WASHINGTON--Could America’s 5G network be nationalized by the federal government in the next three years, becoming a “21st century equivalent of the Eisenhower National Highway System"?

It’s a dramatic possibility raised by a Trump national security official, according to a story published over the weekend by Axios. But all three Republicans on the Federal Communications Commission, including the chairman, immediately sought to squash the idea in statements Monday, and the White House subsequently downplayed the story.

Axios is a news site founded in 2016 by three former top executives at Politico. Its story said internal administration documents argue that to protect against China, America needs a centralized nationwide 5G network, and that they outline an option under which the government would pay for and build a single network — essentially a federal takeover of part of the U.S. mobile communications system.

The material was produced by a “senior National Security Council official,” according to Axios, and presented recently to leaders at other agencies. According to Axios, one internal presentation states that China “is the dominant malicious actor in the Information Domain,” and that the best way to respond would be for the government to build a network and rent access to carriers.

Axios notes that this would be “a marked shift from the current system where those companies each build their own systems with their own equipment, and with airwaves leased from the federal government.” 

Such internal long-term discussions are common in Washington. One source told Axios that the draft in question was an “old” one and a newer version is neutral about whether the government should build and own it. The documents also outline other possible plans, including a market consortium approach that still would involve more cooperation among competitors than is currently the case. The carrier industry is a powerful one on the Hill. And Axios notes that U.S. deployment of 5G infrastructure is already well underway in the private marketplace. AT&T told the news outlet that 5G launch in the country is “already well down the road.”

According to the website Recode, White House officials also emphasized that the document as published was dated. “They also stressed it had merely been floated by a staff member, not a reflection of some imminent, major policy announcement — and probably might never be.”

But it’s a subject with vast implications, raising the possibility of a federal process for installing wireless equipment, regulating wireless sales and in the longer term influencing development of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, autonomous cars and the Internet of Things.

Read more here: Scoop: Trump team considers nationalizing 5G network

Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC named to that position by President Trump, immediately reacted: “I oppose any proposal for the federal government to build and operate a nationwide 5G network,” he said in a statement. "The main lesson to draw from the wireless sector’s development over the past three decades—including American leadership in 4G—is that the market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment. What government can and should do is to push spectrum into the commercial marketplace and set rules that encourage the private sector to develop and deploy next-generation infrastructure. Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future.”

Fellow Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly was more colorful: "I've seen lead balloons before tried in D.C. but this is like a balloon made out of a Ford Pinto."

The wireless industry concurred.

“The wireless industry agrees that winning the race to 5G is a national priority," said CTIA President Meredith Attwell Baker, but she signaled industry should be the one driving that train: "The government should pursue the free market policies that enabled the U.S. wireless industry to win the race to 4G.”

The president is expected to talk about infrastructure needs in his State of the Union speech Jan. 30.

John Eggerton contributed to this story.

WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears to agree with broadcasters that Congress’ proposal of $1.75 billion for post-incentive auction repack relocation fees will not be enough. Broadcasters released an estimate of $2.1 billion for relocation fees last Friday; Pai says that estimates could still go up or down from that number, but Congress in order to hold broadcasters harmless in the move, Congress would need to provide more funds.

Read the full story on TVT’s sister publication B&C.

xWASHINGTON– Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will be visiting three mid-Atlantic states next week, the commission said. His trip will begin in Wardensville, W.V., on Monday and end in Crownsville, Md., on Wednesday. During his tour, he will be making stops in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland.

In particular, he will be meeting with rural broadband providers, entrepreneurs and small businesses to discuss how to work together to help close our nation’s digital divide. Along the way, Pai will also be holding events with U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and representatives of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.

WASHINGTON— FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today announced that the agency has chosen Sanford Williams to serve as director of the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunity, continuing the work he has been doing as acting director.

“The FCC plays an important role in encouraging a communications industry in which small businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses, thrive,” said Chairman Pai. “While it is not our place to dictate market outcomes, there are productive ways that this agency can connect people, foster competition, and establish policies that support a market that reflects America’s diversity. I’m pleased Sanford has agreed to continue to lead this work; I value his counsel in ensuring that these issues are included in our policy thinking.”

The Office of Communication Business Opportunities is tasked with promoting competition and innovation in telecommunications ownership and information services. The office also supports opportunities for small communications businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses. It is principal advisor to the chairman and the commissioners on issues, rulemakings, and policies affecting these communications businesses. It also represents the agency in various matters coordinated with the U.S. Small Business Administration, including those involving the Regulatory Flexibility and Small Business Acts.

