A federal court set a briefing schedule for tribal challenges to a March FCC wireless infrastructure order in United Keetoowah Band v. FCC, No. 18-1129, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 1808310038). Keetoowah and Natural Resources Defense Council briefs are due Oct. 12, while the Blackfeet Tribe’s is due Oct. 15, the D.C. Circuit said (in Pacer). The FCC must respond by Nov. 28 and respondent-intervenors must reply by Dec. 5. Petitioners must reply by Dec. 19 and Dec. 21, respectively. Final briefs are due Jan. 9.

The FCC invited input on Connect America Fund Phase II auction winner requests to become eligible for high-cost support to fixed broadband and voice services Comments are due Oct. 17, replies Oct. 24 on the eligible telecom carrier petitions of Commnet Wireless, Fond du Lac Communications, Hankins Information Technology, Northern Arapaho Tribal Industries, Red Spectrum Communications and Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium (for five parties), said a Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 09-197 in Thursday's Daily Digest.

Bipartisan interest in federal broadband funding mechanisms and criticism of FCC coverage data collection practices dominated Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on rural broadband, as expected (see 1810030055). The panel also became a forum for Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other committee members to tout broadband-related legislation eyed for potential combination into a package bill (see 1807250056).

Bipartisan interest in federal broadband funding mechanisms and criticism of FCC coverage data collection practices dominated Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on rural broadband, as expected (see 1810030055). The panel also became a forum for Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other committee members to tout broadband-related legislation eyed for potential combination into a package bill (see 1807250056).

Senate Indian Affairs Committee members focused on what they see as deficiencies in FCC practices for determining broadband coverage on tribal lands, during a Wednesday hearing. The hearing examined a September GAO report that said the FCC overstates broadband availability on tribal lands because it considers service available in a census block if a provider can serve at least one location (see 1809100041). A Thursday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on progress in rural broadband deployments is likely to also touch on tribal governments' concerns. But the panel will largely be an overview of the chamber's work in this Congress on encouraging broadband projects in rural areas and is likely to frame Senate Commerce's approach to that issue in 2019, lawmakers and lobbyists told us.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee members focused on what they see as deficiencies in FCC practices for determining broadband coverage on tribal lands, during a Wednesday hearing. The hearing examined a September GAO report that said the FCC overstates broadband availability on tribal lands because it considers service available in a census block if a provider can serve at least one location (see 1809100041). A Thursday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on progress in rural broadband deployments is likely to also touch on tribal governments' concerns. But the panel will largely be an overview of the chamber's work in this Congress on encouraging broadband projects in rural areas and is likely to frame Senate Commerce's approach to that issue in 2019, lawmakers and lobbyists told us.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) slammed the FCC’s 5G infrastructure order and said his office “will consider all of our legal and political options to ensure that the voices of local communities are heard, to achieve a more inclusive vision of our digital future.” Local governments expect to challenge the FCC order adopted Wednesday (see 1809260029). “The new FCC rules undermine the ability of local communities to negotiate fair, market-based broadband deployment agreements that benefit all of our residents,” he said Wednesday in a statement. Liccardo, who quit the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee in January (see 1801250049), is “not surprised by this result,” he said. “Rather than encouraging balanced, common-sense recommendations that advance equitable broadband infrastructure deployment, the FCC’s move will force taxpayers to subsidize industry access to publicly-owned infrastructure -- with no obligation to serve the 34 million Americans in low-income and rural communities who remain on the wrong side of the ‘digital divide.’ Thousands of students in cities like San Jose will continue to have to borrow their friends’ smartphones while huddling outside of a Starbucks in order to get access to a wi-fi network they need to do their homework, due to the unwillingness of the federal government and telecommunications industry to serve them.” Commissioner Brendan Carr's spokesman fired back: “There’s a reason why zero small cells were deployed in San Jose. It’s Mayor Liccardo. Under his leadership, as he puts it, San Joseans have been ‘huddling outside of a Starbucks in order to get access to a wi-fi network.’" Wednesday's vote "is a win for them and for Americans across the country who want better, faster, and cheaper broadband," he said. The FCC is doing its part to open a path for the U.S. to lead the world on 5G, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a Washington Post opinion piece. “The FCC has been aggressively making more radio waves available for Americans to use,” Pai said. “Last year, we concluded the world’s first incentive auction, in which spectrum once used by TV broadcasters was sold to wireless companies to expand bandwidth and coverage for consumers. We’ve scheduled the United States’ first two high-band 5G spectrum auctions, which will begin later this year, and we are on track to auction off three more bands next year.” Infrastructure is also critical, Pai said. “To deploy the hundreds of thousands of small cells and miles of fiber needed for 5G, we need to streamline regulations,” he said. “We will never realize the 5G future if we impose federal, state, local and tribal regulatory burdens designed for large towers on every single small cell.”

