The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council meets March 8 at 1 p.m. EST, says a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register. The meeting in the Commission Meeting Room at FCC headquarters will be the last under CSRIC’s current charter.

The FCC Technological Advisory Council will meet March 26 for what was supposed to be its year-end meeting in 2018. Planned for Dec. 5, it was postponed because of the funeral of President George H.W. Bush. A Jan. 15 meeting was scuttled because of the partial federal shutdown. The next meeting will be 10 a.m. March 26 at the FCC Commission Meeting Room, said a notice in Monday’s Daily Digest.

The FCC needs to decide the right amount of C band to allocate for terrestrial use and then set up a competitive bidding process, Charter Communications said in a docket 18-122 posting Monday. It said such an auction could take 12 to 18 months, with the spectrum "ready for 5G use" as soon as 36 months after an order. It said the agency could require bidders to reimburse satellite providers and earth station licensees for relocation costs, and pay a "reserve charge" that would be a percentage of auction revenue to compensate them for "intangible and other costs" stemming from giving up spectrum. It called the C-Band Alliance (CBA) proposal "unprecedented and unlawful" and said it runs against U.S. security and economic interests to let foreign-owned satellite operators decide the amount of C band designated for 5G. The cable operator said that so many wireless carriers, small satellite operators, technology companies, public interest groups and cable ISPs oppose the CBA proposal shows the legal challenges the FCC could face, while an agency-controlled reallocation is least likely to see delays due to litigation because it's squarely within authority. It said the CBA proposal would spawn "backroom deals" for spectrum, and the group's assertions of reallocation in 36 months are "fanciful" given the unprecedented nature of its plan. “Apparently it was legal and proper for the cable companies to make allocation and sale decisions for critical spectrum in 2012 when they sold their AWS privately to Verizon and kept all the proceeds," emailed CBA Executive Vice President Preston Padden. "This is the Washington swamp at its worst. Cable is simply trying to protect their monopoly on high-speed broadband in 85 percent of American homes."

An FCC draft item would address an Iowa Network Access Division (Aureon) tariff, said the circulation list, updated Friday. The Wireline Bureau in November launched an investigation into Aureon's tariff transmittal No. 38, including a look at an increase in Aureon's central office switching equipment investment (see 1811090053). The investigation "is applying ILEC-only accounting rules to Aureon even though" an FCC Nov. 8, 2017, decision "classified Aureon as a CLEC," emailed Fletcher Heald attorney James Troup, who represents Aureon. "If Aureon was a horse, what the FCC has done is similar to regulating a horse under rules for horses as well as rules for cars on the grounds that both horses and cars are modes of transportation. Consequently, Aureon is the only company in the entire country that is regulated as both an ILEC and a CLEC." The FCC didn't comment Monday. Also on the updated circulation list are two Enforcement Bureau orders (one in conjunction with the Wireless Bureau) and a draft broadband deployment report, announced by Chairman Ajit Pai last week and sparking mixed reactions (see 1902200057). Off the list was a draft order to amend Part 1 of the rules, including on a lockbox used to collect fees for the Enforcement Bureau (see 1812210072). The FCC circulated a draft order Feb. 13 to resolve an investigation on tariff revisions filed by South Dakota Network, which was also opened in November (see 1811290061).

Bridging the digital divide requires balancing responsibilities between local and national policymakers, but “the federal government has overstepped its appropriate role, constricting local governments’ abilities to craft locally tailored solutions,” Brookings Senior Fellow Blair Levin blogged Friday. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s arguments for local pre-emption are “factually flawed,” said Levin, adding that one-size-fits-all federal rules for local property use is “over the line.” Mayors like San Jose’s Sam Liccardo (D) can better focus on their communities’ interest because they are “answerable to local citizens far more than a far-off federal official, and they have obtained the consent of the governed in a way the federal official has not,” Levin said. “Different cities should be allowed to answer the question differently.” Carr didn’t comment.

The FCC Wireless Bureau Friday began a temporary freeze on nonfederal applications in the 3100-3550 MHz band. Industry officials told us the notice is potentially significant. The bureau also established a docket on the freeze, 19-39. A year ago, Administrator David Redl said NTIA would study use of the 3450-3550 MHz band for wireless broadband (see Ref:1802260047]). Redl said use depends on DOD's ability to find another location for military radar systems that operate there. Mid-band spectrum has been a continuing focus of carriers as they start to deploy 5G. “It’s great to see the FCC move forward today on the 3.45 GHz band,” said Kara Graves, CTIA director-regulatory affairs. “Policymakers realize how important it is to free up mid-band spectrum quickly, and this is a helpful step toward making this band available for 5G.”

