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February 2017

Will Chairman Pai’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee Re-invent the Wheel?

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has established what he is calling the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) aimed at bridging the digital divide and accelerating the deployment of high-speed broadband services. One of the BDAC’s first tasks will be to draft a model code for broadband deployment that will address topics such as local franchising, zoning, permitting and rights-of-way regulations with the goal of eliminating or reducing red tape that can complicate deployments. If this sounds familiar, perhaps it’s because several other entities already have undertaken aspects of this task. These entities include but are not necessarily limited to:
Google Fiber
CTC Technology & Energy
Gig.U
Pew Center on the States
Next Century Cities

Hopefully the BDAC will avoid re-inventing the wheel by reviewing these and other existing studies as part of the process of developing the model code. Also on tap for the BDAC will be addressing further reforms to the FCC’s pole attachment rules; identifying unreasonable regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and ways to encourage local governments to adopt deployment-friendly policies; and other reforms within the scope of the commission’s authority, according to a press release about the BDAC issued today.

Consumer groups urge Chairman Pai not to reverse robo-call limits for student debt collectors

Consumer advocates are urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to uphold rules restricting companies from inundating people with cellphone calls to collect money owed to or guaranteed by the government, including federal student loans, mortgages and taxes. Eighteen organizations, led by the National Consumer Law Center, will file a petition with the FCC opposing student loan companies’ request for a revision of rules the agency approved in August.

Those rules tightened a provision that was slipped into a 2015 congressional budget deal, amending a law meant to protect people from being harassed or bombarded with text messages and calls that could run up their cellphone bills. The commission limited the number of calls debt collectors can make to wireless phones to three a month and barred them from contacting a borrower’s family or friends. It also said companies must notify people of their right to request that all calls cease upon request. “It is pretty stressful owing money, and calls from debt collectors nagging you to pay is also very stressful, and when the calls are not just made to you but to your relatives, it’s embarrassing,” said Margot Saunders, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center.

Judge Gorsuch No Stranger to Tech

President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Neil Gorsuch, has tackled some of the biggest issues in tech during his time on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, spanning e-mail privacy and Microsoft antitrust and the “Amazon tax.” Judge Gorsuch has also shown skepticism about the Chevron doctrine, whereby federal courts give deference to agencies' interpretation of laws and regulations. Given his experience on the bench and in private practice at a Washington law firm, Judge Gorsuch is likely to be "very strong on First and Fourth Amendment issues involving the internet of things," said Perkins Coie partner Andrew McBride.

Former FCC Staffers Launch Consulting Firm

Paul de Sa, Ruth Milkman and Jon Wilkins, who left the Federal Communications Commission at the end of Chairman Tom Wheeler’s era, are launching Quadra Partners, an advisory firm aimed at executives and investors in the wireless and broadband sectors. De Sa most recently led the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning, Milkman was Wheeler’s chief of staff and Wilkins headed up the agency’s wireless bureau. They plan to focus on strategy development, new business creation, mergers and acquisition, and public/private investment.

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