Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Industry groups sought clarification of a draft FCC order and Further NPRM that would address concerns about numbering resources for VoIP providers and general oversight of numbering access. Commissioners will consider the item during their open meeting Thursday (see 2308310059). The Voice on the Net Coalition urged the FCC to make targeted edits on certification requirements and compliance with state regulations.

Telecom-focused congressional leaders are voicing interest in including a temporary restoration of the FCC’s auction authority in a continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past the end of FY 2023 Sept. 30. Lobbyists and observers told us they remain doubtful about Capitol Hill’s appetite for such a move due to the factors that hindered talks on a broader spectrum legislative package (see 2308070001). Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee members sounded alarms about the remit’s lapse during a Tuesday hearing on the FCC’s FY 2024 funding request. House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, also raised concerns during a Punchbowl News event the same day.

The FCC’s Public Safety Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology are forwarding concerns House China Committee leaders raised about the extent to which Chinese equipment manufacturers like Fibocom and Quectel are spying via U.S. IoT-connected devices via connectivity modules “to each of the authorities enumerated in” the 2019 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act to probe the status of those companies, commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in letters to panel leaders released Tuesday. House China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif., asked Rosenworcel in August about Fibocom and Quectel, citing concerns about the threat to U.S. IoT devices (see 2308080059). “The issues you raise with respect to connectivity modules merit continued attention,” she wrote the House China leaders. The commission “is examining additional steps it should take to protect U.S. networks. In addition to our efforts to prevent equipment on the Covered List from being approved through our equipment authorization process, the agency sought comment on the extent to which certain ‘component parts’ associated with equipment authorized by the agency, if produced by entities identified on the Covered List, should be precluded from authorization because they might also pose an unacceptable risk to national security.” The FCC “also sought comment on whether the Commission should revoke authorizations of specific Covered List equipment that was issued prior to the date any prohibition on authorization went into effect, what the process would be for doing so, and how this would work in the marketplace,” she said: “At present, the agency is examining the record in this proceeding and considering what steps will further protect communications networks and equipment supply chains.” Fibocom and Quectel “are among those that have obtained authorizations of modules,” Rosenworcel said. “The agency does not have information about whether authorized equipment may have been or is currently used in U.S. networks, and, if so, where precisely it is deployed,” but “we coordinate closely and regularly with our federal partners and executive branch bodies that have the responsibility for making determinations regarding equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk and have written to them to ensure that this matter receives appropriate review.”

Disagreements remain about whether the upper 12 GHz band can be reallocated for exclusive-use licenses, as carriers hope, in reply comments in docket 23-352. Some wireless commenters ignored the proceeding on the lower 12 GHz band (see 2309110061) and filed only on what is also called 13 GHz. Broadcasters and the satellite industry continue to raise objections (see 2308140046).

Senate confirmation of Democratic FCC nominee Anna Gomez is likelier than not to stretch into next week, with the chamber on track to vote on invoking cloture on her Thursday, said Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and other officials in interviews. The Senate's Wednesday schedule didn't include a cloture vote on Gomez that some lobbyists previously thought possible (see 2309050084), though some suggested it could still happen that night.

Proposals from GOP presidential hopefuls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to abolish the Commerce Department face long odds of coming to fruition, but space experts told us the calls raise new questions about how that would affect commercial space operations and the operators that the entity currently regulates. Right-leaning groups want a new Republican administration to consider restructuring Commerce’s space regulatory operations. House Communications Subcommittee leaders, meanwhile, believe the chamber can resurrect the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (HR-1338) to revamp the FCC’s satellite regulatory process.

The FCC released a draft Further NPRM on the long-awaited 5G Fund Thursday, with commissioners scheduled to vote Sept. 21 (see 2308300062). Also on the agenda is a Space Bureau “transparency initiative,” with the bureau giving more guidance at initial application stages. Per the draft order and accompanying Further NPRM, the streamlining proposal is to be the first in a series of intended improvements to the Space Bureau. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel also is seeking a vote on an additional action targeting VoIP robocalls.

Wireless carriers don't have much apparent interest in the 42 GHz band, to judge from comments posted Thursday in response to a June NPRM on potential sharing in the 42 GHz band. New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge were enthusiastic about the possibilities. Comments were due Wednesday in docket 23-158.

Hurricane Idalia’s eye left Florida around mid-day Wednesday, but the state is still having effects from the storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said at a 12:30 p.m. news conference livestreamed from Tallahassee. The FCC’s disaster information reporting system shows initial communications outages in Florida -- including for 58,941 cable and wireline subscribers -- from the storm, and the agency expanded the system’s coverage to include 16 counties in South Carolina, according to a number of public notices released Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nebraska will comprehensively reassess state USF rules, commissioners agreed at a Nebraska Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday. The all-Republican commission voted 5-0 to consider changes to the Nebraska USF (NUSF) high-cost distribution mechanism and associated reporting requirements (docket NUSF-139). The commission will seek feedback this fall.