Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Friday heading into the three-day Labor Day weekend saw the FCC issue a slew of announcements, including one after business hours. Similar moves in the past drew fire as seemingly aimed at avoiding attention. Now, the actions raised the eyebrows of one open governance expert. Others defended the agency.

Southeast Texas won't quickly recover after Tropical Storm Harvey damaged and flooded 911 facilities and utility infrastructure (see 1708290029 and 1708280049), emergency and utility officials said in interviews last week. Surging numbers of calls overwhelmed public service answering points (PSAPs) used to far fewer requests, said one official. Industry officials said providers are working together and continue to restore service and assist with relief. The FAA cleared drones to fly into the area.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is facing criticism for not doing more in reaction to racism following events in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month where white supremacists held a rally and an anti-racism marcher was killed. Former federal officials who attended last month's Aspen Institute communications conference said there was buzz that Pai should convene a diversity summit.

Neustar told the FCC the world doesn’t need a new database of reassigned numbers to curb unwanted robocalls. Other commenters representing companies that make calls to consumers were more supportive of FCC proposals. Comments were due Monday in docket 17-59 on a July 13 notice of inquiry.

DOJ endorses jamming cell signals in correctional facilities, it said in a letter to the FCC Tuesday. Carriers oppose jamming to shut down the growing flood of contraband cellphones (see 1703130062). Commissioners approved rules and a Further NPRM on contraband cellphones in March, tackling a top priority for Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1703230056). The Monday letter was posted Tuesday in docket 13-111.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears free to consider issues affecting Securus and inmate calling services in general, despite allegations he has a conflict of interest stemming from his past legal work for the ICS provider, ethics specialists and former commissioners told us. They noted Pai is more than five years removed from his Securus representation, and government recusal requirements last only one to two years. But two government watchdog advocates suggested Pai hold himself to a higher standard to avoid any appearance of a conflict.

Disagreements grew over potential FCC broadband regulation in apartment buildings and other multiple tenant environments (MTEs) as more parties weighed in on all sides of a commission inquiry in replies posted Tuesday and Wednesday. Property owners are opposed to rules regulating them; localities are concerned about federal pre-emption of their competitive efforts; and industry parties are split over whether the FCC should move ahead with a rulemaking on MTE broadband or take certain actions. They were reacting to a notice of inquiry and initial comments in docket 17-142 (see 1706220036, 1707250050 and 1707260034).

Frontier Communications believes large edge providers should help pay for broadband networks and correct an "imbalance" in industry, Executive Vice President Mark Nielsen said Tuesday. He said "enormous companies are earning their profits over a network that is the responsibility of challenged wireline companies" trying to keep up with consumer expectations. "It really is a heavy responsibility for us to stay on top of upgrading the network," he said. "So that's a challenge that we face as a company but I think the country is going to face in very stark terms going forward." Large edge providers should "make a contribution," he said.

Last week’s federal court ruling upholding a Kentucky city’s right to make one-touch, make-ready policy may strengthen the legal case for more local OTMR policies across the U.S., said attorneys and others who support the practice. But a state industry association head said the U.S. District Court in Louisville opinion has no impact for similar litigation in Tennessee and West Virginia, states that -- unlike Kentucky -- are subject to FCC pole-attachment authority. Meanwhile, one-touch advocates said the court ruling supports making state and national policies.

The FCC is starting to look at the future use of spectrum above 95 GHz, which some had urged years ago (see 1510060037). Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp said last week at the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee meeting the very high frequency spectrum is in the agency’s crosshairs (see 1708150060). An industry coalition is forming to work with the FCC on access to that spectrum, we learned. Chairman Ajit Pai mentioned spectrum above 95 MHz in a March speech at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (see 1703150020).