1. Monthly archive
  2. June 2017

June 2017

President Trump may have found his new nominees for the FCC

President Donald Trump could soon fill the two open slots at the Federal Communications Commission, by tapping Brendan Carr, currently the general counsel to current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, and Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat who previously served at the agency.

At the moment, those two seasoned telecommunication policy experts are seen as the front-runners to fill the remaining seats at the five-member FCC, apparently, though President Trump has not yet formally nominated anyone. If elevated to commissioner, Carr could become a major, new legal ally to his soon-to-be-former boss. Apparently, Chairman Pai may have actually recommended Carr, who joined Pai’s staff in 2014, for the open Republican job at the FCC. Politically, though, Carr could face criticism from some Democrats and left-leaning consumer groups because of his business background. Before arriving at the FCC as an attorney in 2012, he worked as a lawyer at the DC law firm Wiley Rein and represented telecommunication companies like AT&T, Verizon and two of their main trade associations, USTelecom and the wireless-focused lobbying group, CTIA. Similar ties to the telecom industry previously haunted Pai, who represented Verizon at a DC law firm before he joined the commission.

FCC's Network Neutrality Docket Appears to Shrink

The Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality docket (dubbed "Restoring Internet Freedom") is some 150,000 comments lighter as of June 8. Or at least that is according to the total on the FCC's "most active proceedings" in the last 30 days page, where it still leads the top 10 by a factor of 500 or so. That still leaves 4.78 million comments, though that is down from over 4.9 million from earlier in the week after the docket swelled by a couple of million comments since the week before.

C2H Task Force Releases Data Update for Broadband Health Map

The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect2Health Task Force announced updates to its Mapping Broadband Health in America platform. The 2017 platform now reflects the latest complete annual fixed broadband dataset from the Commission and updated health data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings. As telehealth, telemedicine, and other cutting-edge mHealth initiatives gain momentum across the country, this web-based mapping platform enables more efficient, data-driven decision making at the intersection of broadband and health.

Commissioner Clyburn Statement on Data Update for Broadband Health Map

I am pleased that the Commission is demonstrating its continued commitment to the Connect2HealthFCC Task Force and the Mapping Broadband Health in America platform with the release of today’s update. For far too many rural and underserved consumers, the broadband health picture remains bleak By investing in this vital broadband health mapping platform and unveiling a new list of critical need counties, the Commission is providing the data needed to ensure connectivity reaches those communities most in need. I am confident that when relevant stakeholders work together across sectors, we will successfully break boundaries at the intersection of broadband and health policy.

FCC Fines ATI $975K for Universal Service and Other Violations

The Federal Communications Commission imposed a penalty of $975,000 against Advanced Tel, Inc. (ATI or Company) for violating its federal regulatory obligations as a telecommunications service provider for several years by failing to file required data and make required contributions to important federal programs.

In ATI’s response to our Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL), in which we proposed a forfeiture penalty of $1,588,988, ATI asserted an inability to pay the proposed forfeiture, and argued that its penalty should be reduced or cancelled because of the statute of limitations. ATI, however, did not dispute the facts underlying the violations identified in the NAL. For the reasons discussed below, we reduce the proposed forfeiture penalty and assess a forfeiture of $975,000 against the Company.

Industry pumped for 3.5 GHz but mostly mum about handsets

[Commentary] Ask the usual suspects when the first 3.5 GHz smartphones are expected to hit the market and things get eerily quiet. A projected timeline from the CBRS Alliance showed the organization expects at least one handset to be approved by December 2017. But an alliance spokesperson also noted that such timelines are subject to change. Apparently, Verizon asked Apple for 3.5 GHz CBRS support in the next iPhone. When questioned on the topic, Verizon declined to comment on that or when it expects any handset, iOS or Android, to support 3.5 GHz. Neither Apple nor Samsung chose to comment, although ZTE told FierceWirelessTech that it does not have plans to introduce a phone with the 3.5 GHz CBRS band this year. However, carriers have shown interest in this band in 2018, and ZTE will be working with them on their requirements, according to a company statement. Of course, Qualcomm has announced 3.5 GHz support in the U.S. in the Snapdragon X20 modem. However, it’s not commenting on carrier or OEM roadmaps. Why so much mystery about when handsets are going to support this band when everybody is so excited about the opportunities the 3.5 GHz CBRS band promises?

Request for Comments on Promoting Stakeholder Action Against Botnets and Other Automated Threats

NTIA, on behalf of the Department of Commerce, is requesting comment on actions that can be taken to address automated and distributed threats to the digital ecosystem as part of the activity directed by the President in Executive Order 13800, "Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure." Through this Request for Comments, NTIA seeks broad input from all interested stakeholders - including private industry, academia, civil society, and other security experts - on ways to improve industry's ability to reduce threats perpetuated by automated distributed attacks, such as botnets, and what role, if any, the U.S. Government should play in this area.

House Oversight Subcommittee Examines Federal Health Care Cybersecurity Efforts in Wake of ‘WannaCry'

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, chaired by Rep Tim Murphy (R-PA), held a hearing examining the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) role in cybersecurity efforts within the health care sector. Discussed during the hearing were two reports that HHS was required to submit to Congress, following the implementation of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which became law in 2015. The reports outline the department’s internal cybersecurity processes and industry recommendations for what the federal government and industry can do to improve cybersecurity efforts in the health care sector.

The Evolution of “Competition”: Lessons for 21st Century Telecommunications Policy

For over a century, assessments of competition or the lack thereof have been central to how public policy treats the telecommunications industry. This centrality continues today. Yet, numerous foundational questions about this concept persist. In this paper, we chronicle how the definition of “competition” has evolved in economics and has been applied in the communications arena. The academic literature on competition hits an important inflection point in the mid-20th century with the development of “workable competition”: a term that is equated to “effective competition.” We find that while the concept of “effective competition” is central to policy formation at the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC’s own applications of “effective competition” are inconsistent. Given the centrality of this concept, and its inconsistent applications to date, we draw upon the seminal contributions to the development of the notion of “effective competition” to offer a modern definition suitable for application in 21st century communications markets.

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