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FCC Reauthorization Act of 2018 & New FCC Order

A. Vote in the House on 3/6/18: HR.4986

About 15,000 Words

The Press Release

https://energycommerce.house.gov/news/press-release/walden-blackburn-house-passage-ray-baums-act/

H.R. 4986 , the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 is a bipartisan, bicameral agreement among House and Senate leaders to reauthorize the FCC and support the deployment of next-generation wireless services. The Energy and Commerce Committee approved an earlier version of H.R. 4986 by voice vote last month. The legislation that passed today will:

  • Reauthorize the FCC and include reforms to ensure the commission continues to improve its efficiency and transparency.
  • Enact key provisions from the Senate-approved MOBILE NOW Act (S.19) to boost the development of next-generation 5G wireless broadband by identifying more spectrum – both licensed and unlicensed – for private sector use and reducing the red tape associated with building wireless networks.
  • Authorize a repack fund to address the shortfall in funding available to relocate broadcasters being displaced following the successful Incentive Auction, and set up new relocation funds for translators, low-power television, and radio stations that will be impacted by the repack – supplemented by a consumer education fund.
  • Include a spectrum auction deposit “fix” which allows the FCC to deposit upfront payments from spectrum bidders directly with the U.S. Treasury.
  • Direct the FCC to craft a national policy for unlicensed spectrum that includes certain specific considerations and recommendations.
  • Advance proposals that would help the FCC and law enforcement protect consumers from fraudulent telephone calls, and to educate Americans about their options to stop these illegal calls.

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NTP Finds Cell Phone Radiation Causes Cancer

Feb 20, 2018 — by Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director, Center for Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley; original article here

A. NTP Study: Analyze the Overall Tumor Risk

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.:

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) researchers did not carefully examine the overall tumor risk, that is, the risk of an animal developing any type of tumor due to cell phone radiation exposure. There are several strong justifications for conducting this analysis.

First, a 5-year, $5 million Air Force study found low incidences of various types of tumors in male rats exposed to microwave radiation. In that study, the exposed rats were three times more likely to get cancer than the control rats. The study employed much lower intensity microwave radiation than the NTP studies.

Second, early toxicology research on the effects of tobacco found low incidences of many types of tumors among animals exposed to tobacco smoke. Scientists dismissed this evidence as they assumed an agent could not cause cancer in different types of tissue. History later proved them wrong.

Finally, my preliminary analysis of the overall tumor risk using summary data from the appendices to the NTP report, found that male rats exposed to cell phone radiation were significantly more likely to develop cancer than control rats (38% vs. 25.5%; p = .021), and more likely to develop a nonmalignant tumor (70% vs. 54%; p = .003).

Male rats in the lowest cell phone radiation exposure group, 1.5 watts per kilogram, were also more likely to develop a nonmalignant tumor than control rats (74% vs. 54%; p < .001). Although cancer incidence for this low exposure group was greater than the control group, the difference was not statistically significant (34% vs. 25.5%; p = .163).

B. Ramazzini Study: More Than a Coincidence

By Louis Slesin, February 20, 2018; original article here and Ramazzini abstract here.

New Large Animal Study, Like NTP’s, Links RF to Schwannoma of the Heart

   
Ramazzini Study: 2,448 Rats Lifetime Exposed to 1800 MHz GSM

  • Group A: 5 V/m = 66,300 µW/m² (0.7% of US RF Microwave radiation exposure guideline)
  • Group B: 25 V/m = 1,658,000 µW/m² (17% of US RF Microwave radiation exposure guideline)
  • Group C: 50 V/m = 6,630,000 µW/m² (66% of US RF Microwave radiation exposure guideline)

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It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

Those acquainted with the New York Yankees storied history in Major League Baseball will be familiar with Yogi Berra, a colorful catcher for the Yankees and a fountain of now-quite-famous “Yogi-isms“.

  • Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.

  • He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.

  • When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

One “Yogi-ism” that applies to the US Government’s scientific reporting of harms from RF Microwave radiation exposures is "It’s déjà vu all over again."

The $64,000,000,000 question is: if 15,000 to 50,000 µW/m² of RF Microwave radiation exposure is sufficient to cause cardiac problems, neurological and psychological symptoms, altered blood cell counts, increased chromosome aberrations, and elevated cancer in children and adults, then why are US cities allowing 720,000 to 1,230,000 µW/m² of RF Microwave radiation exposure on sidewalks from 4G/5G so-called “Small Cell” cell phone towers installed in the public rights of way — 15–50 feet from our homes?

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National Security Council 5G Recommendation

By Ina Fried, Kim Hart, David McCabe; original AXIOS article here.

Note: View the photos of the slides/document shared with President Trump, in advance of his State of the Union address that will be on Jan 30, 2018 at 6:00 pm PT. For those who wish to listen to other points of view on the State of the life in America, then consider the live feed of the People’s State of the Union.

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Federal Takeover of Mid-Band 5G Wireless Network Raises Significant Issues

A Trump administration proposal to nationalize a portion of the nation’s wireless network in order to combat threats from China in 5G raises many technical, logistical and political concerns, including a fierce debate over the proper role of government in business.

