Comments are due Aug. 8 on the FCC’s tentative findings for its biennial report to Congress required by the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, said a public notice (docket 10-213) listed in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The agency tentatively found that telecom and consumer electronics companies "have continued to include people with disabilities in product and service design and development.” The comments received by the agency show videoconferencing providers such as Zoom “have introduced accessibility innovations over the past two years, but we tentatively find that commenters have identified several accessibility issues for further exploration.” The FCC must submit final findings to Congress by Oct. 8.

The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council met for less than an hour Wednesday, getting brief updates from each of its working groups.. The council's next action will come in September when it's expected to vote on the first of a series of reports. The FCC headquarters has reopened for visitors, but groups like CSRIC continue to meet online. Suzon Cameron, FCC designated federal officer, said the next meeting is also expected to be virtual. “Our specific objectives are to identify the challenges facing ORAN for security and interoperability and so on and how do we deploy and secure the open RAN,” said Mike Barnes, Mavenir chief product security officer and co-chair of the Promoting Security, Reliability and Interoperability on Open Radio Access Network Equipment WG. The Managing Software & Cloud Services Supply Chain Security WG is on target to submit a report on best practices in September, said T-Mobile’s Todd Gibson, interim co-chair. “The goal here for us is to really present something novel,” he said: “We don’t want to regurgitate what’s already been produced from the various sources, but try to layer in and contribute to the community providing some novel recommendations.” Some are already using Wi-Fi to make an emergency call, said Mark Reddish, APCO government relations manager and co-chair of the 911 Service Over Wi-Fi WG. “Our group’s focus is really on how to expand current capabilities,” he said: “For example, there could be enhancements in the number of situations in which a 911 call could be completed over Wi-Fi, enhancements to the location information that’s used for routing the call and describing the location of the caller, call prioritization, security issues.”

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued revised protocols Tuesday for in-person oral arguments beginning with the July court sitting and until further notice. The new rules "clarify and expand the testing or medical documentation available" to arguing counsel allowing them to enter the court. Before entering the National Courts Building, the Federal Circuit will require counsel and attendees to present documentation of (1) a negative polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 test administered in the 72 hours before oral argument, (2) a negative rapid antigen test administered within the 24 hours before oral argument, or (3) a positive test result from one of the above forms of testing from a sample taken during the previous 90 days along with a signed letter from a licensed healthcare provider or public health official saying the party has been cleared for travel. The court also updated its certification of compliance form.

Inflation is running “at a faster clip” than AT&T expected, and is the biggest concern for the immediate future, AT&T Chief Financial Officer Pascal Desroches warned at a Credit Suisse financial conference Tuesday. Desroches said AT&T may have to consider raising prices for its service plans for a second time this year (see 2205030066). “We built in a fairly healthy level of inflationary expectations into our budget,” Desroches said: “With that said, it's running harder than we thought, and you saw one of the things that we did recently was to raise prices in response. … We're seeing inflation in labor, supplies, energy, transport.” The AT&T executive expressed optimism about the C-band, with the next phase of deployment looming. “Our network is reliable, consistent, and it's better than it's ever been and getting better every day,” he said. He noted the nearly $40 billion of mid-band spectrum the company bought in the 3.45 GHz and C-band auctions: “We expect to deploy that over the next 18 to 24 months and as we deploy, the network will only get better.” Churn was low during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many consumers benefited from stimulus payments, Desroches said. Churn could rise due to inflation, he said. “As I look at the inflationary expectation over the next several quarters, it's hard for me to envision that that's not going to impact the consumers negatively and that we and others will see some pressure,” he said. Wireless competition isn’t increasing, Desroches said. The market has “been competitive for some time” and “remains competitive,” he said. AT&T has been targeting segments of the population that are underserved, he said, citing FirstNet and outreach to Hispanics. “We are being very surgical,” he said. “We have stepped up our investment [in wireless] to match the competitors and that has helped enormously,” he said. Other markets are also growing, Desroches said: “You're seeing kids getting phones at an earlier age. You have older people getting phones that never had them. You're seeing all of a sudden a separation of your work life from your home life, so people [are] getting multiple devices.” New business formation has also been “really strong” since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. AT&T recently eliminated HBO Max from its premium unlimited wireless plan as a free perk for new customers. Desroches said the carrier is trying out other included features, such as hot spot data, to bring in more customers. “It’s really not anything against HBO Max,” he said: “It’s us trying to drive deeper penetration to different portions of our customer base.”

