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  2. December 2015

December 2015

Introducing the New FCC Website

The new Federal Communications Commission website features a more responsive design, a new site navigation structure, and an improved search capability. The site has moved from a flat design with minimal linking between pages to a hierarchical design that utilizes cross-linking, menus, and greater clarity of where you are on the site map. The new site navigation features a “toggle” capability that allows visitors to browse by "Category" or "Bureau and Office."

Extensive user research revealed visitors to FCC.gov prefer a clear separation of consumer content and practitioner content. Using a toggle navigation allows us to meet the navigation preferences of different site visitors. The new site features a new search application. The new search brings together results from both FCC.gov and the Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS) into a seamless search experience. The user interface also allows for visitors to search only within FCC.gov and EDOCS and provides an array of facets to help further refine search results. Work will continue in the weeks and months ahead to continue refining the relevancy of the search results. Over time, we would like to continue expanding upon the unified searching capability to add new datasets to the application. The design of the site has been upgraded to a more modern look-and-feel that is responsive to the device you are using. This means that the display will adjust depending on whether you are using a mobile device, tablet or computer. The site also utilizes brighter colors and more white space to direct eye focus and enhance the scanability of webpages. These improvements are intended to provide an easier user experience for site visitors navigating the website.

A Starting Point for CAF Post-ROFR Auction

[Commentary] A funny thing is happening on the way to enacting a reverse auction for a key portion of the high-cost Connect America Fund (CAF). Instead of installing a program based on competitive forces and free market principles, some people want the Commission staff to select winners and losers with an inappropriate bias against certain technologies. Such manipulation would be the surest way to produce greater inefficiency, overpay for service and leave many consumers unserved. Further, this would set bad precedent and undermine future Commission universal service efforts.

Accordingly, I suggest that we reject this approach, focus on the sound, broad principles that everyone should support, and then turn to implementing the details. The principles are:

  • Serve as many unserved consumers as possible with service that meets specified baseline performance requirements.
  • Eliminate artificial categories, which could discount providers capable of providing the requisite service, and are based on unsupported assumptions.
  • Fiber should not be the default, nor should unlicensed, satellite or other qualified providers be sidelined.
  • Establish a real auction – not sealed bids or subjective staff review. Multi-round structure enables competition, where it exists, to achieve greater cost-efficiencies.
  • Funding should not flow to areas that already have broadband (i.e., 10/1 service for price cap areas).

The Promise and Peril of Universal Internet

Google’s audacious plan to provide “balloon-powered Internet for everyone” is gathering momentum. But can the tech giant be trusted? In the short run at least, Project Loon will aid the global middle billion rather than the bottom billion. For this venture to work, Google has to rely on a cooperative government, the existence of basic freedoms, capable local telecommunications firms, and a tech-savvy but under-served population. To benefit from the network, people need a cheap cell phone and data plan, which disqualifies many of the poorest. Google’s ultimate goal is balloons without borders: a free-floating network providing “balloon-powered Internet for everyone.” Will the corporation fly beyond the reach of state regulation? And will the project hand Google an effective monopoly over the Internet in developing countries? Some Indonesian telecommunications firms are already concerned about competition—although Google promises to share its profits.

FCC Confirms December 17 Meeting Agenda

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, December 17, 2015:

  • US Telecom Petition for Forbearance: The Commission will consider a Memorandum Opinion and Order addressing a petition from US Telecom that seeks forbearance from various categories of statutory and Commission requirements applicable to incumbent local exchange carriers.
  • Amendments on Rules for Digital Low Power Television and Television Translator Stations: The Commission will consider a Third Report and Order that extends the deadline for LPTV and TV Translator Stations to Transition to Digital and adopts measures to mitigate the impact of incentive auction displacement. The Fourth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on channel sharing issues between certain stations.
  • Comprehensive Review of Licensing and Operating Rules for Satellite Services: The Commission will consider a Second Report and Order that streamlines, eliminates or updates numerous provisions of Part 25 of the Commission's rules governing licensing and operation of space stations and earth stations for the provision of satellite communication services.
  • The Commission will hear a presentation on the outcomes of the International Telecommunication Union’s World Radio Conference that took place in November 2015.

Items on the Consent Agenda include:

  • Application of Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association for a New Noncommercial Educational FM Station at Gloucester Point
  • Public Media of New England, Inc. Application for a New LPFM Station at Haverhill (MA)
  • Cocoa Minority Educational Media Association, Application for a New LPFM Station at Cocoa (FL)
  • California Association for Research and Education, Inc., Application for a New Noncommercial Educational FM Broadcast Station at Upton (KY) and Bethel Fellowship, Inc., Application for a New Noncommercial Educational FM Broadcast Station at Cecilia (KY)
  • Calvary Chapel of Honolulu, Inc., Application to Construct New Noncommercial Educational FM Stations at Honolulu (HI), and Maka’ainana Broadcasting Company, Ltd., Application to Construct New Noncommercial Educational FM Stations at Kaneohe (HI)
  • John Edward Ostlund, Application for a Permit to Construct a new AM Station at Easton (CA), and Hilo Broadcasting, LLC, Application for a Permit to Construct a New AM Station at Captain Cook (HI)

US Department of Education Releases 2016 National Education Technology Plan

The US Department of Education announced the release of the 2016 National Education Technology Plan and new commitments to support personalized professional learning for district leaders across the country working to improve teaching and student achievement through the effective use of technology. The 2016 plan outlines a vision of equity, active use, and collaborative leadership to make everywhere, all-the-time learning possible. While acknowledging the continuing need to provide greater equity of access to technology itself, the plan goes further to call upon all involved in American education to ensure equity of access to transformational learning experiences enabled by technology. The plan calls for schools and districts to:

  • Redesign teacher preparation programs to shift from a single technology course to thoughtful use of technology throughout a teacher’s preparation and minimum standards for higher education instructors’ tech proficiency.
  • Set an expectation of equitable access to technology and connectivity inside and outside of school regardless of students’ backgrounds.
  • Adopt high-quality openly licensed educational materials in place of staid, traditional textbooks.
  • Implement universal design principles for accessibility across all educational institutions and include these principles within teacher preparation programs.
  • Improve technology-based assessments to allow for embedded delivery within instruction and making near real-time feedback for educators possible.
  • Establish a robust technology infrastructure that meets current connectivity goals and can be augmented to meet future demand.

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