Emergency alert system participants reported some problems after a nationwide EAS test in September, Gregory Cooke, an associate division chief in the FCC Public Safety Bureau, told the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee Friday. The test was the second nationwide of the EAS and, according to the early analysis, it mostly went smoothly (see 1609280074). But problems were detected, Cooke said. One-third of those who provided feedback to the FCC after the test indicated there was no problem, Cooke said. Others reported receiving audio, but not a text crawl and vice versa, he said. “In some cases, participants ran the text crawl too quickly or did not supply sufficient contrast so the text crawl could be read easily," he said. “This is a problem we have been aware of for quite a while. It’s one that is not built into the architecture. This is how individual TV and radio stations set up their system.” The FCC is working on best practices for stations so they can ensure they don't run the crawl too quickly and it's presented with proper contrast, he said. “That’s going to be an ongoing issue.” Another nationwide EAS test is likely, but hasn't been scheduled, Cooke said.

The FTC appealed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals August decision giving companies that provide any common-carrier service (see 1608290032) "blanket immunity" from commission enforcement, the agency said, as expected (see 1609270033). The decision is "wrong and should be corrected," argued the commission in a Thursday filing, seeking a rehearing en banc. A three-judge panel tossed out an FTC lawsuit accusing AT&T Mobility of inadequately informing customers of its data throttling program (see 1608300055, 1608310010 and 1609020021). The FTC said the ruling creates "an enforcement gap," leaving millions of consumers vulnerable to unfair or deceptive practices and unable to obtain redress. Companies -- including AT&T, Comcast, Google and even ExxonMobil -- provide both common-carrier and non-common-carrier services, the FTC said. "The panel's ruling calls into question the FTC's ability to protect consumers from unlawful practices by such companies in any of their lines of business," said the commission. It argued the FCC is limited in its enforcement authority and only the FTC has broad powers over consumer data privacy and security. The FTC also said the ruling conflicts with decisions by other circuit courts and that the 9th Circuit panel misread the FTC Act.

New York sought an expedited FCC waiver of Connect America Fund rules requiring Phase II subsidy support for broadband-oriented service to be awarded in the state through competitive bidding. New York said it must soon carry out a state auction of subsidies for the same areas covered by the FCC's planned CAF II reverse auction. "Grant of the requested waiver would allow New York to coordinate allocation of the CAF funding with its own broadband auction, resulting in significant benefits to New York consumers," said a filing posted Thursday in docket 10-90 by Empire State Development, which is overseeing the state auction. "New York’s allocation of CAF funds would be undertaken in accordance with key Commission requirements and would not impose any additional financial burdens on the CAF." ESD said the waiver would facilitate federal-state coordination, encourage broadband investment and provide "significant cost efficiencies and financial synergies." The state auction is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) $500 million program to expand broadband access, ESD said. Round 1 resulted in $75.8 million in broadband investment, $54.2 million from the state and $21.6 million from private parties. Round 2 would cover the territories where Verizon, as the incumbent telco, declined the FCC's $170.4 million offer of CAF II support. New York wants the waiver to use that funding in its auction.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is to open Friday’s meeting of the commission’s Consumer Advisory Committee. The final meeting of CAC’s current term starts at 9 a.m. EDT, said an FCC public notice. “The Committee is expected to consider a recommendation from its No Surprise Billing Task Force regarding the clarity of charges at point of sale and on bills,” the agency said. “The Committee will also receive briefings from Commission staff on issues of interest to the Committee.” Commissioner Mignon Clyburn also is scheduled to speak to the group.

The FCC Robocall Strike Force is to release a report at a meeting Oct. 26, the agency said Thursday. It's "an industry-led group which has been working for two months to develop comprehensive solutions to prevent, detect, and filter unwanted robocalls,” the FCC said in a Thursday public notice. “Giving consumers meaningful control over the calls and texts they receive requires collective action by the industry.” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler directed the task force to develop an “action plan” within 60 days, at the group's initial meeting in August (see 1608190034). AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, chairing the group, is to speak, as are Wheeler and other commissioners. The meeting is to run 1-2 p.m. EDT in the Commission Meeting Room.

While still monitoring North Carolina flooding from Hurricane Matthew, the FCC Public Safety Bureau deactivated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) in all counties of Florida, Georgia and Virginia and most of South Carolina, the bureau said in a public notice Thursday. DIRS remains active in North Carolina and Horry County, South Carolina, it said. The North Carolina flooding has challenged telecom companies trying to restore service (see 1610110038). In the 18 counties still reporting to DIRS, 2.1 percent of cell sites were down at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the FCC reported. Nearly 15 percent of cellsites were still down in Robeson County, North Carolina, it said. For wireline and cable, 304 switching centers were out of service, leaving 56,769 customers without service in North Carolina, the FCC said. Six radio stations and one TV station were out of service in the same state. All public safety answering points were fully operational in the disaster area, it said.

Tech spending will grow 3.1 percent to $36.05 billion during this holiday season, lower than the overall retail sales increase of 3.8 percent to $825 billion (excluding gas and restaurant sales), a CTA forecast said Tuesday. CTA estimates total online holiday sales will grow by 16.4 percent to $84.2 billion.

The District of Columbia U.S. District Court lacks jurisdiction to hear FCC employee Sharon Stewart's employment retaliation complaint since she hasn't exhausted all her administrative remedies, the agency said Tuesday in an answer (in Pacer) to Stewart's amended complaint (see 1609300016) filed this month. The FCC also said Stewart's claims she was penalized after complaining of a hostile work environment in the Office of Communications Business Opportunities are barred since they differ from or exceed the scope of a discrimination charge, and any actions it took regarding Stewart "were for legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reasons, were based on good faith and were not in violation of any federal law." Counsel for Stewart said Wednesday they stand by the claims.

AT&T and Verizon headed the list of the top 25 companies ranked by capital expenditures in 2015, a report by the Progressive Policy Institute said. AT&T was tops on the list, with $18.7 billion in capex spending, followed by Verizon at $16.5 billion. Comcast was eighth at $8.4 billion and Time Warner Cable 21st at $4.4 billion. “The top 25 investment heroes” invested almost $177 billion in the U.S. in 2015, the report said. That’s a 2.9 percent increase over 2014. “AT&T and Verizon invested large sums to maintain and expand their networks again this year,” PPL said. “However, according to our estimates, AT&T’s capital expenditure was down by 11.6 percent as compared to the previous year. Verizon boosted domestic capital expenditures in its wireless operations in 2015 in order to increase the capacity of its 4G LTE network. However, this rise in investment was largely offset by a decrease in their wireline segment capital spending, resulting in a net increase in investment of only 3.4 percent as compared to 2014.”

The White House released a report on the role and potential benefits of artificial intelligence, including how AI-enabled products should be regulated. "In general, the approach to regulation of AI-enabled products to protect public safety should be informed by assessment of the aspects of risk that the addition of AI may reduce alongside the aspects of risk that it may increase," said the Wednesday report. Policymakers and regulators should discuss whether existing regulations adequately address such risks and how they can change regulations if they increase compliance costs or slow the development or adoption of AI innovations without affecting safety or competition. For instance, the report pointed to the regulatory challenges in developing driverless cars and drones, which potentially could provide many economic and societal benefits, but also present public safety issues. The report also touched on government R&D to advance AI, the need for a better skilled workforce and consequences of the technology's impact on jobs, safety and security. The report, which lists nearly two dozen recommendations that federal agencies and other stakeholders should take in this area, was released a day before the White House's innovation conference in Pittsburgh that will include AI as a topic (see 1610110008).