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  2. September 2016

September 2016

Enhancing Experimentation and Innovation for 5G and Beyond

The program experimental license offers a new paradigm for the Experimental Radio Service (ERS), one that significantly reduces the barriers to experimentation for qualified entities. Under a program experimental license, a licensee is able to post a notification that it is experimenting in a particular band to a web portal. Other parties, specifically entities that hold licenses in bands that the experiment may use or affect (in a controlled manner) then have to proactively object if they have concerns about the interference potential from the experiment. The concept here is simple: allow entities with radio frequency expertise, that are able to manage radio frequency devices in a controlled environment without affecting other users, experiment more freely. We have been working to stand up the IT system necessary to facilitate the program experimental license for several years, and we are near completion. Within a few weeks, we will release a Public Notice announcing that the program experimental license is open for business. This could have huge benefits in the development of new wireless technologies, including 5G. Under the ERS, all of the bands the Commission adopted and proposed in the Spectrum Frontiers R&O and FNPRM are open for experimentation now. Under the new program experimental license, qualifying entities will have even fewer administrative hurdles to jump through, easing the path toward experimentation, and ultimately, innovation.

Court May Have Ushered in Uncertainty on Privacy Rules

[Commentary] A recent court ruling could mean big things for privacy regulations governing telecommunications, cable and internet companies—mostly because it highlights what those regulations may not cover. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FTC cannot regulate any aspect of a common carrier’s business. That includes cable companies and other broadband providers, which are classified as common carriers under new net neutrality rules. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates common carriers, doesn’t have jurisdiction over non-communications services. As companies with common carrier status expand into new lines of business such as mobile video and online advertising, the decision could be interpreted to mean that some of their business lines are left effectively unregulated when it comes to privacy. And that void could push lawmakers to act. Any gap in the law should worry investors because of the uncertainty over what might fill it.

Submitted on September 8, 2016

This is a handbook for city officials seeking the affordable, abundant bandwidth their communities will need to thrive in the decades ahead.

FCC Tightens TV-Station Ownership Curb by Cutting Discount

Federal regulators tightened limits on owning television stations by eliminating the practice of only counting part of some stations’ audience, a move opposed by broadcasters including 21st Century Fox Inc. and Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. The Federal Communications Commission in a 3-to-2 Democratic-led party-line vote on Sept 7 abolished the 30-year-old UHF discount. Under the eliminated discount, the agency counted only half of households in a TV station’s local area, when judging ownership against the limit of reaching 39 percent of US TV households. Groups that exceed the limit as a result of the change needn’t sell stations, but must comply in future transactions, meaning future deals could result in sales to conform with the regulation. Companies over the limit without the discount include Tribune Media Co., Ion Media Networks Inc. and Univision Communications Inc., the FCC said.

The FCC in August voted to preserve other TV and radio station ownership restrictions, including a ban on owning both a daily newspaper and a nearby broadcast station. The live audience for broadcast TV has been shrinking for years, and broadcasters have said they need to be freed of “antiquated and unreasonable” rules to vie with digital competitors. Tribune, with 42 stations in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where it is located, in an annual filing told investors that abolishing the UHF discount would affect its ability to acquire additional stations. Gary Weitman, a spokesman, in an e-mail said the FCC decision is a “non-issue” since company holdings comply with the rules.

House GOP on Oversight Committee Release Report on Year-Long Investigation into OPM Data Breaches

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) released a staff report titled, The OPM Data Breach: How the Government Jeopardized Our National Security for More than a Generation, chronicling the Committee’s year-long investigation into how highly personal, highly sensitive data of millions of Americans was compromised by a foreign adversary in 2015. The report outlines findings and recommendations to help the federal government better acquire, deploy, maintain, and monitor its information technology. As a result of one the Committee’s findings, Chairman Chaffetz sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting an opinion on whether the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) violated the Anti-Deficiency Act (ADA) when it accepted services from a company without payment. Key Findings:

  • The OPM data breach was preventable.
  • OPM leadership failed to heed repeated recommendations from its Inspector General, failed to sufficiently respond to growing threats of sophisticated cyber attacks, and failed to prioritize resources for cybersecurity.
  • Data breaches in 2014 were likely connected and possibly coordinated to the 2015 data breach.
  • OPM misled the public on the extent of the damage of the breach and made false statements to Congress

Key Recommendations:

  • Reprioritize federal information security efforts toward zero trust.
  • Ensure agency CIOs are empowered, accountable, and competent.
  • Reduce use of social security numbers by federal agencies.
  • Modernize existing legacy federal information technology assets.
  • Improve federal recruitment, training, and retention of federal cybersecurity specialists

House GOP Oversight Chairman promises to investigate cellphone trackers

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) tore into government surveillance methods, saying his committee will investigate one in particular — Stingray scanners. Stingrays are cellphone trackers that can be used to gain location data from phone users. The trackers have recently come under scrutiny from civil rights groups. "You will be shocked at what the federal government is doing to collect your personal information," Chairman Chaffetz said. "And they can't keep it secure, that's the point."

Chairman Chaffetz last November introduced the Stingray Privacy Act, a bill aimed at curtailing the implementation of the cell tracking technology. “The abuse of Stingrays and other cell-site simulators by individuals, including law enforcement, could enable gross violations of privacy,” he said at the time. Chairman Chaffetz’s comments come after the House Oversight Committee’s release of a scathing 241-page report on the Office of Personnel Management data breach.

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