Federal Communications Commission

The next meeting of the Disability Advisory Committee will take place on Tuesday, December 6, from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, at the Federal Communications Commission. At its December 6, 2016 meeting, the Committee is expected to receive and consider reports and recommendations from its subcommittees, which may include:

A report on the activities of its Communications Subcommittee;
A report on the activities of its Emergency Communications Subcommittee;
A report and recommendations from its Relay & Equipment Distribution Subcommittee regarding:
videomail-to-text services for Video Relay Services consumers who are Deaf-Blind;
mobile device support for USB connectivity to Braille displays;
best practices for the development and testing of Augmentative-Alternative Communication (AAC) devices;
the portability of ten-digit telephone numbers and associated features from one IPenabled relay provider to another;
A report and recommendation from its Technology Transitions Subcommittee regarding the accessibility of the Internet of Things; and
A report and recommendation from its Video Programming Subcommittee on video description services.
The Committee will also receive presentations from Commission staff on recent activities, and expects to receive a presentation on the future of television from Committee members. In addition, a reserved amount of time will be available on the agenda for comments and inquiries from the public.

On Sept 27, Reps Karen Bass (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), and Charlie Rangel (D-NY) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to "urge you to continue to advance efforts that support independent, women- and minority-owned cable channels." The Reps commended the FCC for its recent Notice of Inquiry on the Availability of Diverse and Independent Sources of Video Programming.

On Oct 26, Chairman Wheeler responded to the Reps by thanking them for their support in the FCC's recent actions to foster consumer choice and access to diverse programming on television, including independent, minority, and women-owned programming.

With this Public Notice, we notify providers and consumers of Inmate Calling Services (ICS) of the applicable rates for ICS.

On August 4, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission released the ICS Reconsideration Order, in which the Commission increased the ICS rate caps to expressly account for reasonable facility costs. Several parties filed motions asking the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) to stay the revised rate caps adopted in the ICS Reconsideration Order pending judicial review. On November 2, 2016, the D.C. Circuit granted those motions. Accordingly, “pending further order of the court,” the ICS Reconsideration Order is stayed “insofar as [it] imposes rate caps on inmate calling services.” The interim rate caps set forth in the Commission’s rules – $0.21 per minute for debit and prepaid ICS calls and $0.25 per minute for collect ICS calls – remain in effect for all interstate ICS calls. The interim rate caps do not apply to intrastate ICS calls.

The Federal Communications Commission is in the process of conducting its comprehensive 2016 biennial review of telecommunications regulations. The law requires the FCC to (1) review biennially its regulations “that apply to the operations or activities of any provider of telecommunications service,” and (2) “determine whether any such regulation is no longer necessary in the public interest as the result of meaningful economic competition between providers of such service.”

The law directs the FCC to repeal or modify any regulation that it finds are no longer in the public interest. The FCC seeks input from the public as to what rules should be modified or repealed as part of the 2016 biennial review. Submissions should identify with as much specificity as possible the rule or rules that the commenting party believes should be modified or repealed, and explain why and how the rule or rules should be modified or repealed.
Comments due Dec 5; reply comments Jan 3, 2017.

The Federal Communications Commission recently adopted rules that impose new burdens on supposed “rogue” Internet Service Providers under the guise of protecting consumer privacy. The three-to-two vote fell along party lines, placing me in the non-winning camp once again. While the text of the item is not available at the moment – a flaw in the Commission procedures – I am free to express my thoughts and views on the item and the topic as a whole.

From my perspective, the biggest substantive areas of concern are (1) the ill-conceived definition of sensitive information, which includes web browsing history and application usage and thus requires consumer opt-in mechanisms; (2) the unreasonable limitations on first-party marketing; and (3) the effective establishment of a new Commission regime to review consumer privacy trades.

In this Order, the Federal Communications Commission adopts tailored service obligations for Alaska Communications Systems (ACS), a carrier serving a non-contiguous area that elected to receive nearly $20 million annually in Connect America Phase II frozen support amounts in lieu of model-based support. We find these obligations are in the public interest and will advance the Commission’s goal of ensuring universal availability of modern networks capable of providing voice and broadband service.

Specifically, ACS will receive Phase II frozen support for a 10-year term and be required to offer voice service and broadband service at the same speed, latency, usage and pricing metrics as established for Phase II model-based carriers to at least 31,571 locations, primarily in census blocks identified as highcost that are unserved by unsubsidized competitors, with limited exceptions. These service obligations strike the appropriate balance of ensuring Alaska consumers receive broadband service while also allowing ACS the flexibility to provide that service in a way that is logical, maximizes its network and is reasonable considering the unique climate and geographic conditions of its service territory.

By this Public Notice, the Federal Communications Commission announces the renewal of the charter of its Consumer Advisory Committee and appointment of members, designates a Chairperson, and further announces the date, time, and agenda of the Committee’s first meeting under its renewed charter.

