Month: June 2016

Approps Bill Would Bar FCC Actions on Open Internet, Broadband Rate Regulation, STB Rules

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The House Appropriations Committee has included in its fiscal year 2017 financial services bill a prohibition on FCC implementation of its 2015 open Internet order until resolution of pending legal challenges of the order, as well as prohibitions on FCC regulation of the rates or data caps of broadband services and further activity in pending proceeding on set-top box (STB) rules until 180 days after the agency completes a peer-reviewed cost-benefit study.

The measure would also require the FCC to make proposed regulations publicly available at least 21 days before the Commission votes on them. It would also clarify that the previously enacted “grandfathering” of broadcast stations’ joint sales agreements, which exempts then-existing agreements from the FCC’s decision to treat them as an equity stake under its ownership rules, applies “regardless of any change in the ownership of the stations involved in such agreement.”

Meanwhile, the bill also says that “[n]one of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used by the Federal Communications Commission to modify, amend, or change the rules or regulations of the Commission for universal service high-cost support for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers in a way that is inconsistent with paragraph (e)(5) or (e)(6) of section 54.307 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on July 15, 2015: Provided, That this section shall not prohibit the Commission from considering, developing, or adopting other support mechanisms as an alternative to Mobility Fund Phase II.”

The financial services bill would set an FCC budget of $315 million for FY 2017—a cut of $69 million from the FY 2016 enacted level and $43 million below the administration’s request—with the funding to be collected in the form of regulatory fees. Continue reading →

House Panel Hearing Focuses on FTC Process Tweaks, Exemption

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May 25, 2016–Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on commerce, manufacturing, and trade took aim today at several aspects of the Federal Trade Commission’s activities under section 5 of the FTC Act, featuring issues contained in a laundry list of 17 pending and proposed pieces of legislation that include the length of consent decrees that the agency negotiates with companies. Many of the 17 pending and proposed bills that were discussed at today’s hearing were recently introduced, and subcommittee members did not indicate a great degree of urgency in pushing them toward final passage by Congress in the near term.  Many of the bills do not involve specific telecom issues, but a few of them do, including a draft of proposed legislation that would repeal the current common carrier exemption.

 Rep. Michael Burgess (R., Texas), chairman of the subcommittee, noted that the FTC was last reauthorized 20 years ago, and that Congress was “long overdue to revisit the FTC Act and ponder some targeted adjustments.”

“The basic FTC framework for policing unfair or deceptive conduct after the fact is a good one,” he said in his prepared statement.  “However, the FTC faces tough decisions when it encounters cases presented by new products or services in fast evolving markets. Continue reading →

FirstNet Weekly Update to the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), May 31, 2016

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FirstNet News

FirstNet CEO Mike Poth has released a blog post in which he outlines the key steps that have been taken to develop the RFP, including those leading up to today’s proposal deadline.  He also previews FirstNet’s top priorities over the next several months during the evaluation period, including continued outreach with public safety; preparing for the delivery of State Plans; assisting public safety incumbents through our spectrum relocation grant program; further developing network policies; and positioning our organization for the network partnership.

FirstNet is accepting applications for a Region 9 Lead, which closes Friday, June 3 and a State Plans team member, which closes Monday, June 6:

Supervisory Emergency Management Specialist (Public Safety) (ZP-0089-04)

Link to Consultation vacancy announcement:  NTIA-FRNA-2016-0119 

This is a remote worker position.  The employee will telework full-time from their residence; therefore, applicants must reside, or be willing to relocate at their own expense, to one of the counties or cities within Arizona, California or Nevada.

Link to State Plans vacancy announcement:  NTIA-FRNA-2016-0120 

This is a remote worker position.  The employee will telework full-time from their residence

FirstNet participated in a joint meeting of the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), and FBI National Executive Institute Associates (NEIA) in New York City last week. During the MCCA plenary session, attended by approximately 50 chiefs, FirstNet provided an update on FirstNet progress and the importance of public safety leaders being prepared for the network that is coming to all of their states and cities. The Atlanta and Montgomery County police chiefs both shared how valuable they found the recent FirstNet metro engagements and leadership briefings they received, and they encouraged other chiefs to consider hosting these sessions in their own cities.

