The FCC proposal that C-band earth station technology upgrade costs be reviewed and approved after MVPD earth station operators opt for lump sum reimbursement will deter the operators from going that route and "eviscerate the myriad policy benefits of the lump sum mechanism," ACA Connects representatives told Wireless Bureau staffers, per a docket 18-122 posting Monday. Such a review process is unnecessary because the necessity and degree of technology upgrades for MVPDs transitioning earth stations into the upper portion of the C-band is highly predictable, it said. The group urged integrated receiver/decoder replacement costs stay within the lump sum reimbursement.

Few MVPDs, particularly small ones, can shoulder the big risk that comes with the FCC saying some C-band earth station relocation costs will be reviewed after those stations' operators opt for the lump sum, ACA Connects told aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Brendan Carr as recapped in a docket 18-122 posting Thursday. It repeated its call (see 2006300085) to seek comment on a new proposed lump sum amount and to rework Wireless Bureau proposals.

The FCC is proposing lump sum payments to C-band MVPD earth station operators that could cover as little as 7% of the expected average relocation costs, and that "unjustifiably inadequate" amount undermines the whole point of the lump sums letting MVPDs do the transition on their own instead of involving C-band satellite operators, said ACA Connects. Its docket 18-122 posting Tuesday was on a conversation including ACA President Matt Polka, ACA Chairman and Boycom Vision President Patricia Jo Boyers and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. ACA said the FCC proposal that the lump sum amount would differ depending on the number and type of antennas and tech upgrades needed at each earth station, and that some relocation costs would be reviewed after the MVPD earth station operators opt for the lump sum, goes against FCC design of the lump sum option as it requires declaration of a single, per-earth station lump sum amount to be available upfront. The association said the Wireless Bureau should seek comment on a proposed new lump sum amount for MVPD earth stations that's more consistent with the C-band order, and the bureau should disclose its assumptions and methodologies underlying its revised lump sum proposal. That wouldn't delay the transition because MVPD earth stations are a minority of those that will need transitioning, it said.

The end of the FCC's Keep Americans Connected (KAC) pledge -- which was to have expired Tuesday -- won't necessarily mean a universal end of ISPs offering a safety net of modified broadband subscriber terms during the pandemic, companies and consumer advocates told us. They expect a patchwork response of a rollback of some terms and more emphasis on setting up payment plans. Resumption of data caps is expected, as reported in a previous installment in this series of stories about the novel coronavirus (see 2006180002).

The FCC is sending contradictory messages how it will calculate C-band earth station lump sums in the band's repurposing, saying the sums will be based on estimated average costs for relocation but also on the number or types of antennas or technology upgrades needed by each specific such station, said ACA Connects. The latter formula runs contrary to the C-band order, said a docket 18-122 posting Friday on a Wireless Bureau call. ACA said bureau assertions the payment clearinghouse will verify the need for a component part of an earth station operator’s lump sum election have no order basis. It said the FCC is proposing a lump sum amount available to MVPD earth station operators "significantly lower" than the group's estimates of $764,500 each. Cox told the bureau the order mandates lump sum amounts reflect average, estimated costs of relocating incumbent earth stations to the upper 200 MHz of the band. It said the modulation and encoding technology upgrades proposed in satellite operators’ plans are a direct result of the transition. Citing Intelsat's C-band order petition for reconsideration (see 2005270031), NAB said if the FCC decides satellite operators don't have responsibility for ensuring same-quality service to earth station users after the transition, it must clearly state flexible use operators must remediate any harmful interference. There can't be any ambiguity about that earth station operators and their viewers and listeners need protection through and after the move, the group said.

Some 800 ISPs suspended broadband data caps during the FCC's Keep Americans Connected pledge. In many cases, they'll be back after KAC expires at month's end, experts said in interviews. Data caps aren't directly part of the commitment. The agency did urge ISPs to "relax" them. Providers including AT&T and Comcast opted to provide unlimited data through the pledge. Asked what happens after June 30, they and numerous other major providers, plus the FCC, didn't comment Thursday.

C-band satellite operators' transition plans now are due June 19, after the FCC Wireless Bureau ordered a seven-day extension. Eutelsat (see 2006100005) and Claro (see here) sought extensions for their plans, and the bureau said Friday a delay for all satcom operators won't delay the transition process. It said it's not altering other transition plans deadlines. The bureau denied an NCTA and ACA Connects petition asking for an extended comment deadline on the C-band lump sum (see 2006100005).

MVPDs won't let C-band satellite operators do earth station work without site-specific plans that ensure no disruptions in service, so satellite operators' band transition plans have to meet ACA Connects criteria, the trade group told FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staffers, said a docket 18-122 posting Thursday. It's concerned satellite operators are collecting only antenna data and not headend information, which could force MVPDs to do the earth station work themselves with a lump sum amount that won't cover costs or having the work done by satellite operators "who do not appear prepared to take sufficient responsibility for all work necessary." It argued for its proposed lump sum amount of $764,500. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the commission should extend the comment deadline in the lump sum public notice, and release more information about the assumptions and methodology underlying its proposed lump sum payment amounts. NCTA and ACA also asked for an extended comment timeframe (see 2006100005).

Cable TV leased access rules should make clear average implicit fee calculations are done only on request and no more than once every 12 months, ACA Connects representatives told FCC Media Bureau staff, according to a docket 20-35 posting Thursday. The FCC is considering simplifying the formula, but a limit of doing that calculation every 12 months still seems appropriate, ACA said.

Maine and friends can’t save the state’s ISP privacy law, said industry plaintiffs ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom in a Wednesday reply (in Pacer). “Implicitly acknowledging its frailty, Defendant offers narrowing constructions to correct some of its flaws, simply ignores others, and attempts to backfill the absence of legislative findings with post-hoc rationalizations," the industry groups said in case 1:20-cv-00055. "None of this overcomes the Statute’s insurmountable constitutional and preemption problems.” Public Knowledge and other amici supported Maine's law (see 2006010038).