Lawmakers are proposing a range of telecom and tech-focused amendments to the House Armed Services Committee’s FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-7900). They include proposals to require more DOD transparency on its implementation of its 2020 spectrum sharing strategy, bar TikTok use on government devices, and several focusing on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The House Rules Committee Thursday afternoon hadn't set a meeting to consider the amendments.
Saying it's seeking to increase safety for utility workers and the public, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) agreed Thursday to adopt a standardized process for dealing with structurally compromised poles. Commissioners voted 3-0 to adopt the order in docket 21-11-05. PURA set time frames for pole custodians and attachers for replacing poles and transferring attachments, with “consequences” for custodians who negligently determine a structure isn’t compromised.
The FCC has been deluged with comments by SpaceX supporters in recent days on a possible opening up of the 12 GHz band to 5G, but that input likely won't matter in an agency order, administrative law and commission experts told us. The real audience for the comments might be Congress, they said. The commission didn't comment.
Tech and public interest groups urged the FCC to close off the possibility of charging regulatory fees to users of unlicensed spectrum, while NAB -- which first raised the proposal -- pivoted to arguing for additional fees for broadband service providers, in comments on the agency’s 2022 regulatory fees in docket 22-223 filed by Tuesday’s deadline (see 2206010058).
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to start drafting an order on key issues raised in a Further NPRM on the 6 GHz band, industry officials were told. Commissioners approved the FNPRM 5-0 in April 2020 (see 2004230059) and final comments have been in since July 2020 (see 2007280033).
Broadcasters, MVPDs, ISPs and other entities argued over the state of competition in the broadband and video marketplaces and how to address it, in comments posted by Friday’s deadline in docket 22-203 for the agency’s biannual State of Competition in the Communications Marketplace report to Congress, due in Q4. Regulations premised on lack of competition “should be repealed,” said NCTA. The FCC “must consider the real-world consequences of imposing, in a highly competitive marketplace, a burdensome and outdated regulatory regime,” said NAB.
Industry groups and consumer advocacy organizations continued to disagree on the amount of digital discrimination in the broadband marketplace, in reply comments posted Friday in docket 22-69 (see 2205170071). Central to the disagreement was whether the FCC has the authority to consider a disparate impact standard rather than discriminatory intent in final rules.
The FCC found no agreement between Microsoft and NAB on how often narrowband devices should have to check a database to operate in the TV white spaces (TVWS). In January, commissioners approved 4-0 an order requiring other devices to check the database at least once hourly. After NAB and Microsoft clashed as the order was before commissioners, the FCC decided to further explore the rules for narrowband IoT devices in a Further NPRM (see 2201270034). Wireless mic companies supported NAB.
Intelsat and SES expect further delays in satellite aspects of their parts in the C-band Phase II clearing. In their latest docket 18-122 quarterly status updates, they said they still anticipate meeting the overall Phase II clearing deadline. They had warned the FCC earlier this year of some satellite delays (see 2204010052).
SpaceX's move this spring into offering broadband service aimed at RVs (see 2205240020) might face some competition from low earth orbit constellation rivals, but the broader land-mobile broadband market isn't likely to be a big growth area soon for LEO, satellite broadband and vehicle connectivity experts told us. The FCC International Bureau approved SpaceX operating Ku-band earth stations in motion (ESIM) and Kepler operating Ku-band earth stations in vessels (ESV) in U.S. territorial waters and on U.S.-registered watercraft internationally last week, but with conditions.