Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announced that Katherine Winfree has joined the Bureau as Chief of Staff. Winfree previously served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Maryland -- the second highest law enforcement officer in the state.

Winfree is a nationally recognized leader in the area of prosecution and law enforcement. During her time as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Winfree supervised the 32 divisions of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. In 2013, she successfully represented the state before the US Supreme Court in Maryland v. King, in which the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Maryland DNA Collection Act.

Before joining the Maryland Attorney General’s office, Winfree served for nearly two decades as a federal and state prosecutor, trying high-profile cases including federal public-corruption cases and the prosecution of the Beltway snipers, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo.

Among other roles with the US Department of Justice, she has worked in the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division and has served as Chief of the Economic Crime and Public Corruption Sections in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) has released a Public Notice seeking comment on whether to terminate almost 650 dormant proceedings (i.e., dockets that have no planned action and no further comments expected).

I applaud FCC Chairman Wheeler for initiating this item as well as the CBG staff and the individual Bureaus and Offices that worked on this document. The FCC has over 2,800 open proceedings pending. I believe that closing outdated FCC proceedings makes a lot of sense. Doing so could help the agency become more organized and focused on decisions that need to be made.

It could also make it easier for both Congress and the public to track what the agency is working on or still considering. And it could help prevent the FCC from using antiquated information as a basis for regulating.

Any good math teacher would give the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate proposal an “F” because the numbers just don’t add up.

It promises over $5 billion for Wi-Fi but doesn’t identify where the money will come from to fund this new program. As it stands, the proposal will blow a $2.7 billion hole in E-Rate’s budget -- one that the FCC has promised outside parties it’ll fill with a post-election increase in Americans’ phone bills. The proposal also doesn’t pass the test in other respects.

Rather than giving small, rural schools and libraries a fair shake, it continues to direct the bulk of E-Rate funds to large, urban school districts.

Instead of fundamentally reforming the E-Rate bureaucracy, the plan doubles down on complexity. Schools and libraries will still have to file reams of paperwork, operate on Washington’s timeline, and hire consultants -- that is, if they participate in the program at all.

Rather than giving local school boards, principals, teachers, and librarians the flexibility to decide what services and technologies best meet their communities’ particular needs, the plan takes a Washington-knows-best mindset.

The updated agenda for the Federal Communications Commission’s July 9 workshop to analyze the impact of reforms and gather information to inform additional reforms of Inmate Calling Services (ICS) will include four panel discussions, as follows:

1. Impact of Reform and Potential Need for Additional Reform -- This panel will address the impact of reforms since the 2013 ICS Report and Order and FNPRM, the benefits to consumers, and the potential need for additional FCC and/or state reforms.
2. Ancillary Charges -- This panel will discuss ancillary charges, the types, rates, whether new charges have occurred since the 2013 Order, and potential reforms to limit these charges.
3. Understanding the Provision of ICS in Different Facilities – This panel will focus on understanding the primary cost drivers of providing ICS in different types of correctional facilities.
4. New Technologies -- This panel will consider new and emerging forms of communications in correctional settings beyond the traditional wireline telephone call.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced the members of an inter-bureau steering committee and the working team leaders established to coordinate the agency’s review of merger applications from Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter and AT&T-DirecTV. Jonathan Sallet, General Counsel, will chair the steering committee that will oversee both sets of transactions.

Bureau chiefs on the steering committee include Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, International Bureau Chief Mindel de la Torre, Wireline Competition Bureau Chief Julie Veach, and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Roger Sherman.

Hillary Burchuk will lead the working team responsible for the review of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter transaction. Bill Dever from the Wireline Competition bureau will be her deputy.

The Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter working team will report to the steering committee. Jamillia Ferris will join the Office of General Counsel to lead the working team for the review of the proposed AT&T-DirecTV transaction.

Elizabeth Andrion from the Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis will serve as her deputy.

William Rogerson will serve as senior economist overseeing the review of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable-Charter and has been selected to serve as senior economist overseeing the review of the proposed AT&T-DirecTV transactions.

Shane Greenstein will serve as senior economic consultant, providing guidance on the proposed Comcast-TWC-Charter and AT&T-DirecTV transactions.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an open meeting on July 11, 2014. The FCC will consider:

• A Report and Order to modernize the E-Rate program and expand support for Wi-Fi connectivity for schools and libraries. The R&O seeks to close the Wi-Fi gap, make E-Rate dollars go farther, and deliver faster, simpler and more efficient applications and other processes;
• A Report and Order establishing a budget and a methodology for selecting winning applications for the Connect America rural broadband experiments adopted by the Commission in the January Tech Transitions Order; and
• A Second Order on Reconsideration and a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that revisits the Commission’s determinations regarding the captioning of video clips when delivered using Internet protocol, ensuring that individuals with hearing disabilities are able to enjoy the full benefits of broadband technology.

The Commission is waiving the sunshine period prohibition until 11:59 pm on July 7, 2014, permitting presentations with respect to the aforementioned items until that time.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that it is investigating complaints that T-Mobile billed its customers for millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party subscriptions and premium text messaging services.

The FCC has coordinated its investigation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile concerning the company’s placement of unauthorized charges on customer’s mobile phone bills -- a practice known as “cramming.”

“Consumers should not be charged for services that they did not order,” said Travis LeBlanc, Acting Chief the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. “We will coordinate our investigation with the FTC, and use our independent enforcement authority to ensure a thorough, swift, and just resolution of the numerous complaints against T-Mobile.”