In anticipation of the renewal of the Committee’s charter, by a Public Notice (DA 16-657) released June 14, 2016, the Commission solicited applications for membership on the Committee for its ninth two-year term. The application deadline was July 25, 2016. After a review of the applications received, Chairman Tom Wheeler hereby appoints twenty-nine (29) members to the Committee (including the Benton Foundation). Of these, seventeen (17) represent interests of general consumers, two (2) represent interests of people with disabilities, six (6) represent interest of industry, one (1) represents minority interests, two (2) represent interests of quasi-government/regulators, and one (1) represents interests of seniors. The Committee’s membership is designed to be representative of the Commission’s many constituencies, and the diversity of the selected members will provide a balanced point of view as required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act. In addition, Chairman Wheeler designates Eduard Bartholme representing Call For Action as Chairperson of the Committee. All appointments and reappointments are effective October 21, 2016, and shall terminate October 21, 2018, or when the Committee is terminated, whichever is earlier. The first meeting of the Committee under its renewed charter will take place on Friday, January 27, 2017, from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. at the FCC.

Two petitions have been filed seeking a waiver of section 64.1200(a)(4)(iv) of the Commission’s rules, which requires that an opt-out notice containing certain information be included in fax ads sent to a consumer who has provided prior express invitation or permission. With this Public Notice, we seek comment on the Petitions as described below. Specifically, Petitioners seek retroactive waiver of the opt-out notice requirement for fax ads they sent where prior express invitation or permission allegedly had been obtained from the recipients. The Petitioners argue that good cause exists because they are similarly situated to parties who were granted retroactive waivers from this requirement by the Commission in the Anda Order. In the Anda Order, the Commission granted retroactive waivers to several individual petitioners because of uncertainty about whether the opt-out notice requirement applied to “solicited” faxes.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the November Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2016:

Mobility Fund: The Commission will consider a Report and Order that would adopt rules for the second phase of the Mobility Fund, which would provide ongoing universal service support dedicated to expanding the availability of mobile broadband networks. (WT Docket No. 10-208; WC Docket No. 10-90)

Roaming Obligations of Commercial Mobile Service Providers and Regulatory Classification of Voice over LTE Service: The Commission will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would seek comment on proposals to implement a unified roaming standard and to classify Voice over LTE. (WT Docket No. 16-356)

Business Data Services: The Commission will consider a Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would allow for light-touch regulation of packet-based Business Data Services and retain and update price cap regulation for lower-bandwidth TDMbased Business Data Services to ensure that lack of competition does not unfairly harm commercial customers or the consumers who rely upon these services. (WC Docket Nos. 16-143, 15-247, 05-25; GN Docket No. 13-5; RM-10593)

Video Description: Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010: The Commission will consider a Report and Order which addresses the amount of video described programming required to be made available to consumers. (MB Docket No. 11-43)

At our November monthly meeting, the Federal Communications Commission will consider a series of items that could improve wireless coverage in rural areas across the country. This starts with a proposal to move forward with Phase II of the Mobility Fund. A top priority of Phase II is making sure investments are better targeted to expand and preserve 4G LTE coverage in areas where it would be unavailable absent universal service support, especially in rural areas. I am circulating proposed rules for Phase II of the Mobility Fund, which would leverage this new coverage data, allow for the targeted use of additional data to validate eligibility decisions, and use a competitive “reverse auction” bidding process to allocate more than $470 million in annual support to preserve and extend 4G LTE coverage. The proposal also sets minimum network performance and service requirements to make sure rural residents aren’t stuck with second-rate service. And in recognition of the distinct challenges in bringing connectivity to Tribal lands, the proposal would allocate a portion of the overall support specifically for qualifying Tribal lands and offer bidding credits for Tribally-owned and controlled providers.

Another effective tool to help enhance consumer choice for wireless service in rural areas is “roaming.” To compete in the mobile marketplace, carriers must be able to offer nationwide coverage. Roaming agreements have made it possible for smaller providers – particularly in rural areas – to do business. Furthermore, carriers are increasingly providing voice service using Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE), an evolution of voice service that involves transmitting voice calls using streams of data. This proposal would also classify VoLTE under the “just and reasonable” standard as with other voice calls. Our aim is to provide consumers with seamless access to service in all areas of the country, regardless of provider and regardless of how a particular voice call is delivered.

At our November meeting, the Commission will vote on my proposal to encourage innovation and investment in Business Data Services, which are used for wireless backhaul, while ensuring that lack of competition in some places cannot be used to hold back wireless coverage.

Rounding out our November meeting will be an Order to increase the availability of video-described programming and to make it easier to access. Whether its people with disabilities or the residents of our most isolated rural communities, the FCC is committed to making sure all Americans have access to modern communications. With these actions, we will once again advance the cause of universal access.