press release

The Federal Communications Commission announced that Sinclair Broadcast Group will pay $9,495,000 to resolve a number of Media Bureau investigations, including the Bureau’s investigation of allegations that Sinclair violated its obligation to negotiate for retransmission consent in good faith. The Commission’s retransmission consent rules, as mandated by Congress, forbid a broadcaster to negotiate jointly for one of its stations and for another station in the same market that it does not control.

In its investigation, the Media Bureau found that, over the course of seven months, Sinclair negotiated retransmission consent on behalf of dozens stations that it did not control at the same time that it was negotiating for its own stations in the same markets. In addition to agreeing to pay $9,495,000, Sinclair has agreed to implement a compliance plan aimed at ensuring no similar violations in the future. This action is the first of its kind to enforce the Commission’s long-standing retransmission consent rules. The settlement also resolves a number of other issues that had been pending for Sinclair-owned stations, and the Bureau has agreed to grant all pending Sinclair renewal applications as part of the settlement terms.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, August 4, 2016:

Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, Section 105, Relay Services for DeafBlind Individuals (CG Docket No. 10-210): The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would convert the National Deaf Blind Equipment Distribution Program from a pilot to a permanent program.

Improvements to Benchmarks and Related Requirements Governing Hearing AidCompatible Mobile Handsets (WT Docket No. 15- 285): The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would implement changes to the scope of the wireless hearing aid compatibility rules.

Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services (WC Docket No. 12-375): The Commission will consider an Order on Reconsideration, responding to a petition filed by Michael S. Hamden, that would ensure that the rates for Inmate Calling Services (ICS) are just, reasonable, and fair and explicitly account for facilities’ ICS-related costs.

After a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order resolving the Commission’s complaint against ASUSTeK Computer, Inc., charging that critical security flaws in its routers put the home networks of hundreds of thousands of consumers at risk. The settlement was first announced in February 2016. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that ASUS failed to take reasonable steps to secure the software on its routers, despite making promises to consumers about their security.

Under the terms of the consent order, ASUS is required to establish and maintain a comprehensive security program subject to independent audits for the next 20 years. In addition, ASUS must notify consumers about software updates or other steps they can take to protect themselves from security flaws, including through an option to register for direct security notices (e.g., through e-mail, text message, or push notification). The consent order also prohibits the company from misleading consumers about the security of the company’s products, including whether a product is using up-to-date software. The Commission vote to approve the final order and letters to commenters was 3-0.

The Federal Communications Commission plans to fine AT&T $106,425 for charging two Florida school districts some of the highest telecommunications rates in the state, in apparent violation of federal law and the FCC’s “lowest corresponding price” rule. The lowest corresponding price rule helps ensure that schools and libraries that participate in the FCC’s E-rate Program get the best rates available by prohibiting E-rate service providers from charging them more than the lowest price paid by other similarly situated customers for similar telecommunications services. The Commission alleges that AT&T charged the school districts prices for telephone service that were magnitudes higher than many other customers in Florida. One or both school districts paid the highest price in all of Florida for one service, while other customers paid much less. In addition to the fine, the FCC plans to order AT&T to repay $63,760 it apparently improperly received from the Universal Service Fund as a subsidy for these services.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai dissented from the decision and released a statement saying, “I agree with my colleagues that AT&T may have violated that rule in Florida. But the Enforcement Bureau’s handling of the investigation has fatally compromised our ability to impose a lawful forfeiture upon the carrier. Here’s the problem: We have issued this Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) too late.”

While the vast majority of cyber incidents can be handled through existing policies, certain cyber incidents that have significant impacts on an entity, our national security, or the broader economy require a unique approach to response efforts. These significant cyber incidents demand unity of effort within the Federal Government and especially close coordination between the public and private sectors.

This Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) sets forth principles governing the Federal Government’s response to any cyber incident, whether involving government or private sector entities. For significant cyber incidents, this PPD also establishes lead Federal agencies and an architecture for coordinating the broader Federal Government response. This PPD also requires the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to maintain updated contact information for public use to assist entities affected by cyber incidents in reporting those incidents to the proper authorities.

The Federal Communications Commission released an Order giving final approval to a recommendation that Telcordia Technologies serve as the nation’s next Local Number Portability Administrator, or LNPA. The LNPA oversees the critical system that allows consumers and businesses to keep their phone numbers when they switch providers, promoting choice and competition. Acting on the recommendation of its numbering advisory committee, the North American Numbering Council, the Commission found that Telcordia can meet the strict conditions set by the FCC to ensure reliability, security, and competitive neutrality of the numbering system.

