Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The National Hispanic Media Coalition and other public interest groups urged the FCC to do more to address the communications meltdown in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 1710040046). Chairman Ajit Pai, meanwhile, said he appointed a staff task force on hurricane recovery. Addressed to Pai, the letter also was signed by the Center for Media Justice, the Color of Change, Free Press and Public Knowledge.

Larger, more sophisticated high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles will require a different approach from regulators than smaller UAVs have, said Jennifer Warren, Lockheed Martin vice president-technology policy and regulation, during a Silicon Flatirons spectrum conference late Wednesday. The challenge is which comes first -- the FAA has to set out performance objectives and the FCC needs to make spectrum available for command and control, Warren said. “It’s going to be an interesting timing scenario and the one has to be informed by the other,” she said. “There’s a little bit of collaboration that we’re hoping for between the FCC and the FAA” when we get beyond smaller drones, she said. The FAA and FCC don’t disagree, said Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. The commission allocated 50.30-50.90 MHz for command and control of UAVs, he said. “There are so many different kinds of UAVs used by both federal and nonfederal.” Finding spectrum isn’t easy, Knapp said. “Most of the spectrum is spoken for in one way or another,” he said. “It generally comes down to there’s something there. Either you’re going to share without modifying it or it has got to be moved and that usually costs money.” Tom Hazlett, economics professor at Clemson University, said challenges presented by space-based and aerial communications technologies are “profound.” Hazlett sees a possible solution an Intel/Intelsat proposal for the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1710020047). “They’re talking about incumbent licensees, including especially satellite licensees, being able to make deals with terrestrial in particular,” he said. Incumbents would be protected, but new entrants could “make deals, make bargains,” he said. The companies get it “just right,” he said. “There are rigidities in the system that can be overcome by allowing the rights to go into the marketplace, that allow bargains to be made.” The FCC wouldn’t have to make trade-offs on things that are “completely unknown” like “is a band better used for autonomous vehicles or Wi-Fi-delivery of cat videos,” Hazlett said. The FCC "doesn’t know the answer" to that question and neither does he, he said. “We want the opportunity costs to be visible, transparent,” he said. “We want users to make rational calculations and we don’t resources to go to low-valued uses when there’s something much better.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai acted on Puerto Rico in light of the near meltdown in communications because of Hurricane Maria, but some say there’s more the agency can do. Commissioners took about a day to approve an order (see 1710030057) making up to $76.9 million immediately available for the restoration of communications networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “The FCC’s actions are intended to enable carriers to restore essential communications services as quickly as possible,” said a news release.

Federal, state and private sector stakeholders are expected to point to existing efforts to combat robocalls during a Wednesday Senate Aging Committee hearing, lobbyists told us and witnesses said in prepared testimony. The hearing is to begin at 9 a.m. in 562 Dirksen. Meanwhile, Senate Commerce Committee members urged the FCC Tuesday to continue work to create a database for reassigned numbers to help curb unwanted robocalls. The agency has been exploring creation of the database as part of its NPRM and notice of inquiry targeting “spoofed” robocalls (see 1703230035 and 1709270067).

Puerto Rican telco and media industry groups paint a grim picture of communications on the island after Hurricane Maria, with indications full resumption could be a long way off. Some said the FCC's information collection system continues (see 1709270061) struggling. Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing that carriers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands be allowed quicker use of their USF allocations for network rebuilding.

Requiring social media companies to disclose who sponsors political ads would be feasible and wouldn't pose free-speech problems, experts told us last week. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., want to require companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter to publicly file such reports, similar to FCC requirements on broadcasters and cable and satellite providers. Facebook recently revealed at least 3,000 political advertisements were linked to Russian interests seeking to influence the U.S. presidential election.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai or his representative on the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System subcommittee to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council will be exempt from ex parte rules for matters that occur as part of subcommittee business, said an FCC public notice Friday. Participation in the committee by Pai or Pai’s designee is required by statute, the PN said. “This treatment is appropriate since communications to the Chairman or the Chairman’s designee as Subcommittee members, like comments on a Notice of Inquiry, will not directly result in the promulgation of new rules.” Since the subcommittee may look at subjects that are also pending commission proceedings, the agency won’t rely on information gathered through the subcommittee unless it’s first placed into the record of the relevant FCC proceeding, the PN said.

The FCC 2015 net neutrality and broadband reclassification order came under attack from critics asking the Supreme Court to review the decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upholding the order, as expected (see 1709280029). The American Cable Association, AT&T, Daniel Berninger, CenturyLink with USTelecom, CTIA and NCTA filed cert petitions challenging the commission's order and appealing D.C. Circuit affirmations. TechFreedom said it also expected to file Thursday, the deadline.

The FCC Disaster Information Reporting System has been unable to capture solid information from Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria, industry officials told us Wednesday. To report to DIRS requires internet access and, with most of the island offline, reports aren’t making it through. A U.S. broadcast official said virtually all radio stations are off-air, based on information from the Puerto Rican Broadcasters Association that is just starting to trickle out. The FCC is sending four staffers to Puerto Rico to gather verifiable information, officials said (see 1709260044). The agency didn't comment.

The FCC needs to work toward immediately restoring communications service to affected areas in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands before it considers longer term issues, said Chairman Ajit Pai in a news conference after a Public Safety Bureau report on the FCC response to storms Harvey, Irma and Maria at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting. The commission is “focused like a laser beam” on restoration, Pai said, calling the situation in Puerto Rico "dire." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC should hold field hearings in affected areas on how best to prepare for such disasters. The agency should “have the guts” to get out on the ground, she said. “You don’t pull together a report with only the information you amass from sitting in front of your keyboard,” said Rosenworcel. “You get out.”