FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel will never forget day one of the partial shutdown of the government, she told a sold-out FCBA lunch audience Tuesday. “I pull into the building and there’s a giant sign that tells you that the agency is closed, and please go away. So it was quiet. And the quiet became eerie. And by the second week, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see tumbleweeds in the halls.” Her conversation with FCBA President Joe Di Scipio covered the gamut of communication policy, as Rosenworcel offered her opinions on everything from foreign ownership (it’s time for a fresh look), to the IP transition (she’s in favor of trials), to her favorite app (anything that keeps her children quiet on a plane).

Agencies across the federal government must embrace broadband adoption strategies, with congressional prompting if necessary, some broadband adoption advocates told a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. They highlighted where gaps still exist and discussed the role of public-private partnerships and ways companies have tried to close the digital divide.

Agencies across the federal government must embrace broadband adoption strategies, with congressional prompting if necessary, some broadband adoption advocates told a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. They highlighted where gaps still exist and discussed the role of public-private partnerships and ways companies have tried to close the digital divide.

Beleaguered Alaskan telco Adak Eagle Enterprises, whose requests for waiver of the FCC’s new Universal Service Fund rules have been roundly denied by the Wireline and Wireless bureaus (CD July 17 p14), pleaded with the commission to reconsider. In a filing Wednesday the company and subsidiary Windy City Cellular characterized themselves as “tiny companies that worked tirelessly against the odds” to offer phone service in the Alaskan wilderness “when no one else would” (http://bit.ly/1hcWStf). They urged the agency to stop its ceaseless requests for more supplemental information, which have ravaged the carriers: “The FCC is now on the verge of completely destroying the companies.” The Alaskan congressional delegation sent a letter to acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn last week warning of the harm that could befall the Adak community if the commission lets its decision stand.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and NPR will start a two-month pilot test in December to broadcast entire emergency alert system messages to the hearing impaired using a first-of-its-kind EAS radio receiver, said the radio programmer and advocates for the deaf in interviews. They said that under a $360,000 contract from FEMA parent, the Department of Homeland Security, NPR has enough money for 25 member stations in five Gulf Coast states to run simulations in December and January. The contract was disclosed in February (http://n.pr/HhTmj7). The system incorporates elements of FEMA’s newer Integrated Public Alert and Warning System that gathers EAS messages written in a newer Internet friendly Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) format and uses IPAWS to deliver the messages to stations through NPR’s satellite system of sending programming to noncommercial stations.

There’s no stopping the transition to IP-enabled services, and the FCC needs to step up its game, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs James Cicconi plans to tell the House Communications Subcommittee Wednesday. According to written testimony (http://1.usa.gov/16sWLlM), he will emphasize consumer demand for wireless and IP-enabled services, which he will tie to the virtues of the IP transition that AT&T has urged the FCC to focus on. Stakeholders will debate before the subcommittee what principles and timeline should accompany this transition.

State broadband conferences will focus on adoption trends rather than catering to service providers, said conference leaders in Michigan, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming on Tuesday. Three of the four conferences are sponsored in part by NTIA’s State Broadband Initiative that funds programs for mapping and adoption purposes. Community broadband, technology action plans, healthcare technology and data centers are to be discussed at the conferences.

State broadband conferences will focus on adoption trends rather than catering to service providers, said conference leaders in Michigan, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming on Tuesday. Three of the four conferences are sponsored in part by NTIA’s State Broadband Initiative that funds programs for mapping and adoption purposes. Community broadband, technology action plans, healthcare technology and data centers are to be discussed at the conferences.

With many filing deadlines already having passed since the partial federal shutdown began Oct. 1, and more looming as the closure enters its third week Tuesday, the FCC potentially faces a land rush of comments the day after the government reopens. Unlike many other government sites, the FCC’s website was shuttered the day the government closed, cutting off access to documents lawyers and others need to prepare filings at the commission, especially reply comments. Several industry officials told us Friday they expect the FCC to grant a blanket waiver for all filings that came due during the closure.

Security, already a priority in the private sector, should be a bigger one as more steps must be taken to protect devices from viruses and other malicious intrusions, said speakers Wednesday at a state telecom conference. They also discussed at the Telecommunications Summit at Murray State University in Kentucky how the IP transition affects next-generation 911 deployment