Chairman Pai’s theme for the April meeting is “The Next Big Thing,” taken from a Vince Gill song. Chairman Pai explains that the first part of the agenda takes inspiration from the refrain that “[e]verybody's waiting for the next big thing, “which, for the Chairman’s purpose, is 5G, the “next big thing in wireless.”  To this end, the FCC will consider items that would set auction procedures for the upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz spectrum bands, facilitate next-generation wireless services in the 37 GHz band, and reform the OTARD rules so they apply to hub or relay antennas.  The remainder of the agenda features a trio of items designed to modernize or eliminate outdated rules.  For this part of the agenda, the Chairman is drawing inspiration from the opening line of the song "Things have changed in the modern world. It makes it kinda crazy for a boy and girl."  He says that this “goes for the Code of Federal Regulations, too, so we're poised to get rid of some kinda crazy rules.”  This includes cable rules, rural ILEC rate floor rules, and the legacy telecom regulations requiring rural ILECs to offer long distance service through a separate subsidiary and all ILECs to submit reports on legacy access services. 

Let’s start with the legacy telecom regulations.  This item would resolve some of the issues raised in a US Telcom petition for forbearance filed in May 2018.  Yes, that’s the UNE Forbearance Petition. Don't get out the smelling salts yet, CLECs.  This order DOES NOT resolve the UNE issue; it deals with other, less contentious parts of that petition and promises that the UNE issues will be handled in a separate order, still to come.  (“This order does not address, and should not be construed as prejudging, USTelecom’s request for forbearance from obligations arising from sections 251(c)(3) and (4) of the Act relating to unbundled network elements and resale.  That request remains pending and the statutory deadline for Commission action on it is August 2, 2019.”)

What this order would do is forbear from enforcing the requirement that rate-of-return ILECs maintain a separate affiliate to provide in-region long-distance service.  For larger ILECs it would: (1) forbear from enforcing Bell Operating Company (BOC) specific provisioning interval requirements and associated special access performance metric reporting obligations, as well as similar reporting obligations imposed on non-BOC price cap ILECs as a condition of prior forbearance relief; and (2) forbear from enforcing the requirement that BOCs provide nondiscriminatory access to poles, ducts, conduits, and rights-of-way because this requirement is redundant of the obligations set forth in Section 224 of the Act.

The rate floor order relates to a 2011 decision of the FCC to limit universal service support received by rural carriers whose voice telephone rates are below a set minimum rate, known as the “rate floor.”  The upshot of this rule is that many rural subscribers pay higher rates. To mitigate the unintended impacts of the rate floor, in 2017, the FCC froze further increases to the rate floor for two years while it revisited the policy.  Absent further action the rate floor will increase by nearly 50% on July 1, 2019.  To avoid this, the FCC is proposing to eliminate the rate floor and its accompanying reporting and customer notice obligations. 

Moving on to the cable rules, the FCC is poised to eliminate the rule that requires cable operators to maintain a currently listing of the channels delivered to their subscribers at their local office.  (Other sections of the FCC’s rules already require cable operators to provide information to subscribers regarding the “channel positions of programming carried on the system” and “products and services offered” at the time of installation, at least annually, and at any time upon request.).  The order would also eliminate the requirement that cable operators of systems with 1,000 or more subscribers make their channel lineup available to the public via the Commission-hosted online public inspection file (OPIF).

Cutting the cord, the first of the wireless items would set the rules for the Spectrum Frontiers Auction 103.  This is the auction of the Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS) in the Upper 37 GHz (37.6-38.6 GHz), 39 GHz (38.6-40 GHz), and 47 GHz (47.2-48.2 GHz) bands. The auction would offer 100 megahertz blocks of spectrum licensed by Partial Economic Area (PEA) service area.  The public notice proposes bidding procedures for the clock and assignment phases of the auction. 

• The clock phase would allow bidding on generic blocks in two categories – one for 37 GHz and 39 GHz and one for 47 GHz – in each PEA in successive clock bidding rounds.  The clock phase would serve both to assign new flexible use licenses and to determine the amount of incentive payments due to incumbent licensees in the 39 GHz band that opt to relinquish their spectrum usage rights. 
• The Auction would have an aggregate net revenue requirement so that it would advance to the assignment phase only if at the end of the clock phase, auction proceeds, net of bidding credits, are enough to cover incentive payment obligations. 
• The assignment phase would allow bidding for frequency-specific license assignments, while ensuring contiguous block assignments.  There would be bidding credits of up to $25 million for a small business and $10 million for a rural service provider.

Another item would reform the FCC’s over-the-air-reception devices (OTARD) rules.  Those rules prohibit State, local, or private laws, regulations, or restrictions that impair the ability of antenna users to use OTARD.  However, the rule does not currently apply to antennas operating primarily as hub or relay antennas used to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from multiple customer locations.  Since 5G networks and technologies require dense deployment of smaller antennas across provider networks in locations closer to customers, revising the OTARD framework to allow fixed wireless providers to deploy hub and relay antennas more quickly and efficiently.  Accordingly, the FCC is proposing to eliminate the restriction that currently excludes hub and relay antennas from the scope of the OTARD rule.  The proposal includes an exception safety or historic preservation purposes.

And, finally, the FCC will take another step towards making millimeter wave spectrum available for Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services, including satellite broadband services.  The order would establish a coordination process for the Department of Defense to operate on a shared basis in the Upper 37 GHz band in limited circumstances. This is an integral step toward the auction of the Upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz (38.6–40 GHz), and 47 GHz (47.2–48.2 GHz) bands slated to begin later this year.  The order would also FCC allow Fixed-Satellite Service earth stations to be individually licensed to transmit in the 50 GHz band (50.4-51.4 GHz).

Be sure to tune in for this “Next Big Thing” on April 12!