FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler faced lawmakers again Thursday, this time addressing challenges such as rural broadband, tribal consultation and the pressing congressional deadline on the implementation of positive train control (PTC) technology, at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing on the $375.38 million for the FCC that the White House requested in its FY 2015 budget proposal (http://fcc.us/1hNuRs2). Wheeler committed to working with a Senate Republican on larger telecom discussions, as well as the urgency of the PTC implementation deadline -- December 31, 2015.
The FCC defended its request for about $36 million more in funding for FY 2015 compared to current funding. The White House unveiled its proposed 2015 budget in early March and recommended Congress approve $375.38 million for the FCC (http://fcc.us/1hNuRs2). The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee scrutinized the proposed budget during a hearing Tuesday, and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai testified on behalf of the agency.
The FCC has set out the right standards as part of the ongoing IP transition data collection initiative, said a California Public Utilities Commission filing (http://tinyurl.com/ooxboub) posted Tuesday to FCC docket 13-5. The data is to measure consumer experience with the IP transition. The CPUC said the data should be gathered and collected through an open, transparent process. It should be collected from multiple sources, including in collaboration with other federal agencies, state, local, tribal governments and leaders, said CPUC. It said clear and consistent definitions and metrics are needed to provide a comprehensive picture of the technology transitions experience. The data should also be publicly available, CPUC said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler supports “a reinvigorated Tribal consultation process” to address communications issues in Indian country, he told the National Congress of American Indians. “From a policy point of view, my experience is that there’s generally no shortage of awareness around Tribal issues,” said prepared remarks by Wheeler, released by the FCC Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1cWwYLb). “But when it comes to closing the gaps in opportunity and infrastructure that plague many Tribal communities, there’s a persistent deficit of meaningful achievement.” Wheeler listed as his top concerns improved access to “world class” broadband, spectrum and ensuring a “diversity of voices” in tribal areas.” There “are of course other important issues that we will also work on together, but these are the priorities we have heard from you,” he said to the group March 12.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler supports “a reinvigorated Tribal consultation process” to address communications issues in Indian country, he told the National Congress of American Indians. “From a policy point of view, my experience is that there’s generally no shortage of awareness around Tribal issues,” said prepared remarks by Wheeler, released by the FCC Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1cWwYLb). “But when it comes to closing the gaps in opportunity and infrastructure that plague many Tribal communities, there’s a persistent deficit of meaningful achievement.” Wheeler listed as his top concerns improved access to “world class” broadband, spectrum and ensuring a “diversity of voices” in tribal areas.” There “are of course other important issues that we will also work on together, but these are the priorities we have heard from you,” he said to the group March 12.
Two nonprofits, Merit Network and the Center for Internet Security, began a joint effort to help other U.S. nonprofits and state and municipal goverments improve cyberdefenses, they said in a Wednesday news release (http://bit.ly/1hz4RPZ). The organizations will offer cybersecurity certification courses on site and online through the Michigan Cyber Range program. They'll offer Merit Secure Sandbox, a secure, virtual environment for professional training, product testing, and research, to state, local, and tribal governments, as well as nonprofit organizations and public educational institutions, at a discounted rate.
It would be helpful to eligible telecom carriers to be able to retain proof of eligibility documents ETCs collect when signing up Lifeline subscribers, Oklahoma Corporation Commission officials told the FCC. The FCC doesn’t now let ETCs retain the records, but carriers want to keep them in case issues arise. An ex parte notice (http://bit.ly/1fnixyA) filed Thursday said OCC Telcom Policy Director Maribeth Snapp and Regulatory Manager Jim Jones met with Wireline Bureau staff Feb. 7. The OCC officials explained the steps being taken to ensure that ETCs providing Lifeline service are complying with federal and state rules. OCC staff also suggested that enhanced Lifeline support on tribal lands be limited to those carriers that are building out infrastructure on such lands.
The FCC released an updated list of eligible areas for the reverse auction that will award up to $50 million in one-time Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I support (http://bit.ly/1akSPus). Bidding in the auction is to begin Feb. 25. “The updated list reflects changes to the eligible areas for Auction 902 based on authorizations of support and default determinations from the initial auction of Mobility Fund Phase I support, Auction 901,” the Wireless and Wireline bureaus said Monday in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1aX955H).
The FCC circulated Wednesday night a draft program comment it plans to submit to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) that seeks to streamline the FCC’s review process for wayside poles that railroads are building for the positive train control (PTC) safety system. The draft would also exempt some PTC infrastructure from review (http://bit.ly/1ffJpho). The FCC began developing the program comment last year amid railroads’ concerns they wouldn’t be able to meet Congress’s mandate to complete work on PTC infrastructure by Dec. 31, 2015. The railroads were concerned the existing preview process under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act would not be able to expeditiously clear each of the more than 20,000 poles in time to meet the deadline (CD Dec 19 p2). An FCC official told us the railroads have “essentially agreed” that the rules in the program comment would create a timeline that “works for them to get everything into our system, reviewed by the tribes and the states and still allow them to get everything constructed by the statutory deadline."
A $2 million broadband stimulus grant helped the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority deliver wireless to an underserved area, NTIA said in a Tuesday blog post (http://1.usa.gov/1ejLPLs). The authority, funded through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, helped the Navajo Nation territory in the southwest U.S. “And now the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority is signing up its first customers for a new 4G LTE wireless broadband network funded largely by the federal government,” NTIA said. “Covering 15,000 square miles, the new network consists of 59 wireless towers, 43 base stations, 60 microwave links, 550 miles of fiber and 20 miles of fiber or microwave connections into buildings.” The authority worked with wireless company Commnet, NTIA said.