Federal funding to build broadband networks in rural, underserved, and underserved areas of the country is a top priority of the Democrats. While Republicans also generally support greater broadband deployment, Democrats, including FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, have advocated for hig...
Following the January 20, 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the new Administration is poised to both quickly counter many deregulatory initiatives promulgated under the prior Administration and begin crafting new rules consistent with the new Administratio...
The FCC issued a Public Notice seeking comment on proposed procedures for Auction 108, which will offer approximately 8,300 geographic overlay licenses in the 2496-2690 MHz (2.5 GHz) band, the largest band of contiguous spectrum below 3 GHz. Comments and reply comments on the issues addressed in ...
FCC Chair Ajit Pai, in what he termed his Grand Finale, presided over his final monthly meeting of the agency on January 13, 2021. The agenda focused on the agency's significant achievements during the past four years. Presentations summarizing those efforts were delivered by current heads of the...
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, signed into law on December 27, 2020, appropriates $900 billion for coronavirus relief for individuals and businesses, including $7 billion for broadband connectivity and infrastructure.
NPRM Seeks Comment on Further Relaxing Equipment Marketing and Importation Rules
FCC Revises Forms 499A and 499Q for Telecommunications Service Providers Earlier this week, the FCC released revisions to the annual and quarterly reporting forms that must be filed by interstate telecommunications providers. Although the obligation to make these filings is often overlooked, it ...
President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris have announced their review team for the Federal Communications Commission and other federal agencies, in preparation for the transition to their administration. As noted by the Biden-Harris transition news release, the review teams...
The Federal Communications Commission on September 30, 2020 adopted new rules permitting states to lease spectrum in the 4.9 GHz (4940-4990 MHz) band. Under the new rules, states may determine the highest and best use for the band, and thus may continue to use the spectrum for their own public safety network operations; may enter into commercial arrangements for deployment of public-safety communications services; may lease spectrum to a commercial provider for deployment of mobile or fixed wireless Internet service, private land mobile radio service or critical infrastructure connectivity; or a combination of any of these or other arrangements allowed by FCC rules.
On September 23, 2020, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for grants ranging from $100,000.00 to $3,000,000.00 in fiscal year 2021, which will be awarded through a competitive application review process. Grant appli...
New rules governing the licensing of Educational Broadband Service spectrum substantially increased flexibility regarding the sale or lease of current licenses and spectrum capacity in advance of an FCC auction of “overlay” EBS licenses. Since the rules took effect in April, the number of transactions seeking FCC approval to sell EBS licenses or lease spectrum has increased, with 42 applications seeking approval to assign EBS licenses and 33 new applications seeking approval of EBS spectrum leases.
On August 3, 2020, President Donald Trump abruptly withdrew the re-nomination of FCC Commissioner Michael O'Reilly (R), which had been pending before the U.S. Senate. Mr. O'Rielly has been an FCC Commissioner since 2013, and the withdrawal of his re-nomination for a third term is unprecedented. ...
Bidding for 5,684 C-Band Licenses in Auction 107 to Begin December 8, 2020
Summary On July 19, 2020, the FCC approved an Order regarding wireless E911 vertical location data that that wireless carriers must provide to public safety answering points (PSAPs) in order for emergency responders to locate E911 callers living and working in multi-story buildings. While provid...
The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice earlier this month seeking public comments to refresh the record on whether the FCC should exercise its authority under Section 254(d) of the Communications Act to subject revenues from one-way VOIP calling services to federal univers...
On June 9, the FCC approved final procedures for the upcoming Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction, setting a deadline of July 15 for participants to file short-form applications with bidding to commence on October 29. Winning broadband providers will receive subsidies over a...
On May 13, the FCC adopted rules to provide six MHz broadband licenses in the 900 MHz band for a range of wireless broadband deployments. The new 15-year broadband licenses (897.5-900.5/936.5-939.5 MHz) will be available on a county-by-county basis. Possible uses for the spectrum include private ...
Very interesting deployment of CBRS-enabled OnGo private LTE network for hospital workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Kudos to RF Connect, CommScope, and Druid Software! RF Connect Builds Free Wireless Network at Memorial Health System Clinic in Response to Coronavir...
On April 4, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order establishing a formal process for the “Team Telecom” national security review by federal administrative agencies of Federal Communications Commission applications involving foreign ownership of communications companies.
As part of the federal government's efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, significant additional funding will soon be available for telecommunications infrastructure and services supporting telemedicine and distance learning. More specifically, the CARES Act funded a $200 million COVID-19 T...
The FCC yesterday extended several deadlines as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The start date for Auction 105 (CBRS Priority Access Licenses for the 3.5 GHz band) is pushed back from June 25 to July 23, 2020, and deadlines for filing a Form 175 application and submitting an upfront p...
The FCC has released a Public Notice proposing procedures for the auction of spectrum licenses in the C-Band (3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz). The auction (FCC Auction 107) is scheduled to commence on December 8, 2020. The FCC also adopted a Report and Order setting final service rules for C-Band licensees ...
Next 5G Auction to begin June 25; Application Deadline is April 9
The FCC is asking for public comment on issues remanded last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Mozilla Corp. v. FCC, which vacated the FCC's 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom Order (RIF Order) to the extent the FCC expressly preempted state or local requireme...
Huge opportunity for broadband service providers
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