Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The FCC approved an order setting a broad range of bid weights for a planned Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction of almost $2 billion in subsidy support for fixed broadband/voice services over 10 years. The CAF II bid weights are designed to value "high speeds, higher usage allowances and low latency," balanced with "cost efficiencies" to deploy broadband widely, said a release Thursday. Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn voted for the order; Commissioner Mike O'Rielly partially dissented.

The FCC Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council will meet 1-5 p.m., March 15, in the Commission Meeting Room, for the last time under the charter for its fifth iteration, the agency said in a notice set to appear in Thursday's Federal Register. The meeting will be the first since the start of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s administration, which has raised questions about CSRIC’s future role in cybersecurity policy (see 1701250077 and 1702060059).

A broad group of financial services associations asked the FCC to extend the comment deadlines on a petition by Craig Moskowitz and Craig Cunningham, which the groups say would rewrite the rules they face under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). In a Feb. 8 public notice, the FCC sought comment on the petition for a rulemaking “to overturn the Commission’s improper interpretation that ‘prior express consent’ includes implied consent resulting from a party’s providing a telephone number to the caller.” The FCC sought comment by March 10, replies by March 27. “Such a dramatic change would prevent consumers from receiving important communications from our members on their mobile phones, communications that provide critical information that consumers want and need to receive,” the associations said in docket 02-278. “It would also likely require our members to make fundamental changes to their practices for obtaining consent in conformity with the TCPA’s requirements. Each day, our members make calls to millions of our customers who would be impacted in a very negative way by the change proposed in the Petition. We believe that consideration of a proposed change of this magnitude should be done through a process that affords a greater opportunity for public participation.” The deadlines are simply too tight to allow for thoughtful comment, the groups said. The American Bankers Association, ACA International, American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management, American Financial Services Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Credit Union National Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Independent Community Bankers of America, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, National Council of Higher Education Resources and Student Loan Servicing Alliance signed the filing.

Lawmakers joined Incompas Wednesday to press for further action on spectrum and broadband deployment, speaking at the association’s Washington meeting. “I’ve encouraged President [Donald] Trump to include telecommunications in any infrastructure package,” said Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., a Commerce Committee member, in one among many references to such a possibility. The conference also heard from executives (see 1702150052).

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., asked the White House to renominate FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and to nominate commissioners for the two open spots, one expected to go to a Democrat and one to a Republican, Walden said Tuesday during a speech before the Media Institute. He detailed Commerce's telecom goals as Pai sat at one of the first tables before him. Walden often joked and broke from prepared remarks.

The NARUC Telecom Committee cleared three resolutions highlighting states' role in telecom issues, at a business meeting Tuesday at the association’s winter meeting. The resolutions, passed on unanimous vote, stressed the importance of cooperative federalism in various telecom matters. One resolution on wireless siting got revisions from its original draft after industry raised concerns, but the others tracked closely with drafts released last month (see 1701310048). On an earlier small-cells panel, industry disagreed with state and local officials about the need for federal action.

States and the federal government are partners in a “common cause” promoting good communications policy, House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Monday at a NARUC meeting. Walden urged states and local governments to look at cutting red tape holding back broadband deployment as Congress considers President Donald Trump’s proposed $1 trillion infrastructure package. Congressional aides from both parties said they hoped for bipartisan consensus on the infrastructure package but said a Telecom Act rewrite may still be a long way off.

Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler urged flexible, agile broadband regulation to usher in "Web 3.0" that "orchestrates intelligence" and boosts productivity and economic growth. "We need to make sure that we have open networks that facilitate the kind of productivity revolution that’s necessary, and are not strangled by fewer than half a dozen companies,” he said in a keynote Monday, the final day of the Silicon Flatirons digital broadband conference at the University of Colorado-Boulder (see 1702120001 for Day One). He took some shots at the new Republican-run FCC, as he has on Twitter (see 1702130037). He said allowing the large broadband providers to consolidate further would make matters worse.

Virginia moved closer to enacting small-cells wireless siting legislation last week as several other states consider a flurry of legislation backed by industry to rein in local charges and application processing times. Thursday, the Virginia House Commerce and Labor Committee cleared a Senate bill (SB-1282) with a substitute amendment, and the full House probably will vote on it Tuesday, a committee spokesman told us. Local governments are watching about 10 states for bills pushed by the wireless industry, all while the FCC mulls federal action, NATOA Executive Director Steve Traylor said in an interview. Localities want to build out 5G services but would rather negotiate directly with industry without the specter of pending regulation or legislation, said Best Best law firm's Gerry Lederer.

Two federal judges focused on whether a state regulatory group had legal standing to challenge an FCC order that allowed interconnected VoIP providers to acquire phone numbers directly from numbering authorities, rather than through telecom carriers. In oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Wednesday, Chief Judge Merrick Garland and Judge Judith Rogers asked what harms NARUC's members suffered under the order, which didn't classify VoIP as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act. NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay said state commissions lost VoIP certification authority and oversight over numbering issues, but FCC counsel Matthew Dunne said the order preserved most state numbering rights.