The FCC said Friday 95.4 percent of cellsites were still out of service in Puerto Rico, though downed cellsites in the U.S. Virgin Islands dropped to 68.9 percent from 76.6 percent. Puerto Rico's two public safety answering points were functioning normally according to the primary service provider, and in USVI, the St. Croix 911 call center is apparently down, reported the FCC. "Since there are widespread power outages in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC has received reports that large percentages of consumers are without either cable services or wireline service (one company reported that 100% of its consumers are out of service due to lack of commercial power). There are at least 10 switches that are out of service due to either SS7 or toll isolation." One Puerto Rico TV station reported being off-air; others haven't yet reported, nor have radio stations. The Public Safety Bureau granted Puerto Rico's request to accept its late-filed renewal application for its 700 MHz state license under call sign WPTZ852. The FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency plan to conduct a nationwide test of the emergency alert system Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. EDT, noted a commission public notice. The bureau gave EAS participants affected by 2017 hurricanes an extension from Sept. 27 to Nov. 13 for filing corrections to EAS test reporting system Form 1. Thursday, the Wireline Bureau waived a numbering reassignment rule for providers affected by hurricanes Maria and Jose.

An FCC notice Thursday formally got rid of any trace of 2016 ISP privacy rules, which Congress killed in a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval before they took effect (see 1704030054). Because the CRA resolution “does not direct the Office of the Federal Register to remove the voided regulatory text and reissue the pre-existing regulatory text, the FCC issues this document to effect the removal of any amendments, deletions, or other modifications made by the nullified rule, and the reversion to the text of the regulations in effect immediately prior to the effect date of the Report and Order,” said a notice in the ​Federal Register. The rules, approved over objections of FCC Republicans, were doomed since the election of President Donald Trump (see 1611090034).

The rural broadband gap is exacerbating the exodus from small-town America, Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday at the Kansas Broadband Conference, according to prepared remarks. He said even in rural states like Kansas, projected population growth in coming decades is expected to be almost exclusively in metropolitan areas, and how the nation addresses rural broadband connectivity issues could affect whether rural population declines accelerate or, conversely, reverse themselves. Pai outlined steps the agency is taking to tackle the digital divide, such as the Mobility Fund and efforts to eliminate bureaucratic red tape in wireless and wireline infrastructure deployment. He said the agency's June approval of OneWeb's U.S. market access application for its broadband satellite constellation (see 1706220039), as well as pending similar applications, "could be a promising option for those living in hard-to-serve areas." He pushed again his Gigabit Opportunity Zones idea of tax breaks to encourage private-sector gigabit broadband deployment (see 1703300011 and 1609130061).

An FCC enterprise communications system (ECS) 911 item looks noncontroversial, an agency official told us. A notice of inquiry is on the agenda for a commissioners' meeting Tuesday. There has been no substantive lobbying in docket 17-239 since release of the draft NOI to look into the provision 911 service by centralized ECS operations in office buildings, hotels, schools and other complexes (see 1709070056). Among other agenda items is a draft NPRM that proposes to update toll-free number assignments through auctions; it has drawn a few filings in docket 17-192, including by toll-free administrator Somos noting mixed stakeholder reaction (see 1709200065).

Fixed and mobile broadband availability isn't sufficient to meet a statutory mandate for "reasonable and timely" deployment of advanced telecom capability (ATC) to all Americans, Incompas commented in docket 17-199 on an FCC notice of inquiry. The Free State Foundation said broadband-like ATC deployment "clearly" satisfies Telecom Act Section 706 and said the previous FCC's refusal to make an affirmative finding "was a case of Alice-in-Wonderlandish 'Sentence First-Verdict Afterwards.'" CTIA, one of several parties whose comments were posted late Thursday, issued a statement saying that "by any measure, mobile wireless broadband deployment is ‘reasonable and timely.'" Incompas said broadband networks and services must be "physically available and affordable" pursuant to Section 706, and found it "telling" the FCC is focused on closing the digital divide. "Fixed and mobile broadband networks do not reach every American, and competition is still considerably lacking for fixed (wireline) broadband networks for residential consumers, as well as businesses who rely on dedicated broadband service," the group said. It said the FCC shouldn't find Section 706 goals have been met and should address barriers, including by improving access to poles, rights of way and multitenant buildings. The Benton Foundation said it's "certain" broadband is "not being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion," citing service shortcomings in poorer, minority and rural communities. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday objected to the possibility the FCC could effectively lower its ATC speed benchmark by finding 10/1 Mbps mobile service is sufficient to satisfy the statutory mandate (see 1709200042). The agency's direction is "particularly troubling" for rural Americans, said NTCA, which believes mobile broadband "is simply not a substitute for a robust, high-quality fixed wireline connection that so many urban consumers take for granted." The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable urged the FCC to evaluate availability of both fixed and mobile broadband, not one or the other, and affordability of service. The Education and Library Networks Coalition asked the FCC to retain E-rate program goals of helping schools and libraries gain access to 100 Mbps near term and 1 Gbps long term.

