FCC
Chairman Ajit Pai explained how rolling back so-called “Net Neutrality”
rules will impact internet service providers and consumers. He plans to
do that in a vote on December 14, Inside Towers reported. The details of the plan were revealed last Wednesday. Here’s the official FCC version, and this is Commissioner Mignon Clyburn’s “factsheet.”
“We
are getting government out of the business of regulating how the
internet works, and we’re going to return to the market-based approach
that served us well for two decades, and we’re going to let this online
platform be governed by engineers and entrepreneurs instead of
bureaucrats and lawyers here in Washington,” he told Fox News.
Opponents of the plan to roll back the
2015 rules that re-classified the internet so it’s regulated like a
utility rather than a communications service like Amazon and Google, are
likely to fight the presumed December vote in court, reports Politico.
A federal appeals court upheld the current rules in 2016, going against
a challenge from AT&T, USTelecom and other industry trade groups. Continue Reading
The
FCC’s solution for so-called “twilight towers” has been circulated
among all five Commissioners for a vote. If approved, the change could
open up thousands of towers for wireless broadband deployment. The item
will be on the agenda for the agency’s December 14 meeting.
The towers in question were built
between 2001 and 2005 and did not necessarily go through review under
the National Historic Preservation Act because back then, the FCC had
not yet provided clear guidance on how to comply with that provision.
Those towers cannot accept co-locations. Now, newest FCC Commissioner
Brendan Carr announced yesterday, that if approved, the Commission’s
approach means the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation would adopt
a “Program Comment” document to exclude co-locations on twilight towers
from routine historic preservation review. Continue Reading
A
group of 21 rural telecom providers urged the FCC to help close the
digital divide by adopting light-touch regulations that provide
companies confidence to invest in network upgrades and expansions that
can help close the digital divide between urban and rural households.
“As executives of broadband companies
serving rural and small-town America, we are writing to express our
shared concern about the economic divide in our country evident in the
slower growth and progress in many of the economically distressed
communities we serve,” the companies wrote in the letter, adding that
they are equally “concerned by the technology divide separating the
digital ‘haves’ in our nation from the ‘have-nots,’ especially in our
country’s rural areas.”
Returning broadband service to the
light-touch framework under Title I that provided the foundation for the
growth and success of the broadband enabled internet is essential to
this effort, the companies wrote. “Broadband
has traditionally been considered an interstate service, which is why
it is important that states and localities not impose common
carrier-like regulations on broadband providers.” Continue Reading
The nation needs more spectrum and
wireless infrastructure to support the data needs of 5G, according to
Wireless Infrastructure Association President/CEO Jonathan Adelstein.
“The massive growth in the number of connected devices will strain the
capabilities of the infrastructure we have today,” he told members of
the House Communications Subcommittee Thursday in a hearing on 5G.
Others who testified included David Broecker, CEO of Indiana Biosciences
Research Institute, Dr. Coleman Bazelon, Principal, The Brattle Group
and Chris Pearson, President, 5G Americas.
“Supporting the demand for more
infrastructure will require major investments. We need additional cell
towers and poles and more antennas of all types and sizes that attach to
structures of all sizes,” he testified.
And that infrastructure can take many
forms. In addition to antennas on towers, poles and the sides or tops of
buildings, new networks will rely on “street furniture.” Bus stops,
manhole covers, park benches, mailboxes, the lights at a local high
school or even a gazebo in a public park are all candidates to host
cellular antennas, he told lawmakers, adding that policies need to
recognize that all types of infrastructure are needed. Continue Reading
The FCC took steps to free up more
spectrum above 24 GHz for broadband; Commissioners are keenly aware the
U.S. is in a worldwide race to deploy 5G first. This high-frequency
spectrum will support innovative new uses enabled by fiber-fast wireless
speeds and extremely low latency, according to the agency.
“I will not let the U.S. lose the 5G
race due to Commission ineptitude,” said Commissioner Michael O’Rielly,
as he voted for the changes yesterday. The
FCC needs to keep working on making other spectrum bands available as
well, he said, adding he hopes to follow-up with an item for a vote in
the first half of next year.
Continuing with the 5G race theme,
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel urged colleagues to commit to
deadlines. “We are not moving fast enough,” she said, saying the agency
should hold its 28 GHz band spectrum auction “before our counterparts in
Asia” hold theirs. Continue Reading
Locating where someone is when they
call 911 using a wireless phone inside a building has taken a step
forward. The FCC has approved a privacy and security plan for the
National Emergency Address Database (NEAD) submitted by AT&T,
Sprint, T-Mobile and NEAD, LLC. The database will enable carriers to use
the media access control (MAC) address and Bluetooth Public Device
Addresses (BT-PDA) information of fixed indoor access points to locate
wireless devices being used to call 911.
Carriers have been working on
technology to support the provision of dispatchable location information
(such as street address, floor level, and office or apartment number)
to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) when indoor wireless customers
place 911 calls. The database must be used only for 911 location and
the FCC prohibited its use for commercial purposes.
Wireless association CTIA created the
non-profit NEAD which the carriers appointed to oversee development and
operation of the database platform. The NEAD plan submitted in February
explains when someone calls 911 from a wireless phone equipped with WiFi
or Bluetooth, the carrier network automatically collects data from the
handset about nearby wireless access points. The network then queries
the database to determine whether the MAC address or BT-PDA information
is in the database and associated with a street address. If so, the
carrier provides the street address plus other in-building information
to the PSAP as part of the 911 call. Continue Reading
NATE Goes to Washington (Part One of Four)
National Association of Tower Erectors
(NATE) representatives came to Washington, D.C. recently to lobby
Congress, the FCC and other government agencies. Inside Towers
Washington Bureau Chief Leslie Stimson sat down with the six members of
their lobbying team to discuss NATE’s regulatory priorities and get a
sense of their 30 meetings. Sitting at the table were: NATE Board
Director John Paul Jones, Board Chairman Jim Tracy, COO Paula Nurnberg,
Board Director Randy Scott, Executive Director Todd Schlekeway and
Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Jim Goldwater.
IT: Why did you come to Washington?
Tracy: We came here to explain
our legislative and regulatory priorities, to members of Congress and
their staff. At the end of the day we might do towers, we might do
certifications, antenna swaps, new builds, DAS, small cell — all of the
incredibly complex ecosystem that wireless has become, but we’re still
the “elevate wireless safety people.” We elevate wireless and it’s
safety first, safety always.
Worker Shortage
IT: Is it new to the people you’re meeting with that there aren’t enough workers to do the television repack work?
Tracy: It’s not just the
repack. We talked about the perfect storm. We’re not done with 4G yet.
We’ve got 5G right around the corner, FirstNet, tower marking and
broadcast work. The public safety work alone that we’re looking at in
terms of FirstNet, there’s 100,000 towers that are going to need to be
somehow altered. Continue Reading
