A /style2 million broadband stimulus grant has helped the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority deliver wireless to an underserved area, NTIA said in a Tuesday blog post (http://1.usa.gov/1ejLPLs). This authority, funded through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, has 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.

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, introduced telecom and broadcasting bills in the last two weeks, both referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. On Wednesday, he introduced the Rural Broadband Investment Act of 2013, S-1858. The bill proposes to end “well-documented flaws in the FCC’s 2011 Universal Service Transformation Order that caused financial burdens to small- and mid-size communications carriers operating in rural areas,” Begich’s office said, slamming the USF’s quantile regression analysis as “questionable statistical analysis.” His Thursday press release included statements of support from Greg Berberich, CEO of the Matanuska Telephone Association, and Alaska Telephone Association Executive Director Jim Rowe. Begich points to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s recent announcement that he may end the quantile regression analysis, but Rowe said the “legislation is important to rural telecommunication companies because it not only addresses the QRA, but also two other important provisions within the transformation order which are the safety net additive and waivers.” According to a summary of the bill provided to media, the legislation creates a timeline for the FCC to develop an order “to ensure USF reforms are achieved in a manner that is both consistent with the nation’s universal service objectives and fosters those objectives.” Under the bill’s proposal, quantile regression analysis would be halted, and on an interim basis, “at a level equal to the combined operating and capital expenses the carrier had for calendar year 2011 adjusted for any revisions resulting from restoration of the Safety Net Additive or FCC action on a waiver petition,” Begich’s office said. The FCC would also have to file qualitative and quantitative analyses for the Senate and House Commerce Committees within 60 days of the bill’s enactment “assessing the amount of USF necessary to meet the nation’s universal service objectives over the next ten years and a specific analysis identifying the unique circumstances and resulting high cost fund support needed to provide and maintain universal service in Alaska and on Tribal Lands,” it said. On Dec. 12, Begich introduced S-1819, which would amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act “to provide eligibility for public broadcasting facilities to receive certain disaster assistance, and for other purposes,” according to its long bill title. Neither bill has cosponsors.

Critics of the Marketplace Fairness Act don’t expect the measure to pass in the House, several told us. Some believe the MFA, which would impose an Internet sales tax on consumers buying from out-of-state companies with more than $1 million in sales, would give more authority to states, they said. Others think the MFA is an intrusion of government power and will hurt “brick and click” small businesses, they said. Unless the MFA undergoes substantial changes, it will not pass in the House, they said.

Critics of the Marketplace Fairness Act don’t expect the measure to pass in the House, they told us. Some believe the MFA, which would impose an Internet sales tax on consumers buying from out-of-state companies with more than $1 million in companywide sales, would give more authority to states. Other think the MFA is an intrusion of government power and will hurt “brick and click” small businesses. Unless the MFA undergoes substantial changes, it will not pass in the House, they said.

The lines of communication need to stay open to promote telecom policies that will benefit state, local and tribal governments, said municipal leaders on a National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors webinar Monday. Municipalities made their voices heard at the FCC and on Capitol Hill this year, but more needs to be done for consumer protection and to protect franchise taxes, they said. Four bills were also debated in Congress this year that would affect taxes in municipalities, said Barrie Tabin Berger, Government Finance Officers Association assistant director-federal liaison center. The Marketplace Fairness Act, Digital Goods and Services Act, Permanent Tax Freedom Act and Wireless Tax Fairness Act could all have far-reaching implications if passed by both chambers, said Berger. The Digital Goods and Services Act introduces preemption measures and it’s not supported by municipalities, she said. “Every letter that we send in opposition says we are opposed to preemption in local tax authority.” This bill would block multiple and discriminatory taxes on digital goods and services even though there’s no “concrete evidence” of the practice and the Internet Tax Freedom Act already bans such taxation, she said. Gridlock is keeping Congress from moving forward with taxation measures, said Berger. “People do not want to move forward on anything because they want to focus on the president’s healthcare initiative,” she said. “There is a lot of movement on [the] House side, but not the Senate, which could change” when Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., steps down, said Berger.

The lines of communication need to stay open to promote telecom policies that will benefit state, local and tribal governments, said municipal leaders on a National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors/NATOA webinar Monday. Municipalities made their voices heard at the FCC and on Capitol Hill this year, but more needs to be done for consumer protection and to protect franchise taxes, they said.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has a decidedly different leadership style than former Chairman Julius Genachowski, representatives from public interest groups said in interviews. After a meeting with the public interest community Tuesday, it became clear that Wheeler is more likely to take strong positions than his predecessor, and more likely to reach out to a diverse group of voices, some attendees said. The true test of Wheeler’s inclusive rhetoric will come when he faces a truly politically divisive issue, they said.

The FCC will take up an order on the IP transition at its January meeting, Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post Tuesday. The IP transition is widely viewed as one of the top issues facing the new chairman. Wheeler said he’s essentially following the advice of other commissioners in moving forward at this point (http://fcc.us/1aEwswR). “With the Commission now at full force, it is time to act with dispatch,” Wheeler said.

The FCC should streamline rules for review of the construction of positive train control wayside facilities being built by railroads under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in comments filed at the FCC. PTC, mandated by Congress, is designed to protect trains from collisions with other trains, overspeed derailments and other threats to rail safety. Comments on NHPA requirements were due Friday. “The Section 106 review process, as it stands currently, is too cumbersome and time-consuming to handle the flood of applications that would be required to complete work on the PTC system in time for the 2015 [congressional] deadline,” MTA said (http://bit.ly/1dzGakK). “The exceptions and accommodations to the current review process discussed herein would seek to develop an efficient, practical, and timely review process that ensures full consideration of the effects of PTC facilities on historic properties, including Tribal religious and cultural sites.” Construction within rail rights-of-way should be given special consideration, MTA said. “When it comes to the preservation of the character of above-ground historic sites, the placement of poles along rail ROWs are far less obtrusive, and less likely to cause any ‘adverse effects’ than the preexisting presence of railroad tracks, and the regular traversing of rail cars along such tracks,” the filing said. “Given the nature of rail traffic along active rail lines, the purpose of the NHPA would not be well served by requiring rail carriers and the various other stakeholders to engage in an expensive and time-consuming process to review undertakings that are in almost every case certain to be less obtrusive than the infrastructure and traffic already in place.” The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority offered similar comments. “The MBTA urges the Commission to develop rules that while meeting the requirements of Section 106 of the NHPA, would also ensure that this critical public safety project is not unnecessarily delayed nor is it burdened by a review process that adds significant time and expense without adding significant value,” the commuter railroad said (http://bit.ly/HV2RWa). “The MBTA is concerned that a historic review and consultation process that is focused on minutia [sic] such as the location, height and installation process for utility poles will unnecessarily delay implementation of this project without resulting in added benefits or protections for historic resources."

The Department of Energy must approve liquefied natural gas (LNG) export applications for non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries from facilities on the west coast, such as Jordan Cove in Oregon, said a Nov. 12 letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, endorsed by 12 House and Senate lawmakers. The expectation that the nation’s LNG supply will soon meet domestic demand is causing some companies to scale back operations and, in turn, decreasing local and Native American tribal government revenue while cutting jobs, said the letter. Therefore the application approvals are necessary to maintain LNG production.