The FCC should use its upcoming relocation as an opportunity to break up its “siloed” organizational structure, said a joint letter to all five commissioners signed by a collection of former officials, academics and longtime advocates. They included ex-Commissioners Henry Rivera and Deborah Taylor Tate and former General Counsel Henry Geller. “Because companies offering essentially substitutable services are often regulated by different bureaus, and thus receive different treatment, the FCC's legacy 'silo structure' is no longer viable.” The agency should replace the current Media, Wireless and Wireline bureaus with three “function-based” divisions: Economics and Policy, Licensing and Grantmaking, and Engineering, the letter said. They suggested an alternative, incremental plan that would replace the Wireless and Wireline bureaus with one focused on universal service, and another focused on competition, pricing, broadband and network deployment: “This would effectively maintain the current bureau divisions while removing their traditional industry silos.” Function-based bureaus make it tougher for industries to “capture” the agency, since it's more difficult for any one firm to use intense lobbying and “the revolving door” to dominate a pan-industry entity, the ad hoc group said. The reorganization could also aid diversity by applying nondiscrimination regulations across all industries regulated by the agency, the letter said. The FCC's upcoming move to new headquarters is a “a rare opportunity” to reorganize, the letter said. “If past relocations are a guide regarding what we may expect, many employees will use this opportunity to retire or take jobs in the private sector -- thereby creating an opportunity for a relatively painless restructure of the agency.” The agency doesn't have to wait for congressional action to reorganize, but it would be wise to make sure Congress is involved in the process, Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council Senior Adviser and letter signatory David Honig told us. The letter suggests the agency open a rulemaking and seek comment on such an organization, and convene an advisory committee to study the issue. Other signatories include Free State Foundation President Randolph May, former NAB General Counsel Jane Mago, former Cable Bureau Chief Deborah Lathen, and University of Florida Public Utility Research Center Director and Trump transition team member Mark Jamison. The agency and Chairman Ajit Pai's office didn't comment.
State senators cleared a bill to tighten enforcement of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) after fierce debate over possible consequences of adding a private right of action to the 2018 measure. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 Tuesday after several members voiced reservations and industry trade groups lined up against the first draft (see 1902250067) of SB-561 by Chair Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) and Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D). "There is grave concern about the condition that it is in," said Sen. Anna Caballero (D), voting yes but warning she will later vote no without changes.
Industries sought clarification or carve-outs to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), in comments last month to Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D). The state Department of Justice released a 1,305-page PDF Tuesday containing March 8 comments from its pre-rulemaking after our Public Records Act request (see 1903120036) and we obtained others (see 1903110042). Technology, finance, medical, insurance, entertainment, advertising and other industries weighed in. Hot topics included implementation date, verifying consumer requests, and definitions of households, personal information and other terms.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission proposed adopting the FCC cable rate formula for pole attachments, while allowing pole owners and attachers to “remain free to negotiate” their own rate agreements. The PUC opened a rulemaking Friday in docket 2019-00028 to modify Chapter 880 pole attachment rules. The Maine agency also proposed retaining a municipal exemption for fees related to make-ready work, but removing the exemption from costs related to replacing poles for a municipal attachment. Comments are due April 19 and the commission plans a workshop May 7 at 11 a.m. at its headquarters. Follow-up comments are due May 24, then the PUC will have a hearing June 19 at 1:30 p.m., and final written comments on the proposed rule are due July 12. The commission earlier this month found that replacement of utility poles is make-ready under Section 7(A) of Chapter 880 (see 1903140054).
New York will apply existing pole attachment requirements to wireless providers while the Public Service Commission considers other ways to streamline wireline and wireless deployment in the state, commissioners unanimously decided Thursday. Commissioners voted 4-0 at their livestreamed meeting to partly grant a nearly 3-year-old CTIA petition in docket 16-M-0330 for relief so wireless providers may quickly deploy small cells and distributed antenna systems needed for 5G services (see 1608020029).
Gear up for nearly a year of privacy debate over possible legislative edits to the 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act, said a top state senator and business and privacy advocates in interviews. The law will be enforced from Jan. 1, though the attorney general has until July 1, 2021, to adopt rules and guidance interpreting CCPA. Final text will be “incredibly important” even for those outside the state because California is the No. 5 economy, said Mintz Levin's Cynthia Larose.
The shutdown is having immediate FCC consequences in the form of delayed filing deadlines and shuttered websites. It could also ripple out to delay expected rule changes for 2019, industry officials told us this week. Since staff isn’t available, expected early-2019 policy decisions on kidvid and rate regulation, court cases and progress of deals such as T-Mobile buying Sprint are considered likely to be delayed.
A story on an FCC cable franchising rulemaking misspelled the name of Best Best's Gerard Lederer (see 1812200042).
The FCC will continue to make key systems available to the public, even as staff are sent home starting mid-day Thursday, said a detailed announcement (see 1901020043). Many, including staff, feared systems would be taken offline as they were in 2013 (see 1812280021). Staff held an all-hands meeting Wednesday afternoon to be briefed on the details before release of the public notice, agency and industry officials said.
Many in the communications policy world have battle scars from the last prolonged federal shutdown, 16 days in 2013 when former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn was acting chairwoman. Then, the FCC, unlike some other federal agencies, largely shuttered its website, leading to widespread complaints. The FCC has been funded for the first days of this closure, but that ends Wednesday. The agency isn’t saying at this point if it will take its electronic comment filing and other licensing systems offline, with a public notice planned for Wednesday. The expectation among industry and FCC officials is that the 28 GHz auction won't reopen Thursday as planned and the website will be largely shuttered.