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This Week's Wireless News Headlines:

• How to Shut Off Motion Smoothing — and Why You Should
• DHS, Verizon Detail Super Bowl LVI Support
• Apple says Spatial Audio is a hit, drawing more listeners to Apple Music
• ISS urges Apple shareholders to vote against CEO Cook's bonus
• BBC builds beeping billboard with doctors’ pagers
• Spok Announces New Strategic Business Plan
• Spok Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results
• Inside Towers
  • How Will NTIA Distribute Broadband Deployment Money?
• BloostonLaw Telecom Update
  • Inmate Calling Providers Must File April 1 Report and Certification
  • CC Grants Petition on Inaccurate 477 Data, Extends Revised A-CAM II Offer of Additional $1.3 Million
  • FCC Seeks Comment on Bidding Procedures for Upcoming 2.5 GHz EBS White-Space Auction
  • FCC Releases Final Text of Multiple Tenant Broadband Access Order
  • Annual HUBB Filing Due March 1
  • FCC Authorizes 2,576 Additional RDOF Winning Bids
  • Affordable Connectivity Order Becomes Effective, Initial Comments on Further NPRM Due March 16
  • Political Programming Rules Effective March 14
  • Comments on NORS/DIRS Safeguards Proceeding Due March 9
  • FCC and NTIA Establish Spectrum Coordination Initiative
  • Affordable Connectivity Program Sees Over 10 Million Enrollment
  • Deadlines
• BloostonLaw Contacts
• Calendar At-a-Glance
• LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  • Bob Burchett
• TECHNICIAN'S CORNER
• Ethernet Cable Pass Through Wall Port
• THIS WEEK'S MUSIC VIDEO
  • “Colors”
  • Playing For Change

NO POLITICS HERE

This doesn't mean that nothing is ever published here that mentions a US political party—it just means that the editorial policy of this newsletter is to remain neutral on all political issues. We don't take sides.

A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the web. That way it doesn’t fill up your incoming e-mail account.

There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world’s major Paging and Wireless Messaging companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers — so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It’s all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology.

I regularly get readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it.

I spend the whole week searching the INTERNET for news that I think may be of interest to you — so you won’t have to. This newsletter is an aggregator — a service that aggregates news from other news sources. You can help our community by sharing any interesting news that you find.

Editorial Opinion pieces present only the opinions of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any of advertisers or supporters. This newsletter is independent of any trade association. I don't intend to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do freely express my own opinions.

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How to Shut Off Motion Smoothing — and Why You Should

By Wilson Chapman
Feb 15, 2022 3:00pm PT

via Twitter

If you have watched any movie on any TV show in the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered motion smoothing. Even if you don’t know what it is, you might have noticed a favorite film you’ve seen in theaters looks noticeably different, some might say uglier, on the small screen, thanks to the work of the technology, a default setting on nearly every modern TV set.

Motion smoothing, also called motion interpolation, is born out of a discrepancy between the frame rates of films and the frame rates modern TV sets are capable of running. A standard film or TV show is usually shot at 24 to 30 frames per second, while modern TVs are capable of operating at 60, 120 or occasionally even 240fps. When motion smoothing settings are turned on your TV, the TV essentially adds fake frames into a film or show in order to artificially increase the frame rate. According to Cedric Demers, the president of personal electronics testing and review company rtings.com, motion smoothing creates new frames by calculating where objects in a video move from and to in between the original frames, and interpolating the trajectory of the objects.

“Multiple techniques can be used to estimate motion, but none are perfect since the real information of what is between the two frames is not present in the original footage,” Demers says. “Therefore, there will be errors and artifacts. Motion smoothing works best when the scene is moving slowly in a predictable way, like a panning shot or a big object moving sideways. Small objects moving fast in unpredictable ways or complex transformations like explosions are the hardest to estimate and will result in weird visual artifacts.”

Theoretically, motion smoothing makes the film run faster and cleaner. In practice, the errors and visual artifacts it causes has made it extremely controversial, and many directors, filmmakers and critics have decried it as a technology that ruins film. In 2018, Tom Cruise and “Mission Impossible: Fallout” director Christopher McQuarrie released a public statement asking viewers to turn off the setting while watching their film at home. Directors as varied as Rian Johnson, Patty Jenkins, Martin Scorsese, Reed Morano, Karyn Kusama and Paul Thomas Anderson have all publicly expressed hatred of the technology. In 2019, several filmmakers announced a partnership with the UHD Alliance to develop a new “Filmmaker Mode” TV setting that is optimized for watching films at home. The filmmaker mode has been added to certain TV sets manufactured since 2020, though it is nowhere near as widespread as motion smoothing.

What is it about motion smoothing that makes it bad for watching film? According to Variety chief film critic Peter Debruge, the issue is the technology ignores the way that people have been trained to understand how motion works in film. Film, traditionally, used a flicker effect to stimulate motion, and audiences have learned to accept and understand the lower frame rate of film as a part of the cinematic language. Motion smoothing doesn’t replace this cinematic language with actual realistic movement, however, instead creating an uncanny valley effect that just degrades the original intent of the filmmaker, and makes the film look cheaper and uglier.

“What we’re seeing with motion smoothing is instead of trying to present movies as they were, as they looked naturally, everything is being ported over to these new digital devices, and everything wants the thing that looks best to their eyes on those digital devices,” Debruge says. “But your televisions don’t replace the kind of magic flicker of the movies with something that is necessarily more realistic. They erase that flicker and use some sort of creepy equation to turn it all into zombie motion.”

So, if you’ve been annoyed with how films have looked on your television, you might want to check if motion smoothing is turned on. Here’s how to look for the feature, and how to turn it off, sorted by TV set types. The name of motion smoothing varies according to the TV set, so this guide will help you identify what it’s called on your TV. (If your TV isn’t listed here, look for something with the word “Motion” in the settings menu.)

LG (TrueMotion)

1. Go to settings.
2. Select picture menu.
3. Click on picture mode settings and picture options.
4. Turn TrueMotion from smooth to off.

Roku (Action Smoothing)

1. Hit the “*” on your TV remote.
2. Select advanced picture settings on the menu.
3. Look for the Action Smoothing option. There are four different levels of smoothing: high, medium, low and off. To shut the feature off completely, select off.

Samsung (Auto Motion Plus)

1. Open settings menu.
2. Go to picture options, and scroll down to expert settings at the bottom.
3. Select expert settings, and go down to Auto Motion Plus settings.
4. Select Auto Motion Plus, and switch to off.

Sony (MotionFlow)

1. Go to the picture settings menu.
2. Open advanced settings.
3. Scroll to MotionFlow.
4. Open MotionFlow settings, and set to off.

Vizio (Smooth Motion Effect)

1. Go to settings.
2. Select picture options.
3. Scroll down to the advanced picture menu and select it.
4. Select Smooth Motion Effect, and switch it off.

Panasonic Viera (Intelligent Frame Creation)

1. Press menu on your remote.
2. Select picture settings.
3. Scroll to Intelligent Frame Creation.
4. Switch to off.

Amazon Fire TV (Motion Processing)

1. Go to settings menu.
2. Select picture.
3. Choose advanced options.
4. Scroll to motion processing and turn it off.

Hisense (Motion Smoothing)

1. Press the home button on your remote.
2. Go to settings.
3. Select system settings.
4. Select picture.
5. Scroll to motion smoothing and switch it off.

50 years experience providing and supporting radio and paging customers worldwide. Call us anytime we can be useful!

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Leavitt sells and supports most pager brands. We stock Unication G1, G5, Secure and some Elegant pagers. Call or e-mail for price and availability.

DHS, Verizon Detail Super Bowl LVI Support

By Danny Ramey, Editor
Thursday, February 10, 2022

As the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals clash in Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI, thousands of local, state and federal personnel will be working to keep game attendees as well as California residents safe during the weekend and week leading up to the game.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said more than 500 of its personnel will provide support including air and maritime security resources; anti-human trafficking prevention and enforcement support; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives detection technologies; venue, cyber and infrastructure security assessments; intelligence analysis and threat assessments; and real-time situational awareness reporting.

