Howard Buskirk

The Rural Wireless Association expressed disappointment after the FCC released an order Thursday launching a multi-round reverse auction that will pay up to $9 billion to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the U.S. otherwise unlikely to see 5G deployments (see 2408290022). The Competitive Carriers Association also expressed concerns.

FCC Technological Advisory Council member Dale Hatfield raised concerns Thursday about whether the U.S. is on track to deliver reliable 5G networks within a timeframe and at a cost that reflects “the urgency and criticality” the situation. “Put another way,” he asked, what’s the “economic impact” of creating networks that are available 99.999% of the time? Hatfield said he took a deep dive into peer-reviewed and other “trusted literature” seeking answers, but came away empty-handed.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, joined by public interest groups, and T-Mobile opposed a petition at the FCC seeking reconsideration of last month’s 3-2 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2407180024). They were the only filers in docket 21-31 as of Wednesday. Tuesday was the deadline for oppositions. Maurine and Matthew Molak, who sued the agency over its decision that authorized funding Wi-Fi on school buses, are seeking reconsideration (see 2408020035). The FCC should dismiss the Molak petition “as it relies on arguments that have been fully considered and rejected by the Commission within the same proceeding,” said SHLB. The Open Technology Institute at New America and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society joined SHLB. “Petitioners fail to identify any material error, omission, or reason warranting reconsideration of their arguments alleging the Commission’s lack of statutory authority,” the groups said. The petition “merely asserts its claims and does not raise any additional argument purporting that the Commission had either erred in its reasoning that the above-mentioned statutory provisions grant[ ] it legal authority, or that the Commission omitted or failed to consider certain facts or reasoning when making its determination.” Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, “a majority of students required the Internet to complete their homework every single day,” T-Mobile said. “Progress made in addressing the Homework Gap during the pandemic by local school districts that provided students with Wi-Fi hotspots is now in jeopardy, and so the Wi-Fi lending program contained in the Order is crucial to sustaining pandemic-era connectivity gains and connecting students.” The FCC order contains appropriate safeguards, T-Mobile said: “It requires applicants to maintain acceptable use policies that clearly state that off-premises use must be primarily for an educational purpose.” The Molaks, whose 16-year-old son died by suicide after he was cyberbullied, argued that the school bus ruling would give children and teenagers unsupervised social media access.

New, AI-driven technologies could offer an alternative to how spectrum sharing is done, experts said Wednesday during an RCR Wireless webinar. Panelists said AI could provide options to the citizens broadband radio service and increase dynamic sharing of government spectrum.

AT&T suffered a wireless outage Tuesday night that apparently started in the Southeast and spread throughout the U.S., based on social media and other reports. A software issue caused the outage, which was resolved, AT&T said Wednesday. The FCC is investigating, a spokesperson emailed.

The FCC approved an order establishing a multi-round reverse auction to pay out up to $9 billion to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the U.S. otherwise unlikely to see 5G. The vote was 4-1, with a dissent by Commissioner Brendan Carr. The commission plans a public notice to announce the start date of the auction. It also released a Further NPRM on related tribal issues.

ISPs challenging the FCC’s updated data breach notification rules made their case at the 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court about why the rule should be overturned. The filing elaborates on their argument that the agency exceeded its Communications Act authorities when it adopted the rule in December. The Ohio Telecom Association (docket 24-3133), the Texas Association of Business (docket 24-3206) and CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom (docket 24-3252) brought the challenge. The 6th Circuit is considered among the most conservative federal circuits.

Industry experts warned Tuesday that siloing of data remains a stumbling block as ISPs try to use it to increase efficiency. During day two of a Fierce Network virtual conference on automation, executives said companies are partitioning AI away from other units, but it won’t always be this way.

Companies are still figuring out how they’ll use generative AI and how it will benefit them as they move to greater automation, Rode Kirk, Microsoft global sales director-media & communications, Americas, said during a Fierce Network webinar Monday. Other speakers said as networks become more complex, companies will have no choice but to embrace automation.

Wi-Fi advocates and wireless carriers offered the NTIA different versions of the 6G world in some of the first comments made public in response to a May request for comment on the state of 6G development (see 2405230010). Comments were due Wednesday. NTIA is expected to eventually post them.