A draft FCC order would pre-empt a Hawaii license of Sandwich Isles Communications and its parent Waimana Enterprises, a commission official told us Wednesday. The official said the draft reviews the license under Communications Act Section 253, which mandates the FCC pre-empt state and local prohibitions on the provision of telecom services. The draft circulated internally June 19, according to the circulation list. The Wireline Bureau in February sought comment in docket 10-90 on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' (DHHL) request for guidance on the "exclusive" license it gave Waimana in 1995 (subsequently partially assigned directly to Sandwich Isles), and whether it conflicted with Section 253 (see 1702070049). Waimana and founder Albert Hee disputed DHHL's request for guidance on a license granted more than 20 years earlier, with the company saying competitors were allowed to use Sandwich Isles lines but none had agreed to serve the entire market (see 1702280063). Crown Castle commented in February that it had sublet a wireless tower from T-Mobile, which had a 2006 cellular license agreement with DHHL for two five-year periods and an option for two five-year extensions. Crown Castle said when it, on behalf of T-Mobile, sought to exercise that option, DHHL responded that Sandwich Isles had exclusive rights to transmit broadband service from DHHL properties. Crown Castle asked the FCC to clarify that any interpretation of the license that excludes mobile broadband services would violate Section 253. Counsels for Sandwich Isles, DHHL and Crown Castle didn't comment Wednesday.
With the July 17 deadline for initial comments on the net neutrality NPRM less than three weeks away, supporters of the 2015 rules aren't widely expected to ask for extra time. Instead, they are expected to make a major push for extra time to file replies, now due Aug. 16. It's unclear whether the FCC Republican majority will provide the additional time, given the extensive record. The agency has logged about 5 million comments in 17-108, the docket on the May net neutrality NPRM.
With the July 17 deadline for initial comments on the net neutrality NPRM less than three weeks away, supporters of the 2015 rules aren't widely expected to ask for extra time. Instead, they are expected to make a major push for extra time to file replies, now due Aug. 16. It's unclear whether the FCC Republican majority will provide the additional time, given the extensive record. The agency has logged about 5 million comments in 17-108, the docket on the May net neutrality NPRM.
The National Congress of American Indians urged the FCC to exempt carriers mostly serving tribal lands from operating-expense limitations. NCIA cited a delay in approving a draft order pending for months, in a filing Monday in docket 10-90. The group submitted a resolution members adopted asking the commission to "move forward expeditiously and adopt the Order exempting carriers primarily serving Tribal Lands from the operating expense limitation rule." Such carriers face higher costs and need additional support to deploy broadband, and no opposition was filed to exempting them from the rule, said the resolution.
The Commerce Department announced its preliminary determination to impose antidumping duty cash deposit requirements on softwood lumber from Canada, in a fact sheet dated June 26 (here). The agency also set several new exemptions from the scope of softwood lumber duties, including for finished products and lumber produced in Atlantic provinces of Canada. Rates range from 4.59% to 7.72%, and take effect retroactively for some Canadian exporters. The new AD duties come on top of CV duties imposed on Canadian softwood lumber in April (see 1704270022).
Curbing cost of reviews by tribal governments is a major wireless industry push as the FCC looks at ways to speed siting of wireless facilities. Chairman Ajit Pai has focused on tribal issues, making a trip to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) mid-year conference for a June 14 speech and meetings with tribal leaders (see 1706140028). But signs are the tribes are digging in, presenting a tricky issue for the FCC as it addresses siting rules.
President Donald Trump's pledge to include a broadband title in his administration's forthcoming infrastructure legislative proposal shaped Thursday's House Small Business Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee hearing on rural broadband deployment. Executives testified that a broadband title in infrastructure legislation should work within the framework of existing federal broadband funding programs and aim to expand funding to those programs instead of seeking to create entirely new programs.
President Donald Trump's pledge to include a broadband title in his administration's forthcoming infrastructure legislative proposal shaped Thursday's House Small Business Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee hearing on rural broadband deployment. Executives testified that a broadband title in infrastructure legislation should work within the framework of existing federal broadband funding programs and aim to expand funding to those programs instead of seeking to create entirely new programs.
President Donald Trump's pledge to include a broadband title in his administration's forthcoming infrastructure legislative proposal shaped Thursday's House Small Business Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee hearing on rural broadband deployment. Executives testified that a broadband title in infrastructure legislation should work within the framework of existing federal broadband funding programs and aim to expand funding to those programs instead of seeking to create entirely new programs.
Kansas localities didn't see as much wireless infrastructure deployment as expected after implementing a state small-cells law that became effective more than eight months ago, municipal officials told us. It was one of the earliest states to pass a law pre-empting local permitting processes for small wireless facilities, with new rules taking effect Oct. 1. Similar laws are coming into effect in several other states this summer, while other legislatures mull small-cells bills (see 1706060048).