John Eggerton

The National Grange, which advocates for rural and agricultural interests, has joined with Consumer Action and the former chair of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Utility commission to oppose Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to revamp the FCC's Lifeline low income advanced communications subsidy program, called Lifeline. They used words highly charged words like "knock out," "cripple," "kill" and "destroy" to characterize the proposal. The Grange et al.

The Federal Communications Commission is attempting to mediate the broadband redlining complaint filed against AT&T by attorney Daryl Parks on behalf of "Cleveland broadband consumers," according to Parks, who says he is ready to talk, but also to sue. According to Parks' office, they are scheduled for a Nov. 13-14 session with AT&T and FCC staffers to try and resolve the complaint. "It is my sincere desire to resolve these matters during the November 13 - 14 FCC staff monitored mediation session," said Parks.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) has privacy concerns about the new ATSC 3.0 next generation broadcast transmission standard and has asked both the Federal Communications Commission and the National Association of Broadcasters for some answers.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai copied to the other commissioners, the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties said that if the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDCA) is to continue, "We also request you provide for an appropriate level of local government representation." They defined that "appropriate level" in some of the same terms as those proffered by Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) in her recent letter to Chairman Pai:

David Redl's Senate confirmation Nov 7 as the new head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration continued to draw attention from telecom interests in Washington. NTIA, housed within the Commerce Department, is the chief communications advisor to the White House. It also oversees government spectrum use, much as the FCC oversees commercial users.

The Senate confirmed David Redl as head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Trump Administration's chief telecom advisor. NTIA also oversees government spectrum holders in much the way the Federal Communications Commission oversees private ones. Redl was nominated by President Donald Trump back in May. Redl is the former chief counsel of the House Commerce Committee's Communications Subcommittee. Redl had been chief counsel of the subcommittee 2013, before that serving as counsel to the full committee.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, fresh off a two-day fact-finding trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, talks with B&C Washington Bureau Chief John Eggerton about what he saw, including devastation unlike any of the preceding hurricanes, the need for more Universal Service Fund money, the value of creative thinking about communications solutions, and the lack of an FCC field office that could have helped before and after the storm, he suggests.

The Senate Communications Subcommittee looked at the impact of the internet of things on rural America in a hearing Nov 7, with both sides of the aisle agreeing that the Federal Communications Commission needed better data on where broadband is and isn't deployed, given that connectivity is key to IoT deployment.

Reps Ted Poe (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have proposed amending the USA Liberty Act to toughen protections against warrantless searches and seizures of emails and other online communications. In Oct, House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the USA Liberty Act, which would reform and reauthorize Sec. 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes the surveillance of communications from non-U.S. residents.

The Coalition to Save Local Media, which is the coalition to block the Sinclair-Tribune merger, has added six new members, according to organizers, including a big union and leased access advocates.