Photo Courtesy of Verizon

“The Department of Homeland Security is fundamentally a department of partnerships, and those partnerships are critical to ensuring the safety and security of Super Bowl operations as well as that of the surrounding community,” DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a statement. “Our dedicated DHS workforce is working collaboratively alongside our federal, state, and local partners to provide operational and technical support to the NFL, city of Inglewood, and state of California to keep this national event safe. Just like the game itself, vigilance is a team effort, so please remember: if you see something, say something.”

DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is working with federal, state and local authorities to assess and mitigate any risks to the critical infrastructure of the Los Angeles area and is also serving as the liaison for communications carriers.

As part of the effort, CISA conducted cybersecurity vulnerability assessments, multiple planning exercises and bomb safety workshops to help prepare state and local partners. During the game itself, CISA will support emergency communications and monitor any risks to critical infrastructure.

Supporting the federal, state and local public-safety personnel will be carriers such as Verizon.

“With the health and safety concerns around COVID-19, health is at the forefront as we’re thinking about the Super Bowl,” said Cory Davis, director of public-safety operations for Verizon.

To support large demand for communications around SoFi Stadium from both public-safety personnel and the general public, Verizon invested $119 million in network enhancements to the area around the stadium and to build out its 5G ultra-wideband coverage (UWB) in the area. That investment included putting up more than 169 small cells, four macro cells and 24 in-building cells in the area around the stadium, Davis said.

“We’ve spent a lot of time, but also a lot of capital investments making sure SoFi is arguably the most connected stadium in the world right now,” Davis said.

Verizon will also have a command center that will serve as the “central nervous system” for all of its operations and activities during the Super Bowl weekend. That command center will be staffed with engineers and technicians 24/7 to ensure the network keeps running optimally throughout the event.

Staff from Verizon Frontline, Verizon’s public safety arm, will also be dispatched to nearby emergency operations center (EOC) and joint operations centers (JOC) to help address any issues that public safety address any issues that come up during the game. And in the case, of a major situation popping up, deployables such as cells on light trucks (CoLTs), cells on wheels (CoWs) and generators on wheels (GoTs) will be stationed in the area to provide additional coverage.

“We have a whole barnyard full of CoWs, CoLTs and GoTs stationed in Southern California just in case things get really bad or go sideways,” Davis said.

Davis said that as it has been in the past, Verizon will be committed to providing what it calls true interoperability across different communications providers and platforms.

“No matter what network, platform, application or carrier you are using, Verizon continues to keep our network open,” Davis said.

The investments and commitment made to the network for the Super Bowl will extend past the game itself, Davis said. All of the network investments and coverage enhancements will remain in place to provide everyday coverage as well as for future events like the Super Bowl.

“Our focus is not only on this week but long after the game,” Davis said.

Paging Transmitters 150/900 MHz

The RFI High Performance Paging Transmitter is designed for use in campus, city, state and country-wide paging systems. Designed for use where reliable simulcast systems where RF signal overlap coverage is critical.

• Commercial Paging systems.
• Healthcare Paging systems.
• Public Safety Emergency Services Paging systems.
• Demand Response Energy Grid Management.

Built-in custom interface for Prism-IPX ipBSC Base Controller for remote control, management and alarm reporting.

• Use as a stand-alone unit or in wide area network.
• Mix with other transmitter brands in an existing paging network.
• Adjustable from 20-250 watts.
• 110/240 VAC or 48VDC.
• Absolute Delay Correction.
• Remote Diagnostics.
• Configurable alarm thresholds.
• Integrated Isolator.
• Superb Reliability.
• Improved amplifier efficiency.
• Most reliable high-powered paging transmitter available.

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
Ph: 678-242-5290 Email: sales@prism-ipx.com
prism-ipx.com

The Wireless Messaging News
Board of Advisors

The Board of Advisor members are people with whom I have developed a special rapport, and have met personally. They are not obligated to support the newsletter in any way, except with advice, and maybe an occasional letter to the editor.

Can You Help The Newsletter?

You can help support The Wireless Messaging News by clicking on the PayPal Donate button above. It is not necessary to be a member of PayPal to use this service.

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Apple says Spatial Audio is a hit, drawing more listeners to Apple Music

William Gallagher

Feb 15, 2022

Apple Music executives say that more than half of its subscribers are listening in Spatial Audio.

Apple's Spatial Audio feature of Apple Music was launched in late June 2021, after its announcement at WWDC, and brings a more immersive sound to the service. Now Apple executives have been sharing selected statistics, and talking about how Spatial Audio is being appreciated by listeners.

According to Billboard, Apple says that record labels which remaster in Spatial Audio are seeing large increases in the number of listens.

For example, "The Weeknd" re-released the 2016 album "Starboy" in Spatial Audio, and first-time listeners increased by 20%. That's over the eight weeks following launch, compared to the eight weeks before it.

Using the same measure, Billie Eilish saw the same growth for her "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go." Post Malone's "Hollywood's Bleeding" had 40% more listens, and Taylor Swift's "Lover" gained 50% more.

Apple says that the increases are not confined to relatively recent music, either. "Here Comes the Sun," by "The Beatles," increased its first-time listeners by 50%. Then 40% of those listeners went on to play more music by the band.

"We're seeing huge uptick in artists' back catalog off the basis of them re-engaging their fans with a new way of listening to the music," Rachel Newman, Apple Music's global head of editorial and content, told Billboard. "Part of the key has just been making sure that [Spatial Audio is] highly accessible for all kinds of artists at all different levels."

Apple sees Spatial Audio as a differentiator between Apple Music and its rivals, and more so than it does Lossless music. Every song in the Apple Music library is now available in Lossless, but Apple's Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and Beats, says it's necessarily a niche.

"[The] challenge is it doesn't play on any headphone in the world over Bluetooth or any wireless connection," he said, "and that is by a country mile the number one way how people consume music these days."

"And so," continues Schusser, "we went out and said we would like to have a feature for the mass market that works on pretty much every device and where people notice a difference."

"We now have more than half of our worldwide Apple Music subscriber base listening in spatial audio and that number is actually growing really, really fast," he adds. "We would like the numbers to be higher, but they are definitely exceeding our expectations."

Apple has not released precise figures for how many tracks are available in Spatial Audio. However, according to Billboard, the feature launched with a few thousand tracks, and has since grown sevenfold.

Providing Expert Support and Service Contracts for all Glenayre Paging Systems.

The GL3000 is the most prolific paging system in the world and Easy Solutions gladly welcomes you to join us in providing reliable support to the paging industry for many more decades in the future.

Easy Solutions provides cost effective computer and wireless solutions at affordable prices. We can help in most any situation with your communications systems. We have many years of experience and a vast network of resources to support the industry, your system and an ever changing completive landscape.

• We treat our customers like family. We don’t just fix problems . . . We recommend and implement better cost-effective solutions.
• We are not just another vendor . . . We are a part of your team. All the advantages of high priced full-time employment without the cost.
• We are not in the Technical Services business . . . We are in the Customer Satisfaction business.

Experts in Paging Infrastructure

• Glenayre, Motorola, Unipage, etc.
• Excellent Service Contracts
• Full Service—Beyond Factory Support
• Making systems More Reliable and MORE PROFITABLE for over 30 years.

Please see our web site for exciting solutions designed specifically for the Wireless Industry. We also maintain a diagnostic lab and provide important repair and replacement parts services for Motorola and Glenayre equipment. Call or e-mail us for more information.

Easy Solutions
3220 San Simeon Way
Plano, Texas 75023
Vaughan Bowden
Telephone: 972-898-1119
Telephone: 214 785-8255
Website: www.EasySolutions4You.com
E-mail: vaughan@easysolutions4you.com

GLENAYRE INFRASTRUCTURE

Service Contracts

I would like to recommend Easy Solutions for Support of all Glenayre Paging Equipment. This Texas company is owned and operated by Vaughan Bowden. I have known Vaughan for over 35 years. Without going into a long list of his experience and qualifications, let me just say that he was the V.P. of Engineering at PageNet which was—at that time—the largest paging company in the world. So Vaughan knows Paging.

GTES is no longer offering support contracts. GTES was the original group from Vancouver that was setup to offer support to customers that wanted to continue with the legacy Glenayre support. Many U.S. customers chose not to use this service because of the price and the original requirement to upgrade to version 8.0 software (which required expensive hardware upgrades, etc.). Most contracts ended as of February 2018.

If you are at all concerned about future support of Glenayre products, especially the “king of the hill” the GL3000 paging control terminal, I encourage you to talk to Vaughan about a service contract and please tell him about my recommendation.

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INTERNET Protocol Terminal

The IPT accepts INTERNET or serial messaging using various protocols and can easily convert them to different protocols, or send them out as paging messages.

An ideal platform for hospitals, on-site paging applications, or converting legacy systems to modern protocols.

Additional/Optional Features

• Database of up to 5000 subscribers.
• 4 serial ports on board.
• Up to 8 phone lines (DID or POTS).
• Can be configured for auto-fail-over to hot swap standby.
• 1RU rack mount unit appliance—no moving parts.
• Easily secure legacy system messages leaving site for HIPAA compliance.
• Only purchase the protocols/options you need.
• Add Paging Encryption for HIPAA compliance on site.

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
Ph: 678-242-5290 e-mail: sales@prism-ipx.com
prism-ipx.com

ISS urges Apple shareholders to vote against CEO Cook's bonus

February 16, 2022 7:46 PM CST Reuters

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook watches customers awaiting the grand opening of the new Apple Carnegie Library store in Washington, U.S., May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts//File Photo

Feb 16 (Reuters) — Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) urged Apple Inc (AAPL.O) investors to vote against Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook's remuneration, citing concerns around the magnitude and structure of his equity award.

Apple will hold its annual shareholder meeting in the first week of March.

"There are significant concerns regarding the design and magnitude of the equity award made to CEO Cook in FY21. . . Half of the award lacks performance criteria," ISS said in a letter on Wednesday.

Cook took home $3 million in salary in 2021. In addition, he received $82.3 million in stock awards, $12 million for hitting Apple's targets, $1.4 million for air travel, 401(k) plan, insurance premiums and others.

In total, he earned $98.7 million in 2021, compared with $14.8 million a year earlier.

He received 333,987 restricted stock units, in his first stock grant since 2011 as part of a long-term equity plan. He will be eligible to receive additional units in 2023.

ISS valued Cook's 2021 equity award at $75 million. His pay was 1,447 times that of the average employee at the tech giant, according to a filing disclosed in January.

"Half of the $75 million award is purely time-based, and the award would continue to vest in full in the event of his retirement," ISS wrote.

Apple declined to comment and referred to the company's proxy filing detailing Cook's performance-based compensation.

Paging Data Receiver PDR-4

The PDR-4 is a multi-function paging data receiver that decodes paging messages and outputs them via the serial port, USB or Ethernet connectors.

Designed for use with Prism-IPX ECHO software Message Logging Software to receive messages and log the information for proof of transmission over the air, and if the data was error free.

• Option—decode capcode list or all messages.
• Large capcode capacity.
• Serial, USB and Ethernet output.
• POCSAG or FLEX page decoding, special SA protocols.
• Receivers for paging bands in VHF, UHF, 900 MHz.
• Message activated Alarm Output.
• 8 programmable relay outputs.
• Send notifications of a system problem.

• Synthesized Receiver Tuning.
• Selectivity better than 60 dB.
• Frequencies 148-174, 450-470, 929-932 MHz.
• Image Rejection better than 55 dB.
• Spurious Rejection better than 55 dB.
• Channel Spacing 12.5 or 25 kHz.
• Power 5VDC.
• Receiving Sensitivity 5µV at 1200 bps.

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
Ph: 678-242-5290 e-mail: sales@prism-ipx.com
prism-ipx.com

Wireless Network Planners
Wireless Specialists

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street East Northport, NY 11731
Telephone: 631-786-9359
www.wirelessplanners.com
wirelessplannerron@gmail.com

BBC builds beeping billboard with doctors’ pagers

By Amy Houston - February 17, 2022

BBC Creative, the broadcaster’s in-house team, has assembled an eye-catching out-of-home (OOH) billboard made of 300 working pagers to celebrate the arrival of its new show, This Is Going to Hurt.

Located at Westfield, London, the build is fitted with LED lights and speakers that look to recreate the buzzing noise of doctors’ pagers. Messages reading ‘Labor ward’ and ‘Gynae’ are occasionally displayed, as well as lines such as ‘Miss stag do’ and ‘Sleep in car‘, further hinting at plot themes and aiming to tug on viewers‘ heartstrings.

The emotional TV series follows the hectic professional life of junior doctor Adam Kay as he works 97-hour-long weeks, with the storyline largely based on the true experiences of real-life NHS worker Adam Kay, which were documented in his 2017 memoir.

Londoners will get the chance to feast their eyes on the ad right up until February 27, while the medical drama can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.

The BBC Creative team last month released a beautifully-animated film to promote the Winter Olympics that combined an array of in-camera effects, 3D printed frames and stop-motion effects.

Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects.

Click here for a summary of their qualifications and experience. Each one has unique abilities. We would be happy to help you with a project, and maybe save you some time and money.

Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work.

Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience.

“If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it.” — Chinese Proverb

Remote AB Switches

ABX-1 switches are often used at remote transmitter sites to convert from old, outdated and unsupported controllers to the new modern Prism-IPX ipBSC base station controllers. Remotely switch to new controllers with GUI commands.

ABX-1

ABX-3 switches are widely used for enabling or disabling remote equipment and switching I/O connections between redundant messaging systems.

ABX-3

Common Features:

• RJ45 for A, B and Common connectors.
• Manual push button or use Prism IP commands to switch one or more relays.
• Single or Dual Port Control card for IP or Serial connection.
• Form C relay—control local connection.
• Power Loss Indicator.
• Rear Panel Connector for controlling the switch externally.
• Power Source: 5VDC for ABX-1; 12VDC for ABX-3.

Prism-IPX Systems LLC.

11175 Cicero Dr., Alpharetta, GA 30022
Ph: 678-242-5290 e-mail: sales@prism-ipx.com
prism-ipx.com

Investor Relations — Press Release

Spok Announces New Strategic Business Plan

Plan Prioritizes Maximizing Free Cash Flow and Returning Capital to Shareholders
Increases Dividend by 150%, from $0.125 per quarter to $0.3125 per quarter
Authorizes Share Repurchase Program of up to $10 million
Strategic Review Process Remains Ongoing; Board Is Open to All Potential Alternatives to Maximize Value

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 17, 2022—The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK) (“Spok” or the “Company”), a global leader in healthcare communications, today announced a new strategic business plan prioritizing maximizing free cash flow and returning capital to shareholders.

Highlights of New Strategic Business Plan:

• Spok will maximize revenue and cash generation from its established lines of business: the Spok Care Connect Suite including Spok Mobile, and Wireless services. The Company has an excellent track record of driving revenue from these business lines and enjoys a significant market leadership position. Spok plans to invest in a targeted manner in these important and valuable franchises to continue its long-standing relationships with the nation’s leading healthcare providers.
• The Company will discontinue Spok Go® and intends to eliminate all associated costs.
• Spok will expand upon its already-disciplined expense management by streamlining its management structure, rationalizing externals costs, reducing capital expenditures (Capex) and consolidating offices.

