Education advocates and industry groups disagreed whether the FCC should allow retroactive reimbursements and set technology standards for schools and libraries in the $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (see 2104140041). Replies were due Friday in docket 21-93. Schools that "made the decision earlier on to invest in connectivity for remote learning" should be reimbursed for purchases since the pandemic's onset, said Incompas. AT&T said retroactive payments would put schools that couldn't afford that at the "back of the line," a view echoed by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Prioritizing retroactive reimbursements would help "most likely more well-off schools and libraries," said ACA Connects (see 2104120052): It "should only be allowed for eligible purchases that have not been funded by any other source." USTelecom and NTCA agreed. Reject calls to allow ECF funding for self-provisioning, said Verizon: "Because self-provisioning requires large upfront expenditures, the schools receiving" that support "would consume a disproportionate share of the ECF and leave too little support for other schools." WTA agreed: This would lead to "substantial delays in the availability of eligible services that are needed immediately." Self-provisioned networks are the "most cost-effective" for students without residential broadband, said groups including New America’s Open Technology Institute, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Center for Rural Strategies and Public Knowledge. Avoid minimum service standards because "there is no consensus on the appropriate capacity needed for remote learning," said the Wireless ISP Association: "To narrow the fund’s scope to include only those services offering certain broadband speeds could have the unintended consequence of penalizing students who live in areas" with slower speeds. NCTA and GCI Communication agreed. CTIA said questions about "adequacy of mobile broadband for remote learning are unsupported by the record and flatly contrary to the experience of millions of students during the pandemic." The Competitive Carriers Association, T-Mobile and UScellular said similar. Defining "connected device" should be done in a "flexible, technologically neutral way," said Apple.

ACA Connects asked FCC Wireline Bureau staff to limit Emergency Connectivity Fund support to schools and libraries not already receiving funding from other federal or state programs, including the emergency broadband benefit program, said an ex parte letter posted Monday in docket 21-93 (see 2104060042). Schools and libraries should be required to certify they aren't "seeking ECF support for students and patrons receiving connectivity and devices through other government programs that could be used for remote learning," the group said, because funding is limited and other programs exist.

NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith will step down at the end of 2021 and be replaced by current NAB Chief Operating Officer Curtis LeGeyt, the group announced Wednesday. Broadcasters and broadcast attorneys told us LeGeyt is seen as having extensive contacts among Capitol Hill Democrats.

The FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund was enthusiastically praised by education advocates, schools and broadband providers in comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-93. The ECF program will give schools and libraries $7.17 billion to support remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2103110037). Many suggested that the existing E-rate program is the best model for setting up the new funding as quickly as possible. Others questioned excluding smartphones from funding support.

National Cable Television Cooperative President-CEO Rich Fickle plans to leave by Dec. 31, says his counterpart at ACA Connects, Matt Polka, noting "our two organizations have never been closer"; NCTC notes to us that Fickle told the group's members of his plans ... Progressive Policy Institute hires Tommy Kaelin from Immersion Legal Graphics as digital director ... Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) reappoint John Tuma as Minnesota public utilities commissioner for term ending Jan. 4, 2027; this appointment needs Senate confirmation.

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal, which includes $100 billion for broadband (see 2103310064), got attention during a Thursday meeting between administration officials and six community broadband groups, participants told us. ACA Connects, the Competitive Carriers Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, NTCA, Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless ISP Association participated in the meeting, a WISPA spokesperson confirmed. The groups didn’t object to the general plan the White House released Wednesday, but they want to hear more details, the spokesperson said. The meeting was cordial and had been set before the proposal’s release as a “get to know you” introduction of the industry groups. It appears the Biden administration is “still working out the details” and is in a fact-finding mode aimed at making the plan better, said a lobbyist. The White House appeared interested in how to improve the federal government’s collection of broadband coverage data and “boost competition and affordability,” the lobbyist said. Administration officials didn’t appear to have specific proposals on minimum broadband speed requirements. CCA “was pleased to participate in the discussion,” a spokesperson said. The White House and other participating groups didn’t comment. Biden said Thursday he’s designating five Cabinet-level officials to “take special responsibility” to sell his infrastructure plan to the public, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The Fiber Broadband Association praised the proposal Thursday, while the Wireless Infrastructure Association praised its proposed funding for registered apprenticeships. ACA, CTA and TechNet gave mixed assessments based on what they know so far.

