FCC Meeting Agenda for April 2018
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Tuesday, April 17, 2018:
The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Tuesday, April 17, 2018:
The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced it will not stand in the way of Straight Path’s millimeter wave (mmWave) license transfer to Verizon, denying a request from the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) to stay a Jan. 18 order approving the transfer. The bureau said CCA failed to meet its burden for a “grant of an extraordinary remedy” of a stay.
Several organizations representing the interests of rural telecommunication and electric cooperatives recently met with Federal Communications Commission staff to discuss rules for the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS)—namely, that they want the rules to remain much the same as they were crafted in the first place.
A Google-led plan to overhaul how valuable airwaves are used for calls and texts is gaining momentum across the wireless industry, giving the company the chance to play a central role in networks of the future. Citizens Broadband Radio Service, or CBRS, is a fat slice of the US airwaves being freed from the military’s exclusive control. Instead of just zipping messages between aircraft carriers and fighter jets, the spectrum will be shared by the Navy, wireless carriers like Verizon, cable companies including Comcast, and even hospitals, refineries, and sports stadiums.
Chairman Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the April 2018 Open Commission Meeting:
Building on our progress last week modernizing our wireless infrastructure rules so that they are 5G ready, the Federal Communications Commission in April will continue to move full steam ahead in making spectrum available for next-generation 5G networks. At our April meeting, the Commission will vote on a public notice seeking input on auction procedures for the 28 GHz and 24 GHz bands. And under the draft that I have presented my colleagues, the 28 GHz auction would commence on November 14.
Companies like OneWeb and Elon Musk’s Starlink have been moving forward on ambitious plans to make internet available to every person on earth, which is a noble goal considering an estimated 4.3 billion people don’t have internet access. The problem is that there’s a natural incentive for a private satellite company to engage in “spectrum warehousing,” or highballing the amount of satellites it asks the government to allow it to shoot up. The company’s request may get approved on paper, but the companies may drag their feet sending up those satellites, or never send them up at all.
The Federal Communications Commission proposed action to promote more flexible and intensive use of the 4.9 GHz band, a segment of spectrum designated for public safety communications. In a Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC seeks comment on proposals, technical in nature, to encourage greater use of and investment in this public safety band, drawing on input from the public safety community and other potential users.
Legislation to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission, boost mobile broadband, and provide additional funds, as needed, for broadcasters' moves to new spectrum in the post-incentive auction repack has been included in the must-pass omnibus spending bill, which must pass by March 23 to avoid another government shutdown. The RAY BAUM Act (which incorporated Sen.
What is the future of 5G deployment? What does this mean for schools, libraries, and other anchor institutions? David Young will explore these questions and more as a panelists in our upcoming Grow2Gig+ Webinar. |
[Commentary] Instead of having a centralized database to support shared access in specific spectrum bands, innovators should explore the use of blockchain as a lower-cost alternative. If the effort succeeds, the benefits could be considerable: The system could reduce the administrative expense of allocating spectrum and increase efficiency by enabling demand-matching spectrum sharing and by lowering transaction costs. Even better, the public quality of the information on the blockchain could expose patterns in use and inspire new technical innovation in the process.
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to make a directive on 5G, the next-generation, high-speed wireless standard, that could significantly affect local government control of infrastructure. Two cities, San Jose (CA) which lies in the heart of Silicon Valley, and Lincoln (NE) an innovative university and capitol city, both could be profoundly affected if the FCC decides to “cut red tape” with modifications to small cell antenna deployment rules.
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) says a study backed by the likes of Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm and others is badly flawed and should not be relied upon to allow for an array of unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band. Earlier in 2018, representatives from Apple, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Facebook, Google, Intel, MediaTek, Microsoft and Qualcomm met with Federal Communications Commission representatives where they presented a study, prepared by RKF Engineering Solutions, that analyzed sharing between unlicensed operations in
[Commentary] The Senate Commerce Committee held three hearings this week on infrastructure.
[Commentary] A large and growing group of voices, including those from legislators, journalists, FiberTower shareholders and trade associations, argues that AT&T’s purchase of FiberTower’s millimeter wave licenses is a sweetheart deal that undervalues that spectrum—spectrum those in the industry believe is critical to the rollout of 5G. Most recently, Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA), in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, claimed that the agency signed off on AT&T’s FiberTower purchase without holding an open debate about the transaction.
In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) wants the FCC to rethink its approval of deals putting high-band spectrum in the hands of AT&T and Verizon. The FCC's Wireless Bureau approved the transfer of millimeter-band (high-band) spectrum licenses from Straight Path to Verizon and FiberTower to AT&T in settlements with those companies for not building out the spectrum as they agreed to do when they acquired it.
Featuring the author Thomas W. Hazlett, Hugh H. Macaulay Endowed Chair in Economics, Clemson University; with comments by Ajit Pai, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission.
I want to thank the satellite industry for your contributions to our economy and quality of life, which sometimes go underappreciated. I want to express my appreciation for all that you do when disaster strikes. We now stand at a moment of tremendous promise for your industry—and ultimately for
American consumers, who stand to benefit from your efforts. I want the FCC to help you, and with you the public, seize the opportunities that are in front of you. My top priority as Chairman of the FCC is closing the digital divide. I’ve often said that in order
The objective of this paper is to independently assess the impacts of regulatory reviews required for the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NHPA/NEPA) on 5G small cell roll-outs by US wireless carriers. In assessing the costs wireless carriers incur in relation to these reviews, Accenture found the following:
A Q&A with Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission.
A bipartisan group of Senators, led by Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing serious concerns about the agency’s recently released Mobility Fund Phase II (MF II) map. The purpose of this fund is to allocate $4.53 billion over the next 10 years to preserve and expand mobile coverage to rural areas.
Microsoft is looking to turn school buses into Internet-enabled hotspots in an experiment that’s aimed at helping students in rural Michigan do their homework. The company wants to use empty TV airwaves to beam high-speed Internet signals to buses in Hillman (MI) as they travel to and from school, according to regulatory filings submitted Wednesday to the Federal Communications Commission. “The proposed deployment would help … by providing high-speed wireless Internet access on school buses as they complete their morning and afternoon routes,” the filing reads.
The Federal Communications Commission's Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau said that there would be an additional allocation coming from the $1.75 billion incentive auction repack fund. The FCC says it has now received both verified and unverified expenses that total $1.95 billion, so it was time to dip into the fund once more, which will come in the next 4-6 weeks, or perhaps in time for broadcasters to celebrate the infusion at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in early April.
The Obama Administration’s proposal to mandate a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system in all new cars is reportedly on life support at the more deregulatory Trump Department of Transportation (DOT). A V2V signaling mandate has been criticized as outdated, costly, and lengthy; it could take 20 years or more to become fully effective.
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