The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Public Notice on April 6, 2012 inviting comments on the "Transition Process for 700 MHz Public Safety Broadband Waiver Recipients." Specifically, the FCC is seeking comment on "the most expedient and cost-effective way to transition the Waiver Recipients' authorizations."
On May 11, 2010 the FCC granted 21 waivers and on May 12, 2011 in granted an additional waiver to authorize certain state and local jurisdictions to construct 700 MHz public safety broadband networks (PSBNs) prior to the development of rules for the nationwide PSBN. Some of these networks are nearing completion, while others are still in early stages of development.
The passage of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Act) raises questions about the future for these waiver recipients because the Spectrum Act gives authority over the PSBN to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), which is an independent authority to be formed within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce. Thus, as part of the transition process to FirstNet, the FCC is considering various options for moving forward including whether:

• It should issue a stay and halt construction.
• It should treat some waiver recipients differently than others.
• It should cancel the licenses and if so when and how.
• It should issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA).

Comments are due April 20, 2012. UTC invites member input on this issue. Please contact the Legal/Regulatory Department

26.2 million Americans still lack access to 3 Mbps/768 kbps or faster fixed broadband services, and 72% of them live in rural areas, according to a new report released by the Federal Communications Commission and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) within the Department of Agriculture (USDA). This number constitutes 28% of rural Americans and is more than nine times as large as the 3% that lack access in non-rural areas. Further, it was noted that rural consumers have fewer choices among technologies and service providers. This new report also recognized the substantial investments that have been made including $8 billion in grants and loans that were given to projects for broadband deployment and adoption via RUS’ Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). It made note of initiatives to improve data collection, and the creation of a National Broadband Map.
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Yesterday, the FCC held a “Broadband Acceleration Conference” which included a keynote address by FCC Chairman Genachowski, who announced that the FCC was launching a Broadband Acceleration Initiative designed to reduce regulatory barriers, “such as barriers to accessing utility poles, rights-of-way, and sites for wireless towers.” As part of this Initiative, the Chairman explained that in April the FCC would be initiating a Notice of Inquiry on rights-of-way, and that it would be issuing an Order on pole attachments. Read more »

 A House appropriations bill (HR 4899) that was passed this week provides full funding for both the NTIA's Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) and RUS's Broadband Initiative Program (BIP). Initially, the House had balked and proposed to cut $602 million from the two programs. The House intended to take the money to offset deficits for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, industry groups like the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) successfully lobbied against these cuts. As the Senate already had passed its own appropriations bill last week with full funding for BTOP and BIP, the passage of the House appropriations bill clears the way for its approval by President Obama. 

IEEE is holding an 802 Plenary meeting this week in San Diego. The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee develops Local Area Network standards and Metropolitan Area Network standards. At this meeting, the IEEE802.11 WiFi standards group submitted a Project Authorization Request(PAR) to reband the popular 802.11 WiFi standard to license exempt bands below 1 GHz, with the exception of the TV white spaces band. Currently, 802.11 only operates at 2.4 and 5 GHz. The proposal was not well received by the IEEE802.15.4g group currently developing smart utility network (SUN) standards for these bands, specifically 902 - 928 MHz. Read more »

NTIA announced today that it will provide opportunity for additional funding for the construction of public safety wireless broadband networks in the 700 MHz band. The announcement seems coordinated with the FCC's announcement of waiver approval for broadband facilities in the 700 MHz band, published yesterday. The NTIA document specifies that applicants for funding must meet the criteria set by the FCC for 700 MHz waiver grant.

The additional funding will likely not be sufficient to cover the total cost of applicant's network build out. However the addition of federal funding may prompt utilities and other critical infrastructure agencies to consider funded and constructed in partnership with public safety. The complete NTIA document is available here.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued today at its April open meeting an inquiry into the ability of existing broadband networks to withstand significant damage or severe overloads as a result of natural disasters, terrorist attacks, pandemics or other major public emergencies (press release PDF). This examination of the resiliency and reliability of broadband networks was contemplated in the FCC's National Broadband Plan (NBP) issued last month.

The Commission asks a series of key questions that are crucial to utilities as they consider various communications options, particularly in light of the NBP's recommendation that commercial carriers should serve more mission-critical and wide-area utility communications needs. Specifically, the FCC wants to know the location of failure points in broadband networks and how carriers plan to ensure the survivability of cell sites for first responders, among other key issues. Read more »

Congress Daily reportedthat with the support of Federal Communication Commission (FCC)'s  Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski appears to have the votes he needs to reclassify broadband as a heavily regulated telecommunications service. Such possible regulatory change has come forth ever since a federal appeals court recently issued a decision undermining the Commission's regulatory authority over broadband service. The Commission has already acknowledged that this ruling may hinder its ability to implement some of the key provisions in its recently released National Broadband Plan.