Broadcasting&Cable

FCC Approves LTE-U Devices

The Federal Communications Commission is opening up the 5 GHz spectrum band to unlicensed LTE use as a way to boost spectrum sharing and wireless broadband. “This is a significant advance in wireless innovation and a big win for wireless consumers," said FCC chairman Ajit Pai. “LTE-U allows wireless providers to deliver mobile data traffic using unlicensed spectrum while sharing the road, so to speak, with Wi-Fi. The excellent staff of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology has certified that the LTE-U devices being approved today are in compliance with FCC rules. And voluntary industry testing has demonstrated that both these devices and Wi-Fi operations can co-exist in the 5 GHz band. This heralds a technical breakthrough in the many shared uses of this spectrum."

The FCC certified LTE-U equipment from Ericsson and Nokia, T-Mobile said, which means the carrier can start deploying the technology in its network, which it will start doing this spring. T-Mobile says tapping into 20 MHz of 5 GHz spectrum—the "U" in LTE-U stands for unlicensed—will help it deliver gigabit LTE to more areas of the country.

FCC's Pai: DC Should Not Micromanage Dynamic Industry

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai says DC bureaucrats should not micromanage dynamic industries and that he supports Congress making broadband part of an infrastructure legislative package. He also suggests the government should not be trying to divine journalists' editorial judgments.

When asked for a timetable for rolling back the FCC's Title II reclassification of Internet service providers, Chairman Pai said he could not provide one. He did say the ultimate goal was to preserve an internet he argues had been open for two decades before the FCC decided to reclassify ISPs as common carriers. He said the takeaway from those two decades was that light-touch regulation was best and signaled that was what he was aiming to restore. Chairman Pai put in a plug for making broadband part of an infrastructure package in Congress. "I think what Americans really want is better, faster, cheaper internet access," he said, "and for the Congress to give the private sector more tools to promote broadband development."

FCC Lets Class A Low Powers Kick Tires on ATSC 3.0

The Federal Communications Commission is allowing a test of the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard in the Portland (OR) area. The grant, which was reported by the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition, is for six months on four channels (16, 20, 35, 38) and was requested by WatchTV's class A low-power outlets KORS-CD, KOXI-CD, KKEI-CD, and KORK-CD. Also backing the test, according to WatchTV, is a "manufacturer of broadcast transmitters for the U.S. market."

FCC's Open Internet Docket Heats Up

The Federal Communications Commission's Open Internet docket is starting to fill up with new comments, according to the FCC's online list of the most active proceedings. It remains number three on the top 10 list with 402 comments in the past 30 days. That is still way below the 992 Lifeline subsidy program compliance filings in that last 30 days and the 1,246 filings on the high-cost fund, both of those related to the Universal Service Fund for broadband subsidies. But it is the busiest docket since last week, when some Democratic members of Congress called on the public to begin flooding the FCC again with support for retaining the Title II-based Open Internet order. There have been over 200 comments logged since last week (there were 178 as of Feb. 9). By contrast, the two USF dockets only logged 68 new comments combined.

FCC's Pai on Broadcast TV: ‘Keep It Clean’

Ajit Pai gave his first TV interview as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to Fox Business Network and said he would investigate indecency complaints against CBS, NBC or anyone else if they were presented to him. Chairman Pai appeared on The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan. Regan cited an F-bomb on Saturday Night Live and Adele's F-bomb on the Grammys and asked if the FCC would be investigating them for "this kind of stuff." "If we are presented with complaints, we are duty bound to enforce the law," he said, "and the law that is on the books today requires that broadcasters keep it clean so to speak." Chairman Pai said he took that FCC obligation seriously. But Chairman Pai did suggest he would be watching what broadcasters say on air, per FCC indecency rules on the books, adding: "[A]s a parent I want to make sure that my kids have a wholesome experience when they are watching programs like that."

More House Members Push Pai On Lifeline Authorizations

Over a dozen Democratic members of the House Commerce Committee have asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to reverse his reversal of nine Lifeline broadband subsidy authorizations granted in the waning weeks of his predecessor, Chairman Tom Wheeler.

In a letter to Chairman Pai, they said his halting of the expansion of the program, which provides subsides for basic communications services to lower income residents, unnecessarily pulls the tools to connect out of the hands of the poor in the case of one provider, which is already providing service, and the potential for the other eight--which are not yet providing service--to supply those tools. "The order does not explain how its actions will accomplish those goals," they said. "Furthermore, since the Order raised many novel policy questions regarding the Commission’s current efforts to safeguard the integrity of the Lifeline program, we find it troubling that the Chairman would insist on pursuing the same course he has so often criticized his predecessors for: an improper exercise of the FCC’s delegated authority and a refusal to permit the full Commission from voting on an item that poses new questions of law and policy." They said they were all for making the program more efficient and accountable, but said that need not come at the expense of the consumers who benefit from the Lifeline subsidies.