The bottom line: The proposal calls for aggressive government involvement in the private wireless market, representing a significant shift in U.S. industrial policy that would hugely disrupt the business plans of America’s largest telecom and technology companies.

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American Canyon Considering “So-Called” Small Cell Rules

by NOEL BRINKERHOFF nbrinkerhoff@americancanyoneagle.com; Jan 24, 2018; Original article here.

American Canyon wants to establish its own parameters allowing companies like AT&T, Sprint and others to improve wireless signals in neighborhoods.

The city’s moratorium on so-called “small cells,” or Close Proximity Microwave Radiation Antennas (CPMRA) installed on utility poles in the public right of way was extended last week by the City Council to give staff time to finish drafting a local ordinance regulating this technology. The moratorium was set to expire on Feb. 4.

Community Development Director Brent Cooper said he hopes to bring the ordinance before the Planning Commission in March and the City Council in April for consideration. Last year, Cooper delayed the ordinance to see if a proposed state law (SB.649) limiting local control over small cells would pass. SB.649 was approved by the Legislature, but vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

A House Resolution, which does not have the same importance as a House Bill, has been introduced. It would have no impact in California, because Governor Brown’s veto of SB.649 ensured that local communities retained their authority over small cells to determine how many and what kinds of antennas can go up around town, per the Federal 1996 Telecommunications Act.

Congressman Richard Hudson, R-North Carolina, introduced House Resolution 689 on Jan 11, 2018 that says federal funding to “wireless broadband providers to promote wireless broadband deployment” should go first to states “that have enacted streamlined siting requirements for small cells.”

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FCC Broadband Progress Report

Original press release here

Fact Sheet On Draft 2018 Broadband Deployment Report

https://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2018/db0118/DOC-348770A2.pdf

Recognizing the importance of high-speed broadband Internet access, Congress in 1996 tasked the Federal Communications Commission with “encourag[ing] the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans.” To ensure the Commission took this obligation seriously, Congress required the Commission to report on its progress each year.

Chairman Pai has circulated a draft 2018 Broadband Deployment Report to his colleagues and below are the key findings and additional information.

Topline Takeaways:

  • The 25/3 speed benchmark is maintained. The draft report finds that the current speed benchmark of 25 Mbps/3 Mbps remains an appropriate measure by which to assess whether a fixed service provides advanced telecommunications capability.

  • Mobile services are not full substitutes for fixed services — there are salient differences between the two technologies. Both fixed and mobile services can enable access to information, entertainment, and employment options, but there are salient differences between the two. Beyond the most obvious distinction that mobile services permit user mobility, there are clear variations in consumer preferences and demands for fixed and mobile services.

    • Continue reading “FCC Broadband Progress Report”

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Powerful Comments Opposing FCC Docket 17-84

One can read all the comments for this docket by following the following link, which unfortunately seems to not present all comments in order of receipt, but prioritizes comments from large companies and influential groups “above the fold”.

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-84&sort=date_disseminated,DESC

We Must Unite to Strike Down FCC Docket 17-84

"Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment
by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment"

Be sure not to miss this letter from Attorney Harry Lehmann, which supplements his collection of substantial letters which proved effective at helping to secure a veto from Gov. Jerry Brown for CA SB.649, The Cellphone-Towers-on-Light/Utility-Poles-in-Residential-Neighborhoods Bill.

The following is another powerful comment that uncovers why FCC Docket 17-84 is so wrong-headed and will not stand.

Original comment here.

Hello FCC,

Please include my comment in opposition to proceedings on the expediting and expansion of 4G/5G networking onto public right of way and poles, and the stand-down of copper-lines in both urban and rural areas .

I request that a 30-day extension to comments be granted on these proceedings, with a 30-day extension to replies on comments. Further, I request a moratorium on these and other expansion of 4G/5G networking policy recommendations by the FCC until such time that evidence can be shown that these two docket items, and expansions like them when implemented, can comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and 42 U.S.C 12101 et seq.

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FCC To Weaken Broadband Definition

by Karl Bode Jan 4th 2018 6:29am; Original article here

FCC Prepares To Weaken Broadband’s Definition To Hide Competitive and Coverage Issues

From the not-particularly-subtle dept . . .

Under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, the FCC is required to consistently measure whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans uniformly and "in a reasonable and timely fashion." If the FCC finds that broadband industry is failing at this task (you may have noticed that it is), the agency is required by law to "take immediate action to accelerate deployment of such capability by

  • Removing barriers to infrastructure investment" and
  • "Promoting competition in the telecommunications market."

Of course given that the Telecom sector is the poster child for regulatory capture, this mandate often gets intentionally lost in the weeds. This is usually accomplished by simply pretending the lack of competition doesn’t exist. Or worse, by meddling with broadband deployment metrics until the numbers show something decidedly different from the reality on the ground. It’s a major reason why broadband ISPs (and the lawmakers who love them) whine incessantly every time we try to update the definition of broadband to a more reasonable and modern metric.

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