Senate Communications Subcommittee members were hopeful FirstNet and AT&T can sustain recent momentum in building the nationwide public safety broadband network, as they probed the public-private partnership's ability to effectively reach rural areas, ensure network resiliency and provide oversight of the project. The rollout ramped up in the months since the Department of Commerce chose AT&T as the lead partner (see 1703300007 and 1706280029). Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia and Wyoming so far opted in (see 1707100062, 1707110059, 1707130067 and 1707180029). The network Friday will unveil an environmental impact statement for the West (see 1707200037).

Work of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee remains a top focus of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, senior Pai adviser Nick Degani told the group Thursday as it held its second public meeting. BDAC's work “is central to the mission of the commission” and is being closely watched on the eighth floor of the FCC, Degani said. But BDAC members complained repeatedly that the group has been given an unrealistically quick timeline.

Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein and others from the group met with new FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale on what WIA sees as the big issues before the agency. “To provide the connectivity necessary to meet exponentially increasing data demands, WIA discussed expediting the deployment of small-cell infrastructure within the public right-of-way so long as the equipment met defined height and volume limitations to maintain a responsible and transparent foundation in infrastructure deployment,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-421. “WIA encouraged the FCC to move swiftly on clearing Twilight Towers to further competitive broadband offerings and offer more opportunities for FirstNet collocations. Further, WIA sought adoption of finite timelines to reduce delays along with relief and standardization of Tribal fees, and modernization of the Tower Construction Notification System.”

Petitions to deny Liberty Interactive's buy of General Communications Inc. and calls for conditions (see 1706200044) are "tired complaints" about GCI's ongoing terrestrial middle-mile investments masquerading as transaction-specific harms, Liberty and GCI said in a joint opposition to petitions to deny and conditions posted Thursday in docket 17-114. Wednesday was the deadline for replies. Liberty and GCI said even if the complaints were true -- "which they are not" -- they existed before the transaction and the merger wouldn't alter market concentration or other market conditions, and the merger review isn't the right venue for addressing them. Liberty said Quintillion and Alaska Communications System complaints about GCI rates and practices ought to be addressed in a formal complaint under Section 208 of FCC rules. Citing the remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta's technology infrastructure woes, tribal consortium the Association of Village Council Presidents said the merger "can only be successful" if it creates accessible and affordable telco services for rural Alaska. Democratic State Rep. Zach Fansler in a letter sought more GCI transparency about how the post-merger entity will provide better and cheaper broadband service, including more community outreach to rural Alaska for purposes of getting input. Fansler said "costs have not yet gone down," despite FCC subsidies to GCI's Terra project. He said the FCC should consider changing federal funding of rural broadband in the state.

Petitions to deny Liberty Interactive's buy of General Communications Inc. and calls for conditions (see 1706200044) are "tired complaints" about GCI's ongoing terrestrial middle-mile investments masquerading as transaction-specific harms, Liberty and GCI said in a joint opposition to petitions to deny and conditions posted Thursday in docket 17-114. Wednesday was the deadline for replies. Liberty and GCI said even if the complaints were true -- "which they are not" -- they existed before the transaction and the merger wouldn't alter market concentration or other market conditions, and the merger review isn't the right venue for addressing them. Liberty said Quintillion and Alaska Communications System complaints about GCI rates and practices ought to be addressed in a formal complaint under Section 208 of FCC rules. Citing the remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta's technology infrastructure woes, tribal consortium the Association of Village Council Presidents said the merger "can only be successful" if it creates accessible and affordable telco services for rural Alaska. Democratic State Rep. Zach Fansler in a letter sought more GCI transparency about how the post-merger entity will provide better and cheaper broadband service, including more community outreach to rural Alaska for purposes of getting input. Fansler said "costs have not yet gone down," despite FCC subsidies to GCI's Terra project. He said the FCC should consider changing federal funding of rural broadband in the state.

FCC rules that pre-empt state laws requiring municipal broadband networks have a business plan, plus state and local barriers that hinder private network deployment, are in the agency's crosshairs, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Wednesday at a Small Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council-organized symposium on startup entrepreneurship policy issues. He said the FCC is looking negatively at local, state and tribal governments treating small-cell networks the same as macro tower deployments, since per-tower regulatory fees for dense small-cell deployments would be onerously expensive.

FCC rules that pre-empt state laws requiring municipal broadband networks have a business plan, plus state and local barriers that hinder private network deployment, are in the agency's crosshairs, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said Wednesday at a Small Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council-organized symposium on startup entrepreneurship policy issues. He said the FCC is looking negatively at local, state and tribal governments treating small-cell networks the same as macro tower deployments, since per-tower regulatory fees for dense small-cell deployments would be onerously expensive.

The National Congress of American Indians urged the FCC to exempt carriers mostly serving tribal lands from operating-expense limitations. NCIA cited a delay in approving a draft order pending for months, in a filing Monday in docket 10-90. The group submitted a resolution members adopted asking the commission to "move forward expeditiously and adopt the Order exempting carriers primarily serving Tribal Lands from the operating expense limitation rule." Such carriers face higher costs and need additional support to deploy broadband, and no opposition was filed to exempting them from the rule, said the resolution.

Curbing cost of reviews by tribal governments is a major wireless industry push as the FCC looks at ways to speed siting of wireless facilities. Chairman Ajit Pai has focused on tribal issues, making a trip to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) mid-year conference for a June 14 speech and meetings with tribal leaders (see 1706140028). But signs are the tribes are digging in, presenting a tricky issue for the FCC as it addresses siting rules.

Two more Alaska entities asked the FCC not to use a rural healthcare (RHC) reserve fund to reduce the USF contribution factor to 17.1 percent of carrier interstate and international telecom end-user revenue. "While using RHC program reserve funds may help lower the contribution factor in the near term, that decision could have negative long-term implications on rural health care services across our country," said a Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services filing Wednesday in docket 96-45. "We urge the FCC to fully fund the RHC program and not to use previously collected RHC reserve funds to reduce the universal service contribution factor. ... We now face having to pay 7.5 percent of our approved FY 2016 application. For many of us, that equals hundreds of thousands of unbudgeted dollars, which in turn means a loss of telemedicine services and layoffs, negatively impacting healthcare in our communities." Chugachmiut, a tribal organization, made an identical filing. Alaska Communications previously made a similar request (see 1706200049). The proposed 17.1 percent contribution factor takes effect Tuesday absent commission action.