The House passed the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-302) Wednesday 398-23. The compromise bill, which the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees released over the weekend, recertifies the FAA for five years. It includes language clarifying how wireless towers should be marked to protect low-flying aircraft and several provisions aimed at unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. All covered towers would, within a year of enactment, be required to be “clearly marked consistent” with FAA 2015 guidance. The Wireless Infrastructure Association believes the language “will protect the safety of low-flying aviation without imposing burdensome regulations that would have impeded the deployment of next-generation 5G wireless services,” said Legislative Affairs Head Matt Mandel in a statement. HR-302 would direct the Department of Transportation to issue regulations banning “an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications” using a cellphone or other mobile device during flight. Flight crews, flight attendants and law enforcement officers would be exempted for duty-specific voice communications. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai earlier pulled the plug on a long-running proceeding on relaxing rules on cellphone calls on commercial flights (see 1704100066). HR-302's UAV language in part clarifies the FAA's role in regulating recreational drones and directs further study about how to delineate the extent to which the agency can pre-empt state, local and tribal governments' ability to regulate UAVs. The FAA would be required to work with DOT and NTIA on privacy-related UAV issues. HR-302 also addresses the potential use of UAVs to attack a “covered facility or asset.” CTA believes the UAV language “helps clear the way for the FAA to implement beyond-line-of-sight, flight-over-people and nighttime drone operations, which our nation needs to fully realize the benefits of drone technology,” said President Gary Shapiro in a statement. The UAV “also outlines ways consumers may fly their drones responsibly without being grounded by unreasonable rules. The drone portion of this bill provides a boost of clarity and confidence to this growing sector of the tech industry.”

The House passed the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-302) Wednesday 398-23. The compromise bill, which the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees released over the weekend, recertifies the FAA for five years. It includes language clarifying how wireless towers should be marked to protect low-flying aircraft and several provisions aimed at unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. All covered towers would, within a year of enactment, be required to be “clearly marked consistent” with FAA 2015 guidance. The Wireless Infrastructure Association believes the language “will protect the safety of low-flying aviation without imposing burdensome regulations that would have impeded the deployment of next-generation 5G wireless services,” said Legislative Affairs Head Matt Mandel in a statement. HR-302 would direct the Department of Transportation to issue regulations banning “an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications” using a cellphone or other mobile device during flight. Flight crews, flight attendants and law enforcement officers would be exempted for duty-specific voice communications. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai earlier pulled the plug on a long-running proceeding on relaxing rules on cellphone calls on commercial flights (see 1704100066). HR-302's UAV language in part clarifies the FAA's role in regulating recreational drones and directs further study about how to delineate the extent to which the agency can pre-empt state, local and tribal governments' ability to regulate UAVs. The FAA would be required to work with DOT and NTIA on privacy-related UAV issues. HR-302 also addresses the potential use of UAVs to attack a “covered facility or asset.” CTA believes the UAV language “helps clear the way for the FAA to implement beyond-line-of-sight, flight-over-people and nighttime drone operations, which our nation needs to fully realize the benefits of drone technology,” said President Gary Shapiro in a statement. The UAV “also outlines ways consumers may fly their drones responsibly without being grounded by unreasonable rules. The drone portion of this bill provides a boost of clarity and confidence to this growing sector of the tech industry.”

The House passed the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-302) Wednesday 398-23. The compromise bill, which the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees released over the weekend, recertifies the FAA for five years. It includes language clarifying how wireless towers should be marked to protect low-flying aircraft and several provisions aimed at unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. All covered towers would, within a year of enactment, be required to be “clearly marked consistent” with FAA 2015 guidance. The Wireless Infrastructure Association believes the language “will protect the safety of low-flying aviation without imposing burdensome regulations that would have impeded the deployment of next-generation 5G wireless services,” said Legislative Affairs Head Matt Mandel in a statement. HR-302 would direct the Department of Transportation to issue regulations banning “an individual on an aircraft from engaging in voice communications” using a cellphone or other mobile device during flight. Flight crews, flight attendants and law enforcement officers would be exempted for duty-specific voice communications. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai earlier pulled the plug on a long-running proceeding on relaxing rules on cellphone calls on commercial flights (see 1704100066). HR-302's UAV language in part clarifies the FAA's role in regulating recreational drones and directs further study about how to delineate the extent to which the agency can pre-empt state, local and tribal governments' ability to regulate UAVs. The FAA would be required to work with DOT and NTIA on privacy-related UAV issues. HR-302 also addresses the potential use of UAVs to attack a “covered facility or asset.” CTA believes the UAV language “helps clear the way for the FAA to implement beyond-line-of-sight, flight-over-people and nighttime drone operations, which our nation needs to fully realize the benefits of drone technology,” said President Gary Shapiro in a statement. The UAV “also outlines ways consumers may fly their drones responsibly without being grounded by unreasonable rules. The drone portion of this bill provides a boost of clarity and confidence to this growing sector of the tech industry.”