Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Nebraska can’t wait for the FCC to get good broadband maps, said state Sen. Bruce Bostelman (R) at a livestreamed hearing Tuesday in the unicameral legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. But the telecom industry poo-pooed having the Nebraska Public Service Commission draw its own map as proposed by Bostelman’s LB-914.

The FCC will soon adopt rules that "crack down on revenue sharing” and exclusive access arrangements between broadband providers and building owners in multi-tenant environments said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during an Incompas policy summit in Washington Tuesday (see 2201210039). The record the FCC received last year on broadband access in MTEs “made one thing very clear,” Rosenworcel said: “The agency’s existing rules are not what they could be.” Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington encouraged NTIA to prioritize unserved areas in its new broadband programs. Other panelists urged the FCC to revise the USF.

Lawmakers are frustrated that interagency spectrum policy infighting that became endemic during the Trump administration continues to be an issue one year into Joe Biden’s presidency, despite early hopes for a shift (see 2010260001). Some on and off Capitol Hill believe the Biden administration’s handling of the high-profile C-band aviation safety fracas that preceded delays last month in AT&T and Verizon rolling out commercial 5G use on the frequency (see 2201180065) has stirred an increased appetite for enacting a legislative solution. Others want to hold off on legislation for the time being in hopes recently installed NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other officials will be able to quickly nip the squabbling.

Some broadcasters could be open to expected FCC proposals to require that political advertising data in online public files be machine-readable if it leads to more clarity on the rules for political ad filings, industry lawyers and officials told us. Others expect NAB and others to unequivocally oppose such a move.

The Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC), concerned about AT&T’s Feb. 22 shutdown of its 3G network, is asking the White House for help, hoping for a delay or other concessions. Members of the group asked the National Economic Council and the Domestic Policy Council to get involved, officials said.

Consumer and prison inmate advocates urged the California Public Utilities Commission to regulate video calling and other non-voice services used by incarcerated people to communicate with their families. But big inmate calling service (ICS) providers said Friday the CPUC can’t regulate those products because they're Title I information services under the 1996 Telecom Act.

The FCC is statutorily required to handle the 2018 and 2022 quadrennial reviews separately, said Media Bureau staff at an FCBA virtual panel Thursday. The law says the FCC “shall” review broadcast ownership rules every four years, and that means “this is something we must do,” said MB Attorney-Adviser William Durdach, saying the law doesn’t allow the agency to “roll a quad into another quad.” Stakeholders speculated the agency could seek to skip the 2018 QR (see 2112200018).

Senate Commerce Committee officials are hoping they will be able to act next week on Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn, after repeated delays in scheduling an advancement vote over the past two months. The committee is eyeing including Sohn and Democratic FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya (see 2201240055) on the agenda for a potential Feb. 2 executive session, Senate aides and communications lobbyists told us. Opponents hope the delays resulted in traction for their ethics concerns about Sohn’s role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition (see 2201130071).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s decision on 5.9 GHz may not be as straightforward as its ruling on 6 GHz, because the court will have to grapple with a novel issue -- whether the FCC ignored the Transportation Equity Act and the Department of Transportation’s role in encouraging intelligent transportation systems when it reallocated the band, experts said. The FCC’s 2020 5.9 GHz order allocated 45 MHz of the band for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology.

Woods Aitken adds Shana Knutson as partner, working on telecom, business services and real estate law; she was Nebraska Public Service Commission general counsel ... Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden reappoints Judge David Strickler as copyright royalty judge (economics) for six-year term ... Karen Modlin says she's leaving Dish Network for Zayo, which hires her as director-communications.