President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to overhaul aspects of the executive branch. It’s “a major step toward making the federal government efficient, effective and accountable to the people,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. “Today, we’re beginning the process of a long overdue reorganization of our federal departments and agencies.” Cabinet secretaries should be empowered to make their agencies as effective and “lean” as possible, Trump said. The order demands “a thorough examination of every executive department and agency to see where money is being wasted, how service can be improved and whether programs are truly serving American citizens,” Trump said. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney will oversee this process, Trump said. Expect “a detailed plan” to make the government work better based on this process, he said. Trump will work with Congress to implement the resulting recommendations, he said. Text of the order wasn't immediately released.

AT&T suffered more wireless network problems Saturday after a major 911 outage earlier in the week spurred an FCC investigation (see 1703090017). “Service has been restored for customers affected by a hardware issue which caused some calls not to connect during a brief period Saturday morning,” an AT&T spokeswoman said Monday. The company didn’t say which regions were affected, but just before 1 p.m. in the District, Alert DC reported “a nationwide outage that is impacting customers intermittently.” At about 2:30 p.m., Alert DC said the issue was resolved. “There was a failure of some systems relative to the wireless carrier AT&T,” a D.C. Office of Unified Communications spokesman emailed Monday. “I’m told the issue was sporadic and did not result in any 911 failure. Our center did test AT&T 911, and it seemed to work here.”

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a Freedom of Information request with the FCC seeking copies of any records about the March 6 meeting between Chairman Ajit Pai and President Donald Trump (see 1703060055), including memos, briefing papers, emails and talking points, EPIC said Thursday. It requested expedited processing of the FOIA request, saying there's urgency due to Trump describing the media as "enemies of the people" and some media outlets have business before the FCC. EPIC pointed to Congress' considering using the Congressional Review Act to overturn the agency's privacy rules and the agency's stay of parts of the privacy order (see 1703010069). The FCC didn't comment Monday.

Oracle said the FCC should repudiate its prior policy of "favoring" one tech subsector over others and "establish a more level playing field," starting with actions on broadband privacy, broadband classification and cable set-top boxes. Under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler, the commission "routinely picked winners and losers in the complex and converging network ecosystem," said Senior Vice President Kenneth Glueck, Office of CEO, in a letter Monday in docket 14-28. "The prior Commission orchestrated a shift of network control from those that invest in the network to those that do not, and a shift in welfare from those that were regulated to those that were not. We urge you to return the FCC to technology- and competitor-neutral policymaking." The commission should reconsider broadband privacy rules "to ensure a consistent and fair approach," Oracle said, calling a recent FCC stay of a new ISP-specific data security rule a "laudable first step" (see 1703010069). The tech firm urged the agency to reclassify broadband internet access from a Communications Act Title II telecom service to a Title I information service "to eliminate burdens on, and competitive imbalances for, ISPs while still preserving the free and open Internet." The set-top box proceeding should be closed "to put to bed the FCC’s ill-advised interventionist instinct and instead rely on the intense innovation and competition in the marketplace," the software maker said. The FCC should work closely with the FTC, the company said.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn urged USF reform, in a speech Monday to the WTA in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Last year, the FCC adopted reforms aimed at stabilizing the high-cost program, Clyburn said, according to written remarks. “Like with any significant reform, there are choppy waters ahead that need careful navigation.” Clyburn stressed the importance of partnerships, which “have the capability to help your bottom line, and provide a benefit for your communities.” The FCC needs to tweak some of its rules for rate-of-return carriers, she said. “I hear you when you talk about affordability, and the need to have flexibility to price your services as you see fit in the market,” she said. “I am concerned, about the affordability of rates in both rural and urban areas. It is a shame that deregulation has often meant higher rates in both urban and rural areas. But I believe rural areas should not be penalized, simply because of poor legislative or regulatory judgment. That is why I would support hitting the ‘pause’ button on rate floor increases, while we figure out a path forward that does not unduly impact rural consumers or the universal service fund.” Clyburn noted, as a Democrat, she's now in the minority at the FCC. She said she got used to that when she was a South Carolina regulator. “The difference in my role and status are readily apparent,” she said. “I was in the minority as a commissioner here in South Carolina for many years. ... I always start at the 50-yard line when it comes to formulating policy with anyone who may see the world differently than I do. … I will never entertain compromising my principles.” Among those principles, “removing consumer protections and harming competition are always going to be non-starters for me,” she said. “I will continue to sit at the table, even when we are discussing issues that have practical impacts that may make me uncomfortable.”

An FCC jurisdictional separations item and referral to a federal-state joint board is before commissioners, according to the agency's circulation list, which was updated Friday. The Further NPRM seeks comment on a freeze on jurisdictional separations for rate-of-return incumbent telcos, which expires June 30, said an agency spokesman. Commissioner and Joint Board Chairman Mike O'Rielly has said the referral is "narrow" but he wants to seek "comprehensive reform" (see 1702230051). Rural telco representatives discussed the Part 36 separations freeze -- which they said was intended to last only five years but has been in effect more than 15 years -- and its impact "on the allocation of costs and the development of rates for rate-of-return carriers that chose to freeze their category relationships in 2001," said a Moss-Adams filing in docket 80-286 on a meeting it and Panhandle Telephone Cooperative had with Wireline Bureau staffers. They discussed the potential impact that disparate consumer broadband-only rates could have on Connect America Fund broadband loop support, and answered agency questions on "how to potentially alleviate the disparate allocation of costs and rate development for carriers with frozen category relationships."

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance alleged that AT&T has been "digital redlining" in Cleveland by "systematically" discriminating over the past decade against lower-income neighborhoods where it deploys internet and video systems. There's "clear evidence that AT&T has withheld fiber-enhanced broadband improvements from most Cleveland neighborhoods with high poverty rates," said an NDIA release Thursday, citing mapping analysis it and Connect Your Community did of mid-2016 broadband data collected by the FCC on Form 477 industry submissions. NDIA said many Cleveland residents have been declared ineligible for AT&T discounts because they lack access to 3 Mbps download capacity as required. The telco hasn't extended "Fiber to the Node" very-high-bit-rate DSL facilities to most Cleveland census blocks, including the vast majority of those with high poverty rates, even though it's "now the standard" in surrounding suburbs and other urban AT&T markets, the group said. "Those neighborhoods have been relegated to an older, slower" asymmetric DSL technology, it said. These practices are "classic redlining" contrary to universal service principles, said Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Phillip Berenbroick in a release. The company believes internet access is essential, "which is why we've continuously invested in expanding service and enhancing speeds," emailed a representative. “The report does not accurately reflect the investment we've made in bringing faster internet to urban and rural areas across the U.S. While we are investing in broadband, we’re also investing in technologies that will mitigate some of the infrastructure limitations.” AT&T invested $135 billion in its wireless and wired networks from 2012 to 2016 (including wireless spectrum/asset buys), "more in the U.S. than any other public company," the telco rep said, noting various technology trials it's conducting to increase speeds and efficiencies over copper and fiber networks.

A prominent regulator and Telcordia raised concerns about Neustar's planned privatization and sought FCC conditions. North American Portability Management (NAPM) said it wouldn't object, subject to two conditions. Neustar, which administers various numbering and pooling mechanisms, asked the FCC to approve its planned sale to Aerial Investors, a group formed by Golden Gate Private Equity (see 1702010033). Betty Ann Kane, chairman of the D.C. Public Service Commission and the North American Numbering Council, offered no view on Neustar arguments for FCC approval based on the company's statement it will continue to be neutral in its administrator duties. "However, I am concerned that Neustar has not provided any evidence in its Ownership Request to substantiate its claim that the new ownership should be approved 'because the nature of Neustar’s business and its day-to-day management will not change,'" said Kane in comments posted Friday in FCC docket 92-237, saying she was speaking solely for herself. She said the new ownership apparently could benefit financially if the transition from Neustar to Telcordia/iconectiv as local number portability administrator (LNPA) isn't completed by a May 25, 2018, target. She asked the FCC to condition approval on Neustar (1) formally committing to complete the transition by then, subject to penalty, and (2) within 30 days of approval retaining an independent auditor to file monthly reports regarding company compliance with iconectiv and NAPM requests on implementation steps. Telcordia commented that Neustar failed to provide sufficient detail to enable the FCC to assess neutrality and national security implications, particularly since the government of Singapore, through Hux Investment, will be an indirect owner of up to 37.5 percent of Neustar. Also noting concerns about the new ownership's financial incentives, Telcordia urged the FCC to ensure Neustar "will be committed to completing, and cooperating with, the ongoing LNPA transition, according to the schedule established by the Transition Oversight Manager," PwC. NAPM commented it has no objections, if "Neustar remains fully subject to its contractual obligations with the NAPM" and the commission "ensures that Neustar remains subject to all of its current regulatory obligations, including all of the FCC’s current neutrality requirements." A Neustar spokesman emailed that the company "agrees with the NAPM which only makes one request of Neustar to fulfill its neutrality and regulatory obligations" and looks forward to addressing further specific issues "in our reply comments to the FCC in two weeks.”

