Telecommunication

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Tuesday, April 17, 2018:

In the coming months, localities around the nation can expect to begin receiving a flood of applications to construct the first of hundreds—perhaps thousands—of new telecommunications towers up to 300 feet high, plus applications to attach hundreds of thousands of “small cell” wireless devices on buildings, utility poles, and new structures. A major driver of this activity is FirstNet, the federal organization overseeing the deployment of a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). These developments will bring clear public safety benefits.

On March 23, 2018, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1625, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. H.R. 1625's 2,232 pages make for a great read, but if you're looking for just the telecommunications policy highlights, let's thumb through straight to Division P, the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 or the RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018 which reauthorizes the Federal Communications Commission and does a whole bunch more. The bill completes a process began three years ago.

Verizon has asked the Federal Communications Commission to accelerate its request to retire some of its copper facilities in Southern Philadelphia (PA) due to two bridge replacements being conducted by Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). In its request to the FCC, Verizon said that SEPTA and PennDOT planned to replace two bridges in Philadelphia: the Allens Lane Bridge in Verizon’s Chestnut Hill, wire center and the Woodland Avenue Bridge in its Saratoga wire center.

First responders perform a specialized job. And with the launch of the FirstNet network core, first responders now have access to a truly specialized communications system that can keep up with their needs. While we’ve already given first responders access to the early benefits of FirstNet, the launch of the FirstNet evolved packet core is a major breakthrough for public safety. Built on physically separate hardware, it finally gives first responders their own separate, nationwide broadband network.

In separate announcements, AT&T and Verizon provided launch details for core networks to support mobile broadband service for public safety users. A key capability of both the AT&T and Verizon public safety offerings is to prioritize public safety network traffic and, where necessary, to pre-empt regular commercial traffic – a capability that could be important in the case of a major emergency. 

Building on our progress last week modernizing our wireless infrastructure rules so that they are 5G ready, the Federal Communications Commission in April will continue to move full steam ahead in making spectrum available for next-generation 5G networks. At our April meeting, the Commission will vote on a public notice seeking input on auction procedures for the 28 GHz and 24 GHz bands. And under the draft that I have presented my colleagues, the 28 GHz auction would commence on November 14.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a proposal to move forward in an effort to reduce calls placed by businesses and other legitimate callers to numbers that are no longer assigned to the consumers who consented to receive those calls. The FCC is proposing that one or more databases be made available to give businesses the information they need to avoid making such calls, and thus reduce the number of unwanted calls to reassigned numbers. The Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking  proposes and seeks comment on ways to address this reassigned numbers problem.