FCC Grants WISPs Access to 5.9 GHz to Give Rural Networks Crisis Support

The FCC granted dozens of rural, fixed wireless broadband providers access to the 5.9 GHz band Friday to support telework, remote learning and telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Special Temporary Authority (STA) will enable 33 companies to use the lower 45 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for 60 days.

The wireless internet service providers (WISPs) serve 330 counties in 29 states. The states involved include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. 

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA), helped the companies apply for the STAs. WISPA told the FCC the companies rely primarily on unlicensed spectrum for last-mile connections to end users, including the 5 GHz UNII bands. “Many of the WISPs’ customers have no other alternative to terrestrial broadband services,” WISPA told the agency. Continue Reading

Money For Telehealth, Not School Kids

The economic stimulus package passed by the Senate earlier this week is expected to pass the House today. While it provides a $200 million boost for FCC telehealth programs and funding for USDA broadband efforts, it left out money to keep students and others connected during the pandemic, reports Politico.

"I cannot understand how the U.S. Senate can approve a $2 trillion emergency package and not find even $1 billion to ensure that every school child in America can connect to the internet on a functioning device at a time when virtually all students in the country are required to learn from home for their own safety," said Common Sense founder Jim Steyer. He supported at least $2 billion going to support the FCC's E-Rate program. "This decision will leave kids behind and unfairly impact those most in need." Continue Reading

Virus Impacts CBRS Auction Timing

The FCC is delaying its auction of wireless licenses in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) for 5G because of the coronavirus. The agency is also postponing, indefinitely, an auction of FM construction permits. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, these changes were deemed necessary in order to protect the health and safety of Commission staff and to allow parties additional time to prepare to participate in Auctions 105 and 106, the Commission said Wednesday. 

Auction 105 involves Priority Access Licenses in the 3550-3650 MHz band. The short-form application (FCC Form 175) filing window will now open on April 23, at 12 p.m. ET and close on May 7, at 6 p.m. ET. Upfront payments will be due June 19. Bidding will begin on July 23, nearly a month after the original June 25 start date. Continue Reading

NATE Asks Homeland Security for Special Status During Crisis

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief One way the tower construction industry is helping those telecom workers who can still perform their duties during the coronavirus pandemic is easing access to tower and other communications facility sites. The National Association of Tower Erectors says its members are essential service providers and work on critical communications.

NATE asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to send its members letters clarifying this special status. The intent of the letters is to aid engineers and technicians getting to infrastructure (example: towers, generators) to keep the communications infrastructure operational during a crisis, NATE Executive Director Todd Schlekeway told Inside Towers. Many of the association’s telecom and broadcast contractor member companies have received the letters, he confirmed. Continue Reading

FCC Gives Part 90 Licensees More Time to Transition in CBRS Band

The FCC is giving Part 90 licensees in the 3650-3700 MHz band more time to transition their operations to Part 96 Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). The agency said the extension won’t affect the June auction of Priority Access Licensees in the 3.5 GHz Band.

Part 90 operations are used to provide high-speed broadband, utility communications, and other essential wireless services. The move involves changing out equipment on towers. The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau issued an order Thursday granting a six-month extension for the transition. The prior deadline of April 17, has been pushed ahead to October 17. 

“Granting this temporary extension will enable Part 90 licensees to focus on continuing to provide high-speed broadband and other critical services during this national state of emergency,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “This is a logical delay of the transition during the pandemic to ensure that current licensees, like WISPs and electric utilities, can keep their eyes on the ball when it comes to helping consumers. We can allow this flexibility while still maintaining a reasonable timeline for this transition. I’m also pleased we could find a way to grant this relief without impacting this summer’s important 5G auction.” Continue Reading

FCC Eases Rules to Spur Connectivity for Hospitals, Students

The FCC Wednesday changed some of the rules for its Rural Health Care (RHC) and E-Rate programs to make it easier for broadband providers to support telehealth and remote learning efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. The Wireline Competition Bureau waived the gift rules until September 30. This will enable service providers to offer, and RHC and E-Rate program participants to solicit and accept, improved connections or additional equipment for telemedicine or remote learning during the outbreak. 

Commission rules prohibit entities eligible for the RHC and E-Rate programs from soliciting or accepting anything of value from a service provider participating in or one that wants to take part in those programs. The waiver will allow health care providers, schools, and libraries to accept improved capacity, WiFi hotspots, networking gear, or other equipment or services to support doctors and patients, teachers and students, and librarians and patrons during the coronavirus outbreak. For example, some providers have expressed interest in providing free network upgrades for hospitals that need more robust connections to treat patients via telemedicine and free connected devices and hotspots for students taking classes at home, according to the agency. Continue Reading

FCC Makes Network Providers Pledge to Service the Coming Traffic Glut

Broadband providers are making service changes as policymakers urge them to prepare for a spike in network traffic from consumers working and studying from home in response to coronavirus. The nation's internet service providers say they haven't seen big usage gluts yet, but the coming weeks and months could pose an unprecedented test of their networks' ability to withstand a massive and sustained surge in bandwidth needs.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai spoke with broadband companies, carriers and trade associations about the issue Thursday. In order to ensure that Americans do not lose their broadband or telephone connectivity as a result of the exceptional circumstances, he asked them to take the Keep Americans Connected Pledge.

The pledge asks companies to do three things for the next 60 days: not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus; waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the pandemic; and open its WiFi hotspots to any American who needs them. Continue Reading 

California AG and Utility Commission Spreads Sunshine on Sprint/T-Mobile Deal

After California's Attorney General dropped opposition to a merger of T-Mobile and Sprint earlier yesterday, a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) judge recommended approval of the deal. It’s considered by analysts as one of the last hurdles standing in the way of the long-fought merger.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with New York AG Letitia James, led the multistate coalition that unsuccessfully sued to stop the $26.5B merger and said they would not file an appeal. T-Mobile said it was hoping to close the deal as soon as April 1, provided it received approval from the CPUC.

The utility judge’s ruling stipulates that T-Mobile provides what it agreed to in November of 2019 by offering free internet service and WiFi hotspots to ten million low-income households with kids nationwide. The internet offer is capped at 100 gigabytes for the year, or about eight gigabytes a month, according to the Associated Press.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., must still approve the Justice Department settlement

Coronavirus KO’s IWCE 2020...For Now

Iconic industry conference organizer IWCE announced the cancellation of its upcoming March 30-April 2 trade show in Las Vegas. Yesterday, Stephanie McCall, IWCE Show Director, said, “after close consultation with our partners in the industry, we have made the difficult decision to postpone IWCE 2020. With the rapidly developing circumstances and in light of corporate travel considerations continuing to escalate, we’ve worked as quickly as possible to explore our options. The intention is to announce a new date shortly. Exhibitors and attendees will be contacted with further information regarding booth contracts and registrations.”
McCall said attendees will automatically have their registration transferred to the rescheduled event. She directed those with questions and concerns to email them to iwceoperations@informa.com where they will try to respond within 48 hours, although expected heavy volume could delay that further. 

“For exhibitors and sponsors, we will transfer your program to the future event,” McCall said. “Your Account Manager will be reaching out personally in the next few days to discuss your immediate questions. We continue to work diligently to ensure all details are buttoned down and we thank you for your patience.”

Coronavirus KO’s IWCE 2020...For Now

Iconic industry conference organizer IWCE announced the cancellation of its upcoming March 30-April 2 trade show in Las Vegas. Yesterday, Stephanie McCall, IWCE Show Director, said, “after close consultation with our partners in the industry, we have made the difficult decision to postpone IWCE 2020. With the rapidly developing circumstances and in light of corporate travel considerations continuing to escalate, we’ve worked as quickly as possible to explore our options. The intention is to announce a new date shortly. Exhibitors and attendees will be contacted with further information regarding booth contracts and registrations.”
McCall said attendees will automatically have their registration transferred to the rescheduled event. She directed those with questions and concerns to email them to iwceoperations@informa.com where they will try to respond within 48 hours, although expected heavy volume could delay that further. 

