Free Press urged the FCC to “comprehensively reexamine the sufficiency” of the wireless resiliency cooperative framework and whether it should remain voluntary, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 11-60. Wireless commenters defended the framework. The FCC has the opportunity to better understand communications failures after disasters by asking questions now, Free Press said: “The agency must fill in the massive gaps in its knowledge of the impact of the hurricanes and the underlying causes of outages in Puerto Rico in 2017, and trace those same kinds of failures through several devastating California wildfire seasons and other disasters." A "flexible, voluntary approach remains the best paradigm for advancing wireless network resiliency,” CTIA countered: “There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to resiliency, and there should be no one-size-fits-all mandate or metric to assess the efficacy of efforts.” Voluntary efforts are working, said the ATIS. American Tower said: “Improving network resiliency requires evaluation of individual communications sites and collaboration between industry stakeholders and policymakers.” That networks performed well during the pandemic shows their resilience, AT&T said, citing its "substantial investments in network resiliency” and work with stakeholders. Each disaster “is unique in terms of cause, geography, consumer and network impact, and severity,” Verizon said: “Providers’ networks themselves vary based on geography, technology choice, and available resources.” T-Mobile commented: “Although wireless networks are not immune from the destructive effects” of natural disasters, “wireless carriers continuously are taking steps to prevent outages and ensure ... reliability and resiliency.”

Education advocates and industry groups disagreed whether the FCC should allow retroactive reimbursements and set technology standards for schools and libraries in the $7.1 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (see 2104140041). Replies were due Friday in docket 21-93. Schools that "made the decision earlier on to invest in connectivity for remote learning" should be reimbursed for purchases since the pandemic's onset, said Incompas. AT&T said retroactive payments would put schools that couldn't afford that at the "back of the line," a view echoed by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Prioritizing retroactive reimbursements would help "most likely more well-off schools and libraries," said ACA Connects (see 2104120052): It "should only be allowed for eligible purchases that have not been funded by any other source." USTelecom and NTCA agreed. Reject calls to allow ECF funding for self-provisioning, said Verizon: "Because self-provisioning requires large upfront expenditures, the schools receiving" that support "would consume a disproportionate share of the ECF and leave too little support for other schools." WTA agreed: This would lead to "substantial delays in the availability of eligible services that are needed immediately." Self-provisioned networks are the "most cost-effective" for students without residential broadband, said groups including New America’s Open Technology Institute, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Center for Rural Strategies and Public Knowledge. Avoid minimum service standards because "there is no consensus on the appropriate capacity needed for remote learning," said the Wireless ISP Association: "To narrow the fund’s scope to include only those services offering certain broadband speeds could have the unintended consequence of penalizing students who live in areas" with slower speeds. NCTA and GCI Communication agreed. CTIA said questions about "adequacy of mobile broadband for remote learning are unsupported by the record and flatly contrary to the experience of millions of students during the pandemic." The Competitive Carriers Association, T-Mobile and UScellular said similar. Defining "connected device" should be done in a "flexible, technologically neutral way," said Apple.

Starlink urged the FCC to reject the Ensuring RDOF Integrity Coalition's objection to its petition for designation as an eligible telecom carrier, in a filing posted Friday in docket 09-197. The designation is required in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction (see 2102040058). ERIC's arguments are a "baseless attempt to obstruct the ETC process as part of larger efforts to hamstring a new, highly competitive entrant to the broadband marketplace, to obtain proprietary and competitively sensitive network information, and to commandeer valuable spectrum already being used," the company said. "Hopefully, this mystery filer, which purportedly aims to 'ensure integrity' while directly parroting the arguments of others, will dish out the truth about its funding and membership." The coalition couldn't be reached for comment.

The FCC wants until May 26 to respond to cities asking the Supreme Court to stop federal preemption on small cells, acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote Thursday in case 20-1354. “This extension is requested to complete preparation of the government’s response, which was delayed because of the heavy press of earlier assigned cases to the attorneys.” Portland, Oregon, and 35 other municipalities filed the petition for writ of certiorari last month, asking SCOTUS to hear the appeal of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' upholding much of 2018 FCC small-cell orders (see 2103230052).

The FCC asked for comment by May 21, replies June 7 on connecting via Wi-Fi to 211, the dialing code for community information and referral services. Use of Wi-Fi and 211 increased during the pandemic, said Wednesday's notice in docket 92-105. It asked for "comments on the opportunities and challenges associated with leveraging Wi-Fi calling technologies to support access to 211 and other essential community services, and we seek comment on the public interest benefits.” The Wireless and Wireline bureaus "seek to better understand the public’s ability to connect to these essential community services using Wi-Fi calling."