Numerous T-Mobile subscribers have filed complaints with the FCC and the FTC alleging that unauthorized charges for unwanted third-party services were added to their T-Mobile wireless telephone bills. The unwanted charges included billing for ringtones, wallpapers, and text message subscriptions to services providing horoscopes, flirting tips, and celebrity gossip.

The Federal Communications Commission released a report of the potential impact of a pending proposal to modernize the federal E-Rate program to meet a pressing demand by the nation’s schools and libraries: robust connectivity to the Internet through Wi-Fi networks.

Three out of five schools in America lack the wireless high-speed Internet -- or Wi-Fi -- to carry data at today’s broadband speeds. The report provides a state-by-state breakdown of the estimated number of additional students, schools and libraries that would gain E-rate funding needed for Wi-Fi upgrades over the next five years under the proposal by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Nationwide, the proposal would increase funding for Wi-Fi 75 percent for rural schools and 60 percent for urban schools, allowing an additional 44 million students and 16,000 libraries to have access to Wi-Fi services by 2019, all within existing program funding. “Technology has changed.

The needs of schools and libraries have changed. The E-Rate program must reflect these changes.” said Chairman Wheeler. “Modernizing E-Rate to expand Wi-Fi connectivity in schools and libraries will empower students and library patrons to use the latest education technology to access new learning opportunities and infinite worlds of information.”

Wi-Fi is the most cost-effective way to connect to the Internet at today’s speeds for individualized online learning. Despite this incredible Wi-Fi connectivity gap, the E-rate program was unable to support any Wi-Fi in 2014. When funds have been available for Wi-Fi in prior years, they have only reached about 5% of schools and 1% of libraries. The proposal will help close the Wi-Fi gap by maximizing existing funds, and ensuring funding is available to the vast majority of schools and libraries, not just a few.

Closing the Wi-Fi Gap by connecting all schools and libraries is a laudable goal, but how do the numbers add up over a five-year period? We are on track to free $2 billion in reserves that we are prepared to spend over the next two funding years.

Funds for the following three years would come from two significant changes. First, we would phase down support for non-broadband services, like pagers, email and, over a multi-year period, voice service. Those funds -- nearly $1.2 billion in the E-rate program -- would be repurposed to support Wi-Fi. Second, we would achieve significant cost savings in the program within the new “category two” Wi-Fi bucket (see recent announcement with GSA for example), and for the priority one (proposed to be called “category one”) services we continue to fund through improved pricing transparency and facilitating increased use of consortia-enabled bulk purchasing.

Is anything being done to address non-Wi-Fi connectivity needs in the Chairman’s proposal? Yes. In addition to closing the Wi-Fi gap, the proposal would make E-rate rules fairer so funding for internal connections is available to the vast majority of schools and libraries, rather than just a few. In addition, the proposal would streamline the program and institute reforms to ensure current funds are maximized.

What will this plan mean for rural schools and libraries? The Chairman’s modernization proposal, if adopted, would significantly expand access to Wi-Fi funding in rural areas. The proposal would close the Wi-Fi gap that currently exists in the program -- a change that would enable at least an additional 6 million children, disproportionately in rural areas, to access Wi-Fi and the 21st Century educational tools it enables during the 2015 funding year alone.

What will the effect of this plan be on urban districts? Urban schools will benefit significantly under the Chairman’s proposal.
Does the proposal make E-Rate funding more equitable? Yes. The Chairman’s proposal maintains the basic structure of the E-rate program -- discounts on the services each applicant actually needs, based on their circumstances. The difference is it would require a common sense budget for Wi-Fi spending, which would keep a few big spenders at the front of the line from using all the funding.

[Sohn is Special Counsel for FCC External Affairs, Office of the Chairman; Halley is Associate Chief, FCC Wireline Competition Bureau]

The Pueblo of Acoma is located in Cibola County (NM), where nearly half of residents (45%) don’t even have access to 3 Mbps broadband, which is less than what’s recommended to stream HD video without problems. Barely 10 % have access to 10 Mbps broadband. We must do better.

In communities like Acoma with low broadband access rates, the local library is often a digital lifeline for area residents. The Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program has supported basic Internet access for the Acoma Learning Center. But it could be doing more.

That’s why E-Rate modernization is so important. The Commission will consider a proposal to update and improve the program, making E-Rate dollars go farther, and streamlining the program to make it faster, simpler, and more efficient.

The proposal would also close the gap for Wi-Fi support that currently exists in the program -- a change that would enable an additional 6 million children, disproportionately in rural areas, to access Wi-Fi and the 21st Century educational tools it enables during the 2015 funding year.

One of the key benefits of the E-rate order under consideration is that it will significantly expand access to Wi-Fi funding available for rural areas like Cibola County. Historically urban areas have received nearly 60% of internal connections support despite serving under 30% of all students, while rural applicants are crowded out. With improved rules, over the next 5 years Wi-Fi funding for rural schools would be increased by 75 %. Urban schools will also do better, seeing an increase in support of 60%.

Our E-Rate modernization proposal also commits to enhance the Commission’s Tribal consultation, training, and outreach to better inform and empower Tribal schools to effectively access E-rate funding. Through this effort we seek to gain a better understanding of the current state of connectivity among Tribal schools and libraries to enable the Commission to take steps that will reduce the digital divide and promote high-speed broadband connectivity to Tribal lands.