Commissioner Brendan Carr said FCC members will vote at their March 22 meeting on changes to rules on historic and environmental reviews of small cells and larger macro towers. More details will be available Thursday when Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to release items for the meeting. Carr and industry officials discussed 5G at a CTA event Wednesday. Many industry groups applauded the proposed changes.

Verizon, AT&T and the Competitive Carriers Association were among commenters urging the FCC to finalize a draft program comment approved 5-0 by commissioners in December (see 1712140049). A group representing tribes said the FCC must act with care. The towers were constructed between March 16, 2001, and March 7, 2005, and either didn’t get historic review or weren't documented to have the review. “Verizon fully supports the Commission’s proposal to make ‘twilight towers’ available for collocation without the need for historic preservation review,” the carrier said in reply comments in docket 17-79. “Doing so will speed deployment and reduce the need for unnecessary new towers.” AT&T said the record "demonstrates that the Program Comment, as drafted, advances the public interest through an appropriate balance of promoting broadband deployment and protecting historic and tribal properties." CCA complained about the high costs of reviews. “One CCA member operating in portions of Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska paid over $107,000 to 36 Tribes for the deployment of just seven towers, in a seven-month period,” CCA said. “This is an average of over $15,000 per tower, solely for Tribal review fees. This is not a sustainable arrangement, especially considering future networks will require denser deployment scenarios.” The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers objected, saying initial comments “have not shown that the Draft Program Comment is even needed, much less that it would satisfy the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act.” The FCC should curtail action until the tribes are told the locations of all twilight towers “so they can make an informed decision on the process to follow, and a proper government-to-government consultation has been completed,” the group said.

The House passed by voice vote the Ashlynne Mike Amber Alert in Indian Country Act (S-772) Monday. The bill, which passed the Senate in November, would reauthorize the Amber Alert program and make tribal governments eligible for Amber Alert grants. S-772 would permit the use of grant funding to integrate state or regional Amber Alert plans with a tribal government and would allow waivers of the matching funds requirement for grants to tribal governments.

AT&T said the FCC should update its National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act rules for reviews of small-cell installations to “pave the way” for 5G. The rules for NEPA and NHPA reviews are based on “large macrocell towers” and modernizing those rules would “reduce the time it takes to deploy small cell facilities, reduce the cost of deploying small cell facilities, and facilitate an increase in small cell investment,” AT&T said in a filing in docket 17-79. “With each antenna comprising only about 3 cubic feet in volume, small cells indeed are unobtrusive and in harmony with the poles, street furniture, and other structures on which they are typically deployed.” AT&T complained about the high cost of tribal reviews: "Standard fees charged by Tribal Nations have increased by 1400 percent in the Northeast and by 2500 percent in the Southeast in just the last 7 years. Many projects that implicate no tribal interests, such as collocations on existing structures, nevertheless generate significant tribal fees."

The FCC needs to preserve the Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS) for Indian tribes to register geographic areas of historic value, as the agency promotes 5G, said officials with the Kaw Nation of Oklahoma in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau staff. “The Kaw representatives provided multiple positive examples of the TCNS program’s value to tribal nations and to the protection of priceless cultural and historic resources,” said a filing in docket 17-79. The Kaw Nation’s TCNS administrator “has been able to identify and flag a construction project that would adversely affect the Nation’s sacred ceremonial grounds. Working together with the tower construction company, the Kaw are providing alternative locations in the vicinity for the build-out.” CTIA reported on a call with Will Adams, aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, also in docket 17-79. “CTIA encouraged the Commission to find ways to more effectively target the environmental and historic preservation review of infrastructure and to streamline and provide clarity regarding the historic preservation review process consistent with past comments,” CTIA said.

