FAA Drone Forecast

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its annual Aerospace Forecast Report for Fiscal Years 2016 to 2036, which states that as of March 16, 2016, over 4,000 exemptions have been granted for commercial UAS operations in the U.S.  The report also includes a model aircraft and hobbyist forecast, noting that since it began requiring registration for UAS weighing under 55 pounds, the FAA has received approximately 408,000 registration applications.  The FAA forecasts hobbyist UAS sales to reach 4.3 million annually by 2020. 

DHS Cyber-Sharing Portal

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented its Automated Indicator Sharing (AIS) portal, which allows for the exchange of cyber threat indicators between and among the federal departments and agencies and the private sector.  AIS is part of DHS’ mandated requirements under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA).  According to DHS, several private sector entities have already joined AIS. 

Tower Compliance

The FCC will hold a training session on Environmental Compliance and the Historic Preservation Review process on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the FCC’s Headquarters, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington D.C.  At the workshop, FCC staff and invited experts will provide guidance on a variety of topics including the Tower Construction Notification System (TCNS), the National Environmental Policy Act, and National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 compliance under the Nationwide Programmatic Agreement.  The workshop will be webcast at www.fcc.gov/live. 

CPNI and Lifeline Changes

At its March 31 Open Meeting, the FCC is expected to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend customer propriety network information (CPNI) rules to consumer broadband services, consistent with the  2015 Open Internet Order.  The FCC is also expected to adopt a major revision to its Lifeline Program by extending USF support to low income individuals for broadband service.