Supporters of the Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act took center stage at a Friday Senate Commerce Committee 5G deployment field hearing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to extol the bill's virtues. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and other national and state stakeholders endorsed the bill in written testimony, as expected (see 1810090049). S-3157, filed in June by Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1806290063). The friendly panel was in contrast to opposition S-3157 faces from other state and local governments (see 1810040055).
A hold Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, placed on FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's reconfirmation remained in place Thursday night despite the commission's bid to fund payments to a top Alaska USF Rural Health Care (RHC) Program participant. The FCC Wireline Bureau said Wednesday evening it cleared Alaska telco General Communication Inc. to receive $77.8 million in RHC payments for FY 2017. Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told us that action alone won't fully resolve their concerns with FCC handling of the program, which led Sullivan to place the hold on Carr's confirmation to a full five-year term ending in 2023 (see 1809120056). Sullivan worries FCC handling of RHC negatively affected constituents (see 1809130059). The approved GCI payment figure is 26 percent less than the $105 million it sought. The agency required GCI and other RHC participants to substantiate rural telecom rates after finding two non-Alaska carriers apparently falsified documentation to inflate their rural rates, which the program subsidizes based on their differential with typically lower urban rates. The FCC proposed $40 million in fines against the two carriers. GCI didn't comment. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters he's aware of an FCC proposal “that addresses” concerns Sullivan and Murkowski raised about RHC “and we hope that this satisfies” them. The senators were still “getting feedback” on the proposal Thursday, Thune said. He said he hopes the FCC's actions might end Sullivan's hold so the Senate can confirm Carr and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks as part of a pre-election package of nominees, though that appeared to be unlikely. Senate leaders were negotiating at our deadline on a deal that would leave the chamber in recess until after the November elections. Sullivan later told reporters he plans to meet with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai “next week” to follow up on his RHC concerns. Murkowski believes the FCC needs to address how it will provide “certainty” on processing Alaska providers' RHC applications in the future.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told us he had a phone call set for later Wednesday or Thursday with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on his concerns about FCC handling of the USF Rural Health Care (RHC) Program that led Sullivan to place a hold on Commissioner Brendan Carr’s reconfirmation to a full five-year term ending in 2023 (see 1809120056). Sullivan worries the FCC's handling of RHC negatively affected Alaska constituents, and says Pai didn't adequately respond (see 1809130059). Sullivan is maintaining his hold but “certainly would hope” the call with Pai results in progress. “I've only been talking to these guys about [RHC] for seven months now,” Sullivan said. The Senate Commerce Committee's August FCC oversight hearing showed the commission is “running a really important program in a haphazard way that nobody seems to understand,” Sullivan said in a late September interview. The FCC didn't comment. Confirmation of Carr and FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks has stalled repeatedly since Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., first tried to fast-track the two in June (see 1808230040).
The Trump administration is exploring ways to restart its infrastructure legislative push after the next Congress begins in January, and the proposal's contours will depend substantially on November's election outcome, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. A shift to a Democratic majority in either chamber would increase pressure on administration officials to include at least some elements of that caucus' infrastructure proposals, most notably dedicated broadband funding, industry officials said. The White House faces potential hurdles, including Democratic resistance to giving Donald Trump a bipartisan legislative win ahead of the 2020 presidential election and GOP appropriations woes.
The Senate Commerce Committee confirmed details of a planned Friday field hearing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on 5G deployment. The hearing, to be led by Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., was originally planned for last week (see 1810030055). FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken (R) and Verizon Senior Vice President-Federal Government Affairs Robert Fisher are to testify. Also will be Midcontinent Communications Senior Director Justin Forde, Dakota State University President Jose-Marie Griffiths and SDN Communications CEO Mark Shlanta. The hearing, to begin at 3 p.m. CDT in Carnegie Town Hall, will be livestreamed on YouTube, Senate Commerce said. The panel is likely to include a substantial focus on Thune’s Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act (S-3157), two telecom lobbyists said. The bill, which Thune and Senate Communications ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, filed in June, aims to implement a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local small-cell consideration (see 1806290063). S-3157 faces headwinds because of opposition from state and local governments (see 1810040055).
