The FTC has the authority to regulate junk fees and should act to protect consumers, said two sets of joint comments submitted to the agency’s junk fee proceeding by Free Press, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Office and several consumer groups. “Instead of incentivizing honest and transparent pricing, businesses are incentivized to bait consumers with low prices and hide fees until later,” said the joint submission from the Consumer Federation of America, Free Press, Consumer Reports and others. A proceeding against junk fees is consistent with past FTC practice and is needed because the FTC’s authority to pursue redress for deceptive business practices without a specific rulemaking was restricted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s AMG Capital Management v. FTC ruling, the groups said. The “prevalence of forced arbitration and class action bans” is also a reason for the FTC to step in, the filing said. “Individual arbitrations will not have the impact that is necessary to deter misconduct and change practices,” the groups said. The FTC should institute an “all-in pricing rule” that would require the clear disclosure of all fees in advertising and before the time of purchase. A joint filing from the National Consumer Law Center, Prison Policy Initiative, UCC, SPLC and a host of justice advocacy groups concentrated on junk fees in prisons. “Justice-involved consumers are all too frequently forced to pay junk fees imposed by private companies operating in the market for correctional services,” said the NCLC joint filing, citing fees for money transfers, “free” tablets, and email inside prisons. Prison email “appears to suffer from many of the same perverse pricing dynamics that spurred the FCC to regulate phone rates and fees in corrections facilities,” said the filing. Those include “prices that bear little relation to cost” and “consumer choice vested in corrections officials who are not obliged to protect the rights of end-users.”
SpaceX seeks FCC approval to incorporate the PCS G block, 2 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz bands into its second-generation constellation for use to provide direct-to-cellular connectivity. In two International Bureau applications Tuesday, SpaceX requested approval to deploy a direct-to-cellular mobile satellite service (MSS) payload that would use the 1910-1915 MHz and 1990-1995 MHz bands to operate with terrestrial mobile devices operating under LTE standards. It also asked for approval to provide direct-to-handset service using the 1610-1617.775 MHz, 2483.5-2500 MHz, 2000-2020 MHz, 2180-2200 MHz bands, and the 2020-2025 MHz band. The direct-to-cellular payloads would be incorporated into its second-gen satellites, SpaceX said. It said it and T-Mobile "have carefully coordinated" to ensure coexistence between T-Mobile's terrestrial operations in the same PCS G block spectrum and SpaceX's direct-to-handset service, and the two have a spectrum manager lease allowing SpaceX use of the frequencies licensed to T-Mobile. SpaceX said its operations will meet the technical limits for broadband PCS service "and thus will be indistinguishable from terrestrial PCS G Block operations from an interference perspective." It said its 2 GHz MSS system "will bring ubiquitous connectivity" to mobile users without interfering with other licensed operators. Earlier this week, SpaceX withdrew its previous application for MSS in the PCS G block and 2 GHz band (see 2302070069). SpaceX and T-Mobile announced in August they would partner on satellite-enabled mobile service (see 2208260038).
The FCC is revising Freedom of Information Act fees to reflect changes to federal employee pay enacted by Congress and the White House, said a public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest. “The Commission bases its FOIA Fee Schedule on the grade level of the employee who processes the request,” the PN said. “The Commission’s rules provide that the Fee Schedule will be modified periodically to correspond with modifications in the rate of pay approved by Congress.” The FOIA fee changes are effective as of the PN’s release, it said.
National Economic Council Director Brian Deese plans to leave that post in mid-February, the White House said Thursday. Deese’s “work was critical to the passage of the most significant economic agenda in generations,” including “the most significant investment in our nation’s infrastructure in generations” via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $65 billion in connectivity money, and the Chips and Science Act (see 2207250061), “which ensures we make more high-end technology here at home so we can outcompete the world,” said President Joe Biden. Deese’s departure announcement came less than a day after former Obama administration NEC Director Jeff Zients took over as White House Chief of Staff. Zients, as NEC director, was involved in guiding then-President Barack Obama’s push for the FCC under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler to adopt net neutrality rules with a legal basis in Communications Act Title II (see 1502200049).
State commissioners may consider draft telecom resolutions on the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and the agency’s spectrum auction authority at NARUC’s Feb. 12-15 meeting. NARUC distributed drafts Tuesday. The RDOF resolution by Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Chairman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille would address situations where the FCC rejected a bidder’s long-form application, as the agency did with SpaceX and LTD Broadband. The resolution would urge the FCC to make sure any proceeds won by the disqualified bidder for a specific area should remain in that jurisdiction. The draft notes “the underlying need for support … in those jurisdictions identified as eligible for the Auction 904 support will remain notwithstanding any final order of the FCC and the courts rejecting any bidder application.” The FCC should refer the matter to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service to recommend procedures and requirements that would apply to RDOF support retained in those places, the draft said. Also, NARUC may consider a draft resolution by Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Tim Schram (R) that would urge Congress to extend the FCC’s auction authority beyond March. Divert some proceeds to state grants for next-generation 911 and the FCC’s “rip and replace” program that requires carriers receiving federal subsidies to remove equipment from Chinese vendors that may pose a security risk. Current 911 funding isn’t enough for NG-911 and some need more funding to start rip-and-replace projects, the draft notes.
