HC2 Holdings hires from Sinclair Rebecca Hanson as executive vice president-general counsel, HC2 Broadcasting ... Svetlana Gans, ex-FTC chief of staff under then-acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, joins NCTA as vice president-associate general counsel, working on consumer protection and competition policy issues, a new area of focus for a lawyer at the group ... Pillsbury hires from Drinker Biddle Lee Petro as special counsel, Communications Practice; he has broadcasting, wireless and telecom expertise and advises on areas including distributed ledger technologies, cybersecurity and privacy.
Leaders of the Senate Communications Subcommittee and the Congressional Spectrum Caucus filed their Supplementing the Pipeline for Efficient Control of the Resources for Users Making New Opportunities for Wireless (Spectrum Now) Act Wednesday. Senate Communications Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, led the Senate version. Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., led the House one. Spectrum Now would give federal agencies additional flexibility in use of money from the Spectrum Relocation Fund to subsidize spectrum research and development. Agencies would be allowed to get additional funding than they otherwise could. CTIA believes Spectrum Now “will unlock funds to free up additional spectrum for commercial wireless use that will help spur new innovation and services for consumers,” said Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Kelly Cole. The AWS-3 spectrum auction (see 1806060040) "proved that providing additional funds for spectrum research is money well spent, and reforms included in [Spectrum Now] have the potential to produce positive results,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steven Berry. The Wireless ISP Association also lauded the bill's filing.
FCC staff is working with Universal Service Administrative Co. to prepare a national verifier of Lifeline eligibility for launch, said Chairman Ajit Pai in an update to Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., posted Friday in commission docket 18-5. "USAC continues to focus on addressing [Federal Information Security Management Act] compliance to ensure the National Verifier will be a secure system," Pai wrote. "USAC has completed several steps in this process and is making significant strides toward completing all FISMA requirements." He said commission staff and USAC are working to finalize dates, and stakeholders will be given advance notice about the launch once the dates are finalized. Both "continue to work on the expansion of the National Verifier in additional states to minimize the impact of the initial delay and are close to finalizing data sharing agreements in two additional states," Pai wrote.
State regulators face competing Lifeline draft resolutions at NARUC's winter meeting on an FCC proposal to target low-income USF subsidies to facilities-based providers (see 1801300023 and 1801300023). A draft resolution to urge the FCC to continue allowing resellers to receive Lifeline funding appears to have more support than a draft that welcomed the proposed shift, some told us Friday, though compromise or postponement of consideration is always possible. Competing Lifeline draft resolutions were pulled from the last meeting (see 1711130035). At the winter meeting, which was to begin Sunday and run through Wednesday, NARUC is also to consider draft telecom resolutions on nationwide number portability and pole-attachment overlashing.
Wireless industry lawyers see no wiggle room on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's position that the agency won’t hold any spectrum auctions until Congress approves legislative language that would allow auction deposits to be sent directly to the Treasury Department (see 1710240065 and 1710250026). The stance raises questions about when the FCC will hold the first auction of high-frequency spectrum, which is a key building block of 5G. AT&T and other industry players want an auction of the 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands by December (see 1711150022).
Samsung Electronics America said Wednesday Verizon picked it to supply the carrier with commercial 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) network solutions. They plan to launch commercial 5G in Sacramento in the second half of this year, Samsung said. “The industry has been discussing 5G connectivity for years, and through our joint collaboration with partners like Samsung, we are beginning to make it a reality for our customers," said Ed Chan, Verizon chief technology architect. "Sacramento is an ideal place to begin deploying 5G broadband services, providing a progressive environment for creating future use cases.” The two did trials in seven cities. Lessons learned include that a single 5G radio can reach the 19th floor of a multi-dwelling unit, Samsung said. The tests proved line of sight, partial LOS and non-LOS connections work and environmental factors “including rain and snow” haven't interrupted services, Samsung said. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., lauded the announcement as a sign of “continued progress in our work to bring 5G broadband access to Sacramento. The digital economy requires that all consumers have access to next generation technology, which is why the integration of 5G commercial services at the local level is so important.”
Telecom policy aides for the House and Senate Commerce committees signaled optimism Friday that lawmakers can act in 2018 on legislation to encourage broadband deployment and free additional spectrum. But continued rancor means even enactment of a still-elusive compromise net neutrality bill won’t bring to an end that long-standing debate, the staffers said during a Practising Law Institute conference. Senate aides touted the August passage of several long-stalled telecom bills, including the Mobile Now Act (S-19) spectrum bill, as their top achievement of 2017. Their House colleagues noted progress on FCC reauthorization and strong oversight of telecom-related agencies (see 1708030060, 1710110070 and 1710250050). PLI also heard Friday about media policy (see 1712080062).
House Communications Subcommittee members universally lauded potential benefits of deploying 5G technology during a Thursday hearing, with members of both parties emphasizing the need for the U.S. to take a leading role in advancing the technology. But the hearing also featured debate on proposals on Capitol Hill, the FCC and elsewhere to pre-empt state, local and tribal antenna siting rules, as expected (see 1711150052). Senate Commerce Committee staffers are evaluating a draft bill from Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, that would ease siting requirements (see 1710310057).
FCC commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a Lifeline item to begin to revamp again the low-income subsidy program, going in a different direction than a 2016 overhaul. Chairman Ajit Pai and Republican colleagues said the combined orders and notices would crack down on program abuse and better target funding to those consumers and areas that really need it, while promoting facilities-based deployment. Dissenting Democrats said the actions and proposals would effectively gut the program and widen the digital divide. Congressional Democrats also hammered the moves.
The FCC deserves credit for making more high-frequency spectrum available for 5G, expected at the Thursday commissioners’ meeting, but now the agency has to schedule an auction, blogged Stacey Black, AT&T assistant vice president-federal policy. “Now that the Commission has the 5G ball rolling with spectrum allocations, we urgently need to get to the next step -- auctioning this newly allocated spectrum so that mobile broadband providers can deploy as quickly as possible,” Black wrote Wednesday. “As an industry, we believe the best timing for auctioning the 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands is by December 2018. By this time, chipsets and equipment will be commercially available, FCC service rules will have been finalized, and standards will have evolved to a point that permits commercial 5G network deployments in 2019.” At the meeting, regulators will take up an order reallocating the 24 and 47 GHz bands for 5G (see 1710270030). Wireless industry officials expect an auction by the end of next year of bands reallocated in 2016 (see 1711030045). Citing the blog, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly tweeted Wednesday that he concurs on "need & timeliness of 5G spectrum auctions," but the agency "has a statutory hiccup" and he's supporting "targeted bills" by Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. and by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. According to O'Rielly's office, those were references to Guthrie and Matsui's Spectrum Auctions Deposits Act and to similar legislation Thune introduced last Congress and is working on again, though it hasn't been reintroduced.