Sprint laid out for the FCC data on what it sees as the high cost of tribal historic reviews of new wireless facilities as the wide rollout of small cells begins. The analysis excludes collocations. Sprint’s average cost per tribal site review was $8,251 over the past two years, said a filing in docket 17-79. The carrier’s total cost for tribal review for all small cells “exceeded $23 million” over the two-year period “and continues to increase every day,” it said. “The actual costs vary widely across the country depending upon location,” the company said. “Hawaii and the West Coast are the cheapest, in the range of $500 to $2,000, while the Midwest is the most expensive. Review in Indianapolis exceeds $15,000 per site. The disparity in costs is more due to the number of tribes requesting review rather than the fee per tribe for each review.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai touted a draft order to give rural telcos more than $500 million in new USF support, "including those participating in the Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) plan" (see 1801170048). He responded similarly this month to over 20 lawmakers who urged him to consider additional A-CAM funding, in numerous exchanges posted in docket 18-5. The draft, which includes an NPRM, "seeks public input on both further increasing support to current A-CAM recipients and on giving legacy rate-of-return carriers a new chance to elect model-based support," Pai wrote. The draft would provide about $180 million in high-cost funding to rate-of-return carriers by June 30, and up to $360 million over the next decade to A-CAM recipients (see 1801160040). Pai also cited the rural USF proposal in responding (here) to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and (here) to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md. They had voiced concern about a Telecom Act Section 706 FCC inquiry; Pai noted the agency kept a 25/3 fixed broadband benchmark and found mobile wasn't a full substitute for fixed service. Pai cited his efforts to "shut the door on waste, fraud, and abuse" in USF programs, in an exchange with Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., ranking Commerce Committee member who expressed concern about high-cost abuses. Pai also cited the backing of some Native American groups for his efforts to target higher per-subscriber tribal Lifeline support to "incentivize providers to deploy networks on rural Tribal lands and direct support to areas where it is needed most," in an exchange with Rep. Tom O'Halleran, D-Ariz., who objected to a November order "taken without any consultation with the affected tribes." Responding to other USF queries, Pai added handwritten notes to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, saying, "I love your Twitter feed! Even with the stiff competition from Senator [Orrin] Hatch [R-Utah], you're holding your own," and sending Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., his "condolences in advance on the [Kentucky] Wildcats impending loss to the Kansas Jayhawks during March Madness!"

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai touted a draft order to give rural telcos more than $500 million in new USF support, "including those participating in the Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) plan" (see 1801170048). He responded similarly this month to over 20 lawmakers who urged him to consider additional A-CAM funding, in numerous exchanges posted in docket 18-5. The draft, which includes an NPRM, "seeks public input on both further increasing support to current A-CAM recipients and on giving legacy rate-of-return carriers a new chance to elect model-based support," Pai wrote. The draft would provide about $180 million in high-cost funding to rate-of-return carriers by June 30, and up to $360 million over the next decade to A-CAM recipients (see 1801160040). Pai also cited the rural USF proposal in responding (here) to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and (here) to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md. They had voiced concern about a Telecom Act Section 706 FCC inquiry; Pai noted the agency kept a 25/3 fixed broadband benchmark and found mobile wasn't a full substitute for fixed service. Pai cited his efforts to "shut the door on waste, fraud, and abuse" in USF programs, in an exchange with Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., ranking Commerce Committee member who expressed concern about high-cost abuses. Pai also cited the backing of some Native American groups for his efforts to target higher per-subscriber tribal Lifeline support to "incentivize providers to deploy networks on rural Tribal lands and direct support to areas where it is needed most," in an exchange with Rep. Tom O'Halleran, D-Ariz., who objected to a November order "taken without any consultation with the affected tribes." Responding to other USF queries, Pai added handwritten notes to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, saying, "I love your Twitter feed! Even with the stiff competition from Senator [Orrin] Hatch [R-Utah], you're holding your own," and sending Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., his "condolences in advance on the [Kentucky] Wildcats impending loss to the Kansas Jayhawks during March Madness!"

Parties opposed an FCC plan to retarget Lifeline USF to facilities-based providers and impose certain other funding restrictions, in comments being posted this week in docket 17-287 on an NPRM and notice of inquiry (see 1711160021). "This package of proposals runs the risk of harming over eight million Lifeline households and millions more eligible veterans, older Americans, and households with school-aged children,” said Olivia Wein, National Consumer Law Center attorney, in a release Wednesday highlighting NCLC comments filed with many other groups. The FCC plan "to restrict and reduce Lifeline services will cut off whole communities from these necessary connections," commented the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, urging rejection of "proposals to radically disrupt the Lifeline program."

Parties opposed an FCC plan to retarget Lifeline USF to facilities-based providers and impose certain other funding restrictions, in comments being posted this week in docket 17-287 on an NPRM and notice of inquiry (see 1711160021). "This package of proposals runs the risk of harming over eight million Lifeline households and millions more eligible veterans, older Americans, and households with school-aged children,” said Olivia Wein, National Consumer Law Center attorney, in a release Wednesday highlighting NCLC comments filed with many other groups. The FCC plan "to restrict and reduce Lifeline services will cut off whole communities from these necessary connections," commented the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, urging rejection of "proposals to radically disrupt the Lifeline program."