Prioritizing Returning Capital to Shareholders:

• Effective immediately, Spok is increasing its regular quarterly dividend by 150%, from $0.125 per share to $0.3125 per share, and intends to continue this dividend for the foreseeable future, resulting in an aggregate annual dividend of $1.25 per share. The Company will continuously evaluate its capital allocation strategy and may consider increasing its quarterly dividend in the future.
• The Board also authorized a share repurchase program of up to $10 million of the Company’s common stock. This authorization allows the Company to return additional capital to shareholders by opportunistically repurchasing the Company’s shares. Spok will continue to evaluate this as it transitions through its strategic pivot throughout 2022.

“After extensive analysis by our Board, management team and advisors, we are confident that this strategic shift will create significant value for shareholders while allowing Spok to continue to provide critical communications services to healthcare customers,” said Vincent D. Kelly, president and chief executive officer of Spok Holdings, Inc. “While discontinuing Spok Go was a difficult decision, ultimately the ongoing challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it untenable for the platform to gain sufficient traction with customers or for our business to continue operating with our current level of costs and personnel. Importantly, we have extensive experience operating our established communication solutions and maximizing revenue and cash generation from them. We believe this is the best path forward for Spok at this time.”

Strategic Review Update

Spok’s previously announced review of strategic alternatives remains ongoing. While this process has not yet resulted in a transaction, the Board remains open to all potential alternatives to maximize value. The Board and its advisors continue to engage with potential acquirers regarding a sale of the Company, including Acacia Research Corporation regarding its offer to acquire the Company. There can be no assurance that the strategic alternatives review process will lead to a transaction or the sale of all or part of the Company.

“Spok’s Board is dedicated to maximizing value for all our shareholders,” said Royce Yudkoff, Chairman of the Spok Board. “As we made clear when launching our alternatives review, our goal is to ensure that we have a comprehensive process to permit all interested parties to participate fully and fairly and allow the Board to make an informed decision regarding actionable transactions. We remain focused on achieving an outcome that is in the best interests of all Spok shareholders.”

Dividend and Share Repurchase Program

On February 16, 2022, the Board declared a $0.3125 per share dividend payable on March 30, 2022 to shareholders of record on March 16, 2022. If declared and paid as intended, the annual aggregate dividend in 2022 would be $1.25 per share. The declaration and payment of future dividends is subject to the Board’s discretion and will depend on financial and legal requirements and other considerations.

Under the $10 million repurchase program, repurchases can be made from time to time using a variety of methods, which may include open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, all in accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission and other applicable legal requirements. The specific timing, price and size of purchases will depend on prevailing stock prices, general economic and market conditions, legal requirements and other considerations. The repurchase program does not obligate Spok to acquire any particular amount of common stock, and the repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time at Spok’s discretion.

RBC Capital Markets is serving as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as legal advisor to Spok.

A conference call will be held today, February 17, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss Spok’s new strategic business plan as well as fourth quarter and full year 2021 results.

Telephone Conference Dial-Ins

Participant / Guest (Toll-Free): 877-407-0890
Participant / Guest (International): 201-389-0918

Webcast Links:

Live-Link (after the event the OnDemand version will be available under this URL as well):
HTTPS://WWW.WEBCAST-EQS.COM/SPOK02172022_EN/EN

About Spok

Spok, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is proud to be a global leader in healthcare communications. We deliver clinical information to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes. Top hospitals rely on Spok Care Connect® platforms to enhance workflows for clinicians and support administrative compliance. Our customers send over 100 million messages each month through their Spok® solutions. When seconds count and patients’ lives are at stake, Spok enables smarter, faster clinical communication. For more information, visit SPOK.COM or follow @spoktweets on Twitter.

Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Go and Spok Care Connect are trademarks of Spok, Inc.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act:

Statements contained herein or in prior press releases which are not historical fact, such as statements regarding Spok’s future operating and financial performance, future dividend payments and the outcome of the Company’s strategic alternatives review, are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause Spok’s actual results to be materially different from the future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expectations include, but are not limited to, risks related to Spok’s new strategic business plan, including its ability to maximize revenue and cash generation from its established businesses and return capital to shareholders, risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our business and the economy, other economic conditions such as recessionary economic cycles, higher interest rates, inflation and higher levels of unemployment, declining demand for paging products and services, continued demand for our software products and services, our dependence on the U.S. healthcare industry, our ability to develop additional software solutions for our customers and manage our development as a global organization, the ability to manage operating expenses, particularly third-party consulting services and research and development costs, future capital needs, competitive pricing pressures, competition from traditional paging services, other wireless communications services and other software providers, many of which are substantially larger and have much greater financial and human capital resources, changes in customer purchasing priorities or capital expenditures, government regulation of our products and services and the healthcare and health insurance industries, reliance upon third-party providers for certain equipment and services, unauthorized breaches or failures in cybersecurity measures adopted by us and/or included in our products and services, the effects of changes in accounting policies or practices, our ability to realize the benefits associated with our deferred tax assets, future impairments of our long-lived assets, amortizable intangible assets and goodwill, the effects of our limited-duration shareholder rights plan, and the outcome of Spok's strategic alternatives review, as well as other risks described from time to time in our periodic reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although Spok believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Spok disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

View source version on BUSINESSWIRE.COM: HTTPS://WWW.BUSINESSWIRE.COM/NEWS/HOME/20220217005200/EN/

Lisa Fortuna or Mike Cummings
+1 (312) 445-2866
SPOK@ALPHA-IR.COM

Investor Relations — Press Release

Spok Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results

Dividend Increases by 150%, from $0.125 per quarter to $0.3125 per quarter in Connection with Announcement of New Strategic Business Plan

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Feb. 17, 202—Spok Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPOK), a global leader in healthcare communications, today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021. In addition, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, payable on March 30, 2022, to stockholders of record on March 16, 2022.

2021 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Highlights:

• Achieved full year 2021 financial guidance for revenue, adjusted operating expenses and capital expenditures
• Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance of $59.6 million at December 31, 2021, and no debt
• Wireless ARPU (average revenue per unit) in 2021 totaled $7.30, equivalent to 2020
• Launched the Next Generation of Paging with the Launch of its new GenA™ Pager
• Subsequent to the end of the fourth quarter 2021, was voted top-rated secure communications platform by healthcare industry clients in Black Box Industry 2022 survey

2021 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results:

Consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021 under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) was $34.5 million, compared to $37.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. For the year ended December 31, 2021, consolidated revenue totaled $142.2 million, compared to $148.2 million in the prior year.

[Remainder of report available at the Source]

How Will NTIA Distribute Broadband Deployment Money?

February 17, 2022 6:00 am

Newly installed Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Alan Davidson, was cool, calm and collected as he answered lawmakers’ multiple questions yesterday about the much-anticipated distribution of broadband infrastructure deployment grants. NTIA is the point agency for the fund distribution, working with states, localities, Tribes and other groups, as instructed in the Infrastructure Law.

During a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing yesterday, several lawmakers expressed concern about connecting every American. Committee Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said the law’s $65 billion investment is also “critical” to ensuring America can compete on the world stage, pointing to the “enormous investment” China has made in laying fiber, “putting it on track to connect more than a billion people to broadband.”

Several lawmakers, including Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), noted that the last major investment in broadband was 2009, when Congress passed the American Recovery and Investment Act. “NTIA received $4.7 billion, much of which was wasted on overbuilding and failed projects. We cannot afford to let this happen again,” she said.

Through the Infrastructure Law, Congress tasked NTIA with distributing the majority–nearly $43 billion–for broadband deployment. Pallone, McMorris Rodgers and several other lawmakers said the funding must be truly targeted to unserved areas and asked Davidson how he intends to accomplish that.

Davidson said his first priority is closing the digital divide. The law dictates NTIA must use the FCC’s updated coverage maps to determine where the neediest areas are, he explained. He said the FCC has indicated the maps should be done by this summer; then states will develop their distribution plans in coordination with NTIA.

NTIA is hiring a team of program officers to help states and communities write their grant plans. “There will be a person here for each state,” he pledged. NTIA is also hiring people to work with tribes and ensure digital equity, he added.

Each state will present its plan to NTIA, likely this fall, of how it plans to distribute the funding. Davidson recognizes states will have different rules for grant access. Lawmakers pressed to ensure those rules are technology neutral, and not fiber-only.

Affordability is a key component to connecting everyone too. “In our view, this is more than making sure there’s a wire going past somebody’s home. It doesn’t help if that can’t afford to get online or if they don’t have a device,” Davidson testified. He pointed to a digital equity grant program that NTIA has begun reaching out to communities about “to make sure our programs are operating in lockstep.”

Based on the 500+ comments NTIA has received so far with suggestions for its grant distribution, Davidson said many commenters want NTIA’s help in speeding up permitting. “Pole attachment is a big issue, and I’m sure we’ll be addressing it.”

Members of Congress also expressed their dismay at the public fight between the FAA, the aviation industry, telecoms and the FCC over 5G operations on C-band, which McMorris Rodgers called “alarming.” She said the FAA was “pressuring certain conditions on licenses, which is not their role,” noting the FCC regulates commercial spectrum. Her concern and that of other lawmakers is that “the FAA circumvented the spectrum process.” She asked Davidson how NTIA will handle those kinds of situations going forward.

Davidson pointed to the new Spectrum Coordination Initiative signed with the FCC, Inside Towers reported, to better coordinate their actions. “We need a real evidence-based approach to where there might be interference problems,” he said. NTIA engineers will work with FCC engineers and those of other federal agencies. “We can’t let these kinds of problems happen again,” he said.

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

Selected portions [sometimes more — sometimes less — sometimes the whole updates] of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP — are reproduced in this section of The Wireless Messaging News with kind permission from the firm's partners. The firm's contact information is included at the end of this section of the newsletter.

Inmate Calling Providers Must File April 1 Report and Certification

On February 9, the FCC issued a Public Notice reminding providers of inmate calling services that the deadline for the submission of annual reports and certifications, required pursuant to section 64.6060 of the FCC’s rules, is April 1. According to the Public Notice, the forms and instructions for this year’s annual reports and certifications are the same as those used in 2021 and are available here. The FCC further notes that all required data must be submitted using the electronic Excel template provided by the FCC, and in a machine-readable and manipulable format. Public versions of the reports must also be filed.

ICS providers seeking assistance with this filing, including requests for confidential treatment, may contact the firm for more information.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens and Sal Taillefer.

Headlines

FCC Grants Petition on Inaccurate 477 Data, Extends Revised A-CAM II Offer of Additional $1.3 Million

On February 9, the FCC issued an Order granting a petition filed by Red River Telephone Association (Red River) requesting a revised Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) II offer. According to the petition, an error in the FCC Form 477 service coverage data provided by a neighboring service provider caused a number of census blocks served by Red River to be deemed ineligible for A-CAM II support. The net increase in annualized support compared to Red River’s previously-elected A-CAM II amounts is $1,317,434.

Specifically, Red River asked for a revised offer reflecting a correction of FCC Form 477 data filed by City of Barnesville Municipal Telephone (Barnesville), an adjacent incumbent local exchange carrier in Minnesota. Barnesville’s December 2017 FCC Form 477 data had erroneously included census blocks outside its study area, which resulted in the exclusion of census blocks from Red River’s A-CAM II offer. Red River elected its A-CAM II offer prior to the July 17, 2019, deadline, but expressly noted that it “reserved the right to accept a revised A-CAM II offer in the event that the Bureau acts favorably on its pending petition.”

Although there was no formal challenge process for A-CAM II, Red River argued that that the FCC routinely granted challenges in A-CAM I when, as here, the alleged unsubsidized competitor conceded that its coverage data was inaccurate. The FCC agreed with Red River, stating that:

In declining to adopt a challenge process for A-CAM II, the Commission sought to avoid a time-consuming and labor-intensive process that it believed, based on prior experience, would yield relatively minor benefits and delay implementation of A-CAM II. As Red River notes, voluntary corrections of good faith errors by the FCC Form 477-filing unsubsidized parties themselves were an exception to the Commission’s general experience that A-CAM I challenges were not productive. Given that Barnesville voluntarily filed corrected FCC Form 477 data for December 2017, the Bureau was able to prepare a corrected offer without a time-consuming fact-finding process.

The FCC extended a revised A-CAM II offer to Red River of $5,929,055 per year over a ten-year term beginning January 1, 2019. If accepted, Red River would be obligated to provide at least 25/3 Mbps service to 2,284 eligible locations and at least 4/1 Mbps service to 347 eligible locations, increases from 1,628 eligible locations and 287 eligible locations, respectively. Carriers with questions about this unique waiver proceeding may contact the firm for more information.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

FCC Seeks Comment on Bidding Procedures for Upcoming 2.5 GHz EBS White-Space Auction

The FCC on Wednesday issued a Public Notice (DA 22-1200 seeking focused input on whether ascending clock auction bidding should be used for an upcoming auction of flexible use licenses in the 2.5 GHz Band (Auction 108). Comments on the FCC’s proposals will be due Wednesday, February 23, with no filing period for reply comments. Auction 108 has not yet been scheduled, but we expect that bidding could start as early as this summer, after bidding procedures are finalized and a short-form application deadline is announced.

Auction 108 may be a significant opportunity that many rural carriers should keep an eye on because it will offer small (i.e., county-based) geographic overlay licenses for unassigned spectrum in the 2.5 GHz (2496–2690 MHz) band. Much of this band, which is spectrum that may be usable for 5G, has lain fallow for more than 25 years, particularly in rural areas. Each county will have up to three blocks of 2.5 GHz spectrum available for bid, with two roughly 50-megahertz blocks and a third smaller 16.5 megahertz block. The technical rules for the band allow for full “commercial power” operations, and the provision of fixed and/or mobile services. However, the history of the 2.5 GHz band – with a diverse array of incumbent educational institutions holding 35-mile radius Geographic Service Area licenses, GSA license areas that often overlap, and the ability for Educational Broadband Service (EBS) licensees to lease their spectrum rights to commercial operators – means that the white space spectrum available for bid in each county will be affected by overlapping incumbent licensee rights, and due diligence prior to bidding will be especially important. T-Mobile holds the majority of leased 2.5 GHz EBS spectrum, having obtained a trove of mid-band airwaves thanks to its merger with Sprint.

With overlay licenses, new licensees obtain the rights to geographic area licenses “overlaid” on top of the existing incumbent EBS licenses. An overlay licensee may operate anywhere within its geographic area, subject to protecting the licensed areas (i.e., circular Geographic Service Areas with a 35-mile radius) of incumbent licensees. If an incumbent licensee in a county cancels or terminates its license, then the overlay licensee obtains the rights to operate in the geographic area and on the channel of the canceled license. Overlay licensees may also clear their geographic area by purchasing the incumbent licenses, but they don’t have the exclusive right to negotiate with the incumbent licensee for its spectrum rights or to purchase an incumbent license in the geographic area in which it has the overlay rights.

Last year, the FCC sought comment on whether to conduct Auction 108 as a single-round auction with user-defined package bidding, or whether to use a more traditional simultaneous multiple round (SMR) auction format. Commenters found that each format had drawbacks. While a single-round format allowed the auction to be conducted quickly, it was disfavored by many because the procedures were unfamiliar and disproportionately favored entities like T-Mobile due to their unique access to information about incumbent 2.5 GHz operations. And while SMR procedures provided a familiar auction format, the potentially long duration of bidding (and high administrative costs) was seen as a deterrence to auction participation by smaller bidders.

In its latest proposal, the FCC believes an ascending clock auction format would help limit the auction’s duration and would allow for mechanisms like proxy bidding to be used as an option to prevent bidders from having to continually monitor a lengthy multiple-round auction. However, there are also some wrinkles. Previous auctions where a clock auction was used involved bidding for multiple generic spectrum blocks, followed by a separate “assignment phase” where winning clock-phase bidders would have the opportunity to bid for specific channel assignments. Here, if the clock auction format is adopted for Auction 108, there would be up to three categories of licenses in each county, but just one license -block available for bid in each category (i.e., a format that the FCC calls a “Clock-1” auction format). This means there would be simultaneous bidding on a very large number of unique license areas (i.e., portions of the EBS white space available in each county), but bidders who are focused on more discrete areas should be able to take a shot at winning licenses for their counties of interest while controlling their auction costs.

Under the ascending clock phase procedures, the clock price for a license would increase from round to round if more than one bidder indicates demand for that license. The bidding rounds would continue until, for every category and county, demand is down to just one bidder. At that point, the bidder still indicating demand for a license would be deemed the winning bidder.

We believe the FCC’s proposed “Clock-1” bidding format holds some distinct advantages for bidding on the unique geographic overlay license areas that will be available for bid in Auction 108. Due diligence will be complex given the overlapping GSA license areas and differing amount of spectrum associated with each license, but a mapping tool that the FCC developed for the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Window (an opportunity for tribes in rural areas to directly access unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum over their tribal lands) should help our clients to determine whether and the extent to which 2.5 GHz white space spectrum will be available for bid in their counties of interest. Clients who would like our assistance in this due diligence should contact the firm as soon as possible.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell.

FCC Releases Final Text of Multiple Tenant Broadband Access Order

On February 15, the FCC released the text of its Report and Order, adopted February 11, designed to “ensure competitive choice of communications services for those living and working in [Multiple Tenant Environments (MTEs)], and to address practices that undermine longstanding rules promoting competition in MTEs, we take three specific actions.”

First, the FCC adopted new rules prohibiting providers from entering or enforcing certain types of revenue sharing agreements that are used to evade existing rules: (1) exclusive revenue sharing agreements with an MTE owner; and (2) graduated revenue sharing agreements with an MTE owner. For existing contracts with exclusive and graduated revenue sharing agreements, compliance with the prohibition on enforcing such agreements will be required 180 days after publication of the Report and Order in the Federal Register. This rule applies to communications services provided by (1) telecommunications carriers in both commercial and residential MTEs, and (2) MVPDs subject to section 628(b) in residential MTEs.

Second, the FCC adopted new rules requiring providers to disclose the existence of exclusive marketing arrangements in “simple, easy-to-understand language.” Such disclosure must be included on all written marketing material directed at tenants or prospective tenants of an MTE subject to the arrangement and must explain in clear, conspicuous, legible, and visible language that the provider has the right to exclusively market its communications services to tenants in the MTE, that such a right does not suggest that the provider is the only entity that can provide communications services to tenants in the MTE, and that service from an alternative provider may be available.

Third, the FCC clarified that existing FCC rules regarding cable inside wiring prohibit so-called “sale-and-leaseback” arrangements. A sale-and-leaseback arrangement is an arrangement whereby an incumbent provider conveys its inside wiring—typically both home and home run wiring—to a residential MTE owner and then leases it back on an exclusive basis.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

Annual HUBB Filing Due March 1

On February 14, USAC issued a reminder that carriers participating in modernized Connect America Fund (CAF) programs with defined broadband buildout obligations have until March 1, 2022 to file deployment data with USAC's High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal showing where they built out mass-market, high-speed Internet service in calendar year 2021. Carriers that have no locations to upload must certify this fact in the HUBB. BloostonLaw attorneys have successfully assisted clients in uploading and certifying their HUBB location data, as well as filing petitions for waiver of the FCC’s rules where necessary.

Specifically, Carriers participating in the following funds have until March 1, 2022 to file data for all locations deployed with CAF support in 2021 or certify that they have “no locations to upload”:

• Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II Model: CAF II Model carriers faced a 100 percent deployment milestone as of the end of 2020.
• Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Original A-CAM) and Revised ACAM: Original and Revised ACAM carriers face a milestone for deploying broadband at speeds of at least 10 megabits per second downstream and 1 megabit per second upstream (10/1 Mbps) and must be at least 50 percent of the way toward meeting their final 10/1 Mbps build-out obligations by the end of 2021 (50 percent 10/1 Mbps milestone)
• ACAM II
• Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF BLS): All CAF BLS carriers must file locations deployed since May 25, 2016 in the HUBB, including CAF BLS carriers that were exempt from HUBB reporting obligations in the past because they had already built out 10/1 Mbps broadband to at least 80 percent of their study area. CAF BLS carriers that were fully deployed to all locations in their study area with 25/3 Mbps broadband before May 25, 2016, or become fully deployed, have satisfied their buildout obligation. USAC and the FCC will develop a process for these carriers to certify to full deployment. Fully deployed carriers should not attempt to record any broadband locations built prior to May 25, 2016 in the HUBB, but still need to certify “no locations to upload” for 2021.
• Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE): RBE Carriers face rolling deployment milestones.
• Alaska Plan (other than carriers with individualized performance plans that only require them to maintain service at existing levels): Alaska Plan carriers face a five year milestone by the end of 2021
• CAF Phase II Auction
• Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF): RDOF carriers may submit any locations deployed since July 1, 2019, but USAC indicates that the HUBB will not be ready to accept RDOF locations until early 2022

Carriers with 2021 deployment milestones must also complete milestone certifications as part of the annual HUBB filing and will face verification reviews tied to those milestones. Carriers subject to defined deployment milestones must notify the FCC and USAC, and relevant state, U.S. Territory or Tribal governments if applicable, within 10 business days after the applicable deadline if they have failed to meet a milestone.

Carriers that miss milestones face increased reporting obligations and potential loss of support.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

Law and Regulation

FCC Authorizes 2,576 Additional RDOF Winning Bids

On February 14, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the authorization of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for 311 more winning bids. A full list if the latest authorized winning bids can be found here.

For each of the winning bids identified, the FCC has reviewed the long-form application information, including the letter(s) of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter(s) from the long-form applicant’s legal counsel. Upon issuance of this Public Notice, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) is authorized and directed to obligate and disburse from the Universal Service Fund the amounts identified in Attachment A to the long-form applicant associated with each study area specified. USAC will make disbursement payments to the account on file for the 498 ID associated with the study area code (SAC). The support will be disbursed in 120 monthly payments, which will begin at the end of this month.

Winning bidders interested in assistance with RDOF compliance requirements, such as HUBB reporting and performance testing, may contact the firm for more information.

BloostonLaw Contact: Sal Taillefer

Affordable Connectivity Order Becomes Effective, Initial Comments on Further NPRM Due March 16

On February 14, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing that its Affordable Connectivity Program Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register. Accordingly, certain of the final rules will become effective on March 16, with others becoming effective on April 15. Further, comments on the NPRM are due March 16, and reply comments are due April 15.

As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC modified certain existing Emergency Broadband Program (EBB) rules and procedures to accommodate the changes mandated by the Infrastructure Act, such as reducing the discount from $50 to $30 per month and adding ACP benefits for households that receive assistance through the WIC Program, while removing the “substantial loss of income” criteria. The FCC also adopted a number of consumer protection rules that were not part of the EBB, such as prohibiting credit checks and “inappropriate upselling or downselling.”

Specifically, the rules on participating providers; benefits; support amounts; household qualifications, eligibility determinations, and annual re-certifications; enrollment and de-enrollment; and recordkeeping go into effect on March 16. The rules on availability of service plans; obligations to offer; prohibition of commissions for enrollment representatives; usage requirement for provider reimbursement; certification requirements; de-Enrollment for non-usage; disclosures and consents for enrollment; and transfers go into effect April 15.

In the FNPRM, the FCC seeks comment on structuring an outreach grant program and implementing a mechanism for determining the application of the enhanced benefit for those serving high-cost areas; and on a potential pilot program focused on increasing the awareness and enrollment of eligible households participating in Federal Public Housing Assistance Programs in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

Political Programming Rules Effective March 14

On February 10, the FCC issued a Public Notice announcing the publication of its order updating the political programming and recordkeeping rules for broadcast licensees, cable television system operators, Direct Broadcast Satellite service providers, and Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service licensees in the Federal Register. Accordingly, those rules will go into effect on March 14.

Specifically, the FCC revised the definition of “legally qualified candidate for public office” to add the use of social media and creation of a campaign website to the existing list of activities that may be considered in determining whether an individual running as a write-in candidate has made a “substantial showing” of his or her bona fide candidacy. The FCC also amended its political file rules consistent with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), which extends the FCC’s political file requirements to any request for the purchase of advertising time that “communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance” (i.e., issue ads) and specifies the records that must be maintained.

BloostonLaw Contact: Gerry Duffy.

Comments on NORS/DIRS Safeguards Proceeding Due March 9

On February 7, the FCC announced the comment deadline for its Public Notice seeking comment on the cost, manner, and technological feasibility of potential safeguards to protect Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) data that will be shared under the interagency information sharing program. Comments are due March 9.

As we reported in a previous edition of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the FCC seeks comment on the effectiveness of an FCC process for adding headers and footers to any PDF reports it receives in a NORS account, specifying that the data is “Confidential.” Comment is also sought on the feasibility of including a watermark on documents printed from the NORS/DIRS database by Participating Agencies, and whether the security benefits of requiring documents to be imprinted with a watermark outweigh the loss of data flexibility that results from requiring all exported filed to be converted to locked PDF documents.

In March of 2021, the FCC adopted a framework to: (1) provide state, federal, local, and Tribal partners (“Participating Agencies”) with access to the critical NORS and DIRS information needed to ensure public safety; (2) safeguard this information while providing access to participating agencies; and (3) preserve the presumptive confidentiality of the information and acknowledge the sensitive nature of the information.

BloostonLaw Contacts: John Prendergast and Cary Mitchell.

Industry

FCC and NTIA Establish Spectrum Coordination Initiative

On February 15, the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced a new initiative “to improve U.S. government coordination on spectrum management.” According to a joint Press Release, “the Spectrum Coordination Initiative will involve actions by both agencies to strengthen the processes for decision making and information sharing and to work cooperatively to resolve spectrum policy issues.” The purpose of the Initiative is to improve the two agencies’ ability to address gaps in governmental coordination.

Specifically, the agencies have committed as follows:

• Reinstate High Level Meetings. For the first time, the Chair of the FCC and the Assistant Secretary will hold formal, regular meetings, beginning monthly, to conduct joint spectrum planning. This will go above and beyond the existing statutory requirement, as well as the existing Memorandum of Understanding between the agencies, which provides that the Chair and the Assistant Secretary meet twice each calendar year.
• Reaffirm Roles and Responsibilities. Building on NTIA’s statutory role as manager of the federal government’s use of spectrum, the FCC and NTIA will update the nearly twenty-year-old Memorandum of Understanding between the agencies to address gaps in government coordination and to better reflect today’s spectrum opportunities and challenges.
• Renew Efforts to Develop a National Spectrum Strategy. To secure America’s leadership, the FCC and NTIA will collaborate to help inform the development of a national spectrum strategy, increase transparency around spectrum use and needs, and establish long-term spectrum planning and coordination.
• Recommit to Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking. The FCC and NTIA will work cooperatively to develop processes for spectrum engineering compatibility analysis. These will include a compilation of principles, guidelines, accepted technical standards, interference protection criteria, propagation models, and other characteristics.
• Revamp Technical Collaboration. The FCC and NTIA will foster proactive technical exchange and engagement with industry and other federal agencies by participating in cross-agency advisory groups. To start, the FCC will participate as an observer in the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, and NTIA will participate as an observer in the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council and the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council.

“Now more than ever we need a whole-of-government approach to spectrum policy,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “Over the past few years we’ve seen the cost of not having one—and we need a non-stop effort to fix that. I appreciate Assistant Secretary Davidson’s leadership and his willingness to work with me to revitalize the interagency coordination process so that it once again is able to produce results for consumers and the economy.”

“The FCC and NTIA have an opportunity today to build a common vision for spectrum management and coordination that serves federal users, private actors, and the American people. I am excited to launch this initiative with Chairwoman Rosenworcel. I value her leadership on spectrum policy and her collaboration as we work to accomplish our shared goals,” said Assistant Secretary Davidson.

Affordable Connectivity Program Sees Over 10 Million Enrollment

On February 14, the FCC announced more than 10 million households have enrolled in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program. As we’ve reported in previous editions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, the ACP is the successor program to the Emergency Broadband Program, and provides low-income households with a discount of up to $30 per month toward Internet service (up to $75 per month on Tribal lands). Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if the household contributes more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.

A household is eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program if the household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or if a member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Participates in Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• Eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider's existing low-income Internet program

“No family should have to choose between paying for gas or groceries and their monthly Internet bill, especially when a connection is essential for work, school, health care and more. But for far too many, the cost of Internet service makes the connections we need for everyday life, out of reach,” said Rosenworcel. “Now with more than 10 million households enrolled, we’ve proven the need for this program, and we are continuing our efforts to ensure no community, no household, no one is left offline.”

Deadlines

MARCH 1: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT FORM FOR CABLE COMPANIES. This form, plus royalty payment for the second half of last year, is due March 1. The form covers the period July 1 to December 31, and is due to be mailed directly to cable TV operators by the Library of Congress’ Copyright Office.

BloostonLaw Contact: Gerry Duffy.

MARCH 1: CPNI ANNUAL CERTIFICATION. Carriers should modify (as necessary) and complete their “Annual Certification of CPNI Compliance” for this year. The certification must be filed with the FCC by March 1. Note that the annual certification should include the following three required Exhibits: (a) a detailed Statement Explaining How The Company’s Operating Procedures Ensure Compliance With The FCC’S CPNI Rules to reflect the Company’s policies and information; (b) a Statement of Actions Taken Against Data Brokers; and (c) a Summary of Customer Complaints Regarding Unauthorized Release of CPNI. A company officer with personal knowledge that the company has established operating procedures adequate to ensure compliance with the rules must execute the Certification, place a copy of the Certification and accompanying Exhibits in the Company’s CPNI Compliance Records, and file the certification with the FCC in the correct fashion. Our clients can forward the original to BloostonLaw in time for the firm to make the filing with the FCC by March 1, if desired. BloostonLaw is prepared to help our clients meet this requirement, which we expect will be strictly enforced, by assisting with preparation of their certification filing; reviewing the filing to make sure that the required showings are made; filing the certification with the FCC, and obtaining a proof-of-filing copy for your records. Clients interested in obtaining BloostonLaw's CPNI compliance manual should contact the firm for more information. Note: If you file the CPNI certification, you must also file the FCC Form 499-A Telecom Reporting Worksheet by April 1.

BloostonLaw contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.

MARCH 1: FCC FORM 477, LOCAL COMPETITION & BROADBAND REPORTING FORM. This annual form is due March 1 and September 1 annually. The FCC requires facilities-based wired, terrestrial fixed wireless, and satellite broadband service providers to report on FCC Form 477 the number of broadband subscribers they have in each census tract they serve. The Census Bureau changed the boundaries of some census tracts as part of the 2010 Census.