U.S. internet service costs in May were up 2.5% year over year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index unadjusted data released Friday. It said residential phone service costs increased 4.7% year over year, but wireless service was down 0.7%. Cable and satellite TV service rose 5.8%. BLS said May prices overall were up 8.6% year over year before seasonal adjustment, with airline fares and new and used vehicles being major drivers of inflation.

DirecTV's U-verse TV topped the 2022 rankings of subscription TV services, and Verizon Fios had the highest customer satisfaction among ISPs, in the American Customer Satisfaction Index study for telecommunications providers, released this week. Verizon, followed closely by AT&T, had the highest customer satisfaction among landline phone providers. Topping the streaming service satisfaction surveys was the Microsoft Store, followed closely by Disney+. ACSI said results came from 23,605 email interviews done between April 2021 and March 2022.

The FCC’s public notice seeking a record refresh on improving how wireless 911 calls are routed to the appropriate first responders got only minor changes over the draft version, based on a side-by-side comparison. Commissioners approved the notice Wednesday (see 2206080040), and released it Thursday. Officials said Wednesday they didn’t adopt all the language proposed by APCO (see 2206060052) on emergency services IP networks (ESInets), but some was added. In an added sentence, the FCC now seeks comment “on whether wireless carrier plans and timelines for implementing location-based routing vary depending on whether PSAPs are using legacy E911 technology, are transitioning to NG911 (i.e., have implemented discrete NG911 elements, such as ESInets, but have not fully implemented NG911), or have achieved full end-state NG911 with all elements included.” The final version makes eight references to ESInets, compared with one in the draft. A new sentence asks: “How if at all is location-based routing different for [public safety answering points] that are not connected to an ESInet?” The FCC also added comment dates -- July 11 for initial comments, July 25 for replies -- which were based on the release date.

Low-power TV and TV translator stations, MVPDs and FM stations have until Sept. 6 to submit remaining incentive auction invoices to the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund, the FCC Media Bureau said in a docket 16-306 public notice Wednesday.

Redesignate USTelecom's Industry Traceback Group (ITG) as the registered consortium to head industry efforts to trace the origin of suspected unlawful calls, said NCTA and CTIA in comments posted Monday in docket 20-22 (see 2204200018). USTelecom was first designated in 2020 and redesignated in 2021. The ITG, established in 2015, "has played a central role in combatting illegal robocalls," said USTelecom. The ITG has "successfully fulfilled" its mandate since 2020, CTIA commented: It "remains best qualified to serve as the registered consortium." The ITG's "neutral framework consistently and effectively promotes the type of widespread participation necessary for success," the group said, citing "significant growth in industry participation." The FCC received a letter of intent from ZipDX expressing interest in being designated as the registered consortium in May. It's the second time ZipDX submitted a letter and called itself the "most competent applicant." ZipDX raised concerns about the ITG's potential for "associated intrinsic bias" because of its funding sources: "While there may be no explicit evidence of such allegiances, it is an obvious consideration." The FCC Enforcement Bureau said in its 2021 order redesignating the ITG that its "multi-member structure ensures neutrality and reflects openness" (see 2108250081). NTCA, which has several members that sit on the ITG's executive committee, said USTelecom "continues to build on its efforts to combat robocalls" and initiated nearly 2,900 tracebacks between January and November 2021. It "commend[ed] ZipDX’s participation in traceback efforts and its commitment to curbing illegal robocalls" but noted choosing another consortium would "hamper the industry’s ongoing and important efforts to protect consumers." The ITG’s record "speaks for itself concerning neutrality through consistent and even-handed implementation," USTelecom said.

RS Access CEO Noah Campbell and others from the company, and from RKF Engineering, said they spoke with FCC staff on a new engineering study on using the 12 GHz band for 5G, which they say shows no threat to the non-geostationary orbit fixed-satellite service (see 2205200038). “RS Access has now filed two rigorous technical studies based on Monte Carlo simulations of a robust nationwide 5G deployment and 2.5 million NGSO terminals,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-443: “NGSO operators -- including Starlink -- have failed to submit any technical analysis of their own during the 1.5 years this proceeding has been open. … To remove any doubt about the feasibility of 5G-NGSO coexistence, and despite serious questions about the claims made by opposing satellite companies, RKF’s new analysis incorporates technical assumptions put forward by Starlink about the nature and operation of NGSO terminals.” Starlink didn’t comment. The 5G proponents spoke with staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology. Proponents hope for an order addressing the band in coming months, though they say timing is difficult to predict (see 2205170052).