Public Notice

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has appointed members to serve on two Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) working groups, Competitive Access to Broadband Infrastructure and Removing State and Local Regulatory Barriers. The selection of members for the Streamlining Federal Siting working group is in progress, and final selections for this group will be announced at a later date.

This Public Notice serves as notice that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has appointed members to serve on two Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) working groups, Model Code for Municipalities and Model Code for States.The members of these working groups are listed in Appendix A.

The selection of members for other BDAC working groups is in progress, and final selections for these groups will be announced at a later date. The BDAC is organized under, and operates in accordance with, the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The BDAC’s mission is to provide advice and recommendations to the Commission on how to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet access.

With the opening of a new proceeding on Restoring Internet Freedom, the Commission anticipates significant public engagement and a high volume of filings. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau provides this guidance to facilitate public participation and to make commenting easy. Those who wish to file individual comments may submit them electronically via the Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). However, we anticipate that some may wish to submit a large number of comments from multiple individuals, each with the same or similar content. We strongly encourage parties who seek to file a large number of comments or “group” comments to do so through the public API or the Commission’s electronic inbox established for this proceeding, called Restoring Internet Freedom Comments.

Broadband networks are increasingly important to our national well-being and everyday lives. As such, we must maximize their availability and ensure that all Americans can take advantage of the variety of services that broadband enables, including 21st century health care. In this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission seeks information on how it can help enable the adoption and accessibility of broadband-enabled health care solutions, especially in rural and other underserved areas of the country. We expect to use this information to identify actions that the FCC can take to promote this important goal.

This Public Notice seeks comment, data, and information on a broad range of regulatory, policy, technical, and infrastructure issues related to the emerging broadband-enabled health and care ecosystem. Commenters should address the agency’s authority on all issues raised in this Notice. The comment, data, and information requested are intended to provide the Commission with a broader understanding and perspective on the current state of broadband health technology and other related issues; and it will also inform the Connect2Health Task Force's work and recommendations.
Comments due May 24, 2017; reply comments due June 8, 2017. [GN Docket No. 16-46]

High-speed broadband is an increasingly important gateway to jobs, health care, education, information, and economic development. Access to high-speed broadband can create economic opportunity, enabling entrepreneurs to create businesses, immediately reach customers throughout the world, and revolutionize entire industries. We propose and seek comment on a number of actions designed to accelerate the deployment of next-generation networks and services by removing barriers to infrastructure investment.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice of Inquiry, and Request for Comment seeks to better enable broadband providers to build, maintain, and upgrade their networks, which will lead to more affordable and available Internet access and other broadband services for consumers and businesses alike. Today’s actions propose to remove regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment at the federal, state, and local level; suggest changes to speed the transition from copper networks and legacy services to next-generation networks and services; and propose to reform Commission regulations that increase costs and slow broadband deployment.

The Federal Communications Commission announces the re-chartering of the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC or Council), which will provide advice and recommendations to the Commission to improve the security, reliability, and interoperability of the nation’s communications systems. By this Public Notice, we seek nominations for membership on and a Chairperson for this Committee. The Commission intends to establish the CSRIC for a period of two (2) years, with an expected starting date in the early summer of 2017.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the appointment of 29 members to the FCC’s newly created Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC), which will meet for the first time on April 21, 2017. The BDAC’s inaugural meeting will focus on member introductions, directing initial assignments to committee members, and providing additional information about BDAC working groups. In addition, the group will begin initial discussions on strategies for accelerating the deployment of broadband.
Chairman Pai has named Elizabeth Pierce, CEO of Quintillion Subsea Operations and Quintillion Networks, to serve as Chair of the BDAC, and Kelleigh Cole, Director of the Utah Broadband Outreach Center in the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, to serve as Vice Chair. As the BDAC gets underway, it will have five working groups tackling projects critical to promote broadband deployment.
Model Code for Municipalities.—Douglas Dimitroff of the New York State Wireless Association will serve as Chair of this working group, and the Honorable Sam Liccardo, Mayor of San Jose, California, will serve as Vice Chair.
Model Code for States.—Kelly McGriff of Southern Light will serve as Chair of this working group, and the Honorable Karen Charles Peterson, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable, for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners will serve as Vice Chair.
Competitive Access to Broadband Infrastructure.—Ken Simon of Crown Castle will serve as Chair of this working group, and Brent Skorup of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University will serve as Vice Chair.
Removing State and Local Regulatory Barriers.—Robert DeBroux of TDS Telecom will serve as Chair of this working group, and Kim Keenan of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council will serve as Vice Chair.
Streamlining Federal Siting.—Jonathan Adelstein of the Wireless Infrastructure Association will serve as Chair of this working group, and Valerie Fast Horse of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe will serve as Vice Chair.

On March 20, 2017, pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger dated February 2, 2017, Entercom Communications Corp. (Entercom) and CBS Corporation (CBS), and its wholly-owned subsidiary CBS Radio, Inc. (CBSR), jointly submitted applications to the Commission seeking consent to the transfer of control and assignment of certain licenses pursuant to Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

The proposed transfer of control and assignment of these licenses is part of a larger transaction whereby: (1) CBSR will be separated from CBS pursuant to a Master Separations Agreement dated February 2, 2017; and (2) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Entercom (Constitution Merger Sub Corp.) will merge with CBSR, with the merged CBSR surviving as a whollyowned subsidiary of Entercom. Contemporaneously, Entercom will contribute all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of its direct subsidiary, Entercom Radio, LLC, to CBSR, resulting in a substantial change in control of Entercom from the current ownership. The jointly filed applications are listed in the Appendix to this Public Notice.

Previously, the Federal Communications Commission affirmed that it sought to promote the deployment of 4G LTE in all areas where it would not be offered by the private sector in the absence of universal service support. To identify those geographical areas potentially eligible for such support, the FCC decided to use 4G LTE deployment at a minimum advertised download speed benchmark of at least 5 Mbps, based on service providers’ Form 477 filings. The FCC concluded that any census block not fully covered by unsubsidized 4G LTE of at least 5 Mbps advertised download speed will encompass areas that are eligible for support in the Mobility Fund II auction. While the FCC directed its Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) to make an initial determination of eligible areas by census block based on the Form 477 filings, it also stated its intention to “provide a robust process for interested parties to challenge our list of presumptively eligible areas for MF-II support.”

To aid interested parties, and to provide additional information about the geographical areas eligible for Mobility Fund II support, the WCB and WTB propose to release minimum advertised or expected 4G LTE speed data included in the December 31, 2015, and June 30, 2016 Form 477 filings (and any subsequent Form 477 filings) to facilitate Mobility Fund II analysis. Disclosure of the minimum advertised or expected speeds associated with service providers’ 4G LTE coverage submitted in their Form 477 filings will enable a transparent process for challenges, and final determinations of areas eligible for Mobility Fund II support. Strong public interest benefits support disclosing the minimum advertised or expected 4G LTE speeds.

By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) names Charles Mathias as the ombudsperson to serve as the single point of contact for issues related to contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities and the deployment of technologies used to combat this vital public safety problem. Mathias will also continue serving in his current position as Associate Chief in WTB.