Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

There's much attention to an FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund vote Jan. 30 (see 2001230005). Speakers at a Next Century Cities conference Thursday urged policymakers not to neglect low-income urban and minority communities to address the digital divide. The event was closed to the media in-person, so we heard the webcast.

The 5G Spectrum Act, even if it doesn't become law, could benchmark how satellite communications incumbents get compensated for clearing part of the C band, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly told reporters Tuesday in a wide-ranging interview. S-2881 "does have weight," especially as there seemingly has been a general shift from Capitol Hill resistance to any incentives, said. If satcom incumbents receive a percentage of the $40 billion in auction proceeds, as the legislation says (see 2001090021), debate will likely center on between 30 and 50 percent, though compensation could be a hard number for incumbents, or a combination of percentage and hard number, he said.

Two telcos didn't meet all deployment requirements for having gotten USF money from the federal government, they reported Thursday. That drew concern from some state officials.

A Supreme Court decision to hear a challenge by the American Association of Political Consultants questioning a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a key Telephone Consumer Protection Act case could have much bigger implications, TCPA lawyers told us Monday. DOJ also asked the court to hear the case. AAPC sought to have the entire ban thrown out on constitutional grounds, in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, docket 19-631. The high court granted cert Friday.

A majority of members of the current iteration of the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council come from the private sector because “qualified individuals who are nominated” to the group “may often be employed in the private sector because of the complex technical matters that CSRIC is asked to address,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. The letters dated Jan. 3 were released Friday. Warren and Jayapal in June questioned “the extent to which” CSRIC “may be inappropriately dominated by industry insiders” given 13 of the current CSRIC iteration’s 22 members are from the private sector (see 1907010029). Two CSRIC members are associated with a communications sector trade group, six are from federal agencies and one is from a civil society group. CSRIC was rechartered in early 2019 for its seventh two-year iteration (see 1904160061). The agency “considers [CSRIC] nominees based on criteria for implementing the Federal Advisory Committee Act -- namely, whether the entities represented by the nominees would be directly affected by the matters likely to be addressed by the CSRIC and whether the nominees are qualified and have relevant experience,” Pai said. “The complex topics” before the current panel “affect industry segments … in different ways. Consequently, CSRIC members employed in the private sector often have differing interests and perspectives.” There's “rarely, if ever, a uniform ‘private sector’ position on the issues that come before the CSRIC,” he said. “The FCC considers these differing points of view from various industry sectors when balancing the expertise and viewpoints of the CSRIC membership.” The commission “further balances and includes diverse points of view through the inclusion of state, local, federal, and Tribal governmental entities; public safety organizations; and consumer and community organizations,” Pai said. “To promote diversity in its membership, the FCC also strives to select members from different areas of the country, with differing expertise, and representing organizations of different sizes.”

T-Mobile and states opposing the carrier’s Sprint buy re-emphasized their positions, before closing argument Wednesday at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Arguing (in Pacer) plaintiffs don’t have to prove anticompetitive intentions, states highlighted companies’ internal documents cited at trial as showing such motives, including a 2011 Deutsche Telekom slide deck saying one transaction benefit is a "rule of three" that would reduce price competition (see 1912100029). States questioned Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen’s credibility: "There is considerable reason for this Court to doubt whether DISH will build the promised network; and, even if it does, DISH’s most optimistic projections still fall well short of being timely, likely, or sufficient to replace the lost competition that Sprint has long provided.” States rejected (in Pacer) DOJ and the FCC urging the court defer to federal agencies’ conditional OKs (see 1912200043). "States are independent enforcers of the antitrust laws, and it is the role of the Court -- not any federal agency -- to decide the lawfulness of the merger," they said. “A prosecutorial decision by” DOJ “not to challenge a transaction is not a determination that the proposed merger is lawful under the Clayton Act,” and the same goes for a commission OK, the plaintiffs said. T-Mobile said (in Pacer) DOJ and the FCC agree the deal will mean lower prices, better wireless service and increased competition: “Plaintiffs have failed to carry their burden to prove that the world with this merger is likely to be substantially less competitive than the world without it." If not allowed, T-Mobile and Sprint will suffer and Dish won’t enter the market, they said. It's false to say the biggest U.S. carriers welcome the takeover, defendants said. “AT&T has been working with third parties to thwart the merger,” said T-Mobile, citing a July 17, 2018, email from AT&T Executive Vice President-Regulatory and State External Affairs Joan Marsh to Communications Workers of America Telecom Policy Director Debbie Goldman. Marsh wrote that she “wanted you to be aware of potential [Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)] issues that some are raising.” The attachment raises possible national security concerns, including T-Mobile and Sprint using Chinese equipment, Softbank’s relationships with Chinese companies, and a foreign-owned company potentially holding more spectrum than U.S. carriers. "As far as I know, AT&T has not taken a position on the merger," a CWA spokesperson emailed: The union opposes the deal "because it would hurt working people." AT&T didn’t comment. A settlement between states and the carriers is deemed unlikely (see 1912300033).

