The FCC released in a Friday public notice the final report of its Task Force on Optimal Public Safety Answering Point Architecture, which the group approved Jan. 29 (see 1601290051). The report combines three working group reports on PSAP funding, cybersecurity and optimal PSAP architecture, which were largely completed last year (see 1512100043). The task force has another year to run. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said at the Jan. 29 task force meeting that he will make advocacy of more funding for next-generation 911 his top priority every time he appears before Congress in his remaining time as chairman. The FCC said it plans another notice on the work that it will ask the group to do this year.

FirstNet delayed the deadline for final request for proposal submissions for the deployment of a U.S. public safety broadband network by two weeks -- from April 29 to May 13 -- and pushed back the final day to submit voluntary capability statements by two weeks, to March 31, a news release said Friday. The extended deadlines were in response to the more than 400 questions FirstNet received on the RFP, it said. FirstNet also released the first set of answers to the industry RFP questions, most of which focused on "administrative actions and procurement processes," a FirstNet Q&A overview fact sheet said. The remaining answers to submitted stakeholder questions "will be provided on a rolling basis as expeditiously as possible," FirstNet said. "We are pleased with the interest and questions we received from industry, states, and public safety regarding the FirstNet RFP," CEO Mike Poth said in a statement. Poth called the opportunity for stakeholders to submit questions and have them answered a "vital next step in the iterative process as potential offerors work to craft their proposed solutions" to deploy a network for first responders and said FirstNet staff "are diligently working to answer each question" from stakeholders. FirstNet said it will work to post any amendments to the RFP it deems necessary after reviewing questions "as quickly as possible" and "may do so in increments." FirstNet will host a pre-proposal conference on the RFP March 10 in the afternoon at its headquarters in Reston, Virginia.

TechFreedom sued the Federal Aviation Administration, saying it exceeded the agency's authority when it imposed a $5 registration fee for drones that weigh more than 0.55 pounds (see 1512140019). “Whether or not requiring drone registration is a wise policy, the rules the FAA rushed out before Christmas are unlawful,” TechFreedom President Berin Szoka said in a statement on the lawsuit. Szoka said the FAA didn't give the public an opportunity to comment on the regulations, meaning the agency wasn't able to consider "the real-world complexities of drones," which could lead to unintended consequences. Tom Struble, policy counsel for the group, said the notice-and-comment rulemaking process gives agencies stakeholder viewpoints so it can assess "competing considerations." He also called the cost-benefit analysis in the FAA's interim drone regulations "paltry." The FAA said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Chairman Tom Wheeler and other top FCC officials went on a field trip to Verizon’s headquarters in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Feb. 12, to see the carrier’s early field trials of 5G technology, the carrier said. “Verizon provided an overview of Verizon’s plans for 5G and the current status of several field trials in various geographies and showed these FCC officials a live demo of a Samsung base station with both fixed and mobile equipment,” Verizon said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 14-177. Wheeler also met with Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, the carrier said. “Mr. McAdam emphasized the importance of the FCC acting quickly to make the spectrum bands above 24 GHz available for mobile broadband,” Verizon said. “Mr. McAdam reiterated that Verizon supports the FCC’s primary proposal to grant flexible use rights to existing licensees in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands and to auction the FCC-held licenses. Mr. McAdam asked for the FCC to move quickly to order and to make this spectrum available for 5G as soon as possible.”

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he’s “working hard” on Lifeline USF modernization with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and hopes to bring an order forward quickly, but he declined to discuss any details at his press conference after the commission meeting Thursday. Wheeler has said he and Clyburn agree Lifeline support rules should be overhauled to cover broadband and further combat abuse and fraud, goals that fellow Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel endorsed (see 1602050066). Clyburn has said the FCC plans to act on Lifeline this quarter and informed sources say the agency might vote on an item at its March 31 meeting. The FCC Thursday released a Lifeline recommendation unanimously approved Feb. 5 by its Consumer Advisory Committee. The panel recommended: Lifeline not be subjected to a “spending cap or restrictive budget” that curtails service to eligible low-income consumers; eligibility verification be handled by “third party administrator(s)”; the FCC “promote competition and ensure robust consumer choice,” including for persons with disabilities; and the commission “improve Lifeline enrollment and outreach through collaboration with community based organizations and anchor institutions and coordination with the federal anti-poverty programs including establishment of automated enrollment procedures, with priority attention paid to the programs conferring Lifeline eligibility.” Free Press and New America’s Open Technology Institute also urged FCC officials not to impose a spending cap or a budget and supported implementing minimum service standards, said a Free Press filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-42. Noting calls to expand the scope of Lifeline providers beyond eligible telecom carriers, the groups also suggested the FCC could make the ETC definition more inclusive rather than depart from the ETC process. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council backed eliminating or streamlining the ETC process for Lifeline to increase market competition in the program, said a filing by the group summarizing meetings at the agency. In a letter, the National Tribal Telecommunications Association urged the FCC to keep and increase the enhanced tribal Lifeline credit. The Federal Register published an FCC notice saying the Office of Management and Budget approved for three years the information-collection requirements in a June order making some Lifeline administrative changes (see 1506180029).