Specifically, the FCC found that:
The LNPA contract contains terms and conditions to ensure that effective public safety services and law enforcement and national security operations are supported.
The terms and conditions of the LNPA contract ensure that the Government’s interests are protected by a rigorous audit program that monitors for and ensures compliance, backstopped by robust enforcement tools, throughout the term of the contract.
Telcordia has submitted a Code of Conduct and Voting Trust Agreement ensuring that Telcordia will be an impartial LNPA.
Telcordia has effectively engaged in post-selection risk reduction activities to address the evolving cybersecurity threat environment.

As part of its preparations for the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) next World Radiocommunication Conference scheduled to convene in 2019, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the appointment of Thomas C. Power as Chair and Christopher J. Murphy as Vice Chair of the FCC’s Advisory Committee for the World Radiocommunication Conference for 2019 (WRC-19). The Committee will be tasked with providing advice, technical support, and recommended proposals on matters relating to the WRC-19.

Thomas C. Power is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CTIA. Before joining CTIA, Power served as the US Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Telecommunications in the White House Office of Science and Technology Office. Previously, Power served as Chief of Staff for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, US Department of Commerce and as Senior Legal Adviser to FCC Chairman William Kennard, where he advised the chairman on broadband, common carrier and mass media matters. Christopher J. Murphy is Associate General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs, at ViaSat, Inc., a US-based broadband services and technology provider. Before joining ViaSat, Murphy was Vice President, Government Affairs at Inmarsat. Prior to working in the private sector, Murphy worked for a decade at the FCC’s International Bureau, on broadcast and mobile satellite licensing issues, as well as on domestic and international spectrum and broadband policies.

One year after launching the Certified Gig-Capable Provider program to build awareness of community-based broadband providers delivering the Internet’s fastest speeds, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association has recognized 77 companies as Certified Gig-Capable Providers. The certified companies serve a total of 491 locations in rural areas across 24 states.

The certification program launched in July 2015 was developed to highlight NTCA member companies that are delivering Internet speeds of up to 100 times faster than those currently available in many US households. This spring, NTCA introduced an interactive map that highlights the companies that have received certification. To achieve certification, companies must show that gigabit technology is currently commercially available within 95% of one or more exchanges, and that such service can be provided without new trenching or stringing new aerial facilities.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the departure of Jon Sallet as the FCC General Counsel and his intention to appoint Howard Symons as the next General Counsel. Sallet will become the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Litigation in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. In his new position as FCC General Counsel, Symons will lead the office that serves as the principal legal advisory office to the Commission as a whole.

Prior to joining the Commission, Sallet was been a partner in three law firms, served as chief policy counsel for MCI Telecommunications (later MCI WorldCom), and served as Director of the Office of Policy & Strategic Planning for the Department of Commerce. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and the Honorable Edward A. Tamm of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Symons has been working in telecommunications in both the public and private sectors for more than 30 years. Before his appointment to the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force in January 2014, he was the chair of the communications practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. and served as senior counsel to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications in the US House of Representatives. He graduated from Yale University and earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

The Advanced Wireless Research Initiative will build on President Obama’s seven-and-a-half-year track record of accomplishment in wireless and wireline broadband policy.

The National Science Foundation is committing $50 million over the next 5 years, as part of a total $85 million investment by NSF and private-sector entities, to design and build four city-scale advanced wireless testing platforms, beginning in FY 2017. As a part of this investment, NSF also announces a $5 million solicitation for a project office to manage the design, development, deployment, and operations of the testing platforms, in collaboration with NSF and industry entities. Each platform will deploy a network of software-defined radio antennas city-wide, essentially mimicking the existing cellular network, allowing academic researchers, entrepreneurs, and wireless companies to test, prove, and refine their technologies and software algorithms in a real-world setting. These platforms will allow researchers to conduct at-scale experiments of laboratory-or-campus-based proofs-of-concept, and will also allow four American cities, chosen based on open competition, to establish themselves as global destinations for wireless research and development.

NSF is also announcing plans to invest $350 million over the next 7 years in fundamental research on advanced wireless technology projects that can utilize NSF’s share of time on these platforms. This will allow a broad base of NSF-funded experiments on potential breakthrough technologies to be taken from proof-of-concept to real-world testing at scale, here in the United States.

In addition to these testing platforms and research investments, the Administration is also announcing additional coordinated efforts and investments across Federal agencies to help accelerate the growth and development of advanced wireless technology.