LAS VEGAS -- This year will be one of “execution” on making more spectrum available for 5G and Wi-Fi, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in an interview at CES. O’Rielly and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr spoke on a panel, after remarks by Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai wasn’t asked about and didn’t provide any additional details on the 6 GHz band or C band (see 2001070054).

The FCC’s clarification of political file rules creates new, subjective disclosure obligations that aren’t backed up in the law, burden companies and raise First Amendment questions, said broadcasters, network affiliates and NCTA in comments posted Tuesday in docket 19-363 supporting NAB’s petition for reconsideration (see 1911180068). “This decision will harm the entire local advertising ecosystem and burden the speech of political and nonpolitical advertisers alike,” said a joint filing from Gray Television, E.W. Scripps, Meredith, Block Communications and WBOC. Transparency groups including Campaign Legal Center, Sunlight Foundation and Common Cause disagree. “Any possible burden” is “clearly outweighed by the benefits of public disclosure,” the groups said.

The wireless industry, CTA and drone groups told the FCC that commercial spectrum is critical to safe operation of unmanned aerial systems. Comments were due Thursday on a notice on the use of the 960-1164 MHz and 5030-5091 MHz bands by drones. Commenters also agreed on the importance of flexible-use licensing. The comments reflect unusual consensus on a spectrum issue. The FCC is seeking comment as a requirement of Section 374 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.

The FCC unanimously affirmed a 2017 administrative law judge decision revoking construction permits and licenses for three California FM stations over allegations from the late 1990s about a lack of candor, said a docket 03-152 order in Thursday’s Daily Digest. Democratic Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks submitted statements (attached to the order) emphasizing that broadcasters found to have dealt dishonestly with the FCC should have their licenses revoked. None of the Republican commissioners issued statements. “In the case of an unscrupulous licensee with multiple stations, misrepresentation and lack of candor constitutes ‘serious deliberate misconduct’ that could put all of a broadcaster’s licenses at risk,” said Starks. William Zawila -- licensee of one of the stations and representative for the estates of other parties in the case -- argued that too much time had passed since the offenses involved and that the Enforcement Bureau hadn’t correctly handled filings in the matter. Those challenges are invalid on their merits and untimely filed, the FCC said. “Long ago the Federal Communications Commission established that the ‘trait of truthfulness’ is a necessary element of the character required to operate a broadcast station in the public interest,” Rosenworcel said. Though Sinclair isn't mentioned in the order or Commissioner statements, both Starks and Rosenworcel have been critical of that broadcaster, which had an attempted deal with Tribune designated for hearing in 2018, over allegations the company may have shown a lack of candor. That ALJ proceeding ended in 2019 when the deal was withdrawn, but several broadcast attorneys said they expect the candor issue to re-emerge as license renewals for Sinclair’s stations come up in 2020 (see 1903050075). “This year, a decision from the agency revisited that notion and concluded that honesty with the FCC is a foundational requirement for holding a license,” Rosenworcel said. Sinclair didn’t comment.