Senate Names Communications Subcommittee Members

It took awhile, but the Democratic Senators have chosen the new subcommittee assignments for the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees communications issues including the Federal Communications Commission.

Returning as Ranking Member of the Senate Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet Subcommittee is Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI). Rounding out the committee are Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tom Udall (D-NM), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). The reason the process took as long as it did was the usual jockeying for position for assignments, plus added seats given Democrats' greater proportion of the Senate due to gains in the election. The communications subcommittee lost two members, Sens Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), but gained four--Sens Duckworth and Baldwin, Hassan, and Cortez Masto. Unlike the House, historically most of the communications issues are handled at the committee level.

Trump Accuses Media of 'Blind Hatred'

President Donald Trump is doubling down on his attacks on the media (except for Fox News) and the intelligence community as the media report on the resignation/firing of Trump's National Security Advisor Michael Flynn over contacts with Russia before the election, with some help with leaks from the latter. It also comes amid some bipartisan support for a continuing Hill investigation into Russian influence on the election.

The President fired off a series of tweets early Feb 15 beginning with: "The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!" That was followed by "This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign," and "Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia." Trump then tweeted "The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by 'intelligence' like candy. Very un-American!"

Virginia Bill Now Passes Muster With Broadband Authority

The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority, which has opposed a bill to put conditions on municipal broadband buildouts in Virginia, said the latest iteration of the bill—amended Feb. 13 in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee—is no longer a threat to municipal broadband. The telcom-backed bill—introduced in the Virginia assembly in Jan—would have allowed for municipal buildouts but only if they targeted unserved areas, which it defined as those where the average broadband speed is less than 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. It would also have required an independent study to identify unserved areas before any buildouts and would have put conditions on overbuilding of any existing service at any speed. A municipality would also have had to provide access to rights of way on a first-come, first-serve basis to commercial providers and could not have cross-subsidized its broadband with regulated utility money. The bill was already re-crafted once after the VA governor threatened to veto it.

CenturyLink-Level 3 Merger Gets First State Approvals

Ohio, Utah and Nevada are the first states to sign off on the merger of broadband providers CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications, according to CenturyLink. The merger is valued at $34 billion including debt. The merger was announced Oct 31, and applications were filed with the FCC and for antitrust review by the Department of Justice in December.

ACA to FCC: Consider ATSC 3.0 Impact on Smaller Pay-TV Providers

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai plans a vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) at the Feb 23 public meeting that would allow broadcasters to start rolling out the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard on a voluntary basis. The NPRM will also ask a lot of questions about how that should happen and its effect on the marketplace. American Cable Association commended Chairman Pai for issuing the draft and for asking all those questions. One of those is: “whether small, rural, low-power, and NCE broadcasters would face unique circumstances with regard to the voluntary provision of ATSC 3.0 that we should consider in this proceeding," followed by suggestions on how to ease those burdens. ACA says that is appropriate, but that the FCC should also ask the same questions about small pay-TV providers and how to ease their burdens as well.

Chairman Blackburn: Broadband Privacy Rule Rollback Could Start Soon

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) says there could be a resolution on rolling back the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy framework as early as Feb. 13.

"We are talking and working with the Senate on this," she said. "I think using the [Congressional Review Act] to invalidate the rulemaking] is fine. That would be the most expedient way to address the concerns and we are working with the Senate to make sure we can do that." Chairman Blackburn she would try to make sure that there was no privacy gap given that once the FCC reclassified ISPs under Title II common carrier regulations, the FTC was prevented from regulating broadband privacy due to its common carrier exemption. "I would think there would be a way to work through that so you don't have a gap in oversight."

Ex-Wheeler Aide Sohn Slams FCC Chairman Pai For Lifeline Moves

Gigi Sohn, former top counselor to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, took aim at new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's reversal of a handful of Lifeline subsidy authorizations.

Chairman Pai took to the Internet himself to defend the move after critics said he was undercutting the program for subsidizing essential communications services, in part blaming news stories he said had gotten the story wrong. But Sohn said the criticism was justified. In a post labeled "Defending the Indefensible," on the Benton Foundation Web site, Sohn said that the bottom lines was that Pai and his fellow Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly "fundamentally disagree with the structure and goals of the Lifeline program and will seek to undermine it in word and deed." Sohn argues there were no procedural flaws that should have resulted in withdrawing the authorizations approved by the FCC under Wheeler.

