EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. — As far as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is concerned, the October 28 Open Meeting of the Commission is on, signaling his confidence that the shutdown of the U.S. government will be resolved within the next three weeks.
That may be good news to the roughly 1,000 FCC staff members who received temporary furlough notices last week.
Some 244 essential FCC staffers are still on the job. However, some 1,044 individuals are on an unpaid vacation while Democrats and Republicans squabble on Capitol Hill over a plan to fund the federal government.
As such, many functions of the FCC are frozen — including all access to the Licensing and Management System (LMS), preventing any communications law professional from not only submitting a new asset purchase agreement for regulatory approval but blocking anyone from accessing any radio or TV station filings.
An attempt to end the shutdown of the federal government failed in the U.S. Senate on Monday, with proposals from both Democrats and Republicans falling short of the 60 votes needed for a bill’s passage. A fresh vote was scheduled for Tuesday.
Without Congressional approval of legislation that will reopen the federal government, the October 28 meeting likely cannot happen. Carr didn’t mention the current state of activities — or lack thereof — at the Commission in his blog post shared late Monday outlining the October Open Meeting agenda. Rather, he joked that it was “Spice Month” at the FCC as Carr has “already had several pumpkin spice lattes this season.” He then shifted to a more serious tone by saying it was actually “Space Month,” penning his blog from spacecraft manufacturer Apex’s hub in El Segundo, an aerospace technology center within eyesight of Los Angeles International Airport that’s also home to Mattel global headquarters.
Thus, the three Commissions will vote on a proposal “to modernize our licensing processes to match the scale and dynamism of today’s space economy”; an order to close “two loopholes” in a prohibition of the sale or import of equipment due to national security concerns; and “a number of questions about how to further improve the process and keep bad gear out of our networks.”
But, for broadcast media professionals, the big news is NEXTGEN TV and the future of broadcasting. “This month we’ll vote on a notice that would take steps to accelerate the transition to this Next Gen TV standard,” Carr noted, stating that ATSC 3.0 represents the future of broadcasting, which is how many Americans receive their local news.
The vote is the culmination of months of efforts by Pearl TV, the NAB and broadcasters to sunset ATSC 1.0 broadcast signals by a specific date approved by the FCC.
In July, Pearl TV’s Anne Schelle met with the legal advisor to Commissioner Olivia Trusty to send the message that while the broadcast industry has driven the transition to cover 76% of U.S. households and has worked closely with TV receiver manufacturers to enable the sale of 15 million ATSC 3.0 televisions, “all parts of the ecosystem … need the certainty of a set transition date and volume of devices to focus attention on the last stage of the transition to ATSC 3.0.”
Groups opposing a mandatory switch-off date of ATSC 1.0 services include the Gary Shapiro-led Consumer Technology Association, which has also been vigorously fighting the AM Radio in Every Vehicle act on Capitol Hill. The CTA, along with the cable television industry, are vehemently against a ATSC 3.0 mandate because of the costs associated with bringing NEXTGEN TV to MVPDs.
Other agenda items include a vote on a notice that examines longstanding interconnection obligations that have flowed from Section 251 and explore if there are ways for the Commission to expedite the successful transition to all-IP interconnection for voice services while considering public safety and consumer protection. On that, Carr said, “It’s wonky but good. You will have to trust me on this one.”
