Correction: The group that obtained net neutrality complaints from the FCC is the National Hispanic Media Coalition (see 1709150031).

Nokia added its voice to the growing chorus of handset makers that oppose a possible FCC mandate for ATSC 3.0 reception in smartphones, though the commission hasn't proposed one. “Such a mandate would present technical challenges and disserve the public interest,” said Nokia in a letter posted Friday in docket 16-142. Nokia, which sold its smartphone business to Microsoft, joins Ericsson and Motorola in arguing that 3.0 reception in smartphones is a bad idea because it would require handset form-factor changes that consumers would reject or would degrade cellular coverage performance (see 1709150039 and 1709130050). T-Mobile was the first to cite its opposition, alleging Sinclair is oversimplifying the complexities of building 3.0 into smartphones, and a mandate wouldn't serve the public interest (see 1709120020). Sinclair denies seeking a mandate but said overcoming complexities of 3.0 in smartphones is a worthy challenge. The FCC has a self-imposed deadline of a 2017 order authorizing 3.0 as a final voluntary standard (see 1702230060). Nokia is “actively working with several carriers to supply equipment for expeditious deployment of networks” supporting the 600 MHz band, the company wrote. For smartphones to receive 3.0, they would need to operate at “additional frequencies, possibly as low as 470 MHz,” Nokia said. If the same antenna is used to receive 3.0 signals in the 470-608 MHz band in addition to the 600 MHz band, “antenna performance is likely to degrade,” it said. “This antenna performance degradation can directly translate into significant loss in the coverage benefit typically provided by these lower frequencies.” Whatever “limited physical space” exists in a smartphone “should be available for more valuable uses than ATSC 3.0,” such as MIMO operation, for which there exists “very valid business justification,” said the company. “A new antenna design” will be needed, it said. “The ATSC 3.0 chip will also need to be accommodated on the device next to the cellular circuitry. The ATSC 3.0 receiver chain will need to be isolated from the cellular receiver chain to mitigate any interference issues.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn visited Florida Monday to inspect damage from Hurricane Irma. The trip included a meeting with Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center staff and visits to communication facilities affected by the storm. “Lessons learned from #Irma will help improve the #reliability and #resiliency of our nation's communications networks,” Clyburn tweeted. Pai will visit 911 call centers in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas later in the week “to discuss the importance of connectivity for public safety services in rural America and ways to bridge the digital divide,” a media advisory said. TV viewership in Texas homes unaffected by Tropical Storm Harvey rose Aug. 27 as it approached the coast and flooding began, comScore reported. “This difference was most pronounced in the morning and early afternoon hours, but continued to be evident throughout the entire day." The combined total-day average audience for Houston’s ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates was more than 537,000 households during Harvey, comScore said, a 140 percent increase over the previous week. In Beaumont, major TV stations had an average audience “double that of the relevant cable channels across the entire broadcast day,” the company said. Four Florida public safety answering points are still down due to Irma, same as Sunday, said Monday’s Disaster Information Reporting System release. Two PSAPs are still experiencing difficulties in the U.S. Virgin Islands, also unchanged. In Florida, 3 percent of cellsites are down, an improvement from 4 percent. In the USVI, 54 percent of cellsites are out of service, an increase from 50 percent. Florida has at least 893,409 wireline and cable subscribers without service, an improvement from 1.1 million. “Large numbers” of consumers are without cable or wireline service in the USVI due to widespread power outages, the report said. Florida has five TV stations out, the USVI have two down, same as Sunday. Twenty-seven radio stations are out of service in Florida and the USVI.

FCC members proposed creating uniform procedural rules for certain complaint proceedings -- including on pole attachments -- "delegated to the Enforcement Bureau and currently handled by its Market Disputes Resolution Division (MDRD) and Telecommunications Consumers Division (TCD)." The proceedings are governed by three sets of rules that "are not congruent and the inconsistencies can lead to needless confusion," said an NPRM Monday in docket 17-245. It proposed "to streamline and consolidate the procedural rules governing formal complaints" filed under Communications Act Section 208, pole attachment complaints filed under Section 224, and formal complaints on advanced communications services and equipment filed under sections 255, 716, and 718 ("Disability Access complaints"). "We propose amending our rules so that formal complaints currently managed by MDRD (Section 208 formal complaints and Section 224 pole attachment complaints) and TCD (Disability Access complaints) are subject to one set of procedural rules," the NPRM said. "We use the Section 208 rules as a starting point because they have worked well in resolving hundreds of complaints filed since 1997. In some instances, however, we propose modifying those rules where we believe the pole attachment complaint rules would improve the complaint process. Moreover, we propose retaining specific pole attachment rules that are unique and necessary to resolving those particular types of complaints." The NPRM proposed a 30-day deadline for answering formal complaints, unless otherwise ordered by staff, with replies due 10 days later. Because the rules are procedural, the commission said notice and comment aren't required under the Administrative Procedure Act, but to build a more informed record, it asked for comments and replies 30 and 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. Last week, the FCC told Congress about other ways it's improving bureau procedures (see 1709180057).

The FCC extended the deadline for regulatory fees for entities in areas affected by Hurricane Irma or Tropical Storm Harvey by three days and deactivated the Disaster Information Reporting System for all counties in Alabama, Georgia and Puerto Rico, said public notices. The FCC is “mindful” of the damage caused by the storm, so the deadline for regulatory fees was moved from Sept. 26 to Sept. 29 in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and portions of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia, the Office of Managing Director said. Partial deactivation of the DIRS is at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Public Safety Bureau said. DIRS is still active in Florida and the USVI, that PN said. Six Florida public safety answering points are still experiencing problems due to Irma, down from 20 Thursday, said Friday's DIRS report. In Florida, 8.5 percent of cellsites are down, an improvement from 13 percent Thursday. In the USVI, 51 percent of cellsites are out of service, down from 54 percent. Florida has 1.6 million wireline and cable subscribers without service. “The number of cable systems and wireline subscribers out of service is reduced significantly from yesterday because, in addition to removing from the total states/territories deactivated in DIRS, the FCC found that one or more providers had previously filed multiple entries, resulting in double/triple counting number of subscribers and inaccurate percentages per day,” the report said. Duplicative entries were removed, the report said. Twenty-four radio stations are out of service in Florida and the USVI. Florida has three TV stations out, the USVI have two down.

The FCC addressed questions it raised in June when it approved rules for states to opt out of FirstNet (see 1706220019). Friday's order largely adopts what FirstNet requested (see 1707190017) and was a win for the nascent network, public safety officials said. The FCC said it would adopt recommendations from FirstNet on the use of access point names (APNs). These “requirements are consistent with industry standards for LTE deployment, resulting in an understandable and achievable benchmark,” the order said. “No party disputes FirstNet’s arguments or proposes a viable alternative standard … in response to FirstNet’s proposal.” Chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC made the right moves. “As communities devastated by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma begin the hard work of rebuilding, our work at the Commission to promote public safety continues,” Pai said. “We take another step towards the creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network.” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel noted the order was her first recorded vote as a returning commissioner.

The FCC seems unfazed by more than 50,000 consumer open internet complaints as it proposes to undo Title II net neutrality regulation under the Communications Act, said Carmen Scurato, National Hispanic Media Coalition director-policy and legal affairs. "Consumers are complaining their ISPs are not being neutral conduits to the internet, and that's really at the heart of net neutrality," she said Friday, a day after the commission posted about 70,000 pages of complaints and related documents. The FCC responded to NHMC requests for access to 47,000 open internet complaints under the Freedom of Information Act and for the agency to post the documents publicly (see 1709060029). A spokeswoman said the commission Thursday "produced the final batch of documents to complete its response" to NHMC's FOIA request. "FCC staff dedicated more than 1,000 hours to redacting consumers’ personal and sensitive information. The FCC is committed to transparency and openness, and went above and beyond the requirements of FOIA,” she said. Scurato said NHMC hasn't had time to fully analyze all the documents, but she believes the FCC received almost 54,000 net neutrality complaints. She was surprised the commission included language that said: "These documents represent information provided by the public that has not been verified by the FCC." The disclaimer shows regulators "haven't verified these complaints and whether consumers have been harmed," she said. "They haven't taken the time to analyze all the evidence that is critical to the net neutrality proceeding, and yet the NPRM suggests there's an absence of consumer harm." Scurato said "a lot of materials" are still missing. NHMC understands there were 18,000 carrier responses, she said, but the regulator posted only 823 pages. NHMC also understands the FCC hasn't had an open internet ombudsman to respond to complaints since January, and the agency has hardly responded to complaints since then, she said. Chairman Ajit Pai declined to comment on the complaints or their significance, after a speech to the Center for Democracy & Technology (see 1709150062).

