Welcome back to TLP’s Weekly Wireless Wrap-Up, your weekly update on the wireless telecommunications regulatory landscape, important wireless decisions, and more! This week, the FCC held its July Open Meeting and is also holding its Open RAN Showcase. Here’s your wrap up:
FCC:
- Last Tuesday, July 6, 2021, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released a Public Notice reminding EAS and WEA Test participants that the upcoming August 11, 2021 Test of the EAS and WEA must be accessible to individuals with hearing or sight impairments. WEA Test participants were reminded to comply with sections 10.520 and 10.530 of the FCC’s accessibility rules. For more information, see our post here.
- Also last Tuesday, the Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice seeking comment on extending the waiver of the letter of credit rules in the Connect America Fund Phase II Auction and Rural Broadband Experiments proceedings. Last year, the FCC waived the letter of credit rules for these proceedings due to the hardships that various providers were facing due to COVID-19. The Bureau seeks comment on extending the waiver beyond December 31, 2021. For more information, see our post here.
- Yesterday, the FCC held its July Open Meeting, where the Commission adopted four items. Two items, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update the Broadcast Radio Technical rules and a Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to combat contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities, were adopted prior to the meeting and deleted from the agenda. For more information on the items considered at the Open Meeting, check out our post here.
- As a reminder, the Numbering Resource Utilization/Forecast Report Form 502 and FCC Form 499-Q are both required to be filed on or before Monday, August 2, 2021. For more information, see our post here.
- Beginning today, the FCC is hosting a two-day Virtual Open RAN Solutions Showcase, which will give fixed and mobile network operators an opportunity to hear directly from vendors about their Open RAN products and their applicability to 5G networks. The showcase is available on the FCC’s website at fcc.gov/live. For more information see the FCC’s Showcase Day 1 webpage here and Showcase Day 2 webpage here.
Executive Orders
- On Friday, July 9, 2021, President Biden released an Executive Order with a series of suggested actions for federal agencies. Of particular note for wireless providers, the Executive Order contained seven recommended actions for the FCC including reviving the net neutrality rules and broadband nutritional label, revising the spectrum auction rules to avoid concentration of licenses in a small number of holders, increasing support for Open RAN, and initiating a series of rulemakings to require providers to report price and service offerings and to prevent landlords and service providers from limiting tenant internet options. For more information, see the fact sheet on the Executive Order here.
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