Public safety answering points are adapting to call-volume changes from the coronavirus and adjusting internal procedures to keep call takers healthy, 911 officials said in interviews this month. The New York City Fire Department Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (FDNY EMS) is having “record call volume,” Deputy Commissioner Frank Dwyer emailed.
A proposed ad hoc Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee working group held a single call after last month’s BDAC meeting, aimed at making sure wireless infrastructure gets built despite COVID-19. Citing complications of working within the rules, members told us they shifted to informal discussions between industry and local governments and likely won’t seek a charge from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to make coronavirus issues an official BDAC issue. Other WGs hold weekly meetings.
Comments and reply deadlines for the FCC communications market competitiveness report to Congress were extended about two weeks each to April 27 and May 28 because of the pandemic, the Office of Economics and Analytics said Friday. There was some but not all the time music groups requested (see 2004060067).
Modify KUSA Denver's market to include Colorado's Montezuma County because its residents can’t receive in-state COVID-19 information, the county Board of Commissioners petitioned the FCC for special relief last week. Montezuma is an “orphan county” assigned by Nielsen to the Albuquerque designated market area, so Dish Network doesn’t allow county residents to receive Colorado TV stations, the municipality told the FCC. County consumers haven't been able to receive “direct information” from Gov. Jared Polis (D) “regarding statewide and citizen directives during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the petition said. The request fulfills the requirements for market modification from the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, and Dish certified the request is technically feasible, the petition said. The request is in docket 12-1. Dish didn't comment Friday. KUSA owner Tegna has "no position on the petition,” a spokesperson emailed us.
World Wrestling Entertainment's annual meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday will consist of starting the meeting and then immediately ending it, the cable programmer said. It cited "rapidly evolving public health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental actions."
Pay for Wi-Fi hot spots and other devices for students through the California Advanced Services Fund, commented the state Education Department Thursday to the California Public Utilities Commission. U.S. E-rate doesn’t cover that, Ed said. The department would apply and disseminate devices to students through county education offices, it said in docket R.12-10-012. Others supported rolling application deadlines. CalTel and other small rural LECs urged the same for infrastructure. “This will allow providers to assess areas of need in light of evolving information and react to changing broadband usage patterns brought on by the statewide ‘shelter-in-place’ order,” the small telcos said. The California Cable & Telecommunications Association isn’t against rolling deadlines if limited to addressing COVID-19 and opposes “wholesale changes to the CASF program made under pressure during a [COVID-19] crisis.” Streamline procedures for awarding and administering CASF infrastructure grants, commented AT&T. GeoLinks sought increased upfront costs to expedite projects. Fund public housing deployment, said San Francisco. The Electronic Frontier Foundation urged sought network performance and outage data to analyze “why ISPs have seemingly yielded wildly different results across the state when it comes to delivering broadband access during the pandemic.” Fiber seems to best absorb increased demand, EFF said. Consumer and rural advocates seek changes (see 2004090056).
The Trump administration’s reported plan to create a COVID-19 data surveillance program with healthcare and tech companies lacks transparency, Democratic lawmakers wrote the White House Friday. They noted the industry's “checkered history” protecting patient and user privacy. Some stakeholders also raised concerns.
Following limited waiver of kids' TV programming preemption rescheduling, the FCC could get other requests for broadcast rules waivers or changes in the face of the pandemic, experts told us late last week. The agency got kudos from the children's programming advocacy universe and the White House for Thursday's waiver.
Almost a year after denying China Mobile’s application for certification under Section 214 of the Communications Act, the FCC appears poised to revoke authorization for at least China Telecom as well. Those certifications were left as unfinished business when commissioners denied 5-0 China Mobile’s application at their May meeting (see 1905090039). Executive branch agencies, led by DOJ, recommended last week the FCC revoke China Telecom U.S. authorizations for international telecom services (see 2004090060).
The FCC’s move to new headquarters near Union Station has been delayed at least two months due to COVID-19, a spokesperson told us Monday afternoon. The move had been slated to happen in late June.