A long-frozen lawsuit against the FCC by the League of California Cities could thaw this spring. The FCC doesn’t intend to seek further abeyance of the league’s lawsuit against the commission’s June 2020 wireless infrastructure declaratory ruling, the parties said in a Friday joint motion. A stay on the case that began March 19, 2021, and was extended multiple times expired Monday (see 2212160026). The FCC sought the extensions before because it lacked a fifth commissioner, which remains the case. The parties suggested a new schedule in which the FCC’s brief would be due March 1. Intervenors supporting the agency would file by March 8, cities’ reply briefs would be due March 31 and petitioner-side intervenors would file by April 7.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., asked NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson Friday to “pause the disbursement” of money for its tribal broadband connectivity program (TBCP) until NTIA uses updated FCC broadband maps to “verify that all funds for applications submitted … will not be used to overbuild existing broadband service.” Thune also asked for a pause until NTIA addresses GAO’s call last week for the agency to institute better performance goals and measures for TBCP (see 2301240047) that can better “detect fraud” in the program. Thune and former Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., first raised concerns about TBCP in December (see 2212080051), soon after Thune began a bid for stronger oversight of all federal broadband programs. Davidson indicated in his response earlier this month to that initial query that NTIA was still reviewing the broadband maps the FCC released in November (see 2211100072), but “I am concerned that if NTIA does not use” the updated data “to review all TBCP application currently pending, awarded and disbursed,” the agency “will once again waste billions of taxpayer dollars” by funding overbuilding of existing networks, Thune said in a letter to Davidson we obtained. The GAO’s report, meanwhile, said NTIA hasn't done a fraud risk assessment of the program and the agency hasn’t “designated an entity to oversee fraud risk management.” “This mismanagement of the TBCP by NTIA is deeply concerning” since the agency already disbursed more than $1.7 billion in funding through the program, Thune said. NTIA didn’t comment.
The State Department announced Thursday said Anna Gomez has been named to lead U.S. preparations for the World Radiocommunication Conference, which starts Nov. 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates. Gomez will also serve as a senior adviser for international information and communications policy at State. Gomez was at one point widely rumored as a candidate for FCC commissioner. She was a lawyer at Wiley and previously served as deputy administrator of the NTIA and deputy chief of the FCC International Bureau. “WRC-23 will be tackling a range of issues aimed at facilitating new and emerging terrestrial and space-based technologies that can connect people everywhere, including spectrum for next generation mobile broadband systems, satellites, maritime and aeronautical services, and scientific applications,” said a news release: “WRC-23 is a significant opportunity to advance the United States’ interests related to telecommunications, innovation, economic growth, and national security.” Gomez’s “extensive experience and her proven track record in government oversight of spectrum management makes her uniquely qualified to serve as the U.S. Representative to WRC-23,” said CTIA President Meredith Baker. “During her tenure at NTIA she has advocated for expanding broadband access for all Americans, and at the FCC she worked extensively on critical international issues,” Baker said: “She has been a champion for consistency across agencies and has the leadership skills we need to ensure America continues to lead in wireless.”
The FCC will do more to help survivors of domestic violence get access to communications services during the agency's Feb. 16 meeting (see 2301250061). Commissioners will consider a draft NPRM on implementing the Safe Connections Act. The draft item would seek comment on the law's requirement that mobile providers separate a survivor's phone line from an abuser within two business days after receiving the request, said a fact sheet. The item would seek comment on whether there are "operational and technical limitations" that covered providers may face to complete such a request. It also proposes to require that consumer-facing call logs and text message records omit calls or texts made to hotlines listed in a central database created by the commission and updated monthly. If adopted, the item will seek comment on ways to streamline enrollment in Lifeline and the affordable connectivity program for survivors facing financial hardship. "We believe that these measures will aid survivors who lack meaningful support and communications options when establishing independence from an abuser," the draft item said. Comments would be due 30 days after Federal Register publication, 60 days for replies. The agency will also seek comment on ways to encourage tribal participation in E-rate, said a draft NPRM also set for the February agenda. The draft item asks for feedback on creating a separate or extended filing window for tribal libraries, simplifying E-rate cost allocation rules, and increasing the maximum discount rate level and funding floor for tribal schools and libraries. It also seeks comment on allowing tribal college libraries to be eligible for E-rate funds, defining “Tribal” in E-rate and adding a tribal representative to the Universal Service Administrative Corp. The draft also asks whether “similar reforms may be needed to encourage greater participation by non-Tribal applicants, particularly if they face barriers that impede equitable access” to E-rate. The draft NPRM would also direct the Office of Native Affairs and Policy and the Wireline Bureau to “conduct government-to-government consultation as appropriate with Tribal Nations” on the issues raised in the NPRM. Comments would be due 45 days after FR publication, replies 75 days after.
The FCC’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee will meet in person April 11 at FCC headquarters starting at 11 a.m. EDT, the FCC said Wednesday. The group has been meeting virtually since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next WRC starts Nov. 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates.