Glad to see a non-controversial blog from the Chairman. Indeed, a reverse
auction to determine how to spend CAF Phase II taxpayers' money, and not
mandating a pre-ordained technical solution like FTTH (not mentioned here, but
mentioned previously), seems the right way to go. Not so convinced about this
new Office of Economics and Analytics, because it can become just another way
to twisting the truth, to force a religiously-motivated outcome, with
pseudo-scientific excuses. Much like the religious belief that Title II
classification prevents investment. Totally disproved by the facts, yet recited
as gospel truth by those with a greedy axe to grind. Economics is far from a
hard science.
Carefully avoided any mention of the elephant in the room, during 2018. This
other stuff pales by comparison.
Bert
-----------------------------------------------------------
https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/blog/2018/01/09/happy-and-productive-new-year
A Happy and Productive New Year
January 9, 2018 - 2:20 pm
By Ajit Pai | FCC Chairman
It's one week into 2018, and thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs, my New Year's
resolution to minimize sports-related verbal outbursts is already shot. But
fortunately, the FCC is poised to make good on one of my top resolutions from
last year: prioritizing high-quality economic and data analysis at the agency.
The Commission's team of economists and data analysts is among our greatest
assets, driving landmark achievements like our incentive auction. In fact,
just last week, our incentive auction team was named one of six finalists for
the prestigious Edelman Award for excellence in data analytics. Nonetheless,
over the years, the agency has failed to fully take advantage of this asset.
Our economists are sprinkled across the Commission, and their input during
policy deliberations has too often been ad hoc or an afterthought.
Last April, I delivered a speech at the Hudson Institute, in which I outlined
my vision for elevating the role of economics in the Commission's
decision-making. Specifically, I proposed the creation of a new office for
our economists and data analysts. To make sure we thought through all the
issues, I established an internal working group to look at this recommendation.
After nine months of study and extensive interviews with several dozen experts
both inside and outside the agency, the working group issued a report that
included some concrete recommendations. Based on the insights from its report,
I've shared with my colleagues an Order to create a new Office of Economics and
Analytics (OEA). The new OEA will at long last put economic analysis at the
heart of Commission decision-marking. We'll vote on this Order at the FCC's
next public meeting, on January 30.
The new Office would consist of four different divisions. The first would be
the Economic Analysis Division, which would work closely with staff across the
Commission's bureaus and offices on rulemakings, adjudications, transaction
reviews and related activities that require economic analysis. The second
would be the Industry Analysis Division, which would collect and analyze key
data sets that the agency relies on to understand market trends. The third
would be the Auctions Division. These days, people tend to think about
wireless spectrum when they hear the phrase "FCC auctions." But the
market-based allocation of public resources goes well beyond that. We conduct
auctions today on things like distributing federal broadband subsidies and
radio licenses-and these auctions currently involve multiple FCC bureaus. So
we propose to place the responsibility for structuring auctions within the
Office of Economics and Analytics. Fourth and finally, the Office would have a
Data Division, which would aim to ensure that data can be shared, compared, and
analyzed across different bureaus to better inform the Commission's work.
Our January 30 agenda will also focus on a key part of the agency's strategy
for closing the digital divide: setting up a major effort to promote broadband
deployment in parts of the country currently on the wrong side of that divide
(especially rural areas). Last year, in the Connect America Fund Order, the
FCC adopted rules for what's called the "Connect America Fund Phase II." This
decision authorized investment of up to $2 billion over the next decade to
bring fixed broadband service to unserved parts of rural America. To maximize
the impact and efficiency of this investment, the Commission voted to award
this support through a reverse auction.
In three weeks, the Commission will vote on a Public Notice that would finalize
the bidding procedures for this first-of-its-kind auction. This is the last
significant hurdle before the Phase II auction can get underway. (Speaking of,
the Public Notice would set July 24 as the start date for the auction.)
While finalizing the bidding procedures is the most significant step that must
be taken before we can begin the auction, it's not the only one. Multiple
parties filed petitions challenging specific aspects of our 2017 Order, such as
how to compare bids of different performance levels and our requirements for
stand-alone voice service. In addition to the Public Notice described above,
the Commission will separately address these challenges, further clearing the
path for the Phase II auction to start this summer. Bottom line: We want to
get these funds allocated efficiently and quickly to bring digital opportunity
to rural America as soon as we can.
In January, we'll also continue our work to enhance the effectiveness of
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). These alerts deliver public safety warnings
to consumers' cell phones and other mobile devices. When the WEA program
launched in 2012, participating wireless providers were required to send the
alerts to an area no larger than the county or counties affected by the
emergency. In 2016, we improved upon that. We adopted a new requirement that
participating wireless providers target alerts to an area that best
approximates the area affected by the emergency, even if it's smaller than a
county.
This is meaningful progress. But we can and must do even better when it comes
to targeting these alerts. That's why I'm asking my fellow commissioners to
support my proposal to more precisely target these alerts to affected
communities. Under this proposal, participating wireless providers would
deliver these alerts to match the geographic area specified by the officials
sending the alert with no more overshoot than one-tenth of a mile. Pinpointing
these alerts will encourage more local officials to use these alerts with
confidence during emergencies. They'll also lead Americans to take more
seriously the alerts they receive on their mobile devices. More precise
geographic targeting should also lead to fewer people opting out of receiving
WEA messages. The proposal also includes additional reforms, such as a
requirement that alert messages be preserved in a consumer-accessible format
for at least 24 hours after the alert is received. When disaster strikes, an
alert on your mobile device might convey life-saving information. We want WEA
to be a strong enough system to help you should that moment ever arrive.
Our January meeting will also feature the latest measures in our effort to
modernize the FCC's media rules. Since the late 1930s, the FCC has required
broadcast stations that hold FCC licenses or permits to submit paper copies of
certain contracts and other documents relating to ownership and control of
those stations to the Commission. I'm proposing to eliminate this requirement,
which I believe is unnecessary now that the Commission has imposed online
public file requirements. In addition, some of our other media rules are
obsolete because they address either the analog-to-digital transition for
full-power television stations-which ended over eight years ago-or full-power
analog television broadcasting-which is no longer permitted. We'll therefore
vote on January 30 on an Order to remove these outdated rules from the Code of
Federal Regulations (the official books containing U.S. government regulations).
Finally, we'll be voting on a matter that's been developed by the Commission's
Enforcement Bureau. For law enforcement reasons, we can't discuss it publicly
before the January 30 meeting.
As you can see, with holidays behind us, the FCC is hitting the ground running
in 2018. Here's wishing everyone a happy-and productive-2018.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
