FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will tour communities around the country to learn more about efforts to bring "robust, affordable communications services to all Americans," an agency release said Thursday. Clyburn will conduct her Connecting Communities: Bridging the Communications and Opportunities Divide Tour over the next several months and will tweet highlights under the hashtag #ConnectingCommunities. "This is a unique opportunity to gain new insights and ensure that the FCC hears a wide range of perspectives, including the many voices that often go unheard," she said. Clyburn plans to visit rural and urban communities, tribal lands, healthcare facilities, correctional facilities and 911 call centers, and to meet with "startups, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and providers of all sizes." When the tour is finished, she plans to deliver a "major policy speech" in the fall on her observations and outline policies she's pushing to improve communications access.

Incompas and Verizon officials lobbied four FCC commissioner offices on their recent proposal for revamping special access services (see 1604070069). Incompas CEO Chip Pickering and Verizon Senior Vice President Kathleen Grillo met Tuesday and Wednesday with Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Mike O'Rielly, Ajit Pai, Jessica Rosenworcel and their advisers, said an Incompas-Verizon filing posted Thursday in docket 05-25. "We discussed the joint letter ... and the principles set forth in that letter which we urge the Commission to use as a guide for the FCC’s policy on dedicated services. We believe these principles reflect a balanced approach that incorporates the concerns of both sides of the policy debate," they said. Separately, Verizon Vice President Maggie McCready met with aides to O'Rielly, Pai and Rosenworcel to defend as "just and reasonable" the company's generally available special access tariff discount plans, including the requirement to purchase demand from a single plan. "In these plans, Verizon and the customer both realize the benefit of the bargain. Any requirements to change the plans should not result in one party realizing benefits beyond those included as part of the original agreement," she said in a filing. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has circulated a draft item tentatively scheduled for a vote April 28 that would bar "all or nothing" special access purchase provisions (see 1604110065).

Since the FCC seems to be leaning toward approving Charter Communications' buy of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable with conditions, public interest groups are pushing for one such condition to be a "most favored state" clause that would guarantee that any conditions Charter agrees to in any given state would automatically be a federal regulatory condition as well. In a filing Thursday in docket 15-149, the groups said such a condition would carry minimal incremental costs to New Charter, since the New York Public Service Commission's approval (see 1601080048) already includes similar most-favored-state language. The New York condition specifically applies to line extensions, broadband speeds and stand-alone broadband pricing, the groups said, but also should apply to such issues as net neutrality, data caps, participation in the modernized Lifeline program, diverse programming, channel placement and nondiscrimination against rival sports programming. Charter didn't comment. The public interest groups in the filing are the Alliance for Community Media, Common Cause, the Consumers Union, the Greenlining Institute, the Media Alliance, the Open Media and Information Companies Initiative, New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and the Writers Guild of America, West. A California Public Service Commission administrative law judge issued a proposed decision Tuesday that included a variety of California-centric conditions (see 1604130020).

The FCC released more information countering comments by Commissioner Ajit Pai that Chairman Tom Wheeler kept a proposed $51 million fine against Total Call Mobile for violating Lifeline rules under wraps until after a vote on Lifeline overhaul (see 1604080032). Last week, an FCC spokesman said only that the two items weren't connected. A commission spokeswoman said Thursday that the FCC inspector general had requested the investigation not be released until April 1. “The timing of the enforcement action was in no way related to the timing of the vote on the program modernization,” the FCC spokeswoman emailed. An FCC official said the Enforcement Bureau circulated the Total Call order Feb. 22. The offices could have voted it at any time, but the item wasn't adopted until the April 7 statutory deadline, the official said. A Pai spokesman disputed the FCC spokeswoman's version of events on the notice of apparent liability. "The Enforcement Bureau explicitly and repeatedly said that nothing in the NAL could be publicly discussed or disclosed until April 1," the Pai spokesman said. "When specifically asked if that meant that if the commission adopted the item before April 1, it would not be publicly released until April 1, our office was told point blank that yes, the FCC would not release the NAL until April 1 even if adopted earlier." With respect to the FCC's acting sooner, "our office specifically asked why the FCC didn’t move forward with the NAL on the 32,000 duplicates that [Universal Service Administrative Co.] had discovered," the Pai spokesman said. "USAC discovered those duplicates in October 2014 and disclosed that finding to the company and FCC the next month. Under our precedent, that would have enabled the FCC to move forward with an NAL of up to $84 million at any time before October 2015. Because the company already knew about this finding, Total Call Mobile 'knew' it was under investigation regarding duplicate fraud." The Pai office asked "repeatedly what could justify not moving forward with this part of the investigation in an NAL before the statute of limitations expired and never received a satisfactory response," the Pai spokesman said.

An AT&T/EchoStar proposal for satellite/wireless sharing of the 28, 37 and 39 GHz bands might work for some satellite network operators, but it might preclude launches of future satellite networks needing broader access to those bands for increased broadband capacity and throughput, Boeing said in an FCC filing Tuesday in docket 14-177. The satellite industry needs more time for discussions with terrestrial 5G backers about spectrum sharing, since such talks "will identify innovative and effective measures to enable real-time sharing," Boeing said. The joint AT&T/EchoStar proposal (see 1604070059) "could be improved," Boeing said, citing its setting aside densely populated urban cores for 5G services, "limiting satellite access to the band to individually licensed earth stations, often on a secondary unprotected basis." The proposal also is sketchy on how co-primary sharing would be accomplished, Boeing said. The proposal "provides only a single viewpoint on the potential use of the 28 and 37/39 GHz bands, and does not represent a consensus of the satellite industry," Boeing said, saying the FCC should allow time for satellite industry technical efforts "to reach a resolution." ViaSat, in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 10-112, also was critical of the joint proposal, saying it didn't have satellite industry consensus. It also "only partially addresses one aspect of the sharing environment under consideration, was offered before technical details were provided by the 5G industry, has critical details to be resolved, and in fact appears to meet the needs of only one or two satellite operators," ViaSat said. It said EchoStar has a conflict because the millimeter wave frequency band licenses it holds through Alta Wireless "will become much more valuable and could be a key in blocking competitors from accessing spectrum." In a statement Wednesday, EchoStar said that “as noted in our joint filing, we recognize there are still open issues to be resolved and we look forward to the input of other satellite operators and the terrestrial industry.” AT&T didn't comment.

Broadcasting groups focused on transitioning to the ATSC 3.0 standard joined with consumer electronics companies to form a group focused on using the new standard for advanced emergency alerting. Called the AWARN Alliance after the proposed Advanced Warning and Response Network, the new entity will support “rapid deployment” of the AWARN system, which can deliver “rich media” such as graphics or video containing emergency information to consumer devices, the group said in a Tuesday announcement. The alliance includes ATSC advocates Pearl TV; Pilot, the former NAB Labs; LG Electronics and Sinclair. The AWARN Alliance will officially launch at the 2016 NAB Show, the group said. The group said it will be headed by John Lawson, formerly of America’s Public Television Stations and an architect of AWARN.

Verizon Fios had the fastest streaming rates in March, at 3.68 Mbps, CenturyLink the slowest, at 1.53 Mbps, Netflix said in its monthly speed report. The report doesn't touch on the controversy over its alleged throttling of signals to AT&T and Verizon, but focuses on wired connections (see 1603250050). “In the US, CenturyLink, whose performance has steadily slid since last November, now ranks last in the index with an average monthly speed of 1.53 Mbps,” Netflix said Monday. “By comparison, the slowest country we currently track -- Costa Rica -- posted average monthly performance of 1.87 Mbps in March.” But Netflix also said ISPs in general are seeing lower average rates because of Netflix’s ongoing encoding project. With encoding, programming uses less bandwidth. “With about 80 percent of our catalog now re-encoded, that change is beginning to impact the index,” Netflix said. “If you look at the US ISP Speed Index graph, you’ll see the group of top performers started moving collectively down last month and again this month. That movement as a group reflects more efficient streaming on those networks due to our encoding work.” CenturyLink didn't comment Tuesday.