“For exhibitors and sponsors, we will transfer your program to the future event,” McCall said. “Your Account Manager will be reaching out personally in the next few days to discuss your immediate questions. We continue to work diligently to ensure all details are buttoned down and we thank you for your patience.”

FCC to Vote on Mandatory Robocall Blocking

The FCC will vote this month to require carriers to implement technology to block robocalls. Specifically, the new rules mandate implementation of caller ID authentication using so-called “STIR/SHAKEN” technology standards.

STIR/SHAKEN enables carriers to verify the accuracy of caller ID information that is transmitted with a call. Industry-wide implementation would reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing, allow law enforcement to identify bad actors more easily, and help phone companies identify calls with illegally spoofed caller ID information before those calls reach their subscribers, according to the agency. The FCC will vote on the new rules on March 31. Continue Reading

Senate Passes Secure 5G and Beyond Act

The Senate passed and sent to the House a bill requiring the administration to identify 5G network security threats as well as potential hardware and software remedies, reported the Wall Street Journal.  

“As our telecommunications technology advances, we must have plans in place to keep it secure from foreign interference,” said bill sponsor Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a statement. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) are co-sponsors.

“5G promises to usher in a new wave of innovations, products, and services. At the same time, the greater complexity, density, and speed of 5G networks relative to traditional communications networks will make securing these networks harder and more complex. It’s why we need a coherent, national strategy to harness the advantages of 5G in a way that addresses those risks,” said Warner. Continue Reading

Berry: It’s Really “Replace and Then Rip” Untrusted Network Gear

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief The U.S. needs a comprehensive 5G security strategy and the so-called “Rip and Replace” bill recently sent to the President goes a long way towards ensuring smaller carriers can secure their networks, Competitive Carriers Association Steve Berry told lawmakers on Wednesday. Berry spoke, along with representatives from Nokia, Ericsson and Intel, during a Senate Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

The Senate last week passed H.R. 4998, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The bill prohibits the FCC’s Universal Service recipient carriers from being subsidized to acquire or maintain equipment from untrusted suppliers like Huawei and ZTE.

It creates a program to reimburse telecoms with fewer than two million customers. The measure also establishes an information sharing program for telecoms, especially small and rural operators, to obtain information regarding potential security risks and vulnerabilities to their networks. Continue Reading 

FCC Proposes Updating TV White Spaces Rules

While the fireworks of Friday’s C-band vote at the FCC generated many of the headlines, Commissioners also voted on other spectrum issues. One of those concerned the use of TV White Spaces for rural broadband.

All of the Commissioners voted to propose changes to the agency’s rules to allow higher transmit power and antenna height above average terrain for fixed White Spaces devices in rural areas. In response to a petition filed by Microsoft, the Commission believes the updates would allow White Spaces devices to reach users at greater distances, resulting in better broadband coverage – without negatively impacting TV transmission.

That’s key because White Spaces are the unlicensed frequencies between television channels. Microsoft put forth the petition to further its Rural Airband Initiative, which uses a combination of TV White Spaces, fixed wireless and satellite. Continue Reading

FCC Backs C-Band Auction Plan That May Bring $9.7B to Satellite Companies

In a move that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he hoped would quickly free up spectrum for 5G, the FCC voted 3-2 Friday in favor of allowing incentivised C-band auction payments to satellite companies. The C-band spectrum, slated to be auctioned off, is currently used by those high-flying companies to deliver video and radio programming to 120 million U.S. households. The FCC wants to divert much of the under-utilized band to 5G but has been debating with Congress on how best to do it.

"We want satellite operators to vacate the lower portion of the C-band quickly. And this transition will be much faster if we align the incentives of satellite operators with the incentives of wireless providers who want expedited access to that spectrum," Pai said.

The satellite companies, according to Reuters, can make up to $9.7 billion in potential incentive payments from the auction with Intelsat SA receiving up to $4.9B, with other C-band Alliance non-U.S.-based companies like SES SA, and Telesat garnering the remains. Continue Reading