The FCC has power to regulate social media, and the First Amendment supports the Trump administration’s petition for rulemaking, NTIA replied Friday (see 2009020064). The commission can require disclosure of information services under the Communications Act, and courts have ruled “search engines, browsers and internet social media precursors such as chat rooms are information services,” wrote acting Director Adam Candeub. He asked to grant its petition for Communications Decency Act Section 230 rulemaking.
Cable ISP interests like NCTA's pole attachment declaratory ruling petition (see 2007170023), while telecom, localities and utilities interests are more mixed, judging by docket 17-84 comments last week. The petition "confirms what the Commission already knows ...: utilities often charge unjust and unreasonable pole replacement fees" that impede network deployment, ACA Connects said. It urged codifying policies including that a utility can't assess pole replacement fees if there isn't "insufficient capacity" on an existing pole. Charter Communications said despite being told make-ready charges must reflect just the costs caused by an attachment, pole owners "frequently leverage their superior bargaining position" to make an attacher seeking access buy a new pole and pay for installation. Altice said it has run into high make-ready fees for replacements, and the FCC needs to clarify that pole owners must share in the cost of replacements in unserved areas. It applauded expedited processing of pole attachment complaints for unserved areas. Calling the petition "anti competitive, misleading and ill-informed," the Coalition of Concerned Utilities said electric utility pole owners often voluntarily replace poles and add capacity. NCTA's petition would require they pay for these capacity expansions and obligate them to expand rapidly, even at the expense of safety and reliability, the coalition said. The Edison Electric Institute, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Utilities Technology Council said the FCC has acknowledged that leaving pole owners with unrecoverable costs would create a disincentive for utilities to build taller poles or replace poles. Next Century Cities said the digital divide won't be closed more quickly by cutting local government authority to determine the cost of replacing poles, with the FCC sole arbiter. Putting attachment complaints on an accelerated docket is a problem for municipalities now, as they lack time and resources to adequately respond that quickly, it said. AT&T said NCTA's push that it's unjust in unserved areas for a pole owner to make a new attacher pay for all the replacement costs is an attempt to change rules. Rules also let access disputes be eligible for an accelerated docket, it said. USTelecom said the issues raised in the petition are better off as part of a rulemaking, adding that cable has been successfully building out networks to new locations. The Wireless Infrastructure Association backed the petition, saying pole owners should share in replacement costs everywhere, not just unserved areas.
Granting SpaceX use of the 12 GHz band for its non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) mega constellation would limit FCC options as it considers the best use of that band, multichannel video and data distribution service licensees Go Long Wireless, Cass Cable TV, Story Communications and Vision Broadband said in an RM-11768 posting Monday. They said the record makes clear the commission should grant the MVDDS 5G Coalition rulemaking petition and get comments from stakeholders for "a reasoned decision." SpaceX doesn't need the 12 GHz band, they said, noting approval of Amazon's NGSO constellation Kuiper not including 12 GHz spectrum. The satellite company didn't comment. SpaceX argued 5G in the band could jeopardize NGSO operations (see 2008070028).
More state commissions are eyeing contribution and other USF changes. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission may vote later this year on a USF administrator recommendation to switch to a connections-based mechanism. The Texas Public Utility Commission asked legislators to consider USF contribution changes next year. Oregon, New Mexico and Nebraska commissions are also reviewing state USF.
California lawmakers tinkered with rival bills on state broadband funding. Eyes are on the clock after the Assembly Communications Committee postponed Tuesday's hearing on SB-1130 to raise the standard to 25 Mbps symmetrical. The delay was due to an unrelated row over the relative volume of bills in the legislature, and it's the second time the committee delayed the hearing. A $100 billion state stimulus bill unveiled Monday included broadband for distance learning.
Backing Charter Communications' ask the FCC sunset two Time Warner Cable-Bright House Networks transaction conditions in May (see 2006180050) are free-market and small-government advocacy groups, swarms of local business groups and local elected officials. Opponents are primarily public interest groups, as expected (see 2007090009), in docket 16-197 postings Thursday. Replies are due Aug. 6.
The FCC should seek public comment on any NTIA petition about Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2006040056), said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. "From there, we can see if there’s something that we should do or should not do" about President Donald Trump’s executive order on 230 and how it applies to social media platforms, said O'Rielly. Also last week, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks asked where's the petition.
A November ballot vote on California consumer privacy might be inevitable despite lukewarm reception from groups that typically back such measures. Industry hasn’t formally opposed the proposed California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and legislative intervention is no sure thing, we were told last week. “That there is no campaign against this initiative” by businesses is “almost as telling” as “no privacy group coming out to support it,” said Corbin and Kaiser lobbying firm CEO Samantha Corbin.
Commissioners approved an NPRM Thursday on the proposed 5G Fund over partial dissents by Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, as expected (see 2004200063). Both said the NPRM offers a false choice and the FCC can’t rely on bad maps or wait until 2023 or later to start offering support. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly supported the NPRM, but also had concerns. Members met via teleconference, for the second month during COVID-19.
With an order on the 6 GHz band considered likely at the April FCC meeting (see 2003050058), Stan Connally, Southern Co. executive vice president-operations, told FCC Chairman Ajit Pai the utility remains concerned about harmful interference to its operations. Connally “applauded the Chairman’s appreciation of and support for the need to ensure that incumbent licensed 6 GHz operations are sufficiently protected from potential interference by unlicensed operations,” said a posting Friday in docket 18-295. Comcast representatives met Pai aide Nick Degani. “The Commission can and should authorize low power, indoor use throughout the band without the need for automated frequency coordination,” the cable company said. CTIA representatives met with Pai aide Aaron Goldberger. The group “provided further evidence of how untethered, low power indoor devices will cause harmful interference to Fixed Service operations in the band and urged the Commission to issue a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to consider licensing the upper portion of the band,” CTIA said. Verizon, Sprint, Ericsson and U.S. Cellular executives attended. Pai told three House lawmakers, including Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., he agrees “that the FCC must protect incumbent users” in the 6 GHz band “from harmful interference.” The Office of Engineering and Technology has “spent considerable time reviewing the substantial record that has been compiled in this proceeding and meeting with interested stakeholders,” he said in separate letters to McNerney and Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., released Friday. “The Commission’s ultimate decision will be grounded in sound engineering analysis. I remain optimistic that we will be able to develop a set of technical rules that will both safeguard incumbent users and allow for unlicensed operations.” McNerney and Griffith in February jointly supported the commission’s 6 GHz sharing proposal (see 2002120055). Bacon wrote Pai in November to urge the agency to ensure its sharing proposal didn’t cause harmful interference.