February 2017

INTERNET/BROADBAND

FCC CHAIRMAN PAI FORMS BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the formation of a new federal advisory committee to explore ways to accelerate deployment of high-speed Internet access (or “broadband”) nationwide and to close the digital divide. The Committee will focus on developing specific recommendations on how the FCC can encourage broadband deployment across America. “The BDAC’s mission will be to identify regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment and to make recommendations to the Commission on reducing and/or removing them,” said Chairman Pai. Issues the Committee will tackle include further reforms to the FCC’s pole attachment rules; identifying unreasonable regulatory barriers to broadband deployment; ways to encourage local governments to adopt deployment-friendly policies; and other reforms within the scope of the Commission’s authority. In particular, one of the Committee’s first tasks will be drafting a model code covering local franchising, zoning, permitting, and rights-of-way regulations. Many localities may not currently have or be able to develop policies conducive to deployment. With a model code approved by the FCC, any city could build a better regulatory environment for deployment, and any provider would have a better case for installing infrastructure. Nominees for the newly formed Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee will be drawn from a diverse set of stakeholders to address specific regulatory barriers to broadband deployment in both urban and rural areas. Representatives of consumers and community groups, the communications industry, and federal, state, local, and Tribal officials are encouraged to apply. The FCC will accept nominations until February 15, 2017. The Commission expects to hold its first meeting of the new Committee during the spring of 2017.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-chairman-pai-forms-broadband-deployment-advisory-committee | Federal Communications Commission | Chairman Pai | Public Notice
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BENTON WELCOMES FCC BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
[SOURCE: Benton Foundation, AUTHOR: Amina Fazlullah]
The Benton Foundation is pleased to see that the top priority of new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is accelerating broadband deployment and closing the digital divide. The Benton Foundation shares the same priority. Apparently, the advisory committee will be asked to promote broadband deployment through deregulation. Too often, communities lack local broadband choices because they are saddled with state or other regulations that prevent the investment in and delivery of broadband. We should eliminate job-killing broadband regulations that stifle community broadband investment and local economic growth to enable every American, regardless of where they live, to take full advantage of local broadband investments, public-private partnerships, and new community broadband options. We need to address how we will extend the benefits of broadband – and the opportunities it delivers – to all Americans. Our nation’s commitment to ubiquitous and affordable communications has never been more important. We look forward to working with Chairman Pai to make broadband universal and affordable for all Americans.
benton.org/headlines/benton-foundation-welcomes-fccs-broadband-deployment-advisory-committee | Benton Foundation
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SENS SIGN LETTER TO TRUMP TO INCLUDE BROADBAND IN INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE
[SOURCE: US Senate, AUTHOR: Press release]
Sens Angus King (I-ME), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), John Boozman (R-AR), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the co-chairs of the Senate Broadband Caucus, led 48 senators in urging President Donald Trump to include broadband in any infrastructure initiative he puts forward. They wrote, "As you work with Congress to address the infrastructure needs of our country, we urge you to prioritize policies as part of any infrastructure initiative that will promote deployment of high-speed, reliable broadband for all Americans. Expanding access to broadband, both rural and urban, is the infrastructure challenge of our generation and we cannot afford to wait to make progress on this important goal...A broad agenda to promote broadband access will empower Americans living in every community – from urban city centers to rural towns – with economic opportunities that will jumpstart growth in jobs and wages....This effort should include bringing broadband connections to locations where economic conditions or geography have made deployment difficult and improving the quality and affordability of existing broadband connections."
benton.org/headlines/48-sens-sign-letter-urge-trump-include-broadband-any-infrastructure-initiative | US Senate | B&C
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ATT PLANS TO DELIVER FAST INTERNET OVER POWER POLES
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Edward Baig]
AT&T raised a few eyebrows fall 2016 when it announced experimental technology to deliver speedy “multi-gigabit” wireless Internet over existing power lines. Now that potential solution, called Project AirGig, appears much closer to becoming reality, and has moved well beyond the experimental stage. AT&T says it is having “advanced discussions” with power companies to begin field trials of Project AirGig in at least two locations by the fall, and if all goes well commercial deployment could occur within 9 to 12 months. One of the trials will be in the US; a second, quite possibly, outside the country. Project AirGig technology involves placing small low-cost plastic antennas developed by AT&T Labs on top of existing power lines. These devices create a multi-gigabit signal that travels along or near the wire--but not actually through it. Using so-called mmWave surface wave launchers and inductive power devices, the signal can be moved from one pole to the next, and powered without a direct electrical connection. AT&T says it has secured more than 200 patents and patent applications. It also just reached an agreement to acquire a San Francisco company, FiberTower Corp, which holds mmWave spectrum rights. The AirGig technology can be deployed anywhere there are power poles, AT&T says: urban environments, rural areas, overseas.
benton.org/headlines/att-plans-deliver-fast-internet-over-power-poles | USAToday | telecompetitor
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BROADCASTING

