The FCC today released a nine-item agenda for its Sept. 26 meeting, including those streamlining the siting of small cells, proposing ways to enable 911 calls to be made from multi-line telephone systems, consolidating rules for earth stations in motion (ESIMs), and establishing a framework to auction toll-free numbers.

The agency also plans to consider eliminating the filing of Form 325 by cable operators, adopting an item addressing two local franchising issues raised by a court remand, and approving two Enforcement Bureau items.

The “sunshine” notice released today also includes a presentation on the recently completed Connect America Phase II Auction (TR Daily, Aug. 28). The presentation was not on the tentative agenda that was released earlier this month (TR Daily, Sept. 5).

The meeting is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.

The draft small cell declaratory ruling and third report and order item in WT docket 17-79 and WC docket 17-84 would bar localities from adopting rules that prohibit the deployment of wireless infrastructure, impose limits on the fees that municipalities can charge for reviewing small cell deployments, and set shot clocks for acting on small cell applications. However, it would not adopt a “deemed granted” remedy sought by the wireless industry but opposed by localities.  The item has drawn widespread criticism from groups representing localities and many localities themselves.

The Commission also plans to consider a notice of proposed rulemaking in PS dockets 18-261 and 17-239 to address “calls to 911 made from multi-line telephone systems, pursuant to Kari’s Law, the conveyance of dispatchable location with 911 calls, as directed by RAY BAUM’S Act, and the consolidation of the Commission’s 911 rules,” today’s agenda said. The item would “[p]ropose rules to implement the direct dial and notification requirements of Kari’s Law. The proposed rules are intended to provide clarity and specificity regarding the statutory requirements and to enable covered entities to meet those requirements cost-effectively,” a fact sheet released when the item was circulated said.

It also would “[p]ropose to apply dispatchable location requirements to MLTS, fixed telephone service, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, and Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS). It seeks comment on the technical feasibility of providing dispatchable location and the benefits and costs associated with different technical solutions,” the fact sheet noted.

The FCC also plans to consider a report and order and further NPRM in IB docket 17-95 to harmonize three types of fixed-satellite service earth stations that transmit in motion on vessel, vehicles, and aircraft.  The earth stations in motion (ESIMs) order would “[a]dd new rules for the operation of ESIMs in the conventional Ka-band,” a fact sheet noted.

It said it would improve the structure and eliminate redundancy in the FCC’s regulations by (1) “[c]onsolidating the technical and operational rules for C- and Ku-band ESIMs in Part 25 and extending those rules to cover ESIM operations in the conventional Ka-band”; (2) “[c]onsolidating the specific application rules for C- and Ku-band ESIMs into a general Part 25 earth station application rule and adding application provisions for ESIMs operating in the conventional Ka-band”; (3) “[m]erging the blanket licensing provisions for conventional Ka-band GSO FSS earth stations into Part 25 rule sections, which contain similar provisions for GSO FSS earth stations in the conventional and extended C- and Ku-bands, to improve the organizational coherence of Part 25”; and (4) “[e]liminating repetition in certain ESIM rules by referring to existing provisions in other rules that apply to other GSO FSS earth stations.”

The agenda also includes a draft report and order in WC docket 17-192 and CC docket 95-155 that would establish “as an experiment” an auction process for distributing any phone numbers in the 833 toll-free code opened last year that are sought by more than one entity. Insights gained from the 833 auction experiment would be used for future toll-free number assignments. It would also modify FCC rules to allow for a secondary market in toll-free phone numbers.

The agenda also includes two draft items addressing cable system operators.

A draft second FNPRM in MB docket 05-311 would address two issues raised in the remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Cincinnati) last year of FCC order orders treating “in-kind” payments as franchise fees (TR Daily, July 12, 2017).

A draft report and order in MB dockets 17-290 and 17-105 would eliminate the annual FCC Form 325 annual report filing requirement for cable television systems.

The agenda also includes two enforcement items. The Commission does not disclose details on enforcements actions until they are adopted.- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com; Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

In the 99 counties in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia covered by the FCC’s activation of its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Florence, 4.1% of cell sites were out of service as of 11 a.m. today, down from 6% yesterday, the FCC reported. The communications status report said that 8% of cell sites in North Carolina were out, 0.5% of sites in South Carolina, 0.1% of sites in Georgia, and no sites in Virginia. It said that 911 calls to two public safety answering points in North Carolina and one in South Carolina were being routed without location information to other PSAPs.

As for cable and wireline service, the report said that 285,725 subscribers had lost service in North Carolina; 30,053 in South Carolina; and none in either Georgia or Virginia. Three TV stations reported being out of service. Four FM radio stations reported being down but programming was being sent to another station, while 22 FM radio stations said they were out of service. Four AM radio stations said they were out of service.

Courtesy TRDaily

In the 99 counties in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia covered by the FCC’s activation of its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Florence, 6.0% of cell sites were out of service as of 11 a.m. today, down from 7.2% yesterday, the FCC reported.  The communications status report said that 11.8% of cell sites in North Carolina were out, 0.8% of sites in South Carolina, 0.1% of sites in Georgia, and no sites in Virginia. “Onslow county in North Carolina has more than 50% of cell sites out of service,” the report noted. It said that 911 calls to three public safety answering points in North Carolina were being routed to other PSAPs.

