The FCC Wireless Bureau granted special temporary authority Thursday to AT&T to use AWS-4 spectrum on a loan from Dish Network to beef up coverage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC approved use for 60 days, said a news release.
Ericsson will “limit the scope and duration” of the annual meeting it still plans to hold in person Tuesday in Stockholm, despite the pandemic, said the company Thursday. No live speeches will be given at the meeting, which will be webcast, it said. “The presentation of proposals will be kept to the minimum,” as will participation of board members and senior management, it said. Chairman Ronnie Leten and CEO Borje Ekholm will take part “via link,” it said. “Attendees, who nonetheless wish to attend in person, will be reminded to avoid close contact with other attendees in the common areas, and to spread out in the meeting hall while seated. Cloakrooms will be closed, and all who attend are requested to bring their outerwear into the meeting hall.”
Missouri’s telecom relay service is having higher call volumes and longer calls due to COVID-19, resulting in longer wait times, the Missouri Public Service Commission said Thursday. Average call time is five to eight minutes, up from two to three minutes normally, the PSC said. Missouri relay service provider Sprint reported higher wait times amid the pandemic Wednesday (see 2003250055).
Broadcasters airing free commercials during the COVID-19 pandemic don’t have to factor them into their lowest unit rate for political advertisements, said guidance from the FCC Media Bureau in Thursday's Daily Digest. MB also issued a public notice about COVID-19-related waivers for the percentage of content allowed under sharing agreements. It responds to questions from NAB and broadcasters about the effects of airing free spots for advertisers affected by the pandemic, the bureau said. “Because of current financial difficulties arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many commercial customers are canceling their advertising contracts,” the lowest unit rate PN said. “To fill excess inventory and build goodwill, broadcasters are seeking to air free advertisements for merchants.” Those free ads don’t need to be factored into lowest unit rate calculations “provided the free time is not associated with an existing commercial contract for paid time or otherwise considered bonus spots,” the bureau said. “We anticipate that this guidance is applicable only to the current period and not necessarily applicable when more ordinary conditions are restored.” Local ownership rules limit to 15% the amount of programming one station can provide for another though local marketing agreements or shared service agreements, but that limit can be waived during the pandemic, MB said. During the COVID-19 national emergency “individual licensees may request temporary waivers of the Local Television Ownership Rule to provide more news coverage.”
The FCC acted to shore up its Rural Health Care program, in an order Thursday on docket 02-60. It extends the RHC program application filing window to June 30, eases competitive bidding requirements for healthcare providers with expiring evergreen contracts, and extends procedural deadlines. It's meant to let healthcare providers "focus their attention on their immediate task at hand -- addressing the influx of patients associated with the COVID-19 outbreak and maintaining care for existing patients, thereby helping to control the spread of this serious pandemic, without the diversion of near-term RHC administrative requirements," the order said. "The disruption to health care providers throughout this country as a result of this pandemic is indisputable," Chairman Ajit Pai said, and the FCC is working to address the challenges. The Wireline Bureau is encouraging RHC participants to file forms 462 and 466 funding requests before the new June 30 deadline when possible "so that funding decisions can be issued in a timely manner." The contract exemption is limited to healthcare providers that screen for COVID-19, treat patients or otherwise mitigate its spread. A 14-day deadline for responding to information requests from Universal Service Administrative Co. is extended to 28 days. Among other extensions is the invoice filing deadline. The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition last week requested some of the changes. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted Wednesday on the topic.
A draft FCC NPRM on wireline phone charges is stirring some industry concerns, stakeholders said. Small, rural LECs may have different interests than ILECs owned by national companies in a proposed FCC rule to change the way wireline voice services are billed, said NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs and Business Development Mike Romano in an interview. Commissioners vote Tuesday on a draft NPRM on docket 20-71 to determine whether the agency should prohibit telcos from assessing certain access charges as separate line items once the FCC mandates they're detariffed (see 2003100065).
State commissioners should keep watch on telecom to protect consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak, said NARUC President Brandon Presley in a Thursday interview. “Once this crisis is behind us, we’ve got to view broadband service as a national security issue, in the sense of economic security,” he said. “I won’t have much toleration for anybody that comes to tell me that internet is a luxury.”
More Democrats are signaling interest in pushing to include broadband capacity and distance learning provisions in a potential fourth bill addressing the effects of COVID-19. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., earlier cited those issues as a continued priority (see 2003250046). The Senate voted 96-0 Wednesday to pass the third economic stimulus measure, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (HR-748). The legislation includes telehealth provisions and pandemic-related appropriations for the FCC, Rural Utilities Service and CPB, as expected.
The Rural Wireless Association asked the FCC to give eligible telecom carriers until June 22 to report existing Huawei and ZTE equipment and services and replacement costs because of the pandemic. Reports are due April 22. COVID-19 “has caused tremendous disruption to RWA members as well as the entire nation,” RWA said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-89. RWA member ETCs are spending “substantial time and resources ... to numerous pandemic‐related urgent new activities.”
The FCC is soliciting nominations for a new advisory committee focused on stopping robocalls to hospitals, said a public notice Wednesday. The Hospital Robocall Protection Group will work to issue best practices for carriers to combat such calls, and how hospitals can protect themselves. It stems from the Traced Act. “Health care facilities are critically important, especially in the face of the current pandemic, and the last thing they should have to worry about is receiving robocalls that distract,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The group will have an equal number of representatives from hospitals, voice providers that serve hospitals, robocall mitigation companies, consumer groups, VoIP providers, state government officials, and one member each from the FCC and FTC. Best practices are expected to be issued within 180 days of the group’s establishment. Nominations are due “as soon as possible” but by May 1 (see the release).