having productive discussions with the FAA,” she said: “I have confidence in the mitigations that have been offered up by the wireless industry with respect to these airwaves.”

Rosenworcel welcomed a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-122, by former Chairs Ajit Pai, Tom Wheeler, Mignon Clyburn, Julius Genachowski, Michael Copps and Michael Powell urging a quick resolution. The letter was also addressed to acting NTIA Administrator Evelyn Remaley. FAA should work with the FCC and the NTIA “to assess and resolve the FAA’s concerns expeditiously, but this debate should not be fought publicly in a way that undermines consumer confidence in the process, nor should it require months of additional delays,” they said. “The FCC has long worked collaboratively on spectrum management with NTIA,” they said: “The process is designed to surface and resolve precisely the types of interference issues being raised here and to do so well in advance of licensing and service launch. … In this case, the FAA position threatens to derail the reasoned conclusions reached by the FCC after years of technical analysis and study.

Rosenworcel said her agency is reviewing some proposals on broadcasting to bring forward in 2022, but wouldn’t provide details. She declined to comment on whether the agency might seek to do away with the UHF discount once she has a full slate of Democratic commissioners.

Adding Chinese drone maker DJI to the FCC’s covered list may not have a major effect on use of devices by the company, Rosenworcel told reporters. Carr said in October the FCC should take that step (see 2110190051). She noted the FCC’s list prevents providers from buying equipment from a covered company. “Drones are not generally used in universal service programs so the risk of that equipment being purchased with general service dollars is extraordinarily low,” she said. The FCC could look at the company in regard to whether its drones can be authorized for use in U.S. skies, she said. The FCC has an open proceeding on revised equipment authorization rules (see 2110200055), she noted: “We’re taking a look at it, and it’s my hope that we’re going to be able to finish that proceeding up in the next year.”