FCC ELIMINATES TWO PUBLIC INSPECTION FILE REQUIREMENTS
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission, AUTHOR: Press release]
The Federal Communications Commission eliminated two public inspection file rules. These rules currently require: (1) commercial television and radio broadcast stations to retain, and make available to the public, copies of correspondence from viewers and listeners; and (2) cable operators to maintain and allow public inspection of the location of a cable system’s principal headend. The action furthers the Commission’s progress in modernizing its public inspection file rules. The elimination of these rules will reduce regulatory burdens on commercial broadcasters and cable operators without adversely affecting the general public. Removing these requirements also will enable broadcasters and cable operators to make their entire public inspection file available online and permit them to cease maintaining local public files.
benton.org/headlines/fcc-eliminates-two-public-inspection-file-requirements | Federal Communications Commission | Multichannel News | The Hill | B&C | CommLawCenter
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEMOCRACY

THE TRUMP SHOW
[SOURCE: CNN, AUTHOR: Dylan Byers]
[Commentary] In turning one of the most consequential decisions of the presidency into a primetime television event, and doing so before publicly sorting out the details of his latest executive order, President Donald Trump is governing in the way a television executive might, making moves that have the effect of controlling the narrative and driving ratings. It's a familiar play for President Trump: During his presidential campaign, he made controversial statements or scheduled rallies to distract attention from his opponents. As president, however, Trump's big swings haven't moved the news cycle quite as much as they once did. Every major news organization covered Trump's Supreme Court tweet, but normally an impending nomination announcement would dominate the news; on Jan 30, it barely registered amid the cacophony of headlines and analysis surrounding the travel ban. At the Jan 30 White House press briefing, the majority of questions focused on the ban. There were only two about the forthcoming Supreme Court nominee.
benton.org/headlines/trump-show-controlled-distraction | CNN
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SECRET RULES MAKE IT PRETTY EASY FOR THE FBI TO SPY ON JOURNALISTS
[SOURCE: The Intercept, AUTHOR: Cora Currier]
Rules governing the use of national security letters allow the FBI to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a judge or informing the targeted news organization. Secret FBI rules allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures. The classified rules, obtained by The Intercept and dating from 2013, govern the FBI’s use of national security letters, which allow the bureau to obtain information about journalists’ calls without going to a judge or informing the news organization being targeted. They have previously been released only in heavily redacted form. Media advocates said the documents show that the FBI imposes few constraints on itself when it bypasses the requirement to go to court and obtain subpoenas or search warrants before accessing journalists’ information. The rules stipulate that obtaining a journalist’s records with a national security letter requires the signoff of the FBI’s general counsel and the executive assistant director of the bureau’s National Security Branch, in addition to the regular chain of approval. Generally speaking, there are a variety of FBI officials, including the agents in charge of field offices, who can sign off that an NSL is “relevant” to a national security investigation.
benton.org/headlines/secret-rules-make-it-pretty-easy-fbi-spy-journalists-0 | Intercept, The
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GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

FCC, FTC AND EXECUTIVE ORDER
[SOURCE: Morning Consult, AUTHOR: Ryan Rainey]
A new executive order that requires executive agencies to find at least two existing regulations to rescind for every new rule does not extend to independent agencies, according to the White House. “All independent agencies are not covered by the EO,” said Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman. “Trump independent agencies that are headed by [Republican] commissioners or [Republican] appointees will want to comply,” said Amit Narang, a regulatory expert for the consumer group Public Citizen. That group includes the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer described the order as the most significant regulatory rollback effort since former President Ronald Reagan established the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in 1981.
benton.org/headlines/trumps-order-regulations-doesnt-affect-independent-agencies-fcc-and-ftc | Morning Consult
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OWNERSHIP

BIG BANG
[SOURCE: Financial Times, AUTHOR: Anna Nicolaou]
The year 2017 is shaping up to be a landmark in the US telecoms sector, with industry executives and analysts predicting a frenzied period of mergers under the more deal-friendly regulatory regime of President Donald Trump. The sector is readying itself for a period of upheaval. “Now is the time to consider that, which in an earlier time might have been unthinkable,” says Jonathan Chaplin, analyst at New Street Research. A “Big Bang consolidation” is inevitable, he says. President Trump has boosted confidence that his administration will be more open to megadeals since assuming the presidency. He picked Ajit Pai — a Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission sympathetic to arguments that telecoms groups need to merge to compete with Silicon Valley rivals — to chair the US telecoms watchdog. And Jeff Eisenach, a consultant who has supported previously blocked telecoms mergers, is head of the FCC transition team. The prospect of lighter regulation has lifted shares across telecoms companies since election night.
benton.org/headlines/us-telcos-prepare-big-bang-year-mergers | Financial Times
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February 2017

What It Would Mean To Have Infowars In The White House Press Room

Mossberg: Immigration builds America’s tech dominance

Apple considering legal action against Trump travel ban

Inadequate CA court software still gets people wrongly arrested, lawyers say

Public Knowledge Responds to Charter Spectrum Cable-Univision Blackout

CommLawBlog: Media Bureau Adopts Post-Auction Policies and Procedures for Stations Transitioning to New Channels Following the Broadcast Incentive Auction

February 1, 2017 (Judge Neil Gorsuch)

President Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court

In Judge Neil Gorsuch, an Echo of Scalia in Philosophy and Style

Picking One Justice, President Trump Has Eye on Choosing a Second