Telecom Alert: February Open Meeting; NTIA Nomination; 900 MHz Relocation Deadline; Rural Broadband Protection Act [Volume XXII, Issue 6]
FCC Releases February Open Meeting Agenda
The FCC will hold its first Open Meeting of the new administration on Thursday, February 27th. The Commission plans to consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) designed to form an auction for AWS-3 spectrum and use its funds in part to cover the costs of the Rip-and-Replace reimbursement program. The Commission is also slated to consider a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) concerning freeing up additional mid-band spectrum in the Upper C-band, an R&O addressing changes to the Wireless Emergency Alerts system, rules for strengthening call blocking requirements, and an NPRM addressing commercial loudness rules. For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239) or Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202-434-4271).
Arielle Roth Nominated to Lead NTIA
President Donald Trump has nominated Arielle Roth to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Roth formerly worked as a policy director for the Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and as legislative counsel for Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO). Roth also has telecommunications experience dating back to her service as a wireline advisor for former FCC Commissioner O’Reilly and her work with the Wireless Competition Bureau. As head of NTIA, Roth will be positioned to address the rollout of the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program which holds $42.5 billion in funding for state projects. For more information, please contact Casey Lide (lide@khlaw.com; 202.434.4186) or Sean Stokes (stokes@khlaw.com; 410.458.1342).
AAR Informs FCC of 900 MHz Band Relocation Compliance
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed an ex-parte letter on February 5th stating it intends to meet the September 14th deadline set in a 2020 order to relocate to the narrowband portions of the 900 MHz band. The relocation was part of an agreement with AAR where the railroads would vacate six paired 12.5 kHz-wide channels on the band in exchange for 250 kHz of narrowband spectrum, provided that the railroads covered relocation costs. In May of last year, AAR announced they were committing $110 million in equipment to meet new technical standards on the band and complete their transition by the deadline. For more information, please contact Tim Doughty (doughty@khalw.com; 202-434-4271) or Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).
Senate Commerce Approves Rural Broadband Protection Act
Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee approved the Rural Broadband Protection Act by voice vote, sending it for consideration by the full Senate. The Act was sponsored by Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-WA), which requires internet service providers (ISP) undergo more stringent vetting and verification requirements to participate in the FCC’s Universal Service Fund program. Sen. Capito stated the purpose of the bill is to reduce the waste of broadband funding and ensure smaller rural service providers with demonstrated success receive the proper support. The Act also instructs the FCC to consider proposals by ISPs against “reasonable and well-established technical, financial, and operational standards” as adopted in the Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection docket (WC Docket 19-195). For more information, please contact Casey Lide (lide@khlaw.com; 202.434.4186) or Sean Stokes (stokes@khlaw.com; 410.458.1342).
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