Sen McCaskill Pushes Chairman Pai for Action on Cable Contracts

Veteran cable critic Sen Claire McCaskill (D-MO)—ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations—wants Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to limit "overly restrictive" alternative delivery method (ADM) and unconditional most-favored-nation clauses in programming contracts. The FCC, over Pai's objection, proposed to do just that in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) last September stemming from an inquiry in 2016 into program diversity.

In a letter, Sen McCaskill said in the committee's investigation into programming practices—based on documents from "many of the largest cable and satellite providers" and interviews with distributors and networks—she concluded that the clauses may be limiting consumer choice and said based on that investigation, limiting them "will succeed in removing these obstacles and facilitate competition in an industry increasingly dominated by a few large companies.

Net Neutrality Is FCC's Third Busiest Docket

To establish a baseline for a promised flood of network neutrality comments to the Federal Communications Commission, as of Feb 9, the proceeding was listed as the third most active proceeding in terms of comments with 178 comments in the past 30 days. Universal Service Fund comments and Lifeline subsidy compliance forms are the busiest dockets with over a thousand in each. At a press conference this week, Senate Democrats urged fans of the FCC's Title II-based Open Internet order to flood the FCC with new comments in support given that Republican chairman Ajit Pai is a strong opponent of that reclassification. The FCC received more than four million comments when the FCC was coming up with the last Open Internet order, a stat Democrats often cite in arguing that the rules have broad support and should not be rolled back.

CenturyLink to Protect FCC Online Complaints

CenturyLink has secured a contract to handle even more online security for the Federal Communications Commission. In 2012, CenturyLink won a contract to provide MTIPS (Managed Trusted Internet Protocol Service) to the commission through 2017 at an estimated $2.64 million. The ISP said it has also won the contract to provide similar services to the FCC's Gettysburg (PA) IT facility, the primary nexus for FCC inquiries and complaints. That is valued at $875,000 over five years. “CenturyLink looks forward to providing its market-leading MTIPS infrastructure to the FCC’s Gettysburg IT center and helping protect both the center and the commission from network attacks,” said Erich Sanchack, CenturyLink senior VP and general manager, federal government. In December, CenturyLink secured an $11.4 million contract (three years at $3.8 million per year) to provide VoIP service to the state offices of U.S. senators. That contract could actually total $26 million if the government picks up four one-year options.

Chairman Blackburn: Let FCC Make First Move on Net Neutrality

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) says she will give the Federal Communications Commission first crack at the Open Internet order before taking legislative steps. That comes amidst some Democratic Sens' and others declaring to fight for the Title II-based net neutrality rules, including any weakening by Congress, while other legislators and industry groups are pushing for a legislative solution.

Chairman Blackburn—joined by Full Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), was asked what she thought the timetable would be for a network neutrality bill. She said "let's let the FCC go in and do what they are able to do, make the first move on that. I think we allow them to take those first steps." Asked how the FCC's and Congress' role in addressing the rules would dovetail, she said that after FCC Chairman Ajit Pai takes whatever actions he takes, "the opportunity that we will have as a legislative body will be to take action that will move forward on some principles and definitions and make sure we don't end up in the situation again where we had agency overreach and an agency that decides they want to go off script."

Legislative Net Neutrality Solution Draws A Crowd

While Democratic Sens were suggesting that the Federal Communications Commission's Open Internet order is fine as is and nothing is needed to be done to alter those protections—either legislatively and certainly not a rollback by the FCC—a legislative solution to resolve the issue was getting a lot of votes from outside groups Tuesday. That came after Sens Ed Markey (D-MA), Al Franken (D-MN) and others held a press conference to say they would fight any attempts by the FCC to reverse the Open Internet order or legislative attempts in a Republican-controlled Congress to weaken it.

In a joint press statement, The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, the National Urban League and others called for "a permanent statutory solution that enshrines the basic open internet principles into law. These core principles are not controversial and should not be subject to endless litigation, regulation, and reconsideration. A statute locking in net neutrality would protect net neutrality no matter how the political winds blow."

FCC Media Bureau Rescinds JSA Guidance

The Federal Communications Commission has rescinded its March 2014 guidance on the processing of applications for various broadcast TV sharing arrangements like joint sales agreements (JSAs). That came from the Media Bureau's acting chief Michelle Carey, whose bureau was busy undoing actions of the former Democratic majority. "This Public Notice rescinds, in its entirety and effective immediately, earlier guidance provided in a March 12, 2014, public notice, DA 14-330, 'Processing of Broadcast Television Applications Proposing Sharing Arrangements and Contingent Interests,'" the bureau said. In March 2014, the Media Bureau issued guidance to broadcasters that it would be scrutinizing sharing arrangements with financial components closely to make sure they were arms-length transactions and not de facto control.

MTV News Staffers Cite Trump in Seeking to Unionize

According to the Writers Guild of America, East, the editorial staff of MTV News plans to unionize with WGAE, citing having to cover the Donald Trump administration as part of the reason.

WGAE cited a letter from the MTV News Unionizing Committee that said, in part: "Under the new Trump administration, we are acutely aware of how necessary our constitutional rights are, and how much we need legal protection." "There has never been a more critically important time in our lives to have the protections of a union, especially for those of us in media," the committee wrote, according to WGAE. "And there’s never been a more necessary time for MTV News to talk about music, pop culture, and politics with the teenagers of America. We need to do more than just pay our respects to the past. We need a seat at the table so that we can be the future of MTV News. Because we deeply believe in the mission of MTV News and in the rights of the editors, writers, critics, reporters, producers, and correspondents who make up our team, the majority of us have collectively decided to organize a union with the Writers Guild of America, East."

Chairman Pai Op-Ed: Fast-Forwarding to the Future of Broadcasting

[Commentary] In December, the world’s first commercial broadcast using a new video transmission standard—one that enables dramatically better picture quality and new services—took place in South Korea. This standard, which some call ATSC 3.0 and others call Next Gen TV, is the first one to marry the advantages of broadcasting and the internet. Feb 1, I shared with my fellow Federal Communications Commission commissioners a proposal to allow broadcasters to use the Next Gen TV standard on a voluntary basis.

My view is simple: As in any industry, the FCC should promote innovation in the broadcasting business, not stand in the way of progress. I look forward to receiving feedback on our proposal from broadcasters, consumers, and other stakeholders. And I hope that we can issue a final authorization of the standard later in 2017. We expect and want the United States to lead the world in technological innovation. Moving forward with Next Gen TV would enable us to do just that. With this standard, the FCC could help American broadcasters benefit American consumers in a way befitting the marvels of the digital age. Stay tuned!

[Ajit Pai is the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission]

Senators Urge Chairman Pai to Spur Mobility Fund

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MI) and Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV), joined by a bipartisan host of others, have asked new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to prioritize mobile broadband in rural and underserved areas.

In a letter to the chairman, the Sens called on the FCC to "move forward" with Phase II of the Universal Service Fund's Mobility Fund. The FCC has been migrating its subsidies for essential communications from phone to broadband, including mobile broadband. "We need to continue moving the needle on broadband deployment in hard-to-reach areas, such as rural Mississippi,” said Sen Wicker. “Providing this access promotes business innovation and job creation. This is especially important for small businesses, which support tens of thousands of Mississippi families."

House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Doyle 'Disappointed' With ISP Congressional Review Act Letter

Count House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) among those not eager to use Congressional Review Act authority to invalidate the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy framework, but he suggested he was willing to work on an approach to balance the privacy requirements on Internet service providers and edge providers.

Ranking Member Doyle made that clear at the subcommittee's first hearing—on reauthorizing the National Telecommunications & Information Administration—of the new Congress and first presided over by new Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Among the witnesses was CTIA president Meredith Attwell Baker, whose group joined with NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, American Cable Association, USTelecom and others to suggest Congress use that power to undo a framework they point out does not apply to edge-provider data collectors like Google and Facebook.

Powell: Broadband Infrastructure Plan Should Target Unserved

Michael Powell, president of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, said that a new round of broadband infrastructure investment should focus on getting service to unserved areas and on tax incentives to private industry. To the degree that it will be subsidies, he said, they should be targeted.

Powell was speaking at a Capitol Hill panel, outlining infrastructure priorities. It was hosted by the Senate Broadband Caucus. Powell said that the reason that universal access was still a work in progress was "networks hate low density," which is why so much infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, struggles to find its economic footing. He said in economic terms, those are "market failures." He suggested the mistakes made by previous broadband subsidy programs, like overbuilding existing service—serving up seconds before others have firsts—should not be repeated as everyone "gets on the bandwagon" for the next tranche of infrastructure investment. Powell said that the goal should be to incent private investment rather than try to supplant it with government dollars that will not match the tens and hundreds of billions the private sector already invests.