INCOMPAS News -- November 14, 2022

Vol. 18, No. 46

November 14, 2022

Join INCOMPAS this Thursday, November 17 at 3 p.m. ET for a webinar featuring a high-level review of the 2022 Midterm Elections.

INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering, former Member of Congress, will provide a preliminary assessment of what the midterm election results mean for the U.S. House and Senate, as well as state governments, and the potential impact on the tech and communications industry.

Advanced registration is required.

INCOMPAS Files Comments on FCC NPRM Targeting Illegal Robotexting

On November 10, INCOMPAS filed comments in the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on targeting and eliminating unlawful text messages. The association noted that "[a]s the Commission addresses the growing problem of illegal robotexting, there may be lessons in the robocalling context that can inform solutions for robotexting, although it is important to recognize that there are differences between voice and text that may warrant different approaches to resolving the issue. Ultimately, any rules adopted must be applied only where the FCC has appropriate jurisdiction and in a competitively-neutral and nondiscriminatory manner that preserves competition.

INCOMPAS urged the FCC to conduct additional fact-finding and data collection, first, on the magnitude of the illegal robotexting problem and, second, on concerns related to the methods used by the wireless industry to contain illegal robotexting. The association also noted that STIR/SHAKEN was not developed for text messaging, so it is not readily applicable to the authentication of text messages. INCOMPAS noted that a "new, competitively neutral industry standard, specifically tailored to the robotexting context, will need to be developed for text messaging."

FCC to Release Pre-Production Draft of New Broadband Maps

The FCC announced that it will unveil a pre-production draft of new broadband maps on November 18. This version is the first release of the map required by the Broadband DATA Act and will begin an ongoing, iterative process that will improve the data submitted by providers by incorporating challenges from individuals and other stakeholders. Broadband availability will be based on data submitted by providers during the initial Broadband Data Collection filing window and will reflect services available as of June 30, 2022. When published, the draft maps will display location level information on broadband availability throughout the country and will allow people to search for their address, and review and dispute the services reported by providers at their location.

The FCC will also accept bulk challenges to the reported availability data from state and Tribal governments and other entities. As a result, this map will continually improve and refine the broadband availability data relied upon by the FCC, other government agencies, and the public. The pre-production draft map release is an important first step forward in building more accurate, more granular broadband maps, which are long overdue and mandated by Congress. Historically, the FCC’s maps have been based on broadband availability data collected at just the census block level rather than the location level, which kept unserved locations hidden if they were in partially served census blocks.

To generate this version of the map, providers’ availability data has been matched to the location information contained in the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric. The Fabric is a common dataset of all locations in the United States where fixed broadband internet access service is or can be installed. To improve the accuracy of the FCC maps, the FCC began accepting challenges to Fabric information from providers, states, local and Tribal governments starting in September. Once the draft maps launch, individuals will also be able to submit challenges, or request corrections, to Fabric locations directly through the map interface. They will also be able to request missing locations be added. Information from those challenges will be incorporated in future versions of the Fabric.

For more information about the BDC, please visit the Broadband Data Collection website.

FCC Webinar to Discuss Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grants

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) will host a live webinar to discuss the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that was released on November 10, 2022.

The webinar will take place tomorrow - Tuesday, November 15, 2022, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST and will be streamed live at fcc.gov/live. Registration is not required for this free event.

FCC Issues Agenda for November 17 Open Meeting

The FCC issued the agenda for its November 17 open meeting, where it will consider:

Improving 911 Reliability – A Report and Order to promote public safety by ensuring that 911 call centers receive timely and useful notifications of disruptions to 911 service.
Updating Resources Used to Determine Local TV Markets – A Report and Order that would update its rules to use the most up-to-date market information for determining a television station’s local market for carriage purposes.

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