FCC "systems and some website content" will be unavailable Saturday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., “for annual emergency readiness testing,” says a banner running atop the fcc.gov this week. "This is a test to ensure agency systems resiliency should we experience a network outage," a spokesperson emailed. "While some public facing applications will be inaccessible," the electronic comment filing system and the electronic document system "will remain available; however, if any functions rely on internally hosted applications, those applications and functions will not be available.”

NARUC plans to vote next month on a resolution urging the FCC to extend the Mobility Fund Phase II process “until such time as all participants can be assured that their challenges are effective and the eligibility map is reflective of the on-the-ground experience of consumers,” said draft resolutions posted Tuesday. The Consumers and the Public Interest Committee plans to vote on the draft by Mississippi Public Service Commission Chairman Brandon Presley at NARUC’s annual meeting Nov. 11-14 in Orlando. If the FCC can’t assure state commissioners, “NARUC urges the FCC to withdraw the current process … and create an improved process that will ensure that the areas … receive the universal support required to fulfill the purpose of the fund,” the draft said. Some members found technological glitches in the FCC’s speed-test app, particularly the Apple iOS app, it said. Commissioners “found it difficult to supply the required numbers of tests given the lack of human resources; dealt with overwhelmed FCC employees who are under immense pressure to answer a large volume of questions; and found the entire FCC process to be underdeveloped and inefficient, leading to a lack of trust on the part of these NARUC members that the final eligibility maps will accurately reflect the need for service in the poorest parts of the nation.” The group plans to vote on a draft resolution promoting collaboration between state and federal regulators to prevent cyberattacks against electric utilities. It proposes the association organize a cybersecurity summit and develop best practices. The FCC declined comment.

Maryland’s Montgomery County Council decided not to vote on a 5G proposal to streamline local processes to spur small-cell wireless infrastructure deployment, meaning it will have to wait until a new council convenes in December. Members were to vote Tuesday after the council last week amended the bill to stipulate more wireless infrastructure applications go through a conditional-use process that requires hearings rather than the quicker limited-use process originally sought (see 1810230030). Council President Hans Riemer (D) and outgoing County Executive Ike Leggett opposed the amendment. Riemer hopes to take up the issue with the next council, he said Tuesday. “We need to support the future of wireless while balancing the impact it will have on our communities,” Riemer said Tuesday. The original measure did that, but “several changes proposed by my colleagues would have undermined the central purpose of the zoning measure,” he said. “A zoning measure based on a goal of keeping wireless away from our residents is not realistic or desirable.” Riemer is up for election next week and his one-year term as president expires in December.

A concern with the coming era of smart cities is a potential for data misuse or a surveillance state, said FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly at a Charter Communications event Tuesday (remarks later posted). He said privacy advocates are misguided to fret about consumer data being used for marketing purposes when far greater harms could come from the state using data to control or punish citizens. He said the FCC has been trying to ensure the proper regulatory framework for smart city rollouts as it tries to remove state and local deployment barriers and guard against its own mission creep. He said beyond the various millimeter band auctions to come, starting with the 28 GHz band, a number of other bands need FCC attention, such as 26, 23 and 50 GHz. He said the agency needs to focus on opening the 3.7-4.2 GHz band and spectrum below 3.5 GHz. He said the FCC should start a proceeding to review the 5.9 GHz band and determine its best use since dedicated short-range communications systems there seem increasingly unlikely due to alternatives like cellular vehicle-to-everything technology. Monday, the FCC released initial results on Wi-Fi coexistence with DSRC (see 1810290063). Columbia, South Carolina, Mayor Steve Benjamin (D) said smart cities raise a variety of questions, such as ensuring network deployment in public rights of way doesn't impede other users and that all ROW users "pay their fair share" for that access. On rollout in rural areas, "we don't yet have the answers" or the economies of scale that would make the technology available, said NTIA Senior Broadband Program Specialist Jean Rice. Tests are ongoing in states involving aspects of smart cities such as telehealth or agriculture, Rice noted. Criticizing the privacy law California passed this summer, Chamber of Commerce Assistant Policy Counsel Jordan Crenshaw said the Chamber wants to stem the tide of different state laws and has a working group on developing privacy principles for model legislation to be pitched to Congress. He wants protection ensuring localities don't charge unreasonable siting fees and regulatory certainty in the form of "a permanent net neutrality solution" that doesn't involve treating cable as a Communications Act Title II common carrier.

