A March 13 workshop on the post incentive auction transition will feature reviews of the procedures for filing applications for construction permits, procedures for receiving reverse auction winnings and reimbursements, and a Q&A with FCC staff, said a public notice released Monday by the Incentive Auction Task Force and the Media Bureau.

The Supreme Court decided not to hear the case of a transgender high school student who challenged a Virginia county school board over a policy that restricts bathroom access to individuals based on their biological sex. Dozens of major technology companies, including Apple and Microsoft, last week filed an amici brief supporting student Gavin Grimm against the Gloucester County School Board (see 1703020037). The high court, which had scheduled oral argument later this month, said it remanded the case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for further consideration "in light of the guidance document issued by the Department of Education and Department of Justice on February 22." The departments withdrew guidance issued last year that required public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms based on their gender identity (see 1702230035). A district court upheld the school's bathroom policy, but the 4th Circuit overturned that decision last year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is asking the FCC to reconsider a November order by the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau rejecting a petition by the group for an exemption from the prior express consent requirement of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for autodialed or prerecorded “mortgage servicing” calls to wireless phones (see 1611150046). MBA reported on meetings with aides with the three FCC commissioners to discuss its Dec. 15 application for review of the order. “As we discussed during our meeting, the Order was an inappropriate exercise of delegated authority because the Petition presented a novel legal issue of first impression deserving of full Commission consideration, not a minor or routine matter or one that is settled in nature for the Bureau to decide,” said a filing on one of the meetings, in docket 02-278. “For this reason alone, the Petition deserves full consideration by the Commission untainted by the Bureau’s hasty Order.”

BT pressed its concern about possible FCC business data service action. "BT urged caution against precipitously writing rules regarding BDS and technology transition that would kill competition and further expand and strengthen the dominance of incumbents, highlighting that caution, scrutiny and fresh data are in order in light of the rapid concentration taking place in the telecommunications industry," said its filings Monday in docket 05-25 on meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (here and here). BT met earlier with an aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 1703020048). In separate meetings with the Pai and Clyburn aides, Incompas discussed the status of BDS-related proceedings, according to filings (here and here)

New Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross quietly met with House Commerce aide David Redl, most likely to discuss picking Redl as next NTIA administrator, industry officials said Monday. Redl is viewed as a top candidate for the post (see 1702240049) with support from industry and within the federal spectrum community. The industry officials said that doesn’t guarantee Redl will be named, but he's now the most likely candidate for the key communications position. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., has made clear his support for David Quinalty, his communications aide, for the job (see 1703010071). “I would think that the administration would want to counter the criticisms that so many political positions remain unfilled,” a former NTIA official said. Ross was sworn in as secretary last week (see 1702280048). A department spokesman declined to comment. Redl didn't comment.

Acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen should become permanent chair over Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, said Technology Policy Institute President emeritus Thomas Lenard in an opinion piece Friday for Morning Consult. Lenard said it appears that Reyes (see 1702220046) is being considered for the post not just because he's an outsider but also because of his "desire" to reopen an FTC investigation closed in 2013 (see 1503260030) into Google's alleged anticompetitive behavior, citing The Wall Street Journal. "Choosing candidates because of their views on a specific company is not a good precedent for a law-enforcement agency that is supposed to make evidence-based decisions," said Lenard. He said it would "taint" Reyes if appointed because he'd be viewed as favoring some companies over others and any Google probe may be perceived as politically motivated. Lenard said most successful FTC chairmen such as James Miller, Timothy Muris and William Kovacic, all Republicans, have had Washington experience, and the president "could hardly do better than Ohlhausen.”

The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau gave Jewish community centers an emergency waiver Friday so they can trace bomb threats. The JCCs sought a waiver of 64.1601(b) of rules, “which prohibits terminating carriers from passing the calling party number (CPN) to a called party where a privacy indicator has been triggered by the caller,” a public notice said. “Access to the CPN could assist in identifying individuals placing threatening calls to those facilities.” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., sought action in a waiver request and an FCC spokesman had said Chairman Ajit Pai was "very concerned" about the threats (see 1703010065). Schumer indicated 69 threats have been made to 54 JCCs in 27 states since the beginning of 2017, the bureau said. “Given the exigent circumstances and number of recent threats cited, we separately grant, on an emergency and temporary basis, a waiver of section 64.1601(b) as applied to threatening calls made to JCC facilities,” the bureau said. “We seek comment herein on whether to extend that waiver on a permanent basis, including ways to best facilitate the ability of law enforcement to identify individuals making such threatening calls while maintaining the privacy of callers who utilize CPN blocking for lawful purposes.” Comments are due in docket 91-281 March 17, replies March 24. "I am pleased that we are taking quick action to address this issue and hope that this waiver will help Jewish Community Centers, telecommunications carriers, and law enforcement agencies track down the perpetrators of these crimes," Pai said in a statement. Schumer applauds "the FCC’s decision to grant a special waiver to targeted JCCs, which will help us track down and identify perpetrators making threatening calls that frighten communities and waste the precious resources of local law enforcement,” he responded. "Already, one suspect has been taken into custody and I am hopeful today’s decision will help catch and deter any future copycats. All communities and entities targeted by intimidation and fear deserve access to all of the tools needed to ensure these criminals are brought to justice."