Specifically, three types of entities must file this form:

1. Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections to End User Locations: Entities that are facilities-based providers of broadband connections – which are wired “lines” or wireless “channels” that enable the end user to receive information from and/or send information to the Internet at information transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction – must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user locations. For the purposes of Form 477, an entity is a “facilities-based” provider of broadband connections to end user locations if it owns the portion of the physical facility that terminates at the end user location, if it obtains unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access lines, or other leased facilities that terminate at the end user location and provisions/equips them as broadband, or if it provisions/equips a broadband wireless channel to the end user location over licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Such entities include incumbent and competitive local exchange carriers (LECs), cable system operators, fixed wireless service providers (including “wireless ISPs”), terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless service providers, BRS providers, electric utilities, municipalities, and other entities. (Such entities do not include equipment suppliers unless the equipment supplier uses the equipment to provision a broadband connection that it offers to the public for sale. Such entities also do not include providers of fixed wireless services (e.g., “Wi-Fi” and other wireless ethernet, or wireless local area network, applications) that only enable local distribution and sharing of a premises broadband facility.)
2. Providers of Wired or Fixed Wireless Local Telephone Services: Incumbent and competitive LECs must complete and file the applicable portions of the form for each state in which they provide local exchange service to one or more end user customers (which may include “dial-up” ISPs).
3. Providers of Mobile Telephony Services: Facilities-based providers of mobile telephony services must complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state in which they serve one or more mobile telephony subscribers. A mobile telephony service is a real-time, two-way switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched network using an in-network switching facility that enables the provider to reuse frequencies and accomplish seamless handoff of subscriber calls. A mobile telephony service provider is considered “facilities-based” if it serves a subscriber using spectrum for which the entity holds a license that it manages, or for which it has obtained the right to use via lease or other arrangement with a Band Manager.

BloostonLaw contacts: Ben Dickens, Gerry Duffy, and Sal Taillefer.

MARCH 1: HUBB LOCATION DATA FILING AND CERTIFICATION. Carriers participating in modernized Connect America Fund (CAF) programs with defined broadband buildout obligations have until March 1 of each year to file deployment data with USAC's High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal showing where they built out mass-market, high-speed Internet service in the previous calendar year. Carriers that have no locations to upload must certify this fact in the HUBB. Affected programs include: CAF Phase II Model; Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Original A-CAM) and Revised ACAM; ACAM II; Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF BLS); Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE); Alaska Plan (other than carriers with individualized performance plans that only require them to maintain service at existing levels); CAF Phase II Auction; and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).

Carriers with 2021 deployment milestones must also complete milestone certifications as part of the annual HUBB filing and will face verification reviews tied to those milestones. Carriers subject to defined deployment milestones must notify the FCC and USAC, and relevant state, U.S. Territory or Tribal governments if applicable, within 10 business days after the applicable deadline if they have failed to meet a milestone. Carriers that miss milestones face increased reporting obligations and potential loss of support.

BloostonLaw attorneys have successfully assisted clients in uploading and certifying their HUBB location data, as well as obtain petitions for waiver of the FCC’s rules where necessary.

BloostonLaw Contact: Sal Taillefer.

APRIL 1: FCC FORM 499-A, TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET. This form must be filed by all contributors to the Universal Service Fund (USF) sup-port mechanisms, the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund, the cost recovery mechanism for the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), and the shared costs of local number portability (LNP). Contributors include every telecommunications carrier that provides interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications, and certain other entities that provide interstate telecommunications for a fee. Even common carriers that qualify for the de minimis exemption must file Form 499-A. Entities whose universal service contributions will be less than $10,000 qualify for the de minimis exemption. De minimis entities do not have to file the quarterly report (FCC Form 499-Q), which was due February 1, and will again be due May 1. Form 499-Q relates to universal and LNP mechanisms. Form 499-A relates to all of these mechanisms and, hence, applies to all providers of interstate, intrastate, and international telecommunications services. Form 499-A contains revenue information for January 1 through December 31 of the prior calendar year. And Form 499-Q contains revenue information from the prior quarter plus projections for the next quarter. (Note: the revised 499-A and 499-Q forms are now available.) Block 2-B of the Form 499-A requires each carrier to designate an agent in the District of Columbia upon whom all notices, process, orders, and decisions by the FCC may be served on behalf of that carrier in proceedings before the FCC. Carriers receiving this newsletter may specify our law firm as their D.C. agent for service of process using the information in our masthead. There is no charge for this service.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Ben Dickens, and Gerry Duffy.

APRIL 1: ANNUAL ACCESS TO ADVANCED SERVICES CERTIFICATION. All providers of telecommunications services and telecommunications carriers subject to Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act are required to file with the FCC an annual certification that

1. states the company has procedures in place to meet the recordkeeping requirements of Part 14 of the Rules;
2. states that the company has in fact kept records for the previous calendar year;
3. contains contact information for the individual or individuals handling customer complaints under Part 14;
4. contains contact information for the company’s designated agent; and
5. is supported by an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury signed by an officer of the company.

BloostonLaw Contacts: Gerry Duffy and Sal Taillefer.

Law Offices Of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP 2120 L St. NW, Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20037 (202) 659-0830 (202) 828-5568 (fax) — CONTACTS — Benjamin H. Dickens, Jr., 202-828-5510, bhd@bloostonlaw.com Gerard J. Duffy, 202-828-5528, gjd@bloostonlaw.com John A. Prendergast, 202-828-5540, jap@bloostonlaw.com Richard D. Rubino, 202-828-5519, rdr@bloostonlaw.com Mary J. Sisak, 202-828-5554, mjs@bloostonlaw.com D. Cary Mitchell, 202-828-5538, cary@bloostonlaw.com Salvatore Taillefer, Jr., 202-828-5562, sta@bloostonlaw.com This newsletter is not intended to provide legal advice. Those interested in more information should contact the firm.

Calendar At-a-Glance

February
Feb. 17 – Reply comments are due on Report on the Future of USF.
Feb. 23 – Comments on 2.5 GHz EBS White-Space Auction Procedures are due.

March
Mar. 1 – Copyright Statement of Account Form for cable companies is due.
Mar. 1 – Annual CPNI Certification is due.
Mar. 1 – FCC Form 477 (Local Competition & Broadband Reporting) is due.
Mar. 1 – Annual HUBB Deployment Report is due.
Mar. 1 – Annual 700 MHz Licensee Report is due.
Mar. 9 – Comments are due on Broadband Consumer Label NPRM.
Mar. 9 – Comments are due on NORS/DIRS Information Safeguards.
Mar. 11 – Comments are due on Emergency Alert System NPRM.
Mar. 16 – Comments are due on Affordable Connectivity Program rules.
Mar. 17 – Comments are due on Report on the Future of USF.
Mar. 24 – Reply comments are due on Broadband Consumer Label NPRM.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 525 (Delayed Phasedown CETC Line Counts) is due.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 508 (ICLS Projected Annual Common Line Requirement) is due.
Mar. 31 – FCC Form 507 (Universal Service Line Count – CAF BLS) is due.
Mar. 28 – Reply comments are due on Emergency Alert System NPRM.
Mar. 31 – COVID Lifeline waivers set to expire.

April
Apr. 1 – FCC Form 499-A (Annual Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet) is due.
Apr. 1 – Annual Accessibility Certification is due.
Apr. 1 – ICS Provider Annual Reports and Certifications are due.
Apr. 11 – Comments are due on Emergency Alert System NOI.
Apr. 15 – Reply comments are due on Affordable Connectivity Program rules.

May
May. 10 – Reply comments are due on Emergency Alert System NOI.

“Colors”

Playing For Change
“Colors” is a feel-good single from the Black Pumas, originally released on their self-titled debut album and nominated for two GRAMMYs. Slash, The Pocket Queen, Tony Kanal and more than 20 musicians and dancers from 10 countries accompany the Black Pumas in this Song Around The World version, featured at Peace Through Music: A Global Event for the Environment. “Colors” takes listeners on an emotional self-reflective journey that explores the beauty, diversity and unity in the world. “It was inspired by the rich multicolored hues of the sky and was written in the themes of mortality and togetherness.” — Adrian Quesada

MENSA MEMBER

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Brad Dye
P.O. Box 266
Fairfield, IL 62837 USA

Life is good!

I am a person in
long-term
recovery.

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• ex KN9IQY, KN4BK, KM5NK, WB4JCF, ZP5TQ, WA4VXU, WA9RVL, /TI2, /9Y4, /6Y5, /KP4, HH2FJ
• Licensed FCC Amateur Radio operator since 1957
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