The FCC Media Bureau chose The Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation as the tentative selectee for a noncommercial educational FM construction permit for Little Browning, Montana, using rules that prioritize tribal applications, said an order Wednesday. The tribe’s application was mutually exclusive with an application from Holy Spirit Radio proposing a station at Conrad, Montana. Both applications were filed during the November NCE window. The Blackfeet application qualified for the tribal priority in part because the station would be the first local tribally owned NCE station in the area and because Little Browning is on Blackfeet tribal land, the order said. Petitions to deny the selection are due 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register.
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance urged revisions to a Land Mobile Communications Council petition asking the FCC to modify its Part 90 rules on sharing of TV channels 14-20 with the T-band to reflect the changes that have occurred due to the DTV transition (see 2202100041), in reply comments. EWA supports “proposals to provide incentives for licensees to partition, disaggregate, and/or lease unused spectrum to small carriers, rural carriers, and Tribal Nations,” the group said in a Wednesday news release. “Incentives could include license term and construction extensions as well as alternate benchmarks for rural-focused transactions,” the group said: “EWA also urged the FCC to adopt a different standard for private enterprise entities as these companies are responsible for most of the economic activity in the nation. They rely on private wireless networks that may be in areas or have restrictions that make commercial service not a viable option.”
SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband "is now active in Ukraine," with more terminals en route, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Saturday. His tweet was in response to a tweet from Ukraine Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov saying that while Musk tries "to colonize Mars -- Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space -- Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand." Fedorov on Monday tweeted a photo of a truck filled with what appeared to be Starlink receivers and thanked Musk.
The U.S. Forest Service reopened the comment period on a proposal to charge new administrative fees to communications facilities on USFS land (see 2202180051) for another 30 days, said a notice for Tuesday’s Federal Register. The original comment deadline on the proposal closed Feb. 22, while the new comment window will close March 31, the notice said.
The EU and the U.K. announced another round of sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Building off a first wave of restrictions imposed on Russia following troop movement into the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, they either added or announced a series of individuals and entities that will be subject to greater restrictions. The EU said it plans to impose grand sectoral sanctions against Russia, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the U.K. will impose asset freezes on over 100 new entities and individuals.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, introduced legislation to end permanent normal trade relations with Russia, and they are seeking to remove Russia from the World Trade Organization as well. “In seeking multiple ways to respond to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we should close every possible avenue for Russian participation in the world economy,” Doggett said in their Feb. 25 press release. "As Putin undermines the stability carefully built since World War II, he and his oligarch pals should not benefit from the trading system created to ensure that stability and peace.”
Broadcasters, ham radio operators and trade groups opposed a U.S. Forest Service proposal to charge an additional administrative fee to communications facilities on USFS land (see 2202180051), by Tuesday's deadline in USFS rulemaking docket 2021-27681. “The proposal is unlawful, inequitable, and undermines the public interest,” said NAB. The rule will undermine access to broadcasts in rural areas because it disproportionally affects rural TV translator stations, NAB said, saying “there is no statutory justification” for the USFS to apply the fee to existing users. If the proposal moves forward, it should allow for a “phase-in” period so existing users can make adjustments, NAB said. NAB also suggested an alternative fee that would assess fees based on market size and higher value uses. The rule would affect numerous public broadcasters that have prioritized universal access, said NPR, America’s Public Television Stations and PBS in joint comments. The USFS should revise the rule to include a discretionary waiver for nonprofit and governmental organizations, the public broadcasters said. The vast bulk of the over 700 comments in the docket came from amateur radio operators and related organizations and almost universally opposed the fees. Amateur radio operators provide “valuable communications services for the government and citizens during major emergencies” in areas that have little cellular service, said the Staunton, Virginia-based Valley Amateur Radio Association.Since amateur radio operators are prevented by law from charging for their services, the repeaters and other facilities they use are privately owned, the group said. “The only recourse the owners of the radio repeater resource have to cover any additional expense levied on them is directly out of pocket or additional donations.” The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said the fee should be one time instead of annual. Georgia-based Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation said the fee would jeopardize the private radio network its employees use to communicate while restoring electrical and broadband services during weather events. “If we can't afford to break even on these services we will likely be forced to discontinue them, which will impair both BRMEMC services as well as the USFS.” CTIA said the fee appears to overlap with other fees already charged by the agency, and the USFS should revise the fee to prevent redundant charges. CTIA also argued the fees should lead to a streamlining of the broadband deployment process on USFS lands: “CTIA urges the FS to endeavor to reduce its current timeframes to act on communications use applications, particularly those proposing modifications to existing facilities.”
AT&T is the first U.S.-based carrier to join Ericsson’s global “Startup 5G” program, aimed at speeding the commercialization and monetization of future 5G innovations by leveraging “years of research on consumer behavior and trends,” said Ericsson Monday. Ericsson estimates there’s a global $3.7 trillion business opportunity “within the 5G consumer market by 2030,” it said. Communications service providers that collaborate with Startup 5G are “bolstered” by Ericsson's consumer research and analytical data, plus “exclusive access” to a global network of 5G startups, numbering more than 40 companies, it said.
AT&T is the first U.S.-based carrier to join Ericsson’s global “Startup 5G” program, aimed at speeding the commercialization and monetization of future 5G innovations by leveraging “years of research on consumer behavior and trends,” said Ericsson Monday. Ericsson estimates there’s a global $3.7 trillion business opportunity “within the 5G consumer market by 2030,” it said. Communications service providers that collaborate with Startup 5G are “bolstered” by Ericsson's consumer research and analytical data, plus “exclusive access” to a global network of 5G startups, numbering more than 40 companies, it said.
The State Department approved a potential military sale to Poland worth about $6 billion, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Feb. 17. The sale is for “M1A2 SEPv3 Main Battle Tanks” and related equipment. The principal contractors will be General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems, Leonardo DRS, Honeywell Aerospace, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.