The FCC explained bid weights and other decisions on a planned reverse auction of $1.98 billion in Connect America Fund Phase II subsidies over 10 years for fixed broadband services, in an order released Thursday in docket 10-90, a week after approval (see 1702230019). Less bid weight helps in a reverse auction awarding funds to low bids and the order's weights favor higher speeds, higher usage allowances and lower latency: 65 for a "minimum" tier (10/1 Mbps), 45 for "baseline" (25/3 Mbps), 15 for "above baseline" (100/20 Mbps) and zero for "gigabit" (1 Gbps/500 Mbps), with 25 for high-latency and zero for low-latency service. The two lower-speed tiers have monthly usage allowance requirements of at least 150 GB and the two higher-speed tiers have 2 TB minimum allowances. Some parties urged a narrower spread between weights, but the order said: "Bids placed in the higher tiers will not necessarily win because of the generally greater costs of deploying a higher capacity network at higher speeds. Bids placed for lower speeds and usage allowances will still have the opportunity to compete for support, but will have to be particularly cost-effective to compete with higher tier bids." The agency declined to adopt preferences for certain states (where large telcos declined funding offers) or tribal lands, but it prioritized funding for such states in a Remote Areas Fund (RAF) auction to occur one year after the CAF II auction (not yet scheduled). Noting the FCC previously made $170 million available to New York to supplement its own broadband subsidy auction, the order said no other state demonstrated it has a similar program. ITTA emailed that the bid weights "came down to a balancing between two policy goals: maximizing breadth of deployment v. funding 'future-proof' networks," and it expressed disappointment the FCC majority emphasized the latter: "This outcome puts tremendous pressure on the underfunded RAF to ensure that broadband can reach those consumers who will remain unserved under the scheme adopted by the majority.” NTCA Senior Vice President Mike Romano was pleased to see "how seriously the FCC took accountability and apparently intends to examine further how best to confirm that providers can live up to their bids.”

The FCC invited input on requests to reinstate Lifeline broadband provider designations that were revoked by a Feb. 3 staff order (see 1702030070). Comments are due March 16, replies March 23 on a reconsideration letter from almost 40 groups (see 1702230011) and an appeal from Spot On Networks, an ex-LBP designee, the Wireline Bureau said in public notices (here and here) Thursday in docket 11-42. Free Press Deputy Director Jessica Gonzalez said in a statement: “If Chairman [Ajit] Pai is serious about bridging the digital divide, this is a good first step toward making amends. Once the comments come in, Pai should overturn his bureau’s action rescinding these Lifeline Broadband Provider designations. He should also commit unequivocally to swiftly implementing the Lifeline Modernization Order and rejecting any further efforts to undermine Lifeline. Thus far, his overtures on connecting poor people and people of color have been insincere." An FCC spokesman emailed: "This is the normal process for any petition for reconsideration. The Commission always welcomes and reviews public comment. In fact, the importance of that process was a factor in the rescission decisions because two of the designated providers had been approved in the middle of the 30-day period for public comment." Pai defended the LBP revocations last month (see 1702070062). Ex-LBPs Boomerang Wireless and STS Media filed letters (here and here) seeking Lifeline designations in states where the FCC has wireless "eligible telecom carrier" jurisdiction. A Sprint filing backed TracFone's request for clarification of Lifeline minimum broadband service standards: "Sprint urges the Commission to clarify that, under rules and policies adopted in the Lifeline Modernization Order, Wi-Fi service does not satisfy the mobile BIAS minimum data allotment requirement, and that the device provided by the service provider to its Lifeline subscriber must be 3G-capable and configured in order for that subscriber to be classified as a broadband customer. The Commission should also clarify that the 12-month broadband port freeze must be removed from the accounts of end users who were incorrectly classified as broadband customers.”

The FCC Thursday released the text of its contested order granting ISPs with fewer than 250,000 customers a waiver of the enhanced transparency requirements in the 2015 net neutrality order. Commissioners approved the order last week, over Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's strong objections (see 1702230058). Clyburn said the FCC was giving “billion dollar public companies” a break at the expense of consumers. The order lays out in more detail the legal justification for the waiver. Waiver is “appropriate if special circumstances warrant a deviation from the general rule and such deviation will serve the public interest,” the order said. “Based on the record of these proceedings, there is substantial evidence that smaller providers -- which can serve as vital sources of broadband throughout the country -- would face real disincentives to deploying, maintaining, or upgrading that broadband infrastructure in light of the initial costs associated with the enhanced requirements.” A five-year “temporary” waiver will give smaller ISPs “the regulatory certainty necessary for them to invest in broadband infrastructure,” the FCC said. “The temporary waiver will provide the Commission with an opportunity to revisit the costs and benefits associated with those requirements.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is "very concerned" about bomb threats to Jewish community centers across the country, a spokesman said in a statement Wednesday responding to a waiver request from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "These threats have instilled fear and disrupted lives throughout the United States, and Chairman Pai condemns such anti-Semitic acts in the strongest possible terms. The FCC is actively exploring what steps the FCC can take quickly to help Jewish Community Centers and law enforcement combat these threats.” The commission also sent a tweet. Jewish-affiliated organizations have seen a number of recent incidents of vandalism, bomb threats and other crimes that some contend are hate crimes. To help address threatening calls in a New York community last year, the commission in April granted the Enlarged City School District of Middletown a waiver from a phone rule prohibiting terminating carriers from passing on a calling party's number when that party has made a privacy request. That was intended to help security and law enforcement personnel respond rapidly to threatening calls, subject to certain privacy safeguards (see 1604140043).

