Wireless Telecommunications

The Federal Communications Commission has officially rescinded the portion of its rules that exempted certain wireless facilities deployments from local environmental and historic preservation reviews. An order from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau indicated there had been no need to put the order out for public notice and comment since it was simply implementing a court mandate from which the FCC had no discretion to deviate. 

Apparently, T-Mobile's bid to acquire Spring has received a third “yes” vote at the Federal Communications Commission.  All three Republicans on the five-member agency have voted for the deal, setting in motion procedures that would require agency action by Oct. 9, or Oct. 16 if an extension is requested by a commissioner. Neither agency Democrat has cast a vote, and both have called for delay.

The House Communications Subcommittee considered a handful of bills Sept. 27 at the hearing "Legislating to Secure America's Wireless Future" -- the thrust of which were to protect 5G networks from foreign intruders looking to spy on the US, as well as to efficiently manage spectrum. Bills being considered at the hearing were: 

The Federal Communications Commission voted to seek comment on proposed application and bidding procedures for the auction of Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3.5 GHz Band. The 3.5 GHz band holds the potential to be prime spectrum for 5G services, and the FCC is planning to auction PALs to increase innovation and investment in this band. Bidding in this auction, which is designated as Auction 105, is scheduled to commence on June 25, 2020. 

The Federal Communications Commission approved $950 million in funding to improve, expand, and harden communications networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Two years ago, communications infrastructure on the islands was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The FCC responded, among other steps, by creating the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect USVI Fund. To date, the FCC has provided about $130 million in additional, one-time Universal Service Fund support to assist with network restoration.

On Sept 20, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and other dignitaries came to Council Grove (KS), population 2,079, to celebrate a budding program to equip rural school transportation with Wi-Fi service. They call it “Rolling Study Hall” and the kids love it because they can do their Web-based assignments on the long trip to and from school. The Wi-Fi equipped buses were made possible by a partnership between the Morris County school system, the national Consortium for School Networking and Google, said Superintendent Aron Dody. The Wi-Fi equipped buses carry 165 students da

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai visited Abilene (KS) Memorial Hospital recently to observe how broadband connects the local emergency department with specialists in South Dakota.  “5G promises speeds that are 100 times as fast as 4G LTE,” Chairman Pai said. “The amount of data that you can send wirelessly will be much greater.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), Reps Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) introduced the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR 4459), a bipartisan bill to help secure America’s telecommunications supply chain. "This bipartisan legislation will protect our nation’s communications networks from foreign adversaries by helping small and rural wireless providers root-out suspect network equipment and replace it with more secure equipment.