INCOMPAS News -- December 14, 2020

Vol. 16, No. 46

December 14, 2020

INCOMPAS Policy Summit Registration Now Open

The 2021 INCOMPAS Policy Summit, February 8-10, is kicking off the new year as THE event to keep competitive policies top-of-mind with the new Administration, Congress and the FCC, and celebrate 25 years since passage of The Telecommunications Act.

Featuring keynotes from top policymakers and administration officials, this virtual event is an ideal opportunity for companies to shine a light on the key issues impacting them, and offer an opportunity to address hot topics, such as broadband, 5G, robocalls and more.

Make sure your voice is heard through support of the Policy Summit. Stay engaged through sponsorships, participation on our panels and attending the event. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, to learn how you can contribute to panel discussions or to register, visit our website.

FCC Releases Items from December Open Meeting

Last Thursday, the FCC held its December Open Commission Meeting and adopted the following items:

Prior to the meeting, the FCC deleted five items from its agenda:

A radio licensing matter
An NPRM implementing section 10(a) of the TRACED Act
An order on reconsideration of the FCC’s previous interpretation of the TCPA that permitted certain government and government contractor calls without consumers’ prior express consent
An order that would amend the invoice filing deadline rule to enhance the efficient administration of the E-rate program
An order that would modify its rules to require the electronic payment of fees for activities delegated to the FCC’s Media Bureau.

FCC Begins Major 5G Spectrum Auction

Last week, the FCC kicked off its latest 5G spectrum auction, making available 280 megahertz of prime mid-band spectrum in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band—a portion of the C-band. This is the FCC’s largest mid- band 5G spectrum auction to date.

The first round of the clock phase of the auction started Tuesday, December 8. This auction will offer 5,684 new flexible-use overlay licenses based on Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) for spectrum in the 3.7–3.98 GHz band. This spectrum holds the potential to be prime spectrum for 5G services given its combination of geographic coverage and capacity, and the FCC’s auction procedures will ensure the assignment to auction winners of contiguous spectrum blocks allowing wide channel bandwidths that support 5G deployment. Satellite operators currently using the C-Band have agreed to repack their operations out of the band’s lower 300 megahertz (3.7-4.0 GHz) into the upper 200 megahertz (4.0-4.2 GHz).

The first phase of this transition—the clearing of 120 megahertz of spectrum from 3.7-3.82 GHz in 46 of the nation’s top 50 PEAs—will conclude by December 5, 2021. The second phase— clearing the lower 120 megahertz of spectrum in the remaining PEAs, plus an additional 180 megahertz from 3.82-4.0 GHz nationwide—will conclude by December 5, 2023.

Senators Ask for Full Funding of Broadband, Secure Networks Acts

Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), and others sent a letter to Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) urging them to provide full funding for the Broadband DATA Act and the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act.

They said funding the Broadband DATA Act will ensure more accurate broadband maps and better stewardship over the millions of dollars the federal government awards each year to support broadband deployment. They also said funding the program to help rural telecommunications operators remove equipment posing a security threat is essential to protecting the integrity of the communications infrastructure and the future viability of the digital economy at large.