The FCC imposes more costly information collection requirements on companies than do other agencies, and it doesn’t adequately monitor paperwork burdens its rules create, said Commissioner Mike O’Rielly in a blog post Friday. According to the Office of Management and Budget, “as of the end of February, the FCC has 423 active collections demanding 457,355,706 responses each year requiring a total of 73,200,049 hours to complete at a total cost of $798,204,803.” The agency with the next highest such cost is the Department of Agriculture with $397,848,225, O’Rielly said. “While I support data driven decision making and the need to ensure accountability, I have to question how much of this cost is truly justified,” O’Rielly said. “I’ve observed that every new FCC policy seems to require a brand new data collection.” The commission should act to remove paperwork burdens that it knows are duplicative or unnecessary, O’Rielly said. The FCC also should “complete a holistic data review” to determine which collections are needed or could be streamlined. “I am also troubled that the Commission does not currently track burdens by industry segment or even by size,” O’Rielly said. The Office of Communications Business Opportunities doesn’t track the paperwork burden on each type of small business regulated by the FCC, and that data should be tracked going forward, O’Rielly said. The FCC should also “enthusiastically embrace -- whether required to do so or voluntarily” a White House Executive Order that would create regulatory reform officers and task forces, O’Rielly said. “While seemingly repetitive of efforts already underway, it has some unique proprieties that could generate new reform ideas not considered or explored before.” The FCC "must be careful not to place undue burdens on companies whether in specific rulemakings, or as the product of cumulative Commission actions,” O'Rielly said.

The timing of the federal government's award of a contract to build FirstNet remains unclear, as Rivada Mercury had its day in court Friday, said public safety consultant Andrew Seybold in an email blast. Judge Elaine Kaplan of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims heard argument in the case Friday. Rivada claims its proposal was wrongly excluded from the procurement’s "competitive range." Filings in the case were sealed by the court (see 1702210062) and the arguments were closed to the public, a court official said. If the federal government wins, “it is possible an award could be made soon after the verdict is announced,” Seybold said. “However, if Rivada indicates it might take the matter to the next level of the justice system, the feds may feel they have to, once again, wait for that to play out. It is my belief that if Rivada pursues the next legal steps, the outcome, regardless of who wins, will be dismal for Rivada.” If Rivada wins, “there will be another delay while those reviewing the contract for the federal government will have to consider Rivada’s [request for proposals] response and weigh the response against what is believed to be the only other RFP that has been moved to the final stage,” Seybold said. “After that is completed, there should be an award soon after and, hopefully, the losing entity will respect the final outcome and not cause any more delays to the process.” AT&T is seen by most as the likely choice to build FirstNet and the only company still in the running if the Mercury challenge fails (see 1702020056). Kaplan denied a request by Warren Communications News that the arguments in the case (1:16-cv-01559) be opened to the public. Kaplan said in an order it would not be “practicable” to open only parts of the arguments where proprietary information isn’t discussed.

The FCC will seek comment on axing the annual reports that international telecom services (ITS) providers have to file about revenue and traffic for international voice services, international miscellaneous services and international common carrier private lines, under an NPRM commissioners are scheduled to vote on at their March 23 meeting, according to the agenda issued Thursday. The FCC said the costs of that data collection "now exceed the benefits of the information." In the draft NPRM, the FCC asks if it eliminates the traffic and revenue reports, and what data and information it then would need to address any anticompetitive conduct on a U.S.-international route that hurts U.S. carriers or consumers. The NPRM also would have the agency seek comment on streamlining or modifying the annual ITS reports they must file identifying submarine cable, satellite and terrestrial capacity between the U.S. and internationally. In the draft NPRM, it asks such questions as whether the FCC should limit its data collection to route-by-route data from facilities-based carriers. The complete draft was released Thursday, as was the case for all items set for votes at the meeting (see 1703020076).