With T-Mobile coming on strong and competition intensifying, Verizon lost 178,000 postpaid wireless phone subscribers in Q1. Verizon was the first of the big three to report, with AT&T set for Thursday. Verizon’s buy of Tracfone will likely close in Q3, CEO Hans Vestberg told analysts Wednesday: “Everything we said from the beginning is holding true. The process is continuing as expected.” The FCC asked both companies last week for more data, including the deal's implications for Lifeline customers (see 2104140064). Vestberg defended the company’s $52.9 billion in bids in the C-band auction. “The combination of C band and our millimeter wave places us in a unique position of strength to execute on all 5G opportunities,” he said. Verizon ordered half the gear it needs to deploy in the C band this year, he said. Verizon is feeling effects from the pandemic, Vestberg said. “While we see significant progress in vaccinations, customer sentiment and recovery of our economy, there is still a lot to go before we are back to normal.” Asked if Verizon planned to apply for emergency broadband funds from the FCC, Vestberg said companies should take the lead, with government focusing on “affordability.” Profit was $5.4 billion, up from $4.3 billion a year ago and better than any quarter last year. Revenue was $32.9 billion, up from $31.6 billion. Verizon added a net 98,000 Fios customers but lost 82,000 pay-TV subscribers, citing "the ongoing shift from traditional linear video to over-the-top offerings." Verizon’s advantages in the 4G era are slipping away, MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett told investors. “In 5G, Verizon looks destined to be a fast-follower, at best,” he said. “Verizon is quick to argue that T-Mobile’s 2.5 GHz spectrum won’t translate into a coverage advantage (they argue that their newly-won 3.7 GHz spectrum will propagate just as far given allowable power level differences). Good try. But T-Mobile has more spectrum, they have it sooner, and they’re already far down the road of building out their network.” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin said he’s watching long-term trends for Verizon more than quarterly results. “We were surprised by long-term guidance of flat margins amid improving revenue growth; wireless has always been a business with operating leverage,” he told investors: “We suspect the investment in infrastructure to deploy C-Band is driving up fixed costs.”

Shure and Sennheiser fired back at NAB, which opposed a January petition by the wireless mic companies seeking reconsideration of an FCC order terminating docket 15-146 on use of vacant channels in the TV band to provide spectrum for TV white space devices and wireless mics (see 2101080050). “NAB’s Opposition mischaracterizes the underlying purpose of the 2015 Vacant Channel NPRM, overstates any potential burden on broadcasters, and ignores the significance of this UHF spectrum to the content creation industry, especially given the massive decrease in clean, usable UHF spectrum for wireless microphone operations pursuant to FCC actions over the past 12 years,” said Sennheiser in Tuesday's posting. “A diverse array of interests urge the Commission to reconsider its decision in the vacant channels docket,” Shure said: “These parties see value in allocating a vacant UHF channel for wireless microphone operations in each market where possible in light of current needs and the lack of other viable spectrum solutions that exists today, particularly for unlicensed microphone users.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was asked to be more flexible on ReConnect, during a virtual listening session Tuesday. Consider changing more program loans to grants, said Yurok Tribe Council member Lana McCovey. "The repayment process would be hard to do." Akiak Technology CEO Kevin Hamer agreed: "The only way that we're going to get access as an unserved area is through infrastructure grants, not loans." Exclude low earth orbit satellites, Hamer said. Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government Project Manager Dylan Conduzzi asked for reconsideration of satellite technology: "There are no other back-haul options available to us." Allow more flexibility in the grant application process, said Raymond Concho, Acoma Pueblo transportation planner. "We just don't have the matching funds, especially after the past year." Guiding principles from tribal leaders in recent months included requiring tribal government resolutions of support for broadband applicants, increasing flexibility for applicants, enabling tribal governments to serve their own lands, allowing tribes to certify whether they're served or underserved, and requiring compliance with tribal government regulations for all broadband recipients serving tribal lands, USDA staff said. Comments on eligibility requirements are due April 27 (see 2102260044).

The FCC plans a news briefing with bureau staff after Thursday’s commissioners' meeting, agency spokespeople told us Tuesday. This will be the first such briefing since February 2020. “Ultimately, the Chairwoman thought it was important and wanted to find a way to make it happen,” a spokesperson said, referring to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The briefing will be on the record and held via teleconference before the usual news briefing with Rosenworcel, the spokespeople said. The Rosenworcel FCC had been continuing the same policy begun at the start of the pandemic under then-Chairman Ajit Pai, where bureau briefings of journalists on the record weren’t held. The briefings will be officially announced Wednesday, the agency said. Communications Daily highlighted the reduction in such briefings (see here and here). Our news bulletin on bringing back the news conferences is here.

The FCC draft order on new requirements that broadcasters air disclosures for content sponsored by foreign governments is overly broad and “asymmetric regulation” because it doesn’t address foreign-sponsored content on MVPDs or the internet, NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan blogged Monday: “There is simply no good reason why the Commission needs to saddle thousands of leases with new burdens of any kind.” NAB and other broadcast organizations had ex parte discussions with the agency (see 2104160069). “The Draft Order’s central problem -- both legally and as a matter of policy -- is that it imposes burdens on any broadcaster that engages in a lease, without any regard for whether the broadcaster ever has or ever will engage in a programming contract with a foreign governmental entity,” said NAB in calls last week with aides to Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr, per a filing posted Monday in docket 20-299.The FCC proposal would require diligence from broadcasters to determine if any programmer is an agent of a foreign government, Kaplan blogged. “You might be wondering if there is an exception for the station leasing time to a long-standing trusted business partner, right? Nope. What if you are leasing time to a local church for services on Sunday mornings? Nope.” Additional burdens make broadcasting a less attractive investment, Kaplan said. “If the Commission is truly committed to increasing diversity among broadcast owners, it should carefully weigh the impact of its new regulatory actions before piling more on,” he said. “It is patently unfair to require anything of broadcasters who do not have reason to believe they are engaging with a foreign government or its agent.” The agency didn’t comment.