Groups representing smaller carriers and consumers voiced renewed concerns about the process for the FCC plan to shift local number portability administrator (LNPA) duties from Neustar to Ericsson's iconectiv. The groups said they represent parties and companies that aren't members of North American Portability Management, which is made up of larger carriers and has been charged by the FCC with overseeing the transition. "The input of these non-NAPM companies into the LNPA Transition process has been very limited to date," said the LNP Alliance, which was joined by FISPA (which represents over 150 small and midsize CLECs and broadband/Internet providers) and New America's Open Technology Institute in a letter that was also signed by a Public Knowledge official. The groups attached three pages of detailed questions, mostly about the activities and plans of the transition oversight manager, PwC. Both filings were posted Wednesday in docket 95-116.

The “universal set-top box” will open up “unfettered opportunity for hundreds of minority programming aspirants” as opposed to set-tops leased from multichannel video programming distributors, said BET founder and current RLJ Entertainment Chairman Robert Johnson in an emailed statement Wednesday. TV One CEO Alfred Liggins during a press call Tuesday singled out Johnson (see 1602160072) as a supporter of the FCC's upcoming NPRM on set-tops. Liggins' view of the NPRM is incorrect, Johnson said. “There is nothing in the FCC's proposed rulemaking that would allow technology companies to infringe on TV One’s advertising revenue and relationships.” The FCC “should not protect minority incumbents, but should encourage new minority entrants,” he said. "Most minority programmers I know, unlike TV One, are not asking the FCC to protect them from competition but are simply seeking an opportunity for a fair chance and a fair shot to have their content seen and their voices heard!”

Voting data from the FCC shows commissioners are splitting along party lines under Chairman Tom Wheeler more than at any commission under either Republican or Democratic chairmen back to Reed Hundt in 1994, the Technology Policy Institute said in a blog post. Under previous chairs, both Democratic and Republican, more than half of the votes on major orders were unanimous -- about 65 percent for Democrats and 58 percent for Republicans. Under Chairman Wheeler, that has dropped to 47 percent, TPI said Tuesday. “Perhaps more worrisome is the increase in votes that split along party lines,” TPI said. “Under Democrats, about eight percent of votes on major orders split along party lines. Under Republicans, only four percent split on party lines. Under Chairman Wheeler, 26 percent of votes on orders have passed with yes votes from the Democratic Chairman, Commissioner [Jessica] Rosenworcel, and Commissioner [Mignon] Clyburn, with Republican Commissioners [Mike] O’Rielly and [Ajit] Pai dissenting. The difference from the past is stark.” The post is by TPI Senior Fellow Scott Wallsten, economist to the team that wrote the FCC National Broadband Plan under then-Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat. “Since arriving at the Commission, Chairman Wheeler has tackled complex issues resulting in more competition, strong protections and improved access to networks for consumers," a commission spokeswoman responded Wednesday by email. "During the first two years of Chairman Wheeler's tenure, 88 percent of votes have been unanimous.” Our own research has found similar results to Wallsten's findings (see 1512150030 and 1412310037).

The 2nd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals rejected FilmOn's appeal of a contempt of court ruling and accompanying $90,000 fine against the streaming video company, said an opinion. The contempt finding stemmed from the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's ABC v. Aereo, when the court said the Aereo streaming service was illegally performing broadcaster content. After that decision, FilmOn -- already then under an injunction not to perform copyrighted material -- issued a news release announcing a VOD offering that used nearly identical technology to Aereo, and continued showing broadcast content. FilmOn's rationale was that the language used by the Supreme Court compared Aereo to a cable system, Tuesday's order said. FilmOn argued the law on the legality of its service was made murky by the high court decision, the opinion said. But FilmOn hadn't applied for the compulsory license that allows cable carriers to offer broadcast content, and language in an opinion isn't the same as a change in the law, the 2nd Circuit said. Considering FilmOn’s “history of misreading changes in federal copyright law and being held in contempt for violating multiple federal injunctions,” a prudent response by FilmOn to the Aereo decision “should have included proceeding with caution,” the 2nd Circuit said. FilmOn had argued the district court's fine was too high, that CEO Alkiviades David shouldn't have personally been found in contempt, and that it shouldn't have to pay attorney's fees for its broadcaster opponents, but the 2nd Circuit rejected all arguments. “FilmOn’s history of aggressively pushing the bounds of the Injunction and of repeatedly neglecting to petition the district court for clarifications further highlights the sanction’s coercive purpose and effect,” the 2nd Circuit said.

A draft FCC order to revamp rural carrier USF mechanisms is circulating, commission officials confirmed Wednesday, declining to offer details. The draft order had been expected as some stakeholders made progress toward an agreement with key commission officials (see 1602040055 and 1602080050). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly have been consulting with rural telco groups on making broadband-oriented changes to update legacy rate-of-return USF mechanisms and provide carriers with a new alternative based on a cost model.