The FCC doubled membership on the Intergovernmental Advisory Committee advising on telecom issues affecting local, state and tribal interests, in an order released Wednesday. The increased membership means a wider range of input and the size is more consistent with other advisory committees, Chairman Ajit Pai said. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn dissented, citing objections raised in November by the IAC chair. "Instead of delaying today’s decision until a conversation could be had with the IAC, the FCC Chairman chose to move forward anyway," she said. "It is deeply troubling that we would simply ignore an advisory committee’s recommendation without any discussion." Clyburn also protested cancellation of IAC's January meeting, but Pai said it was to give more time to select members. "This process will not be completed by January," he said. "But once the IAC is at full strength, we’ll quickly schedule its next meeting."

The FCC approved 5-0 Thursday a public notice on twilight towers, as expected (see 1712110043), examining ways such towers could be made available for collocation of wireless facilities without additional historic review. The PN is an early part of the FCC’s focus under Chairman Ajit Pai on speeding up the buildout of wireless facilities. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel concurred, citing concerns about the treatment of Indian tribes.

The draft twilight towers public notice circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai for Thursday’s commissioners’ meeting is expected to change slightly, with tweaks to reflect industry concerns, FCC and industry officials said. A 5-0 vote is still expected (see 1712010021), though possibly with concurring statements from at least one of the Democrats. The changes aren't expected to make the item better or worse from the standpoint of the few groups, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, that expressed concerns (see 1712080058), officials said. One of the changes is just the title. Officials Monday were waiting for a revised draft.

The FCC is right to attempt to bring twilight towers into compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act “so that they can be used in the future for collocation, and thus reduce the need to build new towers” but still should require reviews, the National Trust for Historic Preservation said in docket 17-79. A draft order is set for a vote at commissioners' Thursday meeting (see 1711220026). “The preferred approach would be a special, streamlined Section 106 review for the Twilight Towers themselves, with an emphasis on minimizing and mitigating any adverse effects, which would then leave the towers certified for eligibility,” the trust said. "There is nothing that currently prevents tower owners from seeking retroactive Section 106 review, and indeed, many towers have gone through such a process.” The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers also raised questions. Tribes often don’t know where the twilight towers are, said a filing. “Industry and the FCC continue to be unwilling to share the locations of the Twilight Towers with the preservation community and Tribal Nations cannot make informed decisions without that.”

Telecom policy aides for the House and Senate Commerce committees signaled optimism Friday that lawmakers can act in 2018 on legislation to encourage broadband deployment and free additional spectrum. But continued rancor means even enactment of a still-elusive compromise net neutrality bill won’t bring to an end that long-standing debate, the staffers said during a Practising Law Institute conference. Senate aides touted the August passage of several long-stalled telecom bills, including the Mobile Now Act (S-19) spectrum bill, as their top achievement of 2017. Their House colleagues noted progress on FCC reauthorization and strong oversight of telecom-related agencies (see 1708030060, 1710110070 and 1710250050). PLI also heard Friday about media policy (see 1712080062).

Telecom policy aides for the House and Senate Commerce committees signaled optimism Friday that lawmakers can act in 2018 on legislation to encourage broadband deployment and free additional spectrum. But continued rancor means even enactment of a still-elusive compromise net neutrality bill won’t bring to an end that long-standing debate, the staffers said during a Practising Law Institute conference. Senate aides touted the August passage of several long-stalled telecom bills, including the Mobile Now Act (S-19) spectrum bill, as their top achievement of 2017. Their House colleagues noted progress on FCC reauthorization and strong oversight of telecom-related agencies (see 1708030060, 1710110070 and 1710250050). PLI also heard Friday about media policy (see 1712080062).