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan's pay package exceeds $103.2 million, placing him third on As You Sow’s list of the S&P 500's “most overpaid” chief executives for 2019, said the social responsibility group Thursday. Its fifth annual report used a “regression analysis” of proxy statements and other public filings to compute “excess CEO pay” on the basis of “total shareholder return,” plus the percentage of shareholders who voted against their CEOs’ pay packages, said the group. Based on those metrics, the report pegs Tan’s excess pay at nearly $86.9 million, partly because a large proportion of Broadcom shareholders -- 38 percent -- voted against his pay package. Tan tried to spearhead Broadcom's takeover of Qualcomm last year, but was forced to withdraw the bid after President Donald Trump killed it on national security grounds (see 1803150060). Disney CEO Bob Iger ranked sixth with a $36.3 million package and excess pay of $22.4 million, said the report. It said 55 percent of Disney shareholders voted against Iger’s package, placing Disney eighth on the list of highest percentage of dissenters. It was the second year in a row Iger placed among the top 25 most overpaid CEOs, said the report. Broadcom and Disney didn’t comment. “Overall CEO pay continues to increase,” but so, too, does shareholder “opposition to high CEO pay,” said the report.

Comments are due March 6, replies March 13 on Viasat and Redwire requests to be designated as Connect America Fund eligible telecom carriers, said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 09-197 and Thursday's Daily Digest. Both won CAF Phase II auction support over 10 years, with Viasat bidding $122.5 million to serve 190,595 locations in 20 states and Redwire bidding $4.8 million to serve 8,041 Oklahoma locations. Viasat's petition seeks ETC status for Alabama, California, Florida and West Virginia, which have declined to exercise their jurisdiction, and says it will provide satellite broadband and voice service. Windstream in November called Viasat's funding a waste because it would provide the "same high-latency service" it already provides (see 1811080031). But Viasat replied that "stringent" FCC criteria require it to offer a service tier and pricing it doesn't otherwise offer, including usage allowance that's expected to rise (see 1811130034). As a federally recognized tribal entity, Redwire is not subject to Oklahoma regulatory jurisdiction, says its petition, which notes it will deploy a wireless network to provide broadband and voice service to anchor institutions, businesses and residences.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr welcomed a draft broadband report under a Telecom Act Section 706 mandate, while Public Knowledge was critical and called for releasing the item or more details before a vote. That continued the mixed initial reaction (see 1902200057). The draft, which finds advanced telecom capability is being adequately deployed nationwide, shows "the FCC’s policies are working," Carr said in an emailed statement. "Internet speeds are up, prices are down, and more Americans were connected with fixed, high-speed broadband last year than at any point in history." He said he's "incredibly proud of the work America’s telecom crews are doing," "glad this FCC is making it easier for next-gen broadband infrastructure to be built," and looks forward "to building on these positive results.” But Alisa Valentin, a PK communications justice fellow, disputed the FCC narrative "that the agency has 'substantially narrowed' the digital divide." It "fails to match up with the stories we hear from those who live in rural areas or who experience digital redlining in urban communities," she emailed. "If the FCC is going to make sweeping claims like this one, it should release either the report or a detailed fact sheet before the full Commission votes on it. Rural Americans have a right to know how the FCC can justify a conclusion that doesn't reflect their reality." The FCC faced a Feb. 5 deadline for issuing the report but was delayed due to the government shutdown. Chairman Ajit Pai, who Thursday highlighted his planned votes for a March 15 commissioners' meeting (see 1902210048), circulated the draft report Tuesday (see 1902190057). He could put it on a March 8 agenda for the meeting if it hasn't been released by then. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel criticized the draft Tuesday. Other commissioners didn't comment.

Too often 5G-related spectrum allocation talks among the government and wireless and satellite interests devolve "into un-neighborly yelling matches" revolving around spectrum hoarding instead of cooperation, Ligado Senior Vice President-Government Relations and Public Affairs Ashley Durmer blogged Tuesday. Durmer also said "arbitrary rules" making spectrum unusable "won’t cut it." She didn't specifically discuss Ligado's hope of introducing terrestrial low-power service in the 1526-1536 MHz band.