The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force is “active on consumer education outreach” on the broadcast incentive auction repacking process, a spokesperson said. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., was among lawmakers who criticized the FCC Tuesday for not beginning a $50 million program funded via the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum statute to educate consumers. IATF Chair Jean Kiddoo “recently conducted 31 radio interviews across 61 media markets nationwide, educating consumers about the transition and how to navigate it,” the FCC spokesperson said. “The FCC also recently launched a new landing page ... with information for consumers about what to watch for during the transition, including how to rescan their TVs if they watch over-the-air television.” IATF “has been closely monitoring the repack and its impact on consumers and is pleased with how things are going so far,” the FCC spokesperson said. “And as the transition proceeds and as circumstances warrant, the Task Force will be rolling out additional consumer education initiatives, including a special call center for consumers.”

The FCC unanimously adopted an order to offer rural telcos more USF support in exchange for deploying more 25/3 Mbps broadband, as some expected (see 1812100052). The main elements appear largely the same as in a draft (see 1811210032). "Many more rural Americans will have access to high-speed broadband service," said Chairman Ajit Pai. A key lawmaker and RLEC groups praised the rate-of-return USF item -- which includes a reconsideration order and Further NPRM -- approved at commissioners' meeting Wednesday.

A corporate farmer, a farmers' lobbyist and a farm economics researcher discussed the politics and pocketbook effects of tariffs in the sector, and how much sway farmers will have in the outcome of trade policy. The trio -- along with former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack -- spoke on a panel at the Council on Foreign Relations Dec. 13. "Farmers want to stay with President Trump. A lot of them supported Trump," said Brian Kuehl, executive director of Farmers for Free Trade. "But I think the trade war is biting. Even for farmers we talk with ... who support the president, that patience is starting to wear thin."

Concerns are growing DOD is considering use of what some consider an overly conservative emissions standard to protect GPS: 1 dB. If the Pentagon moves in that direction, it could potentially render some bands unusable for commercial operations, particularly 1.3 GHz, targeted for reallocation by NTIA. Industry officials told us the 1 dB criteria was never intended for broad use when it first put forward years ago to protect GPS inside its bands.

Concerns are growing DOD is considering use of what some consider an overly conservative emissions standard to protect GPS: 1 dB. If the Pentagon moves in that direction, it could potentially render some bands unusable for commercial operations, particularly 1.3 GHz, targeted for reallocation by NTIA. Industry officials told us the 1 dB criteria was never intended for broad use when it first put forward years ago to protect GPS inside its bands.

Express Association of America, which represents DHL, FedEx and UPS, said Japan has not lived up to its postal privatization commitments, and asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to make sure that Japan Post is no longer advantaged compared to private shippers. Michael Mullen, executive director of EAA, testified on Dec. 10 in front of a trade panel that's seeking public views on how to shape negotiations for a U.S.-Japan free trade agreement.

Automakers, titanium producers and drug industry players shared diverging views inside their respective sectors of how Office of the U.S. Trade Representative negotiators should approach a U.S.-Japan free trade agreement. The department invited the public to share opinions Dec. 10 on what priorities negotiators should pursue, and how the new deal should be similar or diverge from the path forged for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Autos are the single biggest import from Japan, making up $51 billion of the $136 billion in goods imports in 2017, according to USTR.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council reported issues are raised by implementation of mission critical push to talk on FirstNet, focusing on identity management. “Identity is a critical component of first responder safety," it noted Tuesday. "Today, most public safety Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems support the transmission of a Unit ID which is used by communications center personnel and field supervisors to verify which first responder is communicating. That identity information is crucial during high-risk events and other emergencies.”

Representatives of the Aerospace Industries Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Boeing and Lockheed Martin raised concerns about protecting aviation systems in the 3-7-4.2 GHz C-band, meeting with aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Presentations focused “in particular" on "critical aviation safety equipment known as radio altimeters and wireless avionics intra-communications (WAIC) systems operate in the adjacent radio frequency band 4200-4400 MHz,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-122. “The radio altimeter is a critical avionics system to the safe operation of flight, specifically the landing of aircraft. The group stressed it is vital to ensure that proper testing of cellular systems operating in the adjacent band is conducted before a new primary mobile allocation of the entire 3700-4200 MHz band is made.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hopes dig once to lay fiber conduits "becomes the law of the land," suggesting it's critical to increasing backhaul capacity to support 5G wireless. He said low-earth-orbit satellite constellations promise to expand rural broadband and lower latency. "Satellite innovation is really coming along well," he told a Geeks Without Frontiers conference Tuesday. The difficult broadband business case in high-cost areas is worsened by unnecessary rules, he said, vowing to continue deregulatory remedies: "We've made a lot of progress. There's still a ways to go." He said the Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction saved $3.5 billion, allocating $1.5 billion in broadband subsidies over 10 years for connecting over 700,000 locations estimated to need $5 billion. He plugged FCC "technological neutrality" letting wireless providers, electric utilities and Viasat be among new CAF recipients competing to serve rural customers. Pai highlighted other efforts to push broadband, including plans to auction 5 GHz of commercial spectrum over the next 18 months, and opening the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi use. The FCC is looking at unlicensed opportunities from low-band spectrum to the 95 GHz band, he said. Pai said there are "exciting times to come" in broadband-enabled "vertical" applications like teleheath, and IoT and artificial intelligence have potential upsides for healthcare.