The FCC’s E-rate NPRM netted more than 1,500 comments and ex parte filings offering suggestions; now the Wireline Bureau wants more “focused comment,” it said in a public notice Thursday (http://fcc.us/1mZPkiX). Comments are due April 7 in docket 13-184 on how best to meet the agency’s proposed goals for the E-rate program. “Based on the extensive input the Commission has received, it appears that meeting the Commission’s proposed goals for the E-rate program will require that, in the near term, the program focus on providing the support necessary to ensure schools and libraries can afford high-speed connectivity to and within schools and libraries, even as the Commission develops a long-term approach that allows applicants to scale up capacity while driving down costs,” the bureau said. The bureau is seeking comments on three specific areas: (1) How best to focus E-rate funds on high-capacity broadband, especially high-speed Wi-Fi and internal connections; (2) how the agency might phase out support for traditional voice services in order to focus more funding on broadband; and (3) whether the commission should authorize “demonstration projects or experiments” to help the agency “test new, innovative ways to maximize cost-effective purchasing in the E-rate program.” The bureau asked for comments on a pilot program proposed by the American Library Association “aimed at temporarily increasing the discount level for targeted libraries, prioritizing based on public-private partnerships, and providing technical assistance in order to ‘catalyze innovation’ in advancing library services.” Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, who now represents the Urban Libraries Council, thinks the bureau is taking a “very innovative” approach to funding. Hundt suggests libraries measure the bandwidth per user at peak hours and “specifically suggest very efficient mechanisms to raise the bandwidth per user at peak hours.” It’s important to test Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the building, and determining whether slow bandwidth is due to a wall, a bad router or the need for more fiber, he said. “You don’t have to do it for all 9,000 systems or all 100,000 buildings; you do it for a statistically significant sample,” he said. Libraries should also “suggest model administrative practices” such as model contracts, model bidding and model applications, he said. “Ensuring that our nation’s schools and libraries have access to high-speed, high-capacity broadband connections is a national priority,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., in a statement. “I am pleased that the FCC has released a Public Notice today charting the next course on the path to modernize the E-Rate program."

The FCC should identify carriers that have supplied Customer Proprietary Network Information to the government, NARUC said in a filing Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1cC7zkv). The commission should then “investigate whether the carriers have complied with Section 222 and the FCC’s implementing regulations,” NARUC said. Section 222 of the Telecom Act requires carriers to protect CPNI. Due to recent media reports that AT&T and other carriers have been compensated by the NSA to provide CPNI, it’s incumbent on the FCC to investigate which carriers have supplied data in violation of the rule, NARUC said. “The FCC has the authority, the resources, and the clear obligation to investigate these matters,” it said. NARUC was responding to a petition by Public Knowledge and other public interest groups seeking a declaration that the sale of consumer phone records to the government violates the Act.

Out-of-band-emissions (OOBE) from ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) operations, like the low-power terrestrial service proposed by Globalstar, could threaten unlicensed operation far below 2473 MHz, a wireless attorney said. The FCC proposes the same OOBE limits for ATC that it applies to unlicensed device emissions below 2400 MHz, said Mitchell Lazarus of Fletcher Heald in a blog post (bit.ly/1gaENZ0). In practice, an ATC transmitter operating at the maximum allowable power can have OOBE limits “comparable to the in-band power typically used by mobile Wi-Fi devices,” he said. “The proposal to keep ATC frequencies separate from those used by Wi-Fi may not afford as much protection as Globalstar suggests.” The proposed technical rules is a creative effort on the FCC’s part, he said. “Rather than just open another band under MSS/ATC rules, the FCC is trying for a hybrid approach, requiring that ATC operate in the unlicensed band much like an unlicensed device.” The overall success of the commission’s approach in practice “will depend in large part on the power levels Globalstar chooses to deploy,” he said. Comments on the Globalstar NPRM are due May 5, replies June 4 (CD Feb 20 p19).

Correction: The Kansas City where Google Fiber began was in Kansas (CD Mar 5 p16).

An FCC docket on “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet” has been flooded with comments since it was opened by Chairman Tom Wheeler last month (CD Feb 20 p1). As of Tuesday, the FCC had logged 9,341, many of which appeared to have been submitted as text messages. Most offered the same one-sentence of advice: “Reclassify Internet Service Providers As Common Carriers.” Some elaborated. For example, one signed by “Harold Kelley” said, “It is NOT right for BIG TELECOM companies to be allowed to discriminate in any way whatsoever in the manner in how they carry and or transmit Internet Traffic.” (http://bit.ly/1n8lSDP)

The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council will meet Monday from 1-4 p.m. EDT at FCC headquarters, the FCC said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1kVniQN). The main topic is “the proposed work program for the coming year,” the FCC said. TAC was formerly chaired by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. TAC last met Dec. 16, when it was addressed by Wheeler (CD Dec 17 p9).

The deadline to file comments on the FCC’s proposed methodology for predicting potential interference between broadcast TV and licensed wireless signals has been moved to March 17, said the Office of Engineering & Technology in a public notice Friday (http://bit.ly/1jMGlgi). The comment deadline was Friday, the notice said. The extension was the result of a joint request (CD Feb 21 p18) from NAB, several network affiliate boards, the Association of Public Television Stations, Univision and the Public Broadcasting Service, which said they need more time to prepare comments in the wake of an FCC workshop on the channel assignment repacking process.

The FCC Wireless Bureau confirmed that Dish Network bought all 176 licenses sold in the H-block auction (http://fcc.us/1dhJjHU), which closed last week (CD Feb 28 p3). Dish paid a total of $1.564 billion, bidding through a subsidiary, American H Block Wireless. Dish paid a low of $10,000 for the American Samoa licenses and a high of $216.955 million for the license covering New York City and several adjoining areas. Dish had competition for some of the licenses, though none of the major wireless carriers were players. The most competition came from bidder CTM Spectrum, which made two separate bids for the New York license, before Dish made the final winning bid in round 24, FCC records show. CTM made a run on other major licenses as well, including those covering the Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco markets, but in each case its bid was trumped by Dish. CTM was backed by various venture capitalists firms and its primary contact is listed on an FCC form as Monish Kundra, a partner at Columbia Capital.

The FCC Media Bureau will allow broadcasters filing ex parte notices in the incentive auction proceeding to do so without disclosing their identities, the bureau said in a public notice Friday. “We recognize that broadcasters may have legitimate reasons for not wanting to disclose their potential interest in reverse auction participation,” the bureau said. Allowing anonymity “in this limited circumstance will encourage broadcasters to engage in frank discussions with Commission staff, promoting informed participation in the reverse auction and a more robust Commission decision-making process,” said the notice. However, such notices should “provide sufficient basic information to better allow the FCC and the public to understand and evaluate the positions taken during such an anonymous ex parte presentation.” That could include the market tiers the involved stations operate in and whether they are network affiliated or independent, the notice said. Broadcasters “must otherwise continue to follow the ex parte rules, including providing all data presented and arguments made during an ex parte presentation, except with respect to the provision of specific information that would reveal the filer’s identity, e.g., the call sign of its station,” the notice said.

Correction: RIAA’s position on the Songwriter Equity Act is that it’s neutral (CD Feb 27 p12).