The local number portability administrator transition remains on schedule for now, said a North American Portability Management monthly status report posted Wednesday in FCC docket 09-109. "Although one or more transition milestone dates may be adjusted as appropriate to mitigate risk, the previously published dates remain accurate, and the transition is currently on track to meet the Final Acceptance Date of May 25, 2018," said NAPM, which the FCC tasked with overseeing the LNP administrator change from Neustar to Telcordia/iconectiv. "Lack of agreement on key transition requirements has prevented certain transition plans from being finalized." It cited three issues listed the month before, plus a new one on "approval of a pooling change order" needed for Neustar to develop an interface.

A closer look at AT&T’s investments in its network shows the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality order and reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II service may have led to lower investments, said Hal Singer, George Washington University Institute senior fellow, in a Wednesday blog post. On the surface, AT&T capital expenditures went up from 2014 to 2016, from $21.2 billion to $21.5 billion, but that tells only part of the story, he said. It doesn’t take into account AT&T’s increased spending on DirecTV or in Mexico, Singer noted. With investments in DirecTV and Mexico taken out of the numbers, capex in 2016 declined by 16.2 percent from 2014, which was before reclassification -- $17.8 billion versus $21.2 billion, Singer said. “Put differently, the imposition of Title II is associated with (but did not necessarily cause) an annual reduction of over $3 billion in capital in the broadband sector in each of the last two years,” he said. “That’s a lot of capital to go missing.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai repeatedly argued that reclassification has meant less spending (see 1602260053). Matt Wood, Free Press policy director, challenged Singer’s arguments. “Even Hal cannot bring himself to claim that Title II ‘caused’ the reduction in AT&T's spending,” Wood emailed. “It's ‘associated’ with Title II? What on earth does that mean? There is no logic to the incredible leap he makes here by pretending that his is a straightforward argument. At best, he's trading in baseless innuendo and insinuations.” Singer said based on his calculations, capex spending by 12 top ISPs was down $3.6 billion in 2016, a 5.6 percent decline from 2014 levels. AT&T saw the biggest decline.

The Wi-Fi Alliance raised concerns about an Amtrak waiver request to let the passenger rail service operate at higher power levels in the 5 GHz band than allowed by FCC rules. In December, Amtrak asked the FCC to change the rules under which its Wi-Fi network operates so it can offer more robust service along its key Northeast Corridor (see 1612220013). Amtrak said limits in the UNII-1 band, output power of 250 mW with antenna gain up to 6 dBi, would mean it would have to spend more on stations than if it were allowed to operate at higher power levels. In effect, it asked to operate at levels allowed for fixed point-to-point operations, even though its trains move from place to place. “Wi-Fi Alliance applauds Amtrak for recognizing Wi-Fi as a key component of service to its customers,” the alliance said in a filing in docket 16-415. “However, Amtrak should demonstrate that the benefit its customers will receive will not impose a cost on other users of the 5 GHz band. Wi-Fi Alliance therefore requests that the Commission require Amtrak to provide further evidence of compatibility with other 5 GHz operations before the Commission grants the requested waiver.” An IEEE committee raised similar concerns. “Amtrak has provided no technical details regarding their network, no simulation results or measured data, and no characterization of the environment,” said IEEE 802, which oversees local area and metropolitan area networks. “With no information we cannot begin to understand its impact on neighboring Wi-Fi networks.” Globalstar said that after the request was filed it commissioned a study by Roberson and Associates and asked Amtrak officials questions. “Based on its analysis and these discussions, Globalstar does not object to the Commission’s grant of Amtrak’s waiver request given its very limited deployment and unique design, as long as such grant is narrowly tailored and includes all of the conditions proposed by Amtrak in its request,” Globalstar wrote.

A robocall blocking NPRM is among the items being considered for the March 23 meeting of FCC commissioners, agency officials told us. The tentative agenda is due out Thursday.

The FCC announced Tuesday that Chairman Ajit Pai and R.S. Sharma, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), signed an agreement at the Mobile World Congress pledging cooperation between the agencies. “The nonbinding agreement sets out a framework for the mutually beneficial exchange of ideas through activities such as best practices sharing, bilateral workshops, and digital videoconferences,” the FCC said in a statement. “To guide these efforts, the FCC and TRAI have determined topics of shared interest, including accelerating broadband deployment and aligning spectrum policy to meet increasing mobile broadband demand.”

Corrections: It's the consulting firm of economist Hal Singer, a firm principal, that has Comcast as a client (see 1702270035) ... The president of the Free State Foundation is Randolph May (see 1702240029).