The Senate appeared to be headed toward narrow confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over the weekend after Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Friday they would vote yes. Collins and Manchin were seen as two potential swing votes. The Senate voted 51-49 Friday to invoke cloture, largely along party lines. Manchin and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, bucked their parties' majority position on Kavanaugh, with Manchin voting for cloture and Murkowski voting against it. Murkowski, also long seen as a swing vote, later told reporters she planned to vote no on Kavanaugh. A final vote was expected as soon as Saturday.
Nationwide next-generation 911 deployment will cost $9.5 billion-$12.7 billion, the 911 Implementation Coordination Office reported Friday. The joint NTIA-National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-administered office estimated implementation will take 10 years “assuming no scheduling delays, no funding delays, and no deviations from the recommended implementation path,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Heidi King and NTIA Administrator David Redl said. “Multistate implementation,” in which multiple states and territories within each of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 10 regions coordinate on buying, implementing and operating shared core services centers, would cost the least. “State implementation,” in which independent states and territories would buy and operate their own core services, would cost $10.5 billion. A “service solution” option, in which states and territories buy all core services and public safety answering point system maintenance for an NG-911 provider, would cost $12.7 billion. The document “provides policymakers at all levels of government and public-safety stakeholders with the detailed finical information needed to achieve a coordinated, nationwide deployment of NG911,” said National Emergency Number Association President Jamison Peevyhouse.
Bipartisan interest in federal broadband funding mechanisms and criticism of FCC coverage data collection practices dominated Thursday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing on rural broadband, as expected (see 1810030055). The panel also became a forum for Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and other committee members to tout broadband-related legislation eyed for potential combination into a package bill (see 1807250056).
Senate Commerce Committee members again raised concerns during a Wednesday hearing that nine railroads, including the Maryland Area Regional Commuter and New Jersey Transit systems, are at risk of not meeting 2018 benchmarks for implementing portions of positive train control technology. GAO found the nine haven't demonstrated they are making sufficient progress in meeting by Dec. 31 the benchmarks needed to continue to get extensions through 2020 to fully implement PTC technology. Qualifying railroads must demonstrate they are acquiring necessary spectrum holdings and meeting other annual goals. GAO Director-Physical Infrastructure Issues Susan Fleming's report to Senate Commerce mirrored findings the office presented last month to the House Transportation Railroads Subcommittee (see 1809130060). Senate Commerce members also raised concerns in March (see 1803010054). “There is clearly more work to do” but Federal Railroad Administration head Ronald Batory “has been instrumental in stepping up FRA’s oversight of PTC implementation” since his confirmation earlier this year, said Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D: “If commuter railroads do not meet the requirements of the law by the end of the year, we must understand any effects this may have” on affected riders. Railroads “simply must complete installation of” PTC, said Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. Amtrak “has made significant progress implementing PTC” across its routes and equipment, with 91 percent of its locomotives PTC-operable as of late September, said Chief Operating Officer Scot Naparstek. NJ Transit is “fully and absolutely committed to doing everything possible” to meet the Dec. 31 deadline, said Executive Director Kevin Corbett: “We've accomplished more in the last seven months” than “in the previous seven years,” including service reductions aimed at complying with PTC requirements.
The Internet Association, Information Technology Industry Council and 23 other industry groups endorsed the Streamlining the Rapid Evolution and Modernization of Leading-Edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (Streamline) Small Cell Deployment Act. The bill, filed in June, aims to ease barriers by implementing a “reasonable process and timeframe guidelines” for state and local consideration of small-cell applications (see 1806290063). S-3157 “will modernize wireless infrastructure regulations for next-generation 5G wireless networks, unlocking significant consumer and economic benefits,” the groups said in a Wednesday letter to S-3157's lead sponsors, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “We applaud [the bill] for updating decades-old rules to reflect this new technology by setting reasonable timeframes for localities to act on siting applications, eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming litigation if an application has not been processed in that time frame, and clarifying that siting fees for access to public property are reasonable and based on actual costs.” Thune told us S-3157 still has “its share of detractors,” particularly among state and local governments, as has been the case since a draft of the bill first circulated last year (see 1712070075 and 1804130057). State and local governments have seen progress in negotiations but remain concerned about S-3157's language on timeline guidelines for state and local consideration of small-cell applications. They also say the bill doesn’t adequately address how it would affect existing deals (see 1808300052). “I'm still hopeful we can mark up” S-3157 this year if talks with the bill's critics progress, Thune said. But he also noted the FCC's recent infrastructure order aimed at speeding 5G deployments by targeting state and local small-cell rules (see 1809260029).