WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced several initiatives the commission will take up in its next open meeting, scheduled for Sept. 26.

The chairman said he will seek public comment on a proposal to replace the requirement that broadcasters file notices in local newspapers when they file certain applications with the commission and allow them to instead post online notices that would directly link to the applications themselves.

“I am also proposing to simplify the announcements regarding these applications that broadcasters must make over the air, and to have these announcements direct the public to online resources where they can review these applications,” the chairman said in a blog. “This is just another example of how we are modernizing our media rules to reflect the digital age and streamlining them to eliminate unnecessary red tape.”

Also on the agenda is a proposal to extend the commission’s recent efforts to streamline processing procedures for certain satellite to DBS. The commission will also vote to seek comment on draft procedures for an auction of 70 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band for 5G, to begin on June 25, 2020. 

GRAPEVINE, Texas—FCC Chairman Pai gave a progress report about the channel repack, touting “great progress” since work began in April 2017. He added that the transition—which involves channel and/or location changes for approximately 1,000 full-power and Class A television broadcasters and about 2,000 low-power and translator television stations—is “ahead of schedule.”

In remarks to the annual meeting of the National Association of Tower Erectors today, the chairman noted the abbreviated timetable for finishing the transition by July 2020 and the resulting pressure on tower companies.

“The limited availability of tower crews capable of doing this work was a big factor in our transition planning from the start,” he said. “We designed a phased transition schedule that allows both tower companies and equipment manufacturers to prioritize stations in early phases and to strategically allocate resources. We built in flexibility to make adjustments so that safety is never compromised.”

At the conclusion of Phase 1, which ended Nov. 30, 2018, 143 repacked stations had already moved off their pre-auction channels, approximately 53 more stations than the FCC had planned to be repacked by the end of Phase 1, according to Pai. More than 20 of the approximately 115 stations assigned to Phase 2, which ends April 12, 2019 have been moved to their new channel.

Pai said that a total of $2.75 billion (including an additional $1 billion authorized by Congress last year) is available to reimburse broadcasters for repack costs, with more than $350 million already approved for reimbursements.

The FCC chairman acknowledged the concerns tower companies have had about availability, weather and deadlines, especially in a period when wireless companies are moving forward with 5G deployments. He encouraged the companies to be proactive.

“Coordination with stations and equipment manufacturers will be key,” Pai said. “Working together, I’m optimistic that we can be as successful as we were in Phase 1 and stay on track to complete this work for full-power and Class A stations by July 2020."

Pai added that tower crews are also helping the recipients of the 600MHz spectrum sold off by broadcasters two years ago deploy new services, citing T-Mobile’s recent progress in this area.

“NATE members are also deploying infrastructure so that wireless carriers can put the licenses awarded to incentive auction winners to use,” he said. “This deployment is now a reality in many places and is underway in many others. For example, one carrier has already lit up service using 600 MHz spectrum in more than 1,500 cities and 37 states, including Puerto Rico. For many of your members, this is intense, ongoing work. For American consumers, this means new competition and opportunities to benefit from 5G.”

For all the latest news and insight on the repack, visit our repack silo.

WASHINGTON--As expected the FCC on Dec. 12 will officially launch its latest congressionally mandated "Quadrennial" review of broadcast ownership rules.

FCC chair Ajit Pai did the unveiling Tuesday (Nov. 20) in his monthly blog post on the items the FCC plans to vote on at its next public meeting, which he does when the tentative agenda is released 21 days before the meeting.

"On the media front, we’ll be kicking off a review of our media ownership rules — a review we’re required by statute to conduct every four years," he said. "The 2018 Quadrennial Review, as it’s called, will begin with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which seeks public input on the relevant rules, such as the Local Radio Ownership Rule, as well as several diversity-related proposals."

Senior FCC officials speaking on background said the review would not include either the 39% cap on national audience reach or the UHF discount from that cap.

The reason is that they were not among the rules the Congress requires it to review. They said the cap and discount would continue to be reviewed on a parallel track.

The rules up for review in the Quad are the local radio ownership rules, local TV ownership limits and the dual-network rule. But they said it was an open-ended review with no tentative conclusions.

It will ask whether the rules should remain, be modified, or eliminated.

The FCC will also review a trio of diversity-related proposals--one is whether to extend the cable procurement EEO regs to broadcast, whether to identify a "tipping point" of source diversity in lieu of ownership rules and on tradeable diversity credits, all issues MMTC has raised.

Chairman Ajit Pai had told Congress that the review was coming by year's end, so it was no surprise that it was teed up for the meeting. The FCC has let the quadrennial deadline for concluding the review slip in the past for a variety of reasons--including having to repeatedly respond to court decisions on rule challenges--only wrapping up a combined 2010 and 2014 review in November of last year.

So the chairman is getting what could arguably be called an early start even though the lookback will clearly be primarily a 2019 review. A senior official said they did not want this review to drag on for years, but would not put a deadline on it.

Also at the meeting, the FCC will vote on a declaratory ruling that wireless text messages are information services, not telecom services, so that service providers can continue to protect their customers from span and scam robocalls, said senior FCC officials.

That ruling would deny petitions to declare text messages a telecom service. Texts had not previously been classified and the petitions gave the FCC a chance to weigh in.

The FCC says a text messaging service provides for storing and retrieving information, so it is like email. It also finds that text messaging, like wireless broadband service, is a commercial mobile service, not a private service, because it is not connected to the public-switched service.