FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson offered advice to the public on communicating during a hurricane. As a first step, consumers should “take stock” of what kind of phones they have, Simpson wrote in a blog post (http://fcc.us/TUKo2z). “Many consumers no longer subscribe to ’traditional’ landline telephone service delivered over copper wires, which generally continues to work during a power outage.” Those who rely on wireless phones “already know the importance of battery power” and should charge their devices well in advance of a storm, he said.

Jon Sallet is now officially FCC general counsel, no longer acting, an agency official said Monday. The change was made following the completion of additional actions necessary under federal government personnel rules, the official said. Earlier in May, Roger Sherman became Wireless Bureau chief, rather than acting chief.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was in Seattle Thursday for a series of meetings, a spokesman said. Later in the day, she was scheduled to see the site of the March 22 Oso, Washington, mudslide that killed 43 people, he said. Rosenworcel plans to meet with local officials to discuss the recovery effort and communications restoration after the disaster.

Public libraries face three major E-rate problems, the Urban Libraries Council told the FCC in a filing Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1oWf0wW). First, public libraries have not received E-rate funding in the same proportion as school buildings, ULC said. Second, public libraries get less financial support from the federal government “than any other institution in the civic landscape,” even though libraries have a tremendous need for funding, ULC said. “Part of E-rate reform should be the creation of a formula for prioritizing library funding,” it said. Third, E-rate reforms need to address the contracting process for libraries, ULC said: All public libraries should have access to the contracting prices obtained by other libraries and schools in similar geographic areas; and they should be able to opt into contracts the FCC puts out for bids. Public libraries have been getting only about $60 million a year from the E-rate fund, ULC attorney Reed Hundt told us. Given there are about one sixth as many libraries as schools, and schools have gotten about $2.4 billion, “public libraries should have been getting $400 million,” Hundt said. “It’s an incredible amount of shortchanging of public libraries,” he said. “Speaking as the guy that put the program together, I am shocked that it turned out this way.” Hundt was chairman of the FCC and responsible for its initial implementation after the E-rate program was created by Congress. The primary reason the shortfall has happened is because E-rate hasn’t paid for internal connections, he said, and public libraries are “all about internal connections,” like Wi-Fi everywhere.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau agreed to extend for 18 months a waiver to allow the broadcast of a simulated Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) attention signal in public service announcements developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The bureau acted at FEMA’s request. “We agree with FEMA that while the PSAs have been successful in educating the public about WEA, negative public reaction to the WEA Attention Signal has continued due to residual public confusion about how the WEA functions,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1kpxa71). “We also concur that, despite the WEA success stories, this public confusion could potentially lead some consumers to opt out of receiving most WEA messages -- a result that would undermine the goal of WEA to serve as a viable and effective means to alert the public of emergencies.” In 2008, the FCC issued a series of orders adopting requirements for a Commercial Mobile Alert System allowing carriers to transmit emergency alerts to their subscribers, if they choose to do so. The major wireless carriers all agreed to participate in the alerting program.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., removed the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act (S-1720) from the committee’s agenda Wednesday, which one industry executive told us seriously endangers the prospects for passing a patent revamp bill before the end of the current Congress. Senate Judiciary subsequently canceled a planned committee business meeting set for Thursday morning, at which an S-1720 markup had been the only planned agenda item. “There has been no agreement” after weeks of negotiations on a compromise manager’s amendment meant to address several controversial provisions sought in a final version of S-1720, Leahy said in a statement. “I have said all along that we needed broad bipartisan support to get a bill through the Senate,” he said. “Regrettably, competing companies on both sides of this issue refused to come to agreement on how to achieve that goal.” If stakeholders can craft a “more targeted agreement that focuses on the problem of patent trolls, there will be a path for passage this year and I will bring it immediately to the Committee,” Leahy said. The industry executive and a pro-revamp lobbyist had told us in separate interviews before Leahy’s announcement that there had been some movement in negotiations that signaled an increased likelihood of an S-1720 markup at the Thursday meeting. Pro-revamp industry groups expressed disappointment in Leahy’s decision, particularly given the House’s passage in December of the Innovation Act (HR-3309), which contained many of the provisions included in S-1720. CEA believes Leahy’s decision “makes this a day of celebration for patent trolls,” said CEA President Gary Shapiro in a statement. “We are profoundly disappointed the Senate has abdicated its responsibility to address the skyrocketing costs of patent abuse.” The bill’s removal is “a massive setback to the nationwide chorus of calls for reform after patent trolls expanded their targets in recent years to companies across a wide range of industries,” the Computer and Communications Industry Association said. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., should “stand with innovators and bring the House-passed Innovation Act to the floor of the Senate for an up or down vote,” said Internet Association President Michael Beckerman in a statement. ACT/The App Association believes “it is regrettable that the inability of Congress to advance widely supported legislation will expose many small companies to predatory litigation,” said President Jonathan Zuck in a statement. Engine Advocacy said it’s “hopeful that the Chairman means what he says and that he will work to pass much-needed legislation this year.” Charles Duan, Public Knowledge’s director-Patent Reform Project, said other House and Senate bills specifically target pre-litigation patent demand letter abuses, but those “cannot replace the comprehensive reform legislation that has now been withdrawn.” Leahy’s decision “shows pretty clearly that addressing these issues is more complicated than many may have thought,” said American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) President Todd Dickinson in a statement. AIPLA and Dickinson, former head of the Patent and Trademark Office, had been critical of some aspects of current patent revamp legislation. “More time and broader constituent input may make for even better legislation,” Dickinson said.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s responses to lawmakers Tuesday (see separate report above in this issue) “indicate he has clearly thought about this tactic” of broadcasters blocking online access to TV programming during retransmission consent disputes, wrote analyst Paul Gallant of Guggenheim Partners in a research note after the House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing. “Our authority goes to good faith negotiations,” Wheeler said during the hearing. “There is reason to be concerned that because I happen to subscribe to an ISP who is in a dispute with a program provider, that the program provider blocks all access from all IP addresses coming from that ISP. I think that is something that is of concern and that we all should worry about.” Wheeler’s concern means Gallant “would not be surprised if the FCC uses its ‘good faith negotiation’ rules to prevent such blocking,” he said. “Should Mr. Wheeler pursue this approach, it has the potential to marginally reduce broadcaster leverage during future retrans disputes.” In other testimony, the question of whether the FCC can preempt state laws restricting municipal broadband networks will probably be “answered in court,” Wheeler said. He argued in favor of the FCC pre-empting these state restrictions. “If we believe in competition, we ought to let competition flourish,” Wheeler said. “This is a decision that ought to be made by the people of the community.” If local community residents want to bring competition by building their own networks, “they should not be inhibited … by the fact that the incumbents have been urging the adoption of legislation that would ban it,” Wheeler said.

The FCC plans a workshop June 19, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. EDT at its headquarters, to explore “the complex issues surrounding mobile device theft,” said an agency notice Tuesday. “Some observers believe the thefts of personal electronic devices are reaching epidemic proportions,” the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1jSwkuZ). “Police in major metropolitan areas across the United States report year-on-year increases ranging from six to as much as 23 percent, building on an already high base where an estimated 3.1 million devices were stolen in 2013, nearly double the 2012 amount.”

FirstNet board member Charles Dowd reportedly submitted paperwork to retire from the New York Police Department. The New York Daily News reported last week that Dowd no longer heads the city’s 911 operations, has been shifted to head the department’s Transit Division and plans to retire from the department (http://nydn.us/1lBKyBI). An NTIA spokeswoman declined to comment Monday. Down departure from the NYPD would not necessarily preclude service on the FirstNet board. FirstNet General Manager Bill D'Agostino announced last month he was leaving after less than a year on the job, as questions continue to swirl around the network (CD April 16 p1). Angela Simpson, NTIA deputy assistant secretary, said FirstNet is doing “really well,” in remarks to the FCBA’s annual retreat Saturday. “This is another instance where a program was created out of legislation and it’s a terrific opportunity,” she said. “FirstNet has ... been in a state of constant change, in terms of getting the organization set up and it’s growing exponentially.” NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said the agency has played a key role in the startup of FirstNet. “From day one, when you had inquiries of how do [FirstNet officials] spend money, how do they travel, who makes their airplane reservations, all of those services we had to provide at the beginning,” he said. Since FirstNet hired its own staff, “as much as possible we get out of the day-to-day activities,” Strickling said. “At the end of the day our oversight will be to ensure they're complying with federal regulation, federal law.” Pending FCC auctions are slated to provide $7 billion to pay for the network. “My own belief is that the FCC should do what is right with their spectrum policy and the FirstNet money will take care of itself,” he said.

The FCC plans to start the AWS-3 auction Nov. 13, two weeks before Thanksgiving Day, agency officials said Monday. The FCC released Monday the first of what are expected to be three public notices on the auction, in this case seeking comment on proposed auction rules (http://fcc.us/Tncz9X). The FCC approved service rules for a 65 MHz AWS-3 auction March 31 (CD April 1 p1), setting the stage for the agency’s first major spectrum sale since 2008. Unlike the TV incentive auction, the commission faces sharp deadlines in the 2012 spectrum law and is required to license the spectrum by February. The PN proposes a reserve price of about $10 billion for the main spectrum to be sold in the auction: 1755-1780 MHz blocks paired with 2155-2180 MHz spectrum. It proposes a reserve price of only $580 million for the 1695-1710 MHz band, also to be auctioned. Consistent with past practice, FCC staff will likely make the final calls on the technical rules for the auction, officials said Monday. The auction process notice will be followed by a procedure notice, which adopts what is proposed in the first PN, officials said. FCC staff is also working with NTIA on a joint coordination PN, providing basic information on the coordination process for clearing the AWS-3 spectrum. Comments are due June 9, replies June 23.