Chairman Ajit Pai’s recent moves to shift the FCC away from a role in cybersecurity policy are a “dangerous departure” from President Donald Trump’s “aggressive cybersecurity policy” stance, said former Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson in Morning Consult. Pai reversed a Simpson-authored white paper on communications sector cybersecurity regulation and a notice of inquiry on cybersecurity for 5G devices (see 1702060062 and 1702060059), among other moves (see 1702030070). Pai halted cybersecurity provisions in ISP privacy rules, Simpson wrote. The “greatest concern” will be the FCC’s future “benign neglect” of cybersecurity, he said. Simpson noted Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s testimony last week before the Senate Commerce Committee that the commission has “extremely limited” statutory authority over cybersecurity absent a clear directive (see 1703080070). “Addressing cybersecurity early is smart policy,” Simpson said. “It leads to more robust, resilient and cost-efficient services. ... This is a national security and emergency preparedness requirement.” He criticized the communications sector’s “self-serving theory” that the Department of Homeland Security should take over oversight of the sector’s cybersecurity. Expanding DHS’ oversight “with no regulatory authority over the commercial communications sector, will be expensive, doomed to failure or both,” Simpson said. Trump can reverse FCC “cyber indifference” by in part making cybersecurity a “whole of government” priority that includes the FCC and FTC in the National Security Council’s assessment of cyber risk, Simpson said. He encouraged stakeholders to “demand a more effective dialog between congressional committees with cybersecurity risk responsibilities." The FCC didn’t comment.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged a few tweaks to a law that he said otherwise could lead to big costs for tower companies. Section 2110 of the 2016 FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act requires improved physical markings and/or lighting on small- to medium-sized towers -- those between 50 and 200 feet tall, ORielly said. “If implemented literally, the provision will force expensive retrofits to potentially 50,000 existing towers, such as wireless communications and certain broadcast towers, all new towers that meet the broad definition, and raise tower prices for the next generation of wireless services -- all with little gain to air safety,” O’Rielly said in a blog post. “A few helpful tweaks to the text could be in order.” The provision's original intent may have been narrow, but “the language on its face is fairly broad, and therein lies the problem,” he said. “In essence, those structures that are not specifically carved out are captured. That means that existing and future mid-sized communications towers throughout rural America are included.” O’Rielly said he's most worried about smaller providers, including wireless ISPs. “Added cost of this new mandate could impact their ability to grow or even survive,” he said. “There are new responsibilities to map the applicable areas to which section 2110 applies, requirements to participate in and potentially fund a database of existing towers in these areas, and overall compliance costs that add to the burdens for small providers.” O’Rielly stressed he avoids critiquing or criticizing legislation but wanted to offer suggestions to highlight potential unintended consequences. “CTIA and our members share Commissioner O’Rielly’s deep concerns about the overly broad regulatory impact of the legislation,” said Brad Gillen, CTIA executive vice president. “We encourage Congress to remedy this problem to avoid imposing onerous and unnecessary burdens on the companies that build and maintain our nation’s wireless network infrastructure.” Jonathan Adelstein, president of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, said O'Rielly is right. "We deeply appreciate Commissioner O’Rielly’s attention to the importance of addressing this inadvertent provision that could end up costing the industry hundreds of millions of dollars with no discernable benefit -- all dollars that are better spent on needed broadband infrastructure like 5G deployment," he said. "There is growing recognition on Capitol Hill about the need to clarify this overbroad language."