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said "bridging the digital divide" is his "highest priority" and vital to free expression and America's civic future. "To work, to learn, to educate, to heal, but most relevant here, to speak -- these are incredibly important functions, and so in this mission we simply cannot fail and we cannot falter," he said Friday at a Center for Democracy & Technology conference on online speech (he deviated at times from prepared remarks). Pai said free speech is being both challenged and stimulated by modern communications, but on balance, "the positives outweigh the negatives." He cited polls showing a lack of appreciation among Americans for freedom of speech, along with "regular demands" the FCC pull the licenses of Fox News, MSNBC or CNN because people disagree with opinions expressed on the networks. "Setting aside the fact that the FCC doesn’t license cable channels, these demands are fundamentally at odds with our legal and cultural traditions," he said. Pai also sees positive signs, with expansion of internet access particularly hopeful. But for "too many," the discussion "is academic," he said, because they are on the wrong side of the digital divide, lacking adequate access to high-speed broadband. "The most significant digital divides are along economic and geographic lines," he said. "Basically, if you’re wealthy and live in a city, you should be in good shape. If you’re low-income and/or live in a rural area, you’re much more likely to have a problem." He said the FCC is trying to close those gaps, including by revamping $6.5 billion in USF subsidies to support both mobile and fixed broadband services over the next 10 years, and by removing regulatory barriers to network investment.

Motorola Mobility “overstates the complexities" associated with building ATSC 3.0 reception into smartphones (see 1709130050), said Robert Folliard, chairman of the Advanced TV Broadcasting Alliance of low-power TV interests. Folliard’s group is urging the FCC to require ATSC 3.0 reception in smartphones when 3.0 broadcasts become available to 25 percent of the U.S. population. Motorola said that policy position has the company “concerned” because mandating 3.0 smartphone functionality “without regard to consumer demand is not in the public interest,” and would involve “significant technical challenges and limitations.” But Folliard thinks “many of the same issues identified by Motorola are ones that carriers must solve in order to take advantage of the 600 MHz spectrum recently purchased in the auction,” he told us Wednesday. “Regardless, the challenge is worth unraveling since the upside to consumers is so high.”

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla, urged cable, phone and internet companies to provide rebates for service interruptions and a 60-day waiver from late fees for victims of Hurricane Irma. He made the request in a letter Thursday to the CEOs of AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Enterprises, Frontier Communications, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. “I’ve been heartened by the many stories of Floridians helping Floridians as I crisscross the state to survey the damage," wrote the Commerce Committee ranking member. "I ask that you follow their example and do all you can to ease the burden on those suffering from the storm.” Charter said its crews "are working around the clock to restore service" and sought to ease concerns. "We recognize the extraordinary impact Irma has had on the lives of many Floridians and are committed to working with customers to provide appropriate credits," it said. "Customers who have suffered damage to their homes will not be charged for any equipment damaged or lost during the storm, and we have also suspended collections in impacted areas." The FCC reported Thursday public safety answering points affected by Irma dropped from 29 to 21 in Florida and from five to one in Georgia, with two still affected in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The number of cellsites out of service was 1.2 percent in Alabama (up from 0.6 percent), 13.4 percent in Florida (down from 18 percent), 2.2 percent in Georgia (down from 5.3 percent), 6.3 percent in Puerto Rico (down from 10 percent) and 54 percent in the USVI (down from 55 percent). At least 8.26 million cable and wireline subscribers (up from 8.19 million) were without service in affected areas of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. There are 2,188 non-mobile switching centers out (up from 1,040) in those three states. One fewer TV station is off-air, at nine now, and radio stations "out of service" fell to 30 from 39. Florida's Public Service Commission Wednesday asked residents to "be patient" as "electric utilities work to restore power." SiriusXM "never dealt with two Category 4 hurricanes within a week, which has just been devastating for the country," so it's too early to gauge how “material” the impact to the company will be from Harvey and Irma, CEO Jim Meyer told a Goldman Sachs investor conference Wednesday. Harvey destroyed a “huge number” of cars in Texas, and “I suspect we're going to see the same thing in Florida” from Irma, “and so there will be a transition of the fleet,” he said.