A unanimous Supreme Court Thursday upheld on process grounds the previous FCC’s relaxation of several broadcast ownership rules (see 2101190070). This makes it unlikely that future challenges to quadrennial reviews will end up before the same panel of 3rd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals judges that has consistently ruled against QR orders for nearly two decades, experts noted in interviews. “The FCC’s decision to repeal or modify the three ownership rules was not arbitrary and capricious for purposes” of the Administrative Procedure Act, said the majority opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “We reverse the judgment of the" 3rd Circuit.

House Commerce Committee leaders urged nine ISPs and as many associations Wednesday to “raise awareness” of the FCC’s $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program. The FCC said Wednesday more than 200 providers say they want to participate. “It is critical that eligible customers know about the benefit, which providers are participating in the program, and how they can access the benefit,” said House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. Also signing: House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; and Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. The letters went to: ACA Connects, Altice, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, the Competitive Carriers Association, Cox, CTIA, Frontier, Incompas, Lumen, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, NCTA, NTCA, T-Mobile, USTelecom, Verizon and the Wireless ISP Association. For EBB “to help the greatest number of people, it will require the cooperation and support" of ISPs. While “the FCC is working to establish the start date of the program, your company can play an important role in its success by proactively raising awareness of the program to your customers and the public, including households likely to be eligible,” they said. The agency is reviewing applications and “will eventually share the names of accepted providers,” emailed a spokesperson.

After overwhelmingly going virtual in 2020, major communications groups are announcing plans to hold in-person conferences this year, a Communications Daily survey found. This is despite the remaining pandemic threat and as vaccinations must keep up with evolving variants. Public health experts said in interviews that in-person meetings may be safe this summer, and much depends on vaccine rollout and the virus trajectory.

Amazon’s getting NFL long-term media rights distribution agreements is a “big win” for the tech giant, LightShed Partners wrote investors Friday. The long-term media distribution rights agreements with Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox and NBC cover 2023 through 2033, said the NFL Thursday. Amazon will be the “exclusive home of Thursday Night Football across hundreds of compatible digital devices,” said the league. LightShed called it “the day the multichannel TV bundle died.” The trajectory is clear, the analysts said, “and the proverbial ‘floor’ on multichannel video subscribers is far lower" than the 40 million-50 million LightShed had predicted due to the NFL. That’s now closer to 20 million, “as more and more marquee sports content (especially NFL content) becomes available outside the legacy multichannel bundle,” analysts said. With games on Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+, Paramount+, Peacock and Fox digital platforms -- in addition to NFL Mobile and digital platforms -- NFL games “are now available in more places and on more devices than ever before,” said the league. It said it continues to be “the only sports league that delivers all of its games" on free, over-the-air TV, while noting increased flexibility to watch Sunday and Monday night games. The pact sets the stage for Fox, the only major network without a subscription VOD service, to launch a subscription tier on Tubi that includes NFL programming, LightShed said. Citing the acceleration of cord cutting and legacy media’s “urgency to build their own streaming services and connected TV advertising presence,” LightShed expects all media companies to employ their simulcast streaming rights “sooner than later.” MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson agrees the distribution deals could accelerate cord cutting, he wrote investors Friday. He said the NFL is likely receiving about $10 billion a year, a sharp step up from the $5.6 billion now for the U.S. rights, with those higher NFL costs will likely mean higher affiliate fees being charged to distributors and local affiliates, leading to higher consumer prices. ACA Connects deems the distribution agreements bad news for cable subscribers, it said Friday. Broadcast networks and TV station owners will use NFL games and the threat of blackouts as leverage to drive up retransmission consent fees, it said, It applauded the reintroduction of the Modern Television Act by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. (see 2103110064). The bill would repeal parts of the 1992 Cable Act, including retransmission rules.