Public Notice

By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission announces the states that will be part of the initial launch of the National Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (National Verifier). The Commission established the National Verifier in the 2016 Lifeline Order to make eligibility determinations and perform a variety of other functions necessary to enroll subscribers into the Lifeline program. The National Verifier will verify Lifeline subscriber eligibility, conduct checks to prevent duplicate benefits, recertify subscriber eligibility, and calculate support payments to eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs). In the 2016 Lifeline Order, the Commission set as an expectation that the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) would deploy the National Verifier in at least five states by December 31, 2017.3 USAC has announced that the National Verifier will launch in six states – Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming – in December 2017. The National Verifier will have a soft launch date of December 5, 2017, and a hard launch date of March 13, 2018.

In the 2007 700 MHz Second Report and Order, the Commission adopted rules for relicensing of 700 MHz Lower A, B, and E Block, and Upper C Block spectrum that is returned to the Commission’s inventory as a result of licensees’ failure to meet applicable construction requirements. The Commission set forth the overall rules and policies for the relicensing process and delegated authority to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) to implement those rules and policies. To the extent the 700 MHz Second Report and Order and other Commission rules set forth elements of the relicensing process, we cite to those rules, and, by this Public Notice, otherwise seek comment on the Bureau’s proposed approach to the remaining elements of the process, including the respective costs and benefits of the various proposals.

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the Federal Communications Commission has announced the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) in response to Hurricane Harvey. DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and Voice over Internet Protocol providers, can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis. Reports are requested beginning 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 26, 2017, and every day after that by 10:00 a.m. until DIRS is deactivated

The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) today released data from two separate data collections representing mobile voice and broadband deployment as of June 30, 2016, and December 31, 2016. These deployment data were collected through FCC Form 477.

This Public Notice solicits data, information, and comment for the Commission’s Nineteenth Report on the Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video Programming (19th Report). We seek to update the information and metrics provided in the Eighteenth Report (18th Report) in order to report on the state of competition in the video marketplace in 2016. Using the information collected pursuant to this Notice, we seek to enhance our analysis of competitive conditions, better understand the implications for the American consumer, and provide a solid foundation for Commission policy making with respect to the delivery of video programming to consumers. The 19th Report also will satisfy the Commission’s statutory requirement to “annually report to Congress on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming.”

Section 19 of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 (1992 Cable Act) amended the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act or Communications Act) and directed the Commission to establish regulations for the purpose of increasing competition and diversity in multichannel video programming distribution, increasing the availability of satellite delivered programming, and spurring the development of communications technologies. Our annual reports to Congress seek to assess progress toward these goals.

As previously announced, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) will host a public workshop on September 11, 2017 to discuss best practices for improving situational awareness during 911 outages. By this Public Notice, the Bureau announces the agenda and panelists for the workshop.

The next meeting of the Consumer Advisory Committee will take place on Monday, September 18, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Commission’s headquarters building. At its September 18, 2017 meeting, the Committee is expected to consider a recommendation from its Robocalls Working Group regarding blocking of unwanted calls. The Committee will also receive briefings from Commission staff on issues of interest to the Committee.

On June 14, 2017, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association (NTCA) and the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom) filed a joint petition pursuant to Section 10 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requesting that the Commission temporarily forbear from application of universal service fund (USF) contribution requirements with respect to broadband Internet access transmission services provided by RLECs, whether tariffed or offered on a de-tariffed basis. The petition asks that the Commission forbear “until such a time as the Commission reaches a decision on whether any and all broadband services...should be required to contribute to support of federal USF programs or completes some other form of contributions reform.” Interested parties may file comments or oppositions to the NTCA and USTelecom Petition on or before September 13, 2017 and reply comments on or before September 28, 2017.

By this Order, the Federal Communications Commission extends the deadline for filing reply comments in response to the Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking until August 30, 2017. The Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking set dates for filing comments and reply comments of July 17 and August 16, 2017, respectively. While it is the policy of the Commission that “extensions shall not be routinely granted,” we find that an extension of the reply comment deadline is appropriate in this case in order to allow interested parties to respond to the record in this proceeding. We find that permitting interested parties an additional two weeks in which to file their reply comments will allow parties to provide the Commission with more thorough comments, ensuring that the Commission has a complete record on which to develop its decisions.

Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as amended (1996 Act), requires the Commission to determine and report annually on “whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” With this Notice of Inquiry we initiate the next annual assessment of the “availability of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion,” and solicit comment and information to help guide our analysis.

The Commission released the 2016 Notice of Inquiry on August 4, 2016, asking a number of questions about broadband deployment, but did not issue a subsequent report. In light of the changes in the industry and our recent actions to encourage broadband deployment, we propose to start this Inquiry afresh, with updated data and questions focused on the current progress of deployment of advanced telecommunications capability. In response to this Inquiry, we seek objective data and other evidence reflecting the state of broadband deployment and availability.

We encourage individual consumers, providers of broadband services, consumer advocates, analysts, companies, policy institutes, governmental entities, and all other interested parties to help us determine the most effective ways to complete this statutorily mandated task. We also encourage commenters to bring to our attention new issues concerning the deployment and availability of advanced telecommunications capability and recommend new ways to measure and evaluate deployment and availability. The information we gather in this proceeding will help ensure that our broadband policies are well-informed and backed by sound data analysis as we strive to encourage the deployment of broadband to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn did not vote to launch the proceeding saying, “While the structure of this item may look similar to past years, and I appreciate the Chairman accepting edits that I proposed, for several reasons I must respectfully concur.” He complaints include: 1) proposing a speed benchmark that is way too low, 2) deeming an area as “served” if mobile or fixed service is available, and 3) NOI seeks to measure deployment in terms of year-over-year progress rather than whether the service is actually meeting the needs of consumers.