Calls to primary PSAPs Columbus County Central Communications and Pamlico County Communications were being rerouted with location information, and calls to secondary PSAP Washington Policy Communications were being rerouted without location information.  As for cable and wireline service, the report said that 187,885 subscribers had lost service in North Carolina; 5,073 in South Carolina; and none in either Georgia or Virginia. Five TV stations, 28 FM radio stations, and three AM radio stations reported being out of service.

Courtesy TRDaily

Officials from New Jersey and Maryland scheduled to testify today at a House communications and technology subcommittee hearing threw their support behind pending public safety legislation, according to their prepared testimony.

Though the hearing had been scheduled to take place today, it was postponed to a yet-to-be-determined date due to changes in the House calendar.  However, witnesses’ written testimony was made available by the subcommittee.

The hearing was slated to include discussion about three bills. One of the bills would prevent states from diverting 911 fees to other purposes, while a second would increase criminal penalties against people who intentionally transmit false or misleading caller ID information–a practice known as “swatting”–to initiate emergency responses from law enforcement and first responders when there is no threat to life,  health, or property. Continue reading →

The FCC said in a Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) report released this afternoon that 2.9% of cell sites in a 99-county impacted area of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia were out of service as of 11 a.m. due to Hurricane Florence. The report said that 5.7% of cell sites in North Carolina were out, 0.3% of sites in South Carolina, 0.1% of sites in Georgia, and no sites in Virginia. The report said that all public safety answering points were operational in the impacted area.

As for cable and wireline service, it said that 66,889 customers had lost service in North Carolina, 1,470 in South Carolina, six in Georgia, and none in Virginia. Two TV stations were out of service while two FM radio stations were down and their programming were sent to other stations, and 11 FM radio stations were out of service. No AM radio stations were out of service.

Courtesy TRDaily

The FCC’s draft declaratory ruling and third report and order that would establish new shot clocks for state and local governments to address applications to install small cell facilities and would treat violations of the shot clocks as a “presumptive prohibition” on the provision of services ignores the “minority report” filed by local government representatives on the regulatory barriers working group of the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, one of those local government representatives has told the FCC.

The draft item, which is tentatively slated for a vote at the FCC’s Sept. 26 meeting, says that “while we do not adopt a ‘deemed granted’ remedy for violations of our new shot clocks, we clarify that failing to issue a decision up or down during this time period is not simply a ‘failure to act’ within the meaning of applicable law. Rather, missing the deadline also constitutes a presumptive prohibition. We would thus expect any locality that misses the deadline to issue any necessary permits or authorizations without further delay. We also anticipate that a provider would have a strong case for quickly obtaining an injunction from a court that compels the issuance of all permits in these types of cases” (TR Daily, Sept. 5).

In an ex parte letter filed today in WT 17-49 and 17-84, McAllen, Texas, City Attorney Kevin Pagan criticized the way the draft item incorporates some BDAC working group perspectives and omits others.

“I am filing this letter to share my disappointment with the way the work of the group was reported in the Federal Communications Commission’s draft Declaratory Ruling and Third Report and Order (‘Draft Order’) which is scheduled for a vote on September 26, 2018. Neither I, nor the other local government representatives on that working group, agreed with the Barriers Working Group’s conclusions, and independently developed a minority report to express our objections in detail. The majority of the working group minimized local government input into their report and voted to exclude our minority report from the documents delivered to the full BDAC. Nevertheless, we filed that minority report with the Commission, and it remains part of the record underlying the BDAC’s work. I believe that fairness dictates that in the repeated references to the Barriers Working Group report, there should be at least a single note that there exists a Local Government Minority Report,” Mr. Pagan said.

He added, “Adoption of a report by the BDAC does not seem to be required for inclusion in the Draft Order, either. It references the Rates and Fees working group’s draft report, which the BDAC has not adopted. And it cites that draft report for its page ‘listing “Local Government Perspectives,”’ yet makes no mention of local governments’ minority report.”

Mr. Pagan said, “To the extent the Commission cites BDAC materials, it should also acknowledge the dissenting views included in the BDAC’s record, particularly when referencing local government perspectives, which have been consistently minimized throughout the BDAC’s process and working group reports.” —Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

In an op-ed for “The Hill” newspaper today, Reps. Doris Matsui (D., Calif.) and Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.) and FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O’Rielly (R) urged the FCC to open up the 6 gigahertz band. “The FCC can do more on the unlicensed side by similarly moving forward with a rulemaking to open the C band uplink, or 5.925-6.425 and 6.425-7.125 GHz bands (collectively, the ‘6 GHz band’), to more uses,” they said.

Courtesy TRDaily

The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today announced that it has activated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Florence, which is heading toward the southeastern coast of the United States.

The FCC asked that reports of outages and infrastructure status to the voluntary system be made at 10 a.m. beginning tomorrow and continuing every day thereafter until DIRS is deactivated.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement today, “As Hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast, the FCC is working to prepare for the storm, coordinating with our federal and state partners and letting them know that we stand ready to work with them and assist in any way we can.  At this point, FCC staff have already been deployed to survey the radiofrequency spectrum across critical areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and our Operations Center is open 24 hours a day.

“Our staff has also reached out to broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other telecom companies in the areas expected to be hit by Hurricane Florence.  We will closely monitor communications outages data in the coming days and work to support restoration and recovery efforts.  We also urge residents of the affected areas to charge their wireless phones, laptops, or tablets, sign up to receive emergency alerts and warnings, and follow other communications tips available on the FCC’s website to stay connected with family and friends,” the Chairman added. —Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily