fcc – Page 4 – Steve Blum's Blog

Tight limits on local review of cell site expansions just got tighter, as FCC widens preemptions

15 June 2020 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, mobile broadband, public policy, wireless permitting

On a party line vote last week – republicans yes, democrats no – the Federal Communications Commission further preempted local government control over wireless facilities such as cell sites and towers. The ruling tightens enforcement of a 60-day shot clock for local permit approval of what it reckons to be minor modifications to a site. If time expires, the permit is "deemed granted. It also bans additional aesthetic requirements and widens a loophole that allows wireless companies to escape existing ones.… More

AT&T blows off net neutrality as it zero rates HBO Max

12 June 2020 by Steve Blum
att, fcc, netneutrality, public policy, sb822

AT&T is giving its HBO Max streaming service a free ride on its mobile broadband network. The bandwidth consumed by AT&T mobile customers while watching HBO Max programming won’t be counted against their monthly data caps. According to a story in The Verge by Nilay Patel, AT&T’s streaming competition won’t get the same zero rating treatment…

HBO Max, AT&T’s big bet on the future of streaming, will be excused from AT&T’s mobile data caps, while competing services like Netflix and Disney Plus will use up your data…

AT&T…confirmed to The Verge that HBO Max will be excused from the company’s traditional data caps and the soft data caps on unlimited plans.

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FCC skeptical about magic wireless solutions as it sets rules for rural broadband subsidy auction

3 June 2020 by Steve Blum
casf, cpuc, fcc, rdof

The Federal Communications Commission will push ahead with its plan to distribute $16 billion (of an eventual $20 billion total) in broadband subsidies via a reverse auction in late October. In a draft notice that will be finalised at its June meeting next week, the FCC lays out rules, procedures and standards for Internet service providers that want to submit bids for money from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. It also rejects a request from the California Public Utilities Commission to delay the auction for four months.… More

It became necessary to govern free speech to save it

29 May 2020 by Steve Blum
fcc, liberty, netneutrality, public policy

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it”.

Unidentified U.S. army major to Associated Press reporter Peter Arnett, Bến Tre, Republic of South Vietnam, 7 February 1968.

The freedom to express and debate ideas is the foundation for all of our rights as a free people…It is the policy of the United States to foster clear ground rules promoting free and open debate on the internet. Prominent among the ground rules governing that debate is the immunity from liability created by section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act.

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FCC draft ruling takes away more local control over wireless sites

20 May 2020 by Steve Blum
ab57, fcc, mobile broadband, public policy, wireless permitting

Pre-application requirements for some wireless facilities permits would be effectively banned by a draft ruling posted yesterday by the Federal Communications Commission. It would also expand limits on some antenna sizes and scale back concealment measures that some cities use to maintain aesthetic standards.

The draft declaratory ruling and notice of proposed rulemaking applies to some situations when mobile carriers and other wireless companies seek permission to add equipment to existing towers and the surrounding area.… More

CPUC asks FCC to ignore attempts to block broadband subsidies for a million Californians

19 May 2020 by Steve Blum
casf, cpuc, digitalpath, fcc, rdof

Internet service providers are trying to fence off their turf from competitors who might bring faster, and maybe even cheaper, broadband service to rural communities in California, and across the U.S. They challenged the Federal Communications Commission’s preliminary list of census blocks that are eligible for subsidies from the new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which is scheduled to award $16 billion in broadband subsidies via a reverse auction in October.

An article by Joan Engebretson in Telecompetitor gives a good overview.… More

Wireless broadband systems and indoor networks get big boost as FCC opens up 6 GHz band for unlicensed use

24 April 2020 by Steve Blum
fcc, public policy, unlicensed spectrum, WiFi, wireless broadband

The Federal Communications Commissions released 1,200 MHz of spectrum across the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use yesterday. It’s a particular benefit for indoor network, which will be able to use the entire band. The decision puts some limits on unlicensed outdoor use, but even with restrictions it offers a valuable resource for increasing the capacity and sophistication of wide area wireless broadband networks.

The restrictions only allow outdoor use if it’s managed via an automated frequency coordination system, and then only in 850 MHz of the band.… More

The $2 trillion covid-19 stimulus bill is not a broadband bill, but it helps. A little

27 March 2020 by Steve Blum
covid19, e-rate, fcc, rural broadband, RUS

Update, 27 March 2020: president Trump signed the bill, it’s a done deal.

Update, 27 March 2020: the U.S. house of representatives approved the bill, it now goes to president Trump.

A vote on the $2 trillion federal covid–19 stimulus bill is expected in the U.S. house of representatives later today, and president Trump says he’ll sign it immediately. I also found the full text of the bill, as published by the U.S. senate’s appropriations committee.… More

Federal covid-19 stimulus package doesn’t seem to stimulate broadband, much

26 March 2020 by Steve Blum
covid19, e-rate, fcc, rural broadband, RUS

Even by Washington, D.C. standards, $2 trillion is a lot of money. By those same standards, though, $325 million isn’t much and that appears to be the extent of direct broadband assistance in the $2 trillion covid–19 “stimulus” bill approved by the U.S. senate late last night. If there’s indirect broadband help, it’s buried in the bill’s yet-to-be-published text.

According to a summary obtained by Bloomberg Law yesterday, the bill adds $100 million to a broadband infrastructure program run by the federal agriculture department’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS), as well as $200 million to the Federal Communications Commission’s telehealth subsidy kitty and $25 million for a telehealth and distance learning program, also managed by RUS.… More

FCC’s go it alone broadband subsidies burn state programs, commissioners say

4 March 2020 by Steve Blum
casf, connect america fund, cpuc, fcc, rdof

Thirteen days before the November election, the Federal Communications Commission plans to give away $16 billion of subsidies to broadband service providers who can deliver at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds to census blocks that lack it. Commissioners voted last week to publish the proposed 22 October 2020 date to commence a reverse auction to determine who gets those subsidies, and ask for comments on a variety of technical issues that have to be sewn up before the bidding begins.… More