Retail revenue from recorded music in the U.S. rose 17 percent to $4 billion in the first half of 2017 from the same period last year, RIAA said. At wholesale value, the industry increased to $2.7 billion, up 15 percent, but "significantly below" 1999 levels. Revenue from music subscription streaming services grew 48 percent to $2.5 billion for the first half of 2017, over the same period in 2016. Streaming services had 62 percent of the total market, and continued to offset declines in traditional unit based sales, said RIAA Wednesday. "The streaming category includes revenues from subscription services (such as paid versions of Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music, among others), digital and customized radio services including those revenues distributed by SoundExchange (like Pandora, SiriusXM, and other Internet radio), and ad-supported on-demand streaming services (such as YouTube, Vevo, and ad-supported Spotify)." CEO Cary Sherman blogged that his group estimates there may be a trillion streams this year from both on-demand services and digital radio. "That staggering number ... also speaks to the foundational challenge" as payouts to creators "are very different and vastly impacted by outdated or abused laws and regulations," he wrote. "A united music community continues to be incredibly animated about music’s 'value gap' and calls upon policymakers -- and our business partners -- across the globe to do better and address these inequities." In an International Federation of the Phonographic Industry report Tuesday (see 1709190075 and 1709190031) on audio streaming trends, IFPI CEO Frances Moore said the music industry’s “value gap” remains the biggest threat facing the music world.

The FCC should seek public comment on consumer open internet complaints and related correspondence, said a motion that the National Hispanic Media Coalition and 20 other groups posted Tuesday in docket 17-108. They said it includes about 50,000 complaints, 18,000 carrier responses, 1,500 documents on an agency ombudsperson's exchanges with users and 10 spreadsheets with complaint data. In response to NHMC Freedom of Information Act requests in May, the FCC gave the group most of the records and posted them on a webpage (see 1709150031), but most carrier responses are among documents missing, said the motion. It asked the commission to put all records into the open internet docket and issue a public notice seeking comment. "Just as an agency may not rely on data that has not been admitted into the administrative record, it also may not prevent directly relevant information from being admitted into the record simply because it does not support the agency’s proposed rule," said the motion (NHMC news release here). Among backers were the American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, Common Cause, Fight for the Future, Free Press, Future of Music Coalition, New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and United Church of Christ. The FCC didn't comment.

The FCC can address emergency communications needs "24/7" as Hurricane Maria threatens and affects U.S. coastal areas, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, a public notice said Wednesday. The PN said communications industry providers, emergency response managers and first responders can contact the FCC Operations Center at 202-418-1122 or by email at FCCOPCenter@fcc.gov. It said consumers should contact their service providers directly about any outages, but can file complaints here. The FCC activated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) in response to Hurricane Maria for all counties in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Public Safety Bureau said in a public notice Wednesday. Reports are requested beginning 10 a.m. Thursday. DIRS was deactivated for Irma Tuesday (see Ref:1709190030]), and companies in the affected areas are expected to provide new reports for Maria, rather than updated reports on Irma, the report said. Companies can access DIRS at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster. The bureau also released a PN listing updated emergency contact information for each bureau for licensees in affected areas seeking special temporary authority.

​Add Qualcomm and Ethertronics, a supplier of embedded antennas and RF components for mobile devices, to companies opposing an ATSC 3.0 reception in smartphones requirement and saying an FCC mandate would be a bad idea. The issue has been a hotbed for discussion in docket 16-142 for the past 10 days as the commission works toward meeting its self-imposed deadline of releasing by year-end an order authorizing voluntary deployment of 3.0 (see 1709180039). Qualcomm “broadly agrees” with T-Mobile’s Sept. 11 white paper (see 1709120020) detailing “significant challenges associated with supporting ATSC 3.0 reception in new mobile devices.” The chipmaker said “any proposal to mandate that mobile devices incorporate support for ATSC 3.0 should be out of the question.” Requiring 3.0 support in mobile devices “would unduly impact device performance, the efficient use of spectrum, and mobile device competition,” said the company. “ATSC 3.0 receiver operation can cause interference to 4G LTE and 5G radios operating in the same device." Ethertronics said challenges of “incorporating both 600 MHz LTE and ATSC 3.0 technologies” in a single smartphone are “substantial.” There are “practical limits to the acceptable size” of a mobile device that consumers will be “willing to purchase,” it said.

The Telecommunications Industry Association said it agreed to combine with QuEST Forum, an information communication and technology association, and more alliances are possible. The combined tech group will focus on IoT and related areas, such as smart cities, network virtualization and the transition to the cloud, TIA and the forum announced Tuesday. Forum CEO Fraser Pajak will be an officer of the new organization and will report directly to TIA CEO Wes Johnston, with the groups' boards combined into one, said a Q&A. A spokesman told us and online materials say no job cuts are now planned. With six staffers from the forum, TIA will have about 45 total employees, he said. Johnston was named head of TIA earlier this year (see the personals section of the June 6 issue of this publication), after an interim CEO followed Scott Belcher leaving after about two years (see 1702010030). More alliances are possible, online materials said Tuesday: "Current strategic alliances are being evaluated, and new ones being formed" and "we will continue to explore opportunities to expand value for our community through new partnerships and alliances, or when appropriate, through mergers and acquisitions." The combination is "reflecting" the consolidation that "naturally happened in the industry" and within the membership, said telecom industry consultant Grant Seiffert, head of TIA 2007 through 2014, in an interview. "In the past, TIA has merged with other organizations to provide synergies and like-minded services." Overlapping members (here and here) include big ISPs like AT&T and Verizon, and device maker/suppliers like Cisco and Nokia. The merger, subject to ratification of a definitive agreement, is expected to close in Q4, the groups said. The forum's focus includes ways for companies to be environmentally friendly and some standards.