FirstNet also participated in the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Law Enforcement Information Management Conference in Dallas, Texas, where they presented with Louisiana SPOC Col. Mike Edmonson on key project milestones, current activities associated with the RFP, and planned consultation activities for the remainder of 2016. Col. Edmonson focused on his experience with past disasters and use case data that has informed FirstNet planning. FirstNet also participated in an early builder panel discussion at the conference.

FirstNet continued its participation in State Governance Body Consultation Meetings last week, with presentations to the Maine Interoperable Communications Committee and the Minnesota Statewide Emergency Communications Board, having now completed 16 Governance Body Consultation Meetings.

On May 21, FirstNet posted a new entry on its blog: FirstNet Board Member Sherriff Stanek Message to Law Enforcement for Police Week 2016. All blog posts can also be accessed through the FirstNet blog landing page at: www.firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog.

This week, FirstNet is participating in the National Association of State Technology Directors’ Western Region Seminar in Jackson, Wyoming; the Wyoming Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee Conference in Cheyenne; the Connecticut EMS Expo in Norwich; Programmatic Environmental Impact Assessment public meetings in Burlington (VT), Richmond (VA), Manchester (NH), and Charleston (WV); a Washington State OneNet QPP CTT Workshop in Seattle; the Delaware Governance Body Meeting in Dover; and the Illinois Governance Body Meeting via webinar.

 News from the PSAC, States and Territories

The PSAC Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) task team met on Tuesday, May 17 to review draft User Attributes by public safety discipline in addition to Federated Identity.

Final preparations are underway for the next in-person PSAC meeting, scheduled for Monday, June 6 at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, California. Earlier today, meeting attendees received the final agenda and logistical information. The PSAC meeting will be open to the public from 8:00 am – 10:00 am PST. Please see the following link for additional information and instructions to RSVP.   http://www.firstnet.gov/news/firstnet-hold-public-meeting-public-safety-advisory-committee

Media Watch

*The information provided is copied as-is from the media outlet source and is not edited by FirstNet.  Links to non-Federal Government websites do not constitute endorsement of any product, service, organization, company, information provider, or content.  Clicking on non-Department of Commerce hyperlinks will direct you to websites that are not under the Government’s control.

Urgent Communications 5/26: Get ready to adapt, because a flood of critical-communications changes are coming

http://urgentcomm.com/blog/get-ready-adapt-because-flood-critical-communications-changes-are-coming

FirstNet: Tuesday is the deadline for proposals from offeror teams seeking the right to build and maintain a nationwide public-safety broadband network. Meanwhile, similar public-safety LTE initiatives are at various stages of deployment throughout the world, meaning public-safety finally will have a chance to benefit from a global ecosystem.

Mohave Valley Daily News 5/27: County LEPC to get update on brush fires

http://www.mohavedailynews.com/news/county-lepc-to-get-update-on-brush-fires/article_01585b8a-23dd-11e6-a4b1-372f31cdf107.html

The committee will also hear a report about the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet Broadband, exercise that would provide high speed wireless broadband network coverage for local, tribal and federal lands in the event of an emergency. The exercise involves building up internet coverage in the event of an emergency at the Grand Canyon West and Hualapai tribal lands.

Web and Social Media

FirstNet social media continues to grow at a steady pace.  Twitter gained over 26 new followers and is now at 3,714 followers, while LinkedIn has 1,520 followers.  YouTube now has 278 subscribers.

Do you have something you want to feature in the weekly update, such as a conference date, personnel announcement, or news article showcasing the work of your organization?  Please send it to PSAC@firstnet.gov for possible inclusion in an upcoming update.