Public Notice

Across the country, Americans depend on reliable phone service to stay in touch with friends and family, conduct business, and access vital public services. Although all Americans should have confidence that calls made to or by them will be completed, for those living in rural or remote areas, too often this is not the case.

Notice that a proposed Final Judgment, Stipulation, and Competitive Impact Statement have been filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in United States of America v. The Walt Disney Company, et al., Civil Action No. 1:18–cv–05800.

In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules for the 3550-3700 MHz band (3.5 GHz Band), opening the path to new commercial wireless use of this band. Now the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology of the Federal Communications Commission seek comment on the results of those rule changes, as directed by Congress in the Spectrum Pipeline Act. The FCC is required to give notice and provide an opportunity for public comment before submitting to Congress no later than November 2, 2018 a report containing:

Although the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 (RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018) amends section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, and requires the Federal Communications Commission, “in the last quarter of every even numbered year” to publish a “Communications Marketplace Report,” that, among other things, “assess[es] the state of deployment of communications capabilities, including advanced telecommunications capability (as defined in section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C.

The Federal Communications Commission solicits nominations for membership on a new Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). This new working group will assist the BDAC in providing advice and recommendations to the FCC on steps that can be taken to improve disaster preparation, response, and recovery for broadband infrastructure.

After a series of errors associated with the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC’s) roll-out of the ERate Productivity Center (EPC), the web-based account and application management portal for the E-Rate program, Pribilof School District (St. Paul Island, Alaska) filed its application for funding and its subsequent waiver request after the applicable deadlines.

The Federal Communications Commission announces the anticipated renewal of its Consumer Advisory Committee and solicits applications for membership, subject to renewal of the CAC's charter. Applications for membership are due by 11:59 P.M. EST, September 14, 2018. The FCC seeks applications from interested consumers, nonprofit organizations, corporations, or other entities from both the public and private sectors that wish to be considered for membership on the Committee.

Chairman Ajit Pai appointed 18 new members to the FCC’s Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (IAC) and named Doug Ducey, Governor of Arizona, Chair of the newly expanded IAC. The 18 newly appointed members join the 12 existing members. The vacancies that are now being filled resulted from both the January 2018 order expanding the IAC from 15 to 30 members and the need to replace two members whose elected terms ended in January 2018—Commissioner Ronald Brisé from the Florida Public Service Commission and Kasim Reed, Mayor City of Atlanta—and the late Edwin M.

The Federal Communications Commission seeks comment on the Motion filed by TracFone Wireless, which seeks either a waiver from the minimum service standards rule or “a declaratory ruling that the rule as promulgated would enable TracFone to comply with the minimum service standards for Lifeline service by providing its Lifeline customers with a specified quantity of ‘units’ per month,” which have been updated to reflect the new minimum service standards that will take effect December 1, 2018. 

The Federal Communications Commission seeks comment on the Petition for Temporary Waiver filed by NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association (NTCA). NTCA, on behalf of its members and similarly situated operators, requests a temporary waiver from the Bureau’s updated Lifeline minimum service standards, “applicable to fixed, wireline broadband Internet access service . . . eligible for support by the Lifeline Universal Service Fund . . .