The FCC and U.S. Agency for International Development signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday agreeing to work together to promote “secure and open 5G networks in the developing world.” As the U.S. and the world “move ahead with next-generation, 5G wireless services, we must ensure these networks are both open and secure,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. They will “promote open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet and digital infrastructure and advance interagency coordination on network security in developing countries.”

Broadband deregulation led to AT&T discontinuing DSL without committing to provide an alternative in areas where it doesn’t already have fiber, said consumer and worker groups Wednesday. The carrier’s action shows the FCC would be wrong to reaffirm, when commissioners meet Oct. 27, the 2017 net neutrality decision to reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title I information service, wrote Public Knowledge, Communications Workers of America, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Next Century Cities, Common Cause and The Greenlining Institute in docket 17-108. The groups attached an internal AT&T document, obtained by CWA, that they said showed DSL termination “will leave some unknown number of DSL subscribers without an available terrestrial, fixed broadband to the home option.” Other DSL carriers will likely follow AT&T, leading to millions with no fixed terrestrial alternative, they said. AT&T said last week that current DSL customers will keep service and the carrier will continue to expand fiber and wireless services (see 2010080066). AT&T provided an identical statement Wednesday. A Mississippi utility commissioner asked for an investigation (see 2010080055). Commissioners would vote Oct. 27 on the FCC response to the remand from U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Mozilla v. FCC (see 2010090050).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau deactivated the disaster information reporting system for Hurricane Delta, said a public notice Wednesday. In the final DIRS report, 3.9% of cellsites in nine Louisiana counties were down, 39,256 wireline and cable subscribers were experiencing an outage, and one TV station, three FMs and two AMs were out of service.

There are 49,824 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the nine Louisiana counties still being monitored for outages related to Hurricane Delta using the disaster information reporting system, said Tuesday’s FCC report. The area was narrowed Monday, said a public notice. No public safety answering points are down, while 6.5% of cellsites are offline. One TV station, three FM stations and two AMs are off-air.

Auction economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. They “studied how auctions work” and “used their insights to design new auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies,” the committee said Monday: “Their discoveries have benefited sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Tuesday “their work has made possible the extraordinary success of U.S. radiofrequency spectrum auctions.”

The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear Enigma Software v. Malwarebytes, which alleges anticompetitive behavior by a cybersecurity rival (see 2006150054). Justice Clarence Thomas issued a statement in agreement, saying the high court should consider reviewing Communications Decency Act Section 230’s language in an “appropriate case.” Malwarebytes claimed Section 230 immunity after Enigma sued. Enigma alleged Malwarebytes “engaged in anticompetitive conduct by reconfiguring its products to make it difficult for consumers to download and use Enigma products.” Thomas noted SCOTUS hasn’t interpreted Section 230 in the 24 years since its enactment: “Many courts have construed the law broadly to confer sweeping immunity on some of the largest companies.” He argued justices “should consider whether the text of this increasingly important statute aligns with the current state of immunity enjoyed by Internet platforms.” Extending the immunity “beyond the natural reading of the text can have serious consequences,” Thomas wrote. Before allowing immunity from civil claims for “knowingly hosting illegal child pornography” or “for race discrimination,” the court should “be certain that is what the law demands.” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said Thomas’ statement “strengthens the case for reform,” tweeting that it “explains how a couple of sweeping and questionable court decisions have expanded Big Tech’s protections far beyond the terms of Section 230 itself.” Attorneys for the companies didn’t comment.

The FCC announced the final list of census blocks eligible for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase 1 auction, set to start Oct. 29, said a public notice from the Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics in Friday's Daily Digest.

FCC staffer Axel Rodriguez is the commission’s new Enforcement Bureau field director, leading staff in its work, which includes investigating rule violations and interference complaints and supporting the restoration of communications after disasters, said a Friday release. Rodriguez, an electrical engineer, has been a supervisor at the FCC lab for seven years. Five years ago, the agency restructured its field offices, closing some and consolidating others (see 1507160036). It now has 13 field offices, the FCC said.

The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system for Hurricane Delta for affected counties in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, said a public notice Thursday. The bureau also issued PNs on emergency contact info for licensees that need special temporary authority, and on 24-hour availability of FCC staff.

Cutting intercarrier compensation charges should undermine the incentive for 8YY arbitrage schemes such as robocaller "traffic pumping," said the FCC in an 8YY order approved by FCC commissioners Friday (see 2010090047). Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who dissented on the 8YY NPRM adopted in 2018 (see 1806070021), concurred in the vote. The 5-0 vote was expected by some (see 2009040016). The order caps originating 8YY end office, database query and tandem switch and transport charges at their current amounts. It also sets transition periods for them, with the originating 8YY end office charges reduced to bill-and-keep in phases starting July 1 through July 1, 2023. It sets a nationwide rate cap of .001 cent per minