The California Public Utilities Commission wants the FCC to not proceed with its phase one Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction until it has better broadband mapping data, it told an adviser to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, posted Tuesday in docket 19-126. The CPUC said working with tribal entities to recruit providers for RDOF requires substantial lead time, asking again that "the FCC not begin the RDOF Phase I auction this year." California is one of 48 states eligible for such participation. New York and Alaska have conflicts with "previously established programs to fund rural broadband in those states," the FCC said Tuesday, and are ineligible. The agency estimates 6 million homes and businesses could benefit from phase one. States with the most bid eligible locations are California, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. Those with the least are Connecticut, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Delaware and New Jersey. Commissioners vote on the rules Jan. 30 (see 2001080049).
Facing continuing local opposition, a Pennsylvania House committee canceled a Tuesday vote on the latest version of a small-cells bill that failed for the past three years. HB-1400 aims to streamline 5G wireless infrastructure deployment by pre-empting localities in the right of way (see 1906180060). The Consumer Affairs Committee and Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Frank Farry (R) want to "work with some of the stakeholders over the next weeks to smooth out some of the language," emailed Dawn Pelletier, legislative assistant for bill author Farry. "I don’t expect anything to happen on the bill before March." Three state associations for boroughs, municipalities and township commissioners remained opposed, in a Monday letter to House Consumer Affairs Chairman Brad Roae (R) and Minority Chairman Robert Matzie (D). The latest amendment aligns with FCC rules “on the size and height of the facilities and makes improvements to the indemnification and restoration provisions, as well as the addition of a rural broadband component,” the groups wrote. “These issues are secondary in nature, however, compared to our central issue, which is the preemption of local zoning authority over the management of wireless facilities in the public rights-of-way.” Local governments could become “neutral with concerns” if legislators further amend the bill by lengthening shot clocks on approving applications, preserving local zoning authority for new poles and allowing some municipalities to charge more than $270 as allowed by the FCC wireless infrastructure order.
The Vermont senator behind the state’s net neutrality law is back with an ISP privacy bill. Sen. Virginia Lyons (D) Friday introduced SB-260 to counter Congress' 2017 repeal of 2016 FCC broadband privacy rules. Lyons authored Vermont’s law, currently on hold, to limit procurement to ISPs that follow net neutrality rules (see 1910010044).
Puerto Rico cellsite outages dropped to 1.8 percent, from 12.9 percent Friday (see 2001100049), said the FCC disaster information reporting system Monday report on recent earthquakes. The commission reported 31.7 percent out in its first release Wednesday. Cable and wireline subscribers without service dropped by about 48,600 over the weekend to 30,288.
Puerto Rico wireless outages dropped to 12.9 percent of cellsites in areas affected by recent earthquakes, said the FCC disaster information reporting system Friday report. Outages continued to fall from 19.5 percent the previous day and 31.7 percent Wednesday (see 2001090047). Power outages have mostly been to blame. Cable and wireline subscribers without service dropped by 94,500 to 78,892. Chairman Ajit Pai said it's "important to future-proof" the territory's communications networks after hurricanes Irma and Maria, in letters dated Dec. 31 and released Friday. They were addressed to Reps. Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, R-Puerto Rico; Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y.; and Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.
NARUC leaders urged FCC commissioners to delay sharing 6 GHz frequencies with unlicensed devices including for Wi-Fi until automatic frequency coordination can be proven to ward off interference. “Radiofrequency interference to these mission-critical communications systems in the 6 GHz band risks causing interruptions of the delivery of essential energy and water services as well as the loss of communications with railroad positive train control systems and police, fire and rescue operations,” NARUC President Brandon Presley and Telecom Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson wrote all five members in a Thursday letter emailed to us the next day. NARUC passed a resolution on that subject in November (see 1911210011).
Connecticut union workers opposed a pole-attachment proposal meant to reduce delay, while Crown Castle said the Public Utility Regulatory Authority could go further, in exceptions filed Friday in docket 19-01-52. PURA plans to vote Wednesday on an interim order to allow pole attachers to employ third-party contractors for surveying and engineering work to mitigate delay by single pole administrators and ILECs (see 1912260016). The plan saves time at the price of union jobs and public and worker safety, and would direct Frontier Communications to violate its collective bargaining agreement with the union, wrote Communications Workers of America Local 1298 President David Weidlich. The draft correctly solves several problems but is incomplete, not acknowledging wireless attachers even though small cells are growing fast, said Crown Castle. PURA should soon address make-ready problems and ILEC underground conduit policies, the wireless infrastructure company added. Verizon and the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association supported the draft; the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel said it has no objections.
Avnet is at CES looking to reinvent itself as a turnkey IoT provider, Shankar Ramani, vice president-global IT operations, told us Wednesday in Las Vegas. The company launched a partner program, based on Microsoft’s Azure IoT Suite, to help developers build complete IoT platforms that connect certified devices using hardware and software. He compared this to Apple’s App Store: “They didn’t build every app you have on your phone; they went out and got third-party app developers to build, but the platform was secure and created that customer experience that allowed for billing and revenue generation.” When a customer talks about solutions that are “budget-neutral” for an entire city, “people talk less about the actual components and more about the end-user value,” the executive noted. Smart cities have been a CES focus (see 2001090037).
Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board President Sandra Torres Lopez said 26 percent of the territory's network was operating with connection problems Tuesday (see 2001080006).
Washington state lawmakers will take another look at their privacy bill (HB-1854) from last year, at a hearing Jan. 17 in the House Innovation, Technology and Economic Development Committee, the panel said Wednesday. State Sen. Reuven Carlyle (D) plans a revival of the Senate version (see 1911190027).