CTA hired Akin Gump to draft a complaint that, if pursued in the U.S. Court of International Trade, would seek an injunction blocking tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports before they rise to 25 percent on Jan. 1, we learned from those familiar with the plans. The association is shopping the draft around with other anti-tariff trade groups, seeking legal and financial backing for a court challenge over the IP-related sanctions, they said. Association staffers briefed CTA members on the strategy during an annual conference two weeks ago in Boston (see 1810160041), we're told. Though CTA hasn’t persuaded another trade group to “step up to the plate yet,” there’s time to win backing because no court action would be contemplated before January, said one high-placed individual in CTA membership. We polled a half-dozen trade groups whose opposition to the tariffs is well-publicized to gauge their interest in joining the litigation. Few commented Monday, nor did CTA. The Telecommunications Industry Association said Monday it doesn't now "plan to join the litigation."

The Supreme Court didn't announce Monday whether it will review, let stand or vacate a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit that affirmed the prior FCC's 2015 net neutrality order. A decision on Daniel Berninger v. FCC, No. 17-498, wasn't on the court's order list after the case was distributed for justices' Friday conference. It was again distributed for potential consideration at this coming Friday's conference, said a notice in the docket. Berninger wants the court to grant cert and review the case on the merits, but net neutrality advocates urge cert denial. Given the current commission's order undoing Communications Act Title II net neutrality regulation, the government and ISP groups want the court to grant cert but vacate the D.C. Circuit judgment and remand the 2015 order litigation with directions to declare related legal challenges moot, or to the consider the effect of the 2018 order.

The Office of Engineering and Technology Monday released the first phase of testing results on sharing in the 5.9 GHz band between Wi-Fi and dedicated short-range communications systems, as promised last week by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1810230038). “We found the prototype devices reliably detected DSRC signals,” OET said. “The prototype U-NII-4 devices were able to detect a co-channel DSRC signal and implement post detection steps as claimed by the submitters. This Phase I test report was peer reviewed and the information is included in the record.” The report was coordinated with the NTIA and the Department of Transportation, OET said. OET is next seeking comment by Nov. 28, replies Dec. 13, in docket 13-49. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said the results weren’t “all that surprising given the simple questions posed." The "entire debate has gravitated away from the type of sharing regime envisioned in the testing,” he said. “Instead, the Commission should move past this and initiate a rulemaking to reallocate at least 45 megahertz of the band, which is completely unused today for automobile safety.”

Pew Center analysis of 2015 U.S. Census Bureau data found 15 percent of U.S. households with school-age children don’t have a high-speed internet connection at home. The center also found some teens “are more likely to face digital hurdles when trying to complete their homework.” About a third of households with children ages 6-17 and annual income below $30,000 don’t have a connection at home, compared with 6 percent of such households earning $75,000 or more, Pew said Friday. The disparities “are particularly pronounced for black and Hispanic households with school-age children -- especially those with low household incomes,” Pew said. The numbers “should be a wake-up call,” said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “Nearly one-in-five teens cannot complete their homework because of the Homework Gap, and impoverished and minority students are hit especially hard.”

Mark McDiarmid is a T-Mobile executive (see 1810250022).

The FCC Wireline Bureau granted waiver of the agency’s E-rate program invoicing rules to assist schools and libraries affected by Hurricane Michael. The Florida Department of Management Services sought a waiver, arguing that entities in storm-affected counties in Florida may be unable to meet Monday's invoice deadline for recurring services provided in funding year 2017, the bureau said in docket 02-6 Friday. “Such waiver relief would also be appropriate for entities located in counties in Georgia that were similarly impacted by Hurricane Michael,” the bureau said. Schools and libraries in affected areas now have until Feb. 26 to file the required invoices. The Hurricane Michael disaster information reporting system was deactivated, the Public Safety Bureau said in a public notice also Friday. It said the FCC will still monitor the status of communications services as restoration work continues. DIRS was deactivated for Alabama and Georgia earlier this month but remained active for Florida (see 1810190058). According to the agency (see here), two Florida counties as of Friday had between 10 and 15 percent of cellsites out of service; one TV station, seven FM radio stations and two AM radio stations were reported being out of service.