Brian Fung | @[email protected]

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @brianstelter: According to a new post on Joni Mitchell's website, she is removing her music from Spotify: "I stand in solidarity with N… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

This is wild. The nation is still wrestling with lies about the 2020 election going into the midterms, and Twitter quietly stopped enforcing against those lies *nearly a year ago.* Incredible revelation from @ddale8 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I don’t normally do this but ~tip @techmeme~ on a story many readers have described today as the most in-depth and comprehensive account of the 5G breakdown to date https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@susie_cream Sure. Here's a guide I wrote to the FCC's original 2015 net neutrality rules: https://t.co/MmqSsyZt2x When the FCC repealed its rules: https://t.co/Tfh8svhRpu And when California passed its own version: https://t.co/8FfcShs8Jm Hope that helps! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

This is a closely watched case, because California's law is considered the toughest in the nation and a bellwether for other states after the FCC voted in 2017 to roll back federal net neutrality rules. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Big decision from the Ninth Circuit allowing California's net neutrality law to be enforced for now: https://t.co/f2P5q9SiQY The three-judge panel finds that the FCC gave up the ability to preempt state laws on net neutrality when it disclaimed authority over broadband. https://t.co/TQ0by0CQl6 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The FAA announces more progress with telcos "that will enable more aircraft to safely use key airports while also enabling more towers to deploy 5G" https://t.co/yKycfLZenv https://t.co/pRXdVVt4Gg — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Ooh, this was a big question of mine (what is the FCC certification process's role in radar altimeter oversight) during my reporting that didn't get a satisfying resolution within the timeframe we had. Good to know. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @JohnLeibovitz: @b_fung @petemuntean @gregorywallace 4/ Another factor: while we think of FAA as the party in interest the actual licens… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

For this reason, we omitted the Kudlow angle from this story. It's just not germane to the overall fact pattern that there was miscommunication between agencies and that the FAA's views were not adequately reflected in the FCC docket. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Now, while it is very plausible that Kudlow may have been involved in some way, we have not been able to find (yet) a smoking gun that definitively proves he intervened. If anyone has any credible information on that, please LET ME KNOW. We also have FOIA requests out on this. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Adam Candeub, the head of NTIA when the FAA letter was sent, denied to CNN that he had ever spoken to Kudlow or that Kudlow even knows who he is, and added that NTIA was not deliberately silencing anybody. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

This line has basically convinced much of Washington that Kudlow personally intervened to suppress the views of aviation in the 5G matter. The *theory* is that had radar altimeter interference been a bigger issue, it would have depressed the auction price for C-Band spectrum. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Oh, one more point that did NOT make it into the story, for reasons I'll explain: There is a very strange sub-layer to this story that involves the Trump White House's Larry Kudlow going around crowing that "we fought the FAA and won." https://t.co/u5OJ5KCjRP — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Things appear to be back on track now, thanks in part to the direct talks between aviation authorities and telecom companies. But the whole episode could have been avoided had there been more, well.... federal communications. The end. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Which gets us back to the problem of two really important regulatory agencies talking past each other on US airwaves policy, something that has increasingly occurred across the government as the demand for wireless services has grown. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Because the FAA perspective was never a part of the record, the FCC could not act upon those views. But some critics say that just because the FCC gets to rule on spectrum issues does not make it the final arbiter on 5G. The FAA is still the expert agency on flight safety. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

If the FAA's views had been made a part of the record sooner (like in 2018 or 2019), a deal could have been made to fund the retrofitting of radar altimeters, according to @haroldfeld. It's a common technique that's been used in prior situations. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The FAA never responded to CNN's questions about what, if any, further steps it took to ensure its views reached the FCC. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Setting the letter aside, the former FCC chief of staff said that the FAA's options didn't end there. The agency could have sued to stop the plan anytime after the FCC approved the order, and even after its letter went missing. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

But even if the letter had made it into the FCC record, whether directly or via NTIA, it still was written months after the FCC had already planned, negotiated, voted out and finalized the 5G order. The vote was in Feb. 2020. The letter was in December. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

That is not what the Department of Transportation's lawyers believed, according to one of the officials involved with the letter. They insisted that going through NTIA was the correct move. Both views are correct in their own way, experts say. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

A former FCC chief of staff told us that it is "extremely disturbing" that NTIA declined to relay the letter to the FCC. Still, there was nothing preventing FAA from filing directly to the FCC irrespective of NTIA, he and many other experts said. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Unfortunately for the FAA, however, NTIA did not pass along the letter this time. NTIA's engineers disagreed with the conclusions of the FAA letter, according to the head of NTIA at the time. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

This was a reasonable expectation; by both custom and congressional charter, NTIA is supposed to make sure executive branch views of airwaves are effectively presented to the FCC. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

So, evidence that doesn't make it into the agency record doesn't count. Like this FAA letter. So what went wrong with the letter? It turns out that the FAA sent it to an arm of the Commerce Department, expecting that office (NTIA) to pass it on. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The purpose of making this paper trail public is so that if people want to second-guess the agency later, they can point to what the agency knew at the time and/or what it should have known. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

To understand why that's important, we have to delve a bit into administrative procedure. Independent regulatory agencies like the FCC, by law, can only make major policy decisions with public input. That input has to have a paper trail. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The FAA did write a letter intended for the FCC back in Dec. 2020 expressing grave concerns. But that letter was both written too late to affect the planning process and also never actually made it into the FCC record. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The FAA has warned of possible 5G interference risks for years. But those warnings all occurred in outside forums and not in the one proceeding that really counted: The FCC's rulemaking process for 5G. https://t.co/PYu7vJsnNX — PolitiTweet.org