Williams has worked as an attorney in various roles at the Federal Communications Commission since 1999. He also worked as an attorney for Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, and taught at Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia. Mr. Williams attended Cornell University where he earned an undergraduate degree in operations research & industrial engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Johnson School of Management. He earned his law degree from University of Virginia School of Law where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review.

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is on a process-reform roll. The chairman declared that henceforth the commissioner’s will vote on consent decrees, which are now at the discretion of the chief of the Enforcement Bureau and the chairman’s office. Consent decrees are generally entered into by parties that have been fined by the commission.

“One of the ways in which the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau resolves an investigation is by entering into a consent decree, in which the party being investigated agrees to comply with certain terms in exchange for the government closing its inquiry,” Pai said in an emailed statement.“But over the past few years, in cases in which the full commission has previously voted to propose and/or impose a forfeiture, such consent decrees have generally not been presented to the commissioners for a vote. Instead, they have simply been signed by the chief of the Enforcement Bureau at the direction of the chairman’s office. Indeed, many times, commissioners were barely given any notice of such consent decrees before they were publicly released by the Bureau.

“That abuse of process ends now. If commissioners vote to propose and/or impose a forfeiture, the Enforcement Bureau should not settle that matter without their approval. Therefore, I have instructed the Enforcement Bureau that starting today, any consent decree settling a Notice of Apparent Liability or Forfeiture Order issued by the full Commission must now be approved by a vote of the full Commission. This will help promote Commissioners’ involvement in and accountability for important enforcement decisions.

“We are putting this reform into practice immediately. This afternoon, the Enforcement Bureau circulated a consent decree for the commission’s consideration that would conclude an important investigation previously approved by the full commission. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on that matter and other consumer protection efforts in the months to come.”

No further information was provided about the enforcement matter that triggered Pai’s decision.

WASHINGTON—Ajit Pai saved some trees, set forth a broadband deployment agenda and held a brief but free-ranging press conference at his first general meeting as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

By a 3-0 vote, Pai and his colleagues, Democrat Mignon Clyburn and Republican Michael O’Rielly, eliminated the requirement that broadcasters include public correspondence in their public inspection files.

“Listeners can continue to communicate with stations by email, letter, social media or other means,” a Media Bureau staff member noted in presenting the item. “The only change is the stations no longer have to retain them and make them available.”

The commission voted in 2012 to move TV station public inspection files from hard copy records to an online database. The move was completed in July of 2014. Radio, cable and satellite were likewise compelled last year.

Clyburn said of four broadcasters she spoke with in Nashville last September told her they get “rarely if any” requests for their public inspection files. O’Rielly, who led the charge on the item, thanked the Media Bureau for “reducing unnecessary burdens that can best be served by other means.” Pai talked about visiting his childhood radio station, KKOW-FM in Pittsburg, Kans., a few years ago and seeing “an imposing series of huge file cabinets, each filled with folders, each folder filled with paper”—the station’s public inspection file.

The National Association of Broadcasters issued a high-five:

“NAB applauds the FCC for its bipartisan decision to eliminate archaic correspondence file requirements and we thank Commissioner O’Rielly for his leadership on this issue. The order serves as a strong demonstration of chairman Pai’s commitment to curtailing burdensome regulations that hinder broadcasters’ ability to operate, create jobs and serve the public interest,” NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton said in an emailed statement.

The same vote also eliminated the requirement that cable operators keep the designation and location of head-ends in their public files. They still have to make it available to the FCC to TV stations, and franchisors upon request, and they can still voluntarily keep the information public if they so wish.

With regard to broadband and the commission’s role, Pai declined to say if the commission would enforce network neutrality and referred instead to an order he is circulating among commissioners to waive the rules for wireless internet service providers with fewer than 250,000 customers for five years.

On the infrastructure front, he also announced the formation of a Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee to develop a “model code,” i.e., a template, for communities to use with perspective providers. The code will cover “topics like local franchising, zoning, permitting and rights-of-way regulations,” the commission said. A Public Notice with details was said to be forthcoming. “Interested members of the public” were encouraged to apply.

Pai later said he had “no higher priority than closing the digital divide.” He then took questions from reporters. (See, “Q&A: Pai Fields Reporter Questions.)

In a separate item, Pai was appointed Defense Commissioner to “[direct] the homeland security, national security and emergency preparedness, and defense activities of the commission.” His predecessors held a likewise designation.