Public Notice

This Federal Communications Commission inquiry concerns the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all US-Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, and possible steps to accelerate such deployment.

The FCC starts anew by analyzing current data and seeking information that will enable the FCC to conduct an updated analysis for purposes of its next report.

In particular, the FCC seeks comment on the benchmarks to use to define “advanced telecommunications capability,” to explore whether the agency should establish separate benchmarks for fixed and mobile services, which data is reliable for measuring broadband, whether and how to take into account differences in broadband deployment, particularly between urban areas versus non-urban and Tribal areas, and other issues.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold on August 8, 2014 an Open Meeting on:

• Wireless communications. Streamlining and updating the rules governing the construction, marking, and lighting of antenna structures; and
• Public safety & homeland security. The FCC will consider a Second Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that establishes deadlines for covered text providers to be capable of delivering texts to appropriate 911 public safety answering points, and seeks comment on proposals to improve text-to-911 service.

The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications from graduating law students and current judicial clerks for its Fall 2015 Attorney Honors Program.

The application window opens on August 1, 2014.

Attorneys at the FCC work on cutting-edge legal and policy issues in the communications and technology arenas. They promote the deployment of high-speed broadband communications; protect the rights of consumers; promote access to communications services for all Americans, including Americans with disabilities; review major mergers and acquisitions; and promote public safety and homeland security.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) is requesting comment on the 45-day public trial of a new system of registration procedures for Google’s TV bands database system that was completed on July 17, 2014.

Google has provided a summary report on the trial of its new registration procedures and modified database system to OET.

This summary report identifies: 1) problems reported and their disposition and 2) descriptions of changes made by Google to its new registration procedures or its channel availability calculator during the trial period. The FCC is requesting that interested parties submit comments on the trial and this report by August 13, 2014. Replies are due by August 19, 2014.

On July 24, 2014, the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the City of Wilson, North Carolina, filed separate petitions asking that the Federal Communications Commission act pursuant to section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 19961 to preempt portions of Tennessee and North Carolina state statutes that restrict their ability to provide broadband services. The FCC is allowing the public until August 29 to file comments in the proceeding and until September 29 to file reply comments.

In March 2012, the FCC’s third Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC III) unanimously adopted voluntary recommendations for Internet service providers (ISPs) to combat three major cybersecurity threats: (1) botnet attacks; (2) domain name fraud; and (3) Internet route hijacking.

The FCC seeks comment from ISPs, the Internet community, consumer organizations, and the broader public on the implementation and effectiveness of the CSRIC III recommendations and/or alternatives that stakeholders have developed since the time of the CSRIC’s original work to address these challenges; and on the implementation status and effectiveness of voluntary recommendations, or alternatives, by ISPs and other members of the Internet community.

The FCC is particularly interested in comment on the following questions as they relate to the four broad areas of CSRIC’s best practices:

• What progress have stakeholders made in implementing the recommendations?
• What barriers have stakeholders encountered in implementing the recommendations?
• What significant success stories or breakthroughs have been achieved in implementing the recommendations?
• What are stakeholders’ views and/or plans for full implementation of the recommendations?
• How effective are the recommendations at mitigating cyber risk when they have been implemented?

The Federal Communications Commission announced the members of the Technological Advisory Council’s (TAC) Working Group on Mobile Device Theft Prevention.

The Council, comprised of a wide array of leading technical experts, supports the Commission’s identification of areas for innovation and development of technology policies promoting America’s competitiveness in the global economy.

The working group will report its findings and recommendations to the full Technological Advisory Council, which then will bring forward its recommendations to the Commission. The TAC is chaired by Dennis Roberson, IIT.

Chairs of Mobile Device Theft Prevention Working Group

• Brian Daly, Director of Core Network and Government/Regulatory Standards, AT&T and member of the Technological Advisory Council
• Robert Kubik, Director of Communications Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Samsung.

Members of the Mobile Device Theft Prevention Working Group

• Asaf Askenazi, Director of Product Management, Qualcomm
• Jay Barbour, Certified Information Systems Security Professional and Security Director, Blackberry
• Brad Blanken, Vice President of Industry Development, Competitive Carriers Association
• Craig Boswell, President, Hobi
• Eric Feldman, Associate Deputy Assistant Director, Cyber Crimes Center, Department of Homeland Security
• John Foust, Special Assistant, Executive Office of the Chief of Police, Washington (DC) Metropolitan Police Department
• Les Gray, Chief Operations Officer, Recipero
• Joe Heaps, Policy Advisor, National Institute of Justice
• Gary Jones, Senior Director and Head of Technical Standards Policy, T-Mobile
• Sang Kim, Principal Researcher, LG
• Jake Laperruque, Fellow on Privacy, Surveillance, and Security, Center for Democracy and Technology
• John Marinho, Vice President of Technology and CyberSecurity, CTIA – The Wireless Association
• Special Agent Samuel Messinger, US Secret Service
• Jason Novak, Manager of Privacy Engineering, Apple
• Kirthika Parmeswaran, Principal Solutions Architect, Ericsson
• Greg Post, President, Recipero (Alternate)
• Ian Robertson, Vice President of Security, Engineering, and Innovation, Motorola Mobility
• Deepti Rohatgi, Mobile Security Policy Advisor, Lookout
• Mark Romer, Senior Director, Asurion Mobile Applications
• Mike Rou, Senior Manager, eBay
• Matt Rowe, Vice President and General Counsel, Gazelle
• Special Agent Christian Schorle, FBI Newark, Cyber Task Force
• David Strumwasser, Principal Member of Technical Staff, Verizon
• Maxwell Szabo, Legislative Affairs and Policy Manager, Office of District Attorney George Gascón
• Nick Tucker, Program Manager, Microsoft
• Samir Vaidya, Director of Technology, Verizon (Alternate).

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau establishes the procedures, reserve prices, and minimum opening bid amounts for the upcoming auction of 1,614 Advanced Wireless Services licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands (collectively, the “AWS-3” bands).

This auction is scheduled to start on November 13, 2014.

The US Copyright Office has undertaken a study to evaluate the effectiveness of current methods for licensing musical works and sound recordings.

At this time, the Office seeks additional comments on whether and how existing music licensing methods serve the music marketplace, including new and emerging digital distribution platforms. Written comments are due on or before August 22, 2014

Providers of broadband Internet access services must disclose accurate information about their service offerings and make this information accessible to the public. This requirement, known as the Open Internet Transparency Rule, has been in full force and effect since 2011.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, “Consumers deserve to get the broadband service they pay for. After today, no broadband provider can claim they didn’t know we were watching to see that they disclose accurate information about the services they provide. The FCC’s transparency rule requires that consumers get the information they need to make informed choices about the broadband services they purchase. We expect providers to be fully transparent about the details of their services, and we will hold them accountable if they fall down on this obligation to consumers.”