Federal Communications Commission

On June 11, 2014, AT&T and DirecTV jointly submitted applications to the Federal Communications Commission seeking consent to transfer control of various Commission licenses. The proposed license transfers, if completed, would effectuate the sale of all the assets of DirecTV and its subsidiaries and related entities to a subsidiary of AT&T.

The FCC seeks comment from all interested persons to assist the FCC in its independent review of the proposed transfers of licenses. Interested persons must file comments or petitions to deny AT&T’s and DirecTV’s application for licenses no later than September 16, 2014. Responses to comments or oppositions to petitions must be filed no later than October 16, 2014. Replies to responses or oppositions must be filed no later than November 5, 2014.

[MB Docket No. 14-90]

[Aug 7, 2014]

First up is texting. The Federal Communications Commission is set to codify policies that make sure that providers of text messages have systems capable of supporting text-to-911 service. This means that texting services that have become so essential for so many of us can be there for everyone when reaching out in crisis.

Second, I want to update you on wireless 911 location accuracy. Today, under the FCC’s rules, if you call 911 from a wired phone, first responders know where you are and where to send help. If you call 911 from a wireless phone outdoors, the FCC has standards that help ensure first responders can locate you and send assistance. But if you call 911 from a wireless phone indoors, you should cross your fingers and hope and pray, because no location accuracy standards apply. So the FCC started a rulemaking to narrow this gap and fix this problem.

Finally, the First Responders Network Authority (FirstNet) just launched what are called Initial Consultations under the law. This is an essential step in the development of state plans. But that’s not all. FirstNet is in the development stages of preparing a draft request for a proposal. This is the beginning of the critical process to identify a comprehensive network solution for the nationwide network.

Four national wireless providers is good for American consumers. Sprint now has an opportunity to focus their efforts on robust competition.

This Federal Communications Commission inquiry concerns the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all US-Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, and possible steps to accelerate such deployment.

The FCC starts anew by analyzing current data and seeking information that will enable the FCC to conduct an updated analysis for purposes of its next report.

In particular, the FCC seeks comment on the benchmarks to use to define “advanced telecommunications capability,” to explore whether the agency should establish separate benchmarks for fixed and mobile services, which data is reliable for measuring broadband, whether and how to take into account differences in broadband deployment, particularly between urban areas versus non-urban and Tribal areas, and other issues.

As of August 4, over 1.1 million comments were filed in the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet docket. Every comment will be reviewed as part of the official record of this proceeding.

Because of the sheer number of comments and the great public interest in what they say, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has asked the FCC IT team to make the comments available to the public in a series of six XML files, totaling over 1.4 GB of data -- approximately two and half times the amount of plain-text data embodied in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The release of the comments as Open Data in this machine-readable format will allow researchers, journalists and others to analyze and create visualizations of the data so that the public and the FCC can discuss and learn from the comments we’ve received.

Federal Communications Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a proposal to open new opportunities for small and growing businesses in the mobile marketplace.

Although the proposal may sound technical – updating the Commission’s approach to small business participation in wireless auctions— the purpose is simple: To provide innovative, smaller companies the opportunity to build wireless businesses that can spur additional investment and bring more choices to consumers.

Here’s one way: smaller companies may want to leverage business partnerships with larger companies through more flexible leasing arrangements to gain access to capital and cash flow, not to mention operational experience. Allowing structured entry into the wireless business make sense, especially given the billions of dollars it would take to build a new national network from scratch. With experience in operations and investment, smaller networks will have the prospect of progressing into more robust, facilities-based competition, which has been, and remains, a critical goal of the Commission.

As promised in the Mobile Spectrum Holdings Report and Order, we now seek comment on whether and how we should restrict the ability of wireless companies to combine their bids during an auction.

[Sherman is FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief]

The Federal Communications Commission will hold on August 8, 2014 an Open Meeting on:

• Wireless communications. Streamlining and updating the rules governing the construction, marking, and lighting of antenna structures; and
• Public safety & homeland security. The FCC will consider a Second Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that establishes deadlines for covered text providers to be capable of delivering texts to appropriate 911 public safety answering points, and seeks comment on proposals to improve text-to-911 service.

The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications from graduating law students and current judicial clerks for its Fall 2015 Attorney Honors Program.

The application window opens on August 1, 2014.

Attorneys at the FCC work on cutting-edge legal and policy issues in the communications and technology arenas. They promote the deployment of high-speed broadband communications; protect the rights of consumers; promote access to communications services for all Americans, including Americans with disabilities; review major mergers and acquisitions; and promote public safety and homeland security.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) is requesting comment on the 45-day public trial of a new system of registration procedures for Google’s TV bands database system that was completed on July 17, 2014.

Google has provided a summary report on the trial of its new registration procedures and modified database system to OET.

This summary report identifies: 1) problems reported and their disposition and 2) descriptions of changes made by Google to its new registration procedures or its channel availability calculator during the trial period. The FCC is requesting that interested parties submit comments on the trial and this report by August 13, 2014. Replies are due by August 19, 2014.

The single largest driver of the increase in the Universal Service Fund (USF) -- and hence, consumers’ phone bills -- has been the Lifeline program. Unfortunately, however, Lifeline has been laced with fraud.

So here are four simple steps that we should take to further reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the Lifeline program.

First, the time has come to put the Lifeline program on a budget. Second, we must reduce the financial incentives for people to commit Lifeline fraud. One option would be to prohibit wireless carriers participating in Lifeline from giving away free phone service to Lifeline recipients. A second option would be to empower the states to play a stronger role in helping to police the program. A third option would be to review the size of the current Lifeline subsidy -- $9.25 per month -- and ask whether it’s too high, given that it often pays for the entire cost of a monthly phone bill.

Third, the FCC should fill the gaps in its rules that still encourage fraudulent behavior.

And fourth, the FCC must step up its enforcement efforts.