The National Association of Counties, National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors jointly raised concerns Thursday about a draft bill being circulated by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, that aims to ease barriers to 5G and other broadband deployments. The groups urged Senate Commerce members to “work with local governments and our national organizations as you continue to shape this legislation.” The groups were known to have concerns with language in the draft, released in October, that would seek to pre-empt state, local and tribal laws seen as barriers to deployments (see 1710310057 and 1711240024). The groups noted several provisions in letters to Thune and other Senate Commerce members, including language that would pre-empt “the authority of local governments to regulate the use of, and effectively manage public rights-of-way.” The bill would “unfairly and unreasonably reduce the time provided to local governments to respond to requests to build or alter wireless service facilities within our jurisdictions, as well as reduce revenue that local governments may charge for access to our property,” the groups said. “We are concerned with the draft’s new 'shot clock' time limits local governments have to process broadband infrastructure siting applications for telecommunications service providers.” That language would limit the timeline to 90 days. “Dig once” language in the draft shows Thune and Schatz “are headed in the right direction,” the localities said. Senate Commerce "understands the concerns and continues work to improve the draft," a spokesman said.

The National Association of Counties, National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors jointly raised concerns Thursday about a draft bill being circulated by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, that aims to ease barriers to 5G and other broadband deployments. The groups urged Senate Commerce members to “work with local governments and our national organizations as you continue to shape this legislation.” The groups were known to have concerns with language in the draft, released in October, that would seek to pre-empt state, local and tribal laws seen as barriers to deployments (see 1710310057 and 1711240024). The groups noted several provisions in letters to Thune and other Senate Commerce members, including language that would pre-empt “the authority of local governments to regulate the use of, and effectively manage public rights-of-way.” The bill would “unfairly and unreasonably reduce the time provided to local governments to respond to requests to build or alter wireless service facilities within our jurisdictions, as well as reduce revenue that local governments may charge for access to our property,” the groups said. “We are concerned with the draft’s new 'shot clock' time limits local governments have to process broadband infrastructure siting applications for telecommunications service providers.” That language would limit the timeline to 90 days. “Dig once” language in the draft shows Thune and Schatz “are headed in the right direction,” the localities said. Senate Commerce "understands the concerns and continues work to improve the draft," a spokesman said.

The National Association of Counties, National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors jointly raised concerns Thursday about a draft bill being circulated by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, that aims to ease barriers to 5G and other broadband deployments. The groups urged Senate Commerce members to “work with local governments and our national organizations as you continue to shape this legislation.” The groups were known to have concerns with language in the draft, released in October, that would seek to pre-empt state, local and tribal laws seen as barriers to deployments (see 1710310057 and 1711240024). The groups noted several provisions in letters to Thune and other Senate Commerce members, including language that would pre-empt “the authority of local governments to regulate the use of, and effectively manage public rights-of-way.” The bill would “unfairly and unreasonably reduce the time provided to local governments to respond to requests to build or alter wireless service facilities within our jurisdictions, as well as reduce revenue that local governments may charge for access to our property,” the groups said. “We are concerned with the draft’s new 'shot clock' time limits local governments have to process broadband infrastructure siting applications for telecommunications service providers.” That language would limit the timeline to 90 days. “Dig once” language in the draft shows Thune and Schatz “are headed in the right direction,” the localities said. Senate Commerce "understands the concerns and continues work to improve the draft," a spokesman said.

An Alaska tribal group asked the FCC to "fully fund" the USF Rural Health Care Program for funding year 2016 in the draft order and NPRM targeted for a vote at the Dec. 14 commissioners' meeting (see 1711220026). The commission draft proposed to "carry forward for use in FY 2017 any available RHC Program funds from prior funding years and, on a one-time-basis, commit those funds" to RHC participants for FY 2017, said a Tanana Chiefs Conference filing in docket 17-310. While applauding that proposal, the TCC said the draft doesn't "address the existing RHC Program funding shortfall" for FY 2016, which "caused a great deal of hardship" for rural healthcare providers and the people who depend on them. The group said the FCC should ensure that those providers "get all the funds to which they were entitled before" the agency implemented "pro rata funding."