Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Congressional Democrats are returning from a month-plus recess more willing to vent frustrations over President Joe Biden’s delay in announcing nominees to two Democratic FCC seats. They cite growing concerns the sometimes-lengthy Senate confirmation process could result in the current 2-2 split commission switching to a 2-1 GOP majority in January. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s term expired in June 2020, meaning she would have to leave Jan. 3 absent Senate reconfirmation.

Delay in getting a fifth member on the FCC is preventing the commission from acting on some key issues for local governments, said NATOA annual conference panelists Tuesday. Localities may need to explore new ways to maintain franchise fee revenue as more people cut pay TV for over-the-top services like Netflix, said others.

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday she’s deferring to Congress in deciding how to parcel out the proposed $65 billion in broadband money included in the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684). She sidestepped questions during a virtual Politico event about whether senators’ decision to parcel out the bulk of connectivity funding in HR-3684 to NTIA indicates a lack of faith in the commission. Capitol Hill leaders said during the event they continue to push for lawmakers to pass a national privacy standard and revamp Communications Decency Act Section 230 during this Congress.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the biggest question mark as the agency considers a draft order and Further NPRM on the 4.9 GHz band, indicated Wednesday he may support a proposal to take another look at the band, teed up for a Sept. 30 commissioner vote. Carr was the lone dissenter (see 2105270071) when the FCC stayed rules OK’d last year giving states control.

USTelecom promotes Trevor Jones to vice president-government affairs ... Analog Devices taps Janene Asgeirsson from Acacia Communications as senior vice president-chief legal officer and corporate secretary ... International Trade Commission promotes Monica Bhattacharyya from its Office of Unfair Import Investigations to administrative law judge for Tariff Act Section 337 patent infringement cases.

The FCC got pushback from some satellite operators for creating different subcategories of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) regulatory fees, with different fee amounts. Any challenge to that aspect of the FY 2021 regulatory fee order adopted late last month (see 2108270072) is in limbo, satellite industry officials told us last week. Industry lawyers said there's no impetus to mount a protest or rejoinder now since it seemingly won't affect payments this cycle because the fees are due later this month. Challenge to the NGSO subcategories could after the order's publication.

President Joe Biden to nominate Willie Phillips, chairman of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; he remains PSC chairman until he's confirmed at FERC, per a spokesperson for the DC agency ... Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reappoints Arthur Graham and Andrew Fay to Public Service Commission; the governor's office says "each reappointment is for a four-year term and is subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate."

Cable and wireless industry officials urged quick action on pole access disputes when the Florida Public Service Commission starts regulating pole attachments next year. PSC staff heard testimony at a partially virtual Wednesday workshop about draft rules for handling pole attachment complaints, the agency's opening hearing on implementing a law enacted in June (see 2108120062). The rulemaking process will “lay out what the sandbox is going to look like,” said former PSC Chairman Ronald Brise in an interview.

New Orleans and nearby Louisiana parishes faced 911 outages Monday after Hurricane Ida hit, local authorities reported. Ida caused “significant impacts” to AT&T's Louisiana network due to “massive power outages and storm damage,” the carrier said Monday. The FCC disaster information reporting system (DIRS) was activated Sunday for affected counties in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Staffers were deployed “to assess the post-landfall impact to communications networks and to assist in efforts to restore service as quickly as possible,” acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Saturday before landfall: “We know the reality of the danger from this kind of hurricane all too well.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau is seeking to refresh the record on use of the 5030-5091 MHz band by drones, after taking comment in 2019 (see 1912270039). Last month, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks urged the FCC to focus on the band (see 2108050056). The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) asked the FCC to develop rules for using the spectrum for unmanned aircraft system controls (see 1909120073). The bureau seeks to “update the record to reflect operational, technical, and regulatory developments that have occurred over the last three years in the rapidly growing and evolving area of UAS operations and that are relevant to this proceeding,” said a notice in Monday’s Daily Digest: “We also seek to explore certain aspects of the AIA proposal in greater detail than is reflected in the current record.” The focus has been on direct radio-line-of-sight communications between controller and drones, but “we seek comment on whether the Commission should consider licensing alternatives in this band to support the growing interest in beyond radio-line-of-sight … operations,” the bureau said. Comment deadlines are to come in a Federal Register notice. “While the issues are complex and will require careful work with our federal partners at the FAA and NTIA, I’m hopeful that the new round of comments will allow the Commission to address the full spectrum needs of UAS and enable this important industry to fulfill its full potential,” Starks said.