CTIA urged the FCC to extend the compliance deadlines in a draft SIM swap order set for a commissioner vote Wednesday (see 2310250070). The proposed rules provide a six-month compliance deadline, which CTIA asked be revised to at least 18 months, with 24 months being ideal. CTIA also urged “targeted changes” to other parts of the order and said the FCC should “refrain from using this proceeding as a vehicle to try to establish broader agency authority and new definitions for the [Customer Proprietary Network Information] framework.” CTIA representatives met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr, Anna Gomez and Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-341.
The FCC violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it amended its rules to incorporate four new equipment testing standards, and did so without the proper notice and comment protocol, alleged iFixit, Public Resource and Make Community in a petition for review Wednesday (23-1311) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The FCC didn’t publish the proposed rules in the Federal Register, and they weren’t otherwise “reasonably available for use in commenting on them,” said the petition. The petitioners aren’t asking the court to vacate the rules, only to remand them to the FCC for a new and proper NPRM, it said. The amendments were published as a final order in the Sept. 29 FR and took effect Oct. 30. An FCC spokesperson declined to comment Thursday.
Pointing to growing U.S. concerns about increased cybersecurity risks and threats, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau is adding to its cybersecurity and privacy resources, bureau Chief Loyaan Egal said Thursday at a Media Institute lunch. The bureau has "more than doubled" staff handling these types of cases, with a number of hires having privacy and data projection experience, he said. By early next year, the bureau will have four senior officials with significant DOJ and interagency experience in national security, data protection and cybersecurity, he said. The $150,000 FCC fine against Dish Network for improper disposal of a satellite (see 2310020049) "made clear that the U.S. government is serious about enforcing the rules governing satellite orbital operations" and orbital debris, he said. The FCC's investigation into and nearly $300 million fine against perpetrators of scam auto warranty robocalls (see 2212210054) resulted in a 99% decline in those types of calls, he said. Asked about the challenge of collecting fines bought by the bureau, Egal said DOJ has "a ton of priorities." He added, "But we believe this is a priority." Egal said access to Bank Secrecy Act information, as Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has urged (see 2306080043), would allow for expanded FCC investigations related to finances of bad actors and let the agency rebut arguments about inability to pay.
CTIA and NCTA locked horns in reply comments on whether the FCC should examine spectrum aggregation limits. AT&T asked for a rulemaking in 2021, focused on mid-band holdings, but the FCC's questions in a September notice (see 2309220064) go beyond what AT&T sought (see 2310060051). T-Mobile took fire from Dish Network and AT&T.
An FCC NPRM released Thursday proposes allowing schools and libraries to apply for funding from the E-rate program for Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet access services that can be used off-premises. FCC Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented, as they did last month on a declaratory ruling clarifying that the use of Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding (see 2310190056).
The House approved an amendment Wednesday night to the FY 2024 Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee funding bill (HR-4664) that would defund the FCC's Communications Equity and Diversity Council, but the proposal’s prospects remained in doubt Thursday after chamber leaders abruptly pulled the measure off the floor amid misgivings from some Republicans. House GOP leaders are eyeing a pivot to a continuing resolution to fund the government past Nov. 17 but were still deliberating on its contours Thursday afternoon.
“The state of minority owned broadcasting continues to deteriorate as each day of FCC inaction and indifference passes,” said the International Black Broadcasters Association in a letter calling for the agency to authorize radio geotargeting. The lack of geotargeting is “harming all of radio, but it’s especially harming minority-owned broadcasters who tend to be smaller and struggle to raise capital,” the filing said. NAB and a number of larger broadcasters have said the geotargeted radio proposal pushed by GeoBroadcast Solutions -- the company that developed the technology-- would create interference problems. GBS and other proponents say their tests of the tech show otherwise. Other media such as cable “can and do geotarget precisely because it’s good for business and is critical to attracting capital in today’s fragmented media and information marketplace,” said the IBBA filing. “But radio can’t broadcast localized content to its audience because of a relic in FCC rules that effectively bars radio broadcasters from doing so,” the filing said. “What possibly could be the public interest rationale for maintaining this disparate treatment of radio?
The FCC should retain local ownership limits on FM radio, said multiple music licensing groups and low-power FM entity REC Networks in an ex parte meeting with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Monday, per an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-310. The meeting included representatives of the musicFIRST Coalition, the Future of Music Coalition, SoundExchange and the American Association of Independent Music. “The current numeric limits on local commercial FM radio station ownership remain necessary in the public interest to preserve and promote ownership diversity, viewpoint diversity including through music and lyrics as well as news and information,” the filing said.
The FCC amended its rules to retain radiotelephone requirements for vessels subject to the recently expired Great Lakes Agreement (GLA) with Canada, effective immediately, per a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register. The GLA established requirements on the usage and maintenance of VHF communications equipment for safety purposes aboard all vessels 65 feet or over in length, most towing vessels and vessels carrying more than six passengers for hire on the Great Lakes. The FCC incorporated the requirements into its rules. Following consultation with the U.S. Coast Guard, the FCC also modified the rules to require inspections every 48 months, rather than the 13 months previously required. “Ensuring the availability of critical maritime communications has been one of the Commission’s fundamental obligations since the earliest days of the Communications Act,” the notice said: “Similar to the terrestrial emergency 911 system, the maritime services provide for the unique distress, as well as the operational and personal communications, needs of vessels at sea and on inland waterways.”
Auto Innovators, which represents the auto industry, asked the FCC to modify its rules to enable wireless vehicle charging in the 79-90 kHz band. It asked for a record refresh in a meeting with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. The group urged the charging be allowed at 11 kilowatts with a field strength limit of 82.8 decibels relative to one microamp measured at 10 meters. “These parameters will allow wireless charging at speeds comparable to the best at-home conductive/plug-in charging options,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-226. Standards groups support the change, the filing said.