Public Notice

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai made three appointments to the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE).

The Federal Communications Commission seeks information and data for the Commission’s analysis of fixed broadband competition as required by RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018. This Public Notice requests comment on the criteria or metrics that should be used to evaluate the state of fixed broadband competition. Comment and information also is sought on industry data, competitive dynamics, and trending factors in the industry, including but not limited to, subscribership numbers, financial indicators (such as revenues or profitability), investment, pricing, and network coverage.

T-Mobile US and Sprint have filed applications seeking Federal Communications Commission consent to the transfer of control of the licenses, authorizations, and spectrum leases held by Sprint and its subsidiaries to T-Mobile and the pro forma transfer of control of the licenses, authorizations, and spectrum leases held by TMobile and it subsidiaries in furtherance of T-Mobile’s and Sprint’s previously announced agreement to merge.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau updated minimum service standards levels for speed and usage allowances for Lifeline-supported services as required by the 2016 Lifeline Order including newly-calculated minimum service standards for fixed broadband. The FCC reminded providers of the updated minimum service standards for mobile broadband and mobile voice service. These standards will take effect on December 1, 2018.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission to update the rules governing Wireless Priority Service (WPS), a program that enables wireless emergency calls to get through if networks are congested. The petition is designed to update rules governing WPS, which were developed in the late 1990s and have not been updated since the program began following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Reports and recommendations that have been made to the Federal Communications Commission by Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). These final reports and recommendations, adopted by the BDAC, were submitted to the BDAC by the following working groups:

• Competitive Access to Broadband Infrastructure (adopted January 23, 2018; Addendum adopted April 25,2018)
• Removing State and Local Regulatory Barriers (adopted January 23-24, 2018)
• Streamlining Federal Siting (adopted January 23-24, 2018)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has made two appointments regarding the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). First, Chairman Pai has appointed BDAC member David Young to serve as Vice Chair of the BDAC. Young represents the National League of Cities on the BDAC and is the Fiber Infrastructure and Right of Way Manager for the City of Lincoln (NE). Young replaces Kelleigh Cole, who left her position as the Director of the Utah Broadband Outreach Center and resigned from the BDAC recently to pursue professional opportunities in the private sector.

The Federal Communications Commission has provided a significant budgetary boost for its Rural Health Care Program to address immediate and longterm funding shortages driven by growing demand for rural telemedicine services. The FCC increased the annual cap on program spending by nearly 43 percent, to $571 million, which will reverse across-the-board spending cuts for the current funding year imposed by the old cap. These “pro-rata” cuts had created uncertainty and turmoil in the program for patients, health care providers, and communications companies alike.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier database (National Verifier) is now operational in Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. 

In this Order, the Federal Communications Commission authorize Audacy Corporation to construct, deploy, and operate a non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) satellite system to provide continuous, high-speed communications between other NGSO satellites and gateway earth stations, using frequencies in the intersatellite service (ISS) and fixed-satellite service (FSS). Grant of this application will enable Audacy to provide global line-of-sight visibility to low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites enabling operators of LEO satellites to have continuous access to their satellites through the Audacy