Neustar asked the FCC to make public a proposed agreement governing Telcordia's services as the next local number portability administrator. Neustar, the LNPA incumbent, appealed a Wireline Bureau protective order that the company said prevents its personnel and others from reviewing the master service agreement (MSA) between North American Portability Management and Telcordia, also known as iconectiv. "Those restrictions are facially discriminatory, in violation of the Communications Act, and plainly unnecessary to protect legitimate proprietary business information," Neustar said in an application for review by the full commission filed Monday in docket 07-149. "The Commission should reverse the [bureau] decision and require publication of the entire MSA or, at a minimum, limit any redaction of confidential information to material that is genuinely proprietary and confidential." The entire MSA was submitted to the FCC as a confidential document, and the bureau protective order "is so broad" that the only individuals allowed to see the agreement are lawyers and outside consultants, Neustar said in a cover letter to the application. "The order thus blocks access by the public and by knowledgeable industry personnel to the proposed MSA, precluding effective review and meaningful comment. Such secrecy is unwarranted, unfair, and threatens to delay the planned transition of LNPA responsibilities," the company said. Neustar said it had been excluded from discussions between iconectiv and NAPM on transition issues: "That is a recipe for future delay and a flawed or failed transition. That failure to keep Neustar in the loop makes it all the more important that Neustar's technical and managerial personnel be given the opportunity for meaningful review and comment on the proposed MSA." Public participation is particularly necessary in this case, given the LNPA's role in ensuring numbers can be ported between carriers when customers switch services, and questions about iconectiv's neutrality, Neustar said, saying a draft order is circulating to approve the MSA (see 1604080062). Harris Wiltshire attorney John Nakahata, counsel for Telcordia/iconectiv, emailed Tuesday: “The Protective Order follows well-established FCC processes for protecting confidential information, while still allowing parties to have a meaningful opportunity to participate. The contract contains competitively sensitive information, as well as security sensitive information.” An FCC spokesperson emailed: “We have received the letter and are reviewing.” A NAPM representative had no comment.

The FCC is seeking comment on Verizon's proposed buy of XO Communications and its fiber assets from XO Holdings, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 16-70. Petitions to deny and other comments are due by May 12, with oppositions to petitions and other reply comments due May 27, the PN said. It noted the applicants say their deal won't cause any material adverse harms to consumers or competition (see 1603070041 and 1603220063), but some parties have said the transaction could raise concerns (see 1602220071). The FCC also established a pleading cycle on an application from Verizon Wireless to lease spectrum from NextLink Wireless under 93 local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) and nine 39 GHz licenses. Verizon said it wants to use the spectrum for research, development and early testing of 5G products and services, said a Wireless Bureau public notice. The companies also said in their application that Verizon Wireless has an option to buy from XO Holdings, NextLink’s parent, all of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests in NextLink. But the companies say Verizon Wireless isn't currently exercising the option, the notice said. “The Applicants state that the lease agreement would authorize Verizon Wireless to use all of Nextlink’s LMDS and 39 GHz spectrum, except for discrete spectrum and geographic areas that are subject to existing leases to third parties or to contractual requirements to reserve spectrum for the use of third parties,” the FCC said. “Under the lease agreement, Nextlink also would lease any Restricted Spectrum to Verizon Wireless when it is no longer subject to a third-party commitment.” Petitions to deny are due at the FCC May 3, oppositions May 13, and replies May 20. Verizon said in its application to buy XO that it sees the deal as tied to the rapid expansion of data usage. “Verizon’s network densification requires deploying additional small cells, distributed antenna systems, in-building systems, and macro cells in capacity constrained areas like urban areas and large public venues,” Verizon said. “These cells enhance the quality and reliability of its existing wireless network, and will also help lay the groundwork for the evolution to 5G technologies, which will rely heavily on small cells.” Verizon wants to position itself as the industry leader as 5G rolls out in coming years (see 1602240021).

Most U.S. consumers are skeptical of the cost and utility of the IoT, said IDC Monday, citing findings from a survey it will discuss on a webcast April 21. But network entertainment applications are a “stepping stone” to a broader IoT experience, said IDC. Some 28 percent of people who own a home network stream online videos to their TVs and are “much more likely to express high interest in and adoption of home IoT applications than other home network owners,” it said. One out of five people who use home automation, monitoring and control devices say their home IoT applications solved a problem they didn't know they had, IDC said. "The long-run impact of the Internet of Things will be broader and deeper than we imagine right now, but the industry is still in the early stages of developing the vision and conveying it to consumers," said Jonathan Gaw, research manager, IDC's IoT consumer program. Some are confused about what constitutes the IoT, said AT&T last week, while Verizon said the IoT is going mainstream (see 1604080039).