What will the FCC be tackling next? Fast, Reliable, and Secure. . .

Procedures for the Auction of Toll-Free Numbers in the 833 Code:  In September 2018, the FCC decided to allow the use of competitive bidding to assign toll free numbers and established an auction of numbers in the recently-opened 833 toll-free code (833 Auction). The 833 Auction will be conducted by Somos, Inc., the Toll-Free Numbering Administrator.  It will make available over 17,000 numbers for which there have been multiple competing requests. The auction will serve as an experiment in using competitive bidding as a way to assign toll free numbers equitably and efficiently.  The item would initiate the pre-bidding process for the 833 Auction by proposing and seeking comment on various auction procedures.

This includes:

• Application requirements, including required disclosures and certifications as well as restrictions on applicants;
• Bidding procedures, including for upfront payments, bidding format and period, and default payments; and
• Post-auction procedures, including for final payments, reserving toll free numbers, and secondary market transactions.

Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2019:  The Communications Act requires the FCC to assess and collect annual regulatory fees to recover the costs specified by Congress for the agency’s policy, rulemaking, enforcement, and other activities.  Amendments to the Act require that the FCC establish a new schedule of regulatory fees and update it annually.  Accordingly, the item proposes and seeks comment on a fee schedule to collect $339,000,000 in regulatory fees as well as certain proposals for calculating certain FY 2019 regulatory fees.  This includes continuing to phase in the DBS regulatory fee rate to bring it closer to the cable television/IPTV rate; continuing to assess international bearer circuit regulatory fees using the existing per-circuit methodology rather than a new tiered methodology; and changing the way fees for full-power broadcast television stations are calculated.

The FCC is not proposing to change the way fees are calculated for Interstate telephone service providers (which include LECs, IXCs, IXC resellers, debit card providers, OSPs, inmate service providers, pay telephone providers, interconnected VoIP providers, and audio bridging service providers) or toll free numbers managed by a RespOrg.  However, the Notice proposes increases in both fees.  Fees for CMRS services would decline slightly while the fees for cable TV and IPTV systems would also go up.

China Mobile Proceeding:  As alluded to earlier, this order would deny China Mobile USA’s application for international Section 214 authority, finding that its application presents substantial and serious national security and law enforcement risks that cannot be addressed through a mitigation agreement and is not in the public interest.  China Mobile International (USA) Inc., is ultimately owned and controlled by the People’s Republic of China.  As is customary when a 214 application has reportable foreign ownership, the FCC sought the expertise of the relevant Executive Branch agencies as to whether grant of the application would raise any national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, or trade policy concerns.

Allocation and Service Rules for the 1675–1680 MHz Band:  In this proceeding, the FCC seeks to make additional spectrum available for new, non-federal flexible wireless use in the 1675-1680 MHz band.  The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would reallocate the 1675-1680 MHz band for shared use between incumbent federal operations and non-federal fixed or mobile (except aeronautical mobile) operations on a co-primary basis and seek comment on proposals for reallocation and sharing.  Any new, non-federal fixed or mobile (except aeronautical mobile) operations would be required to protect incumbent federal operations from harmful interference.  The item proposes to license the 1675-1680 MHz band as an unpaired 5 megahertz block on a geographic basis.

Measures to Improve Video Communications and Protect the Video Relay Service Program:

Video Relay Service (VRS) enables people with hearing or speech disabilities who use sign language to make telephone calls over broadband with a videophone. This item takes steps to both improve VRS itself and expand VRS users’ access to direct video communications with people who know sign language, while protecting the VRS program against waste, fraud, and abuse.  Among other things it would:

• Enable direct video calling between VRS users and customer support call centers, by permitting qualified entities to enter video-capable customer support telephone numbers in the TRS Numbering Directory.
• Facilitate per-call validation of VRS user registrations via the TRS Numbering Directory querying system.
• Require VRS providers to register public and enterprise videophones in the TRS User Registration Database.
• Prohibit VRS providers from offering non-service-related inducements to encourage consumers to sign up for or use a VRS provider’s service.

A Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to convert the FCC’s pilot VRS at-home call-handling program to a permanent program and allow VRS providers to provide service to new and porting users for up to two weeks pending identity verification by the User Database.

Theia Authorization:  Theia Holdings A, Inc. seeks authority to construct, launch, and operate a non-geostationary-satellite orbit (NGSO) fixed-satellite service, mobile-satellite service, and earth exploration-satellite service constellation consisting of 112 satellites. The proposed grant would allow Theia to provide high-resolution earth-imaging data in the United States and globally.  The FCC proposes to grant the request to operate in various frequency bands but defer action on its request to use the 25.5-27.0 GHz frequency band until the FCC addresses pending issues regarding that band in the Spectrum Frontiers Proceeding.  The order would also specify conditions to protect or accommodate other operations.

The FCC will also consider an item that would streamline and clarify the FM translator interference complaint and resolution process.