Sennheiser representatives met with aides to all four FCC commissioners seeking FCC action on wireless multichannel audio system (WMAS) rules, which the agency took comment on more than two years ago (see 2104220056). “Sennheiser urged the Commission to adopt final rules in the WMAS proceeding in the near-term,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-115. Sennheiser discussed “that it filed its original Petition for Rulemaking … in 2018 solely to lift the wireless microphone bandwidth limit, and the Commission’s WMAS NPRM has been pending since April 2021.” WMAS has been authorized in other countries, Sennheiser noted: The U.S. “prides itself on being a global leader for spectrum innovation and development. Without the Commission finalizing rules in the WMAS proceeding, the United States will be unable to benefit from this revolutionary technology.”
Country of origin cases
The FCC Media Bureau extended broadcasters’ waiver of the audible crawl requirements, but by 18 months rather than the two years requested by NAB and with a new quarterly progress report requirement, said an order Friday, the same day the current waiver expired. Consumer groups urged the FCC not to extend the waiver. “The record demonstrates that a viable technical solution for automated descriptions of emergency information presented in graphic form does not currently exist,” the Media Bureau said. “The critical details of an emergency provided in graphic form are in most instances duplicative of information conveyed in textual crawls, which are already aurally described.” Compliance with the requirement for a secondary audio stream describing emergency information conveyed on the main stream through graphics was originally required in 2015 but has been repeatedly waived, most recently by a five-year waiver granted in 2018. The Media Bureau said Friday it granted the waiver for 18 months instead of two years because of the repeated extensions. This extension also comes with a requirement for NAB to submit quarterly status reports to the Media and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. The reports, which were requested by consumer groups (see 2305150032), should assess the continuing need for the waiver, describe NAB’s outreach to the disabled community about the audible crawl, and NAB’s efforts to develop an automated solution “such as solutions afforded by AI-based systems or the ongoing adoption of ATSC 3.0 in more television markets,” the order said. The reports also need to describe training and best practices for broadcasters on conveying non-textual emergency information, and alternative solutions broadcasters and the disability community pursue, the order said. "Today’s waiver extension is critical for broadcasters to continue to provide vital emergency information to the public," said an NAB spokesperson. "NAB very much appreciates both the Commission’s and consumer groups’ willingness to engage with us to find meaningful ways for broadcasters to serve all of our viewers."
State telecom and internet bills passed origin chambers in California and New Jersey last week. The California Assembly voted 63-0 to pass AB-414 to establish a digital equity bill of rights for Californians. The Assembly voted 77-0 for AB-1282, which would require a study on mental health risks of social media for children. The Senate voted 40-0 for SB-318 to require the California Department of Social Services to develop and run a grant program for support services for 211. In New Jersey, the Assembly voted 72-2 to pass A-3769 to require music and video websites to disclose their correct contact information. All the bills will go to their opposite chambers.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman briefed House Judiciary Committee members Tuesday, Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said as members grapple with potential solutions for crediting copyright owners when artificial intelligence systems use their work.
Industry groups welcomed a draft FCC order, NPRM, and notice of inquiry that would expand call blocking requirements and seek comment on additional ways the commission could curb illegal or unwanted robocalls. Commissioners will consider the item during their meeting Thursday (see 2304270077). Some sought additional questions and clarification about the proposed rules.
Liberty Broadband subsidiary GCI Communications agreed to pay $40.24 million to settle allegations it breached the False Claims Act by knowingly inflating its prices and violating FCC competitive bidding rules in connection with its participation in the commission’s Rural Health Care (RHC) program, said DOJ and the FCC in a statement Thursday. Just over $26 million of the settlement amount will be USF restitution payments directly to the FCC under a contemporaneous consent decree with the commission, said the settlement agreement.
CTIA urged the FCC to put the onus on covered service providers (CSPs) rather than originating service providers (OSPs) if the agency imposes 988 outage reporting obligations, the subject of a January NPRM (see 2301040056). “As 988 communications are routed centrally to a single, nationwide response point, unlike 911 communications, which are routed to local Public Safety Answering Points, it is unclear how OSPs could provide actionable information about local outages to the nationwide 988 Lifeline or other stakeholders,” CTIA said, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 23-5. AT&T agreed rules “must reflect the fundamental differences in service architecture between 911 and 988.” Competitive Carriers Association members don’t “oppose some level of 988 outage reporting and notification,” but also don’t “support duplicative or potentially confusing efforts,” CCA said: If the FCC imposes a 988 outage notification requirement on OSPs, “in many cases, a 30-minute timeframe would be unreasonable and unrealistic, particularly for OSPs utilizing vendors for 988 solutions. Any 988 outage reporting requirement should enable realistic compliance.” The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC rightly proposes rules based on 911 outage reporting requirements approved last year (see 2211170051). The FCC should also require that PSAPs be alerted of 988 outages, NENA said: “If 988 service is not available to a person having a mental health crisis, and they do not have knowledge of an alternative means such as dedicated online chat services, then they may decide to dial 9-1-1 instead.” The group said the 988 system should plan to eventually migrate to next-generation 911 technologies “as a matter of building a more reliable, equitable life-saving service for people with mental health crises.”
Consumer and public interest groups want the FCC to get more aggressive in clamping down on illegal and unwanted robotexts to consumers, according to comments on a March Further NPRM (see 2303160061). CTIA said robotexts and robocalls are inherently different, and extending the same rules to both doesn’t make sense. USTelecom said the FCC could take some steps but should proceed with caution. Comments were due Monday in docket 21-402.
A possible path to averting Alaska USF’s June 30 termination emerged in comments last week at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. The Department of Law (DOL) told the RCA it would consider approving an extension on an emergency basis if the commission fixes legal defects with an earlier proposal to extend the AUSF sunset by three years. Meanwhile, telecom companies and public advocates warned of rate increases and degraded service if commissioners allow the fund to die.
Viiz Communications’ CEO Norman Phipps and others from the company met with FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington about the company’s “efforts to develop and make available customized technology solutions and support services for use in connection with emergency communications,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 15-80. “Viiz has compiled the most comprehensive database of U.S.-based primary and secondary [public safety answering points] -- verifying information on more than 97 percent of all such” public safety answering points nationwide, Viiz said: The database can be used by originating service providers “and covered 911 service providers to efficiently and affordably comply with the Commission’s 911 outage notification requirements.”