Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

NARUC's Telecom Committee unanimously agreed the FCC should closely review Rural Digital Opportunity Fund long-form applications to ensure RDOF providers have what's needed to deliver on promises. The committee cleared that proposed resolution Wednesday at NARUC's virtual meeting. Earlier, an analyst raised concerns about young companies winning bids. Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson urged the new FCC to revisit broadband reclassification and net neutrality rules, revamp USF contribution and restore Lifeline voice support.

Radio broadcasters are at odds with one another and with NAB over whether the FCC should change FM booster rules to allow geotargeted radio broadcasts, in comments posted through Wednesday in docket 20-401. The NPRM “could open new doors for the marketing practices of small businesses,” said Emmis Communications. Dozens of smaller broadcasters submitted nearly identical comments supporting the proposal (see 2101270069), but NAB asked the FCC to hold off.

Top Senate Commerce Committee Democrats are beginning to prod President Joe Biden to move swiftly to name a permanent FCC chair and nominate a third Democratic commissioner, given the agency's 2-2 deadlock. Top committee Republicans told us they oppose Biden or Senate Democrats moving quickly given the likelihood it would lead to a return of net neutrality rules like the ones the commission adopted in 2015 (see 2101060055). The Senate is processing Biden’s nominees to cabinet posts, including attorney general nominee Merrick Garland and commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo.

Local and state officials oppose Comcast capping the amount of broadband data residential subscribers can use monthly without financial penalties. That's despite the cable operator pledging to delay implementation until summer. Comcast and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) said Wednesday the ISP will pause overage fees until August on the 1.2 TB limit in Eastern and Northeastern states (see 2102030017). Baltimore City Council Member Zeke Cohen (D) responded, “We will not be satisfied until the data caps are removed.”

The FCC “takes seriously its responsibility to maintain federal records,” then-Chairman Ajit Pai wrote the Senate Commerce Committee's lead Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington, in a letter released Monday. Cantwell wrote Pai in December reminding him that during the transition to President Joe Biden’s administration, the commission “is expected to comply with the record preservation obligations,” and all staff should “take appropriate measures to collect, retain, and preserve all documents, communications, and other records.” She sought information on all political appointees placed at the FCC since Oct. 1, 2019. The agency issues “directives to Commission staff” on records preservation, maintains “a specialized records management team” and requires “records management training for all FCC employees,” Pai said. “More recent efforts include the implementation of Capstone, an email management approach developed by the National Archives and Records Administration.” The FCC doesn't have consistent rules or standard practices on how ex-FCC commissioners maintain control of social media accounts they used while in office (see 2101220051). Pai included a list of political appointees with the letter to Cantwell, but the FCC and Cantwell’s office didn’t respond to requests for a copy.

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction winners must follow through on broadband promises, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. NARUC plans to vote at its Feb. 4-5 and 8-11 meeting on a draft resolution urging the FCC to scrutinize RDOF long-form applications (see 2101260033). Some commissioners raised doubts about fixed wireless and said they’re unfamiliar with entities that won federal dollars.

ITS America is pushing the FCC to drop plans to change how the 5.9 GHz band is allocated, as a working group released a plan Wednesday on how industry can use the 30 GHz still allocated to intelligent transportation systems, officials said during a webinar Wednesday. They cautioned that the 30 MHz will be usable only if it is protected from Wi-Fi in the other 45 MHz of the band and said some technologies are no longer viable.

Native American tribes are seeking more cooperation from the FCC and other federal agencies to expand broadband access. With the new Biden administration, tribal leaders and advocacy groups said in recent interviews that they're optimistic for better intergovernmental coordination.

Judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hammered the FCC Monday during oral argument on a case that RF safety advocates brought last summer (see 2007300056), seeking to force the agency to update 25-year-old exposure rules. In December 2019, commissioners approved 5-0 an order largely upholding the old rules, making few tweaks (see 1912040036). Judges questioned how the FCC could rely in large part on advice from the Food and Drug Administration.

Problematic FCC maps and a rush to meet a federal deadline to use coronavirus relief money factor into a dispute over Wyoming broadband support, said the different sides in interviews. Tongue River Communications said it could go out of business due to Wyoming subsidizing overbuilding by Visionary Communications. The state said it relied on the commission’s Form 477 data to find the area unserved and lacked time for challenges, with the Dec. 30 deadline in March's Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act. “There’s blame all around, but it can be correctly done,” said former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly.