President Joe Biden revoked former President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at addressing what Trump saw as social media censorship (see 2005280060). Trump’s sought an FCC rulemaking to clarify its interpretation of liability protections under Communications Decency Act Section 230. That proceeding didn't advance during the closing days of Ajit Pai's chairmanship (see 2101050060) and hasn't seen movement. Friday's EO also nixed other Trump presidential directives. The Center for Democracy & Technology praised Biden for killing the social media EO.

Eligible households seeking to apply online for the FCC emergency broadband benefit program may experience “connectivity issues” due to a “high demand,” an alert said on the FCC and Universal Service Administrative Co.'s websites Thursday. The FCC became aware of some users experiencing issues online Wednesday, a spokesperson told us. The problem appears to be “leveling off” now and the alert was posted “out of an abundance of caution,” she said.

The 5-0 November order splitting the 5.9 GHz band between Wi-Fi and auto safety (see 2011180043) will be “the first real test” for the current FCC, Commissioner Brendan Carr said during an Internet Innovation Alliance webinar Thursday. Carr noted concerns raised by the auto industry and some congressional Democrats (see 2104270090). “Do we stick with the hard decision, the right decision, only hard in the sense that there was political pressure, … or are we going to cave to political pressure” on 5.9, he asked. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stresses her focus on working with other federal agencies on spectrum, Carr said, saying cooperation isn’t enough: “At the end of the day, those of us in leadership at the FCC are called upon to make hard decisions and stick by them.” The FCC didn't comment. Carr said he’s standing his ground on the 3-2 order making broad changes to how the 4.9 GHz band is regulated, giving control to the states. Rosenworcel recently sought a stay (see 2105030062). Carr hasn’t made decisions on 5G in the 12 GHz band, saying he's watching engineering studies. “If we can get a win-win and do all of it, then obviously that’s what we should do,” he said. Carr said the FCC needs to provide more clarity on broadband maps, after Rosenworcel said in March the first would be available this summer (see 2103220050). “We’ve got to clean that up and provide some clarity as to when we’re going to land the mapping process,” he said. The FCC has about $40 billion “sitting in the pipeline” for broadband deployment, he said. “Let’s get that $40 billion out the door,” he said: “Mapping is going to be a big piece.” Carr is a “little worried” about the current pace on making more spectrum available. The U.S. was in danger of falling behind in the race to lead the world on 5G during the last years of the Barack Obama administration, Carr said. That changed under Donald Trump, he said. “We were first to commercial 5G and have the strongest 5G network in the world,” he said. Carr said he hopes that FCC won’t backtrack on the changes to wireless infrastructure rules made under then-Chairman Ajit Pai. The current 2-2 FCC won’t “reverse those wins,” he said. “We’ve made it easier to build and connect people over the four last years,” he said: “I really don’t know why we would make it more expensive and harder.” Short of being in the majority, being at a split commission is “second best,” he joked. “We’ll see what it’s like when I make my eventual move fully into the minority.” There are still lots of discussions between commissioners on various issues, he said.

Comments on FCC assessment and collection of FY 2021 regulatory fees are due in docket 20-105 June 3, replies June 18, says Thursday's Federal Register. An order and NPRM were released earlier this month.

Other states support California in response to ISP associations appealing a ruling denying their preliminary injunction against the net neutrality law, in a case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2103100029). “Amici have a strong interest in defending the States’ sovereign right to exercise their police powers against unwarranted assertions of federal preemption,” said Wednesday's posting (all URLs in Pacer). “A critical aspect of the States’ sovereignty is the ability to pass laws aimed at ‘guard[ing] the lives and health of their citizens.’” New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C., were on the brief in docket 21-15430. California localities agreed with the states. “Investments in broadband-based communications systems to exchange information with the public underscore their reliance on a neutral Internet,” they said. ISPs “falsely” claim that investment declined when the 2015 federal rules were in place, said Access Now, Mozilla, Public Knowledge, New America's Open Technology Institute and Free Press. Other neutrality supporters, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access Humboldt, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Reddit, also filed in support of the state: “We have seen firsthand that stripping away legal protection for net neutrality would inflict serious harm on Californians and on California nonprofits, educators and businesses.”

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said she’s an optimist but also “clear-eyed” about the challenge in stopping robocalls. Commissioners vote next week on rule changes to accelerate the secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) (see 2104290082). The problem of cheap, easily deployed robocall tech won’t be fixed without collaboration among the FCC, state attorneys general and other agencies, Rosenworcel told a National Association of Attorneys General 2021 virtual conference Tuesday. She called on state officials to reach out the FCC. “Collectively, we should be able to make a difference,” she said. Acting FTC Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said older rules -- such as the do-not-call list -- no longer prevent robocalls because the primary actors aren’t legitimate businesses. The FTC, FCC and other federal agencies have been “laggard and lacking” in enforcing their rules, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in recorded remarks. If laws aren’t enforced, they're a dead letter, he said. Following the Supreme Court invalidating the FTC’s ability to seek monetary redress for consumers (see 2105040057), the FTC will have to partner with state AGs more frequently, Slaughter said. “They have access to redress authority we no longer have.” The FTC will plead rule violations more frequently to get access to civil penalties, Slaughter said. Separately, Rosenworcel said the FCC will seek information from state and local officials as part of its broadband mapping efforts. The agency has “a lot of lawyers” spending time on making the information gathered in that mapping effort as public as possible in the face of nondisclosure agreements, she said. Rosenworcel praised the New York AG’s office for its report on fraudulent net neutrality comments filed at the FCC under her predecessor, former Chairman Ajit Pai. Government agencies should care about fake public comments and keeping lines of communication to citizens open, Rosenworcel said. See our article on the AG's report here.

The FCC will likely open an Emergency Connectivity Fund application filing window in June, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told reporters Tuesday. Whether to prioritize retrospective reimbursements, which was proposed (see 2104300084), "was an issue in our deliberations," Rosenworcel said. Commissioners agreed to open the first filing window for prospective purchases, a change sought by Commissioner Brendan Carr, with a second for additional prospective purchases if it's determined that not enough funding was allocated for the first window. Any remaining funds will then go toward an additional filing window for retrospective purchases. "The idea was we want to be able to make a difference and get more students connected than they are right now," Rosenworcel said. Rules included changes sought by Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on data collection (see 2105100061). It's "a smart addition," Rosenworcel said. "Distance learning is not going away," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. This "will help close the homework gap that persisted long before COVID-19," said Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y. Democrats praised the FCC’s implementation plan, including Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell of Washington, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

The FCC Wireline Bureau wants comment on a protective order for submitting and requesting information through its robocall mitigation database, said a public notice Monday in docket 17-97 (see 2104200042). Comments are due 10 days after Federal Register publication, replies 15 days after.

AT&T had a cultural shift since GAO recommended last year it improve stakeholder communications (see 2009170071), FirstNet CEO Edward Parkinson told C-SPAN's The Communicators, set to have been televised this weekend. “You learn from mistakes,” he said. “We have and I think AT&T has, too.” Public safety “is a very, very different kind of customer and AT&T … from a cultural perspective, needed to learn that.” AT&T has done “a very good job of correcting some of the mistakes,” he said. It's an “enormous organization” that “really adopted the culture of FirstNet,” he said: “My job is to hold them accountable.” The Senate Communications Subcommittee had a hearing in September (see 2009240056). FirstNet is unique with its public sector oversight and public safety customers, Parkinson said. Making sure AT&T “maintains a focus” on public safety will be important beyond 2023 when the initial deployment ends, he said. Parkinson plans further outreach to public safety agencies in the Nashville area following a Dec. 25 bombing (see 2012280048) and can’t promise there won't be outages. “These types of events, one can never predict,” he said. FirstNet “will be stronger as a result of the lessons we learned,” he said. The network is 93% complete, Parkinson said: “From there, we’ll be able to look at where else can we expand the network, how else can we evolve the network.” More than 300 devices can use FirstNet’s Band 14, he said. Most FirstNet staff continue to work remotely, Parkinson said. “The pandemic has changed everything for everyone,” he said. “Post-COVID, the way that public safety responds to certain incidents and the type of information they’re going to need is going to change.” Public safety users were using twice as much data at the beginning of the pandemic as the average AT&T customer, he noted. FirstNet’s network will evolve as 5G launches and leads to 6G, but “public safety doesn’t necessarily want to be on the cutting edge,” he said. “They want to ensure that this is the technology that they can trust with their lives.” Parkinson said one focus of FirstNet next year will be working with the FCC to get license renewal for Band 14.

As the FCC is expected to have voted on emergency connectivity fund rules by this week (see 2104300084), stakeholders raised concerns prioritizing retroactive purchases and not taking a tech-neutral approach could shut many schools and libraries out. “There are a lot of good things about the order,” Schools, Libraries, Health & Broadband (SHLB) Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen told us. He cited not requiring competitive bidding and excluding smartphones. “Rules tend to favor hot spot deployment,” he said, and don't "give the schools and libraries the flexibility to look at other technologies that may serve their market better.” The FCC declined to comment Friday. Dozens of advocates, industry groups and providers spoke with staff to lobby for more flexibility. Schools and libraries should be allowed to use ECF funds for smartphones, T-Mobile told Wireline Bureau staff. Samsung agreed and told acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks' staff that smartphones “support video conferencing platforms, internet browsing, e-mail, document editing and sharing, and other software necessary to ensure full participation in remote learning activities.” Qualcomm told Rosenworcel’s staff it's “disappointed” with the decision. Whether schools and libraries that have already purchased services and equipment should get priority for reimbursement was a sticking point for education advocates (see 2104260070). The draft rules appear to favor retroactive purchases, Windhausen said. Prospective purchases should be given priority, ACA Connects told Commissioner Nathan Simington's and Commissioner Brendan Carr's staffers, because it would otherwise "be inequitable." One application filing window that prioritizes future purchases would "provide more certainty that support would be available for the upcoming school year," said Verizon. CTIA disagreed and echoed T-Mobile's call to include smartphones. The State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance recommended starting retroactive reimbursement March 1, 2020, instead of the proposed July 1, 2020. Final rules should allow eligible schools and libraries to use funds for constructing self-provisioned networks, said Motorola, because “the limited exception to permit funding of network construction where there is no commercially available option is administratively unworkable." ENA Services recommended tweaking the language to require schools and libraries only certify that they were unaware of existing services to be reimbursed for new construction. NTCA agreed that a limited exemption for self-provisioning should be granted and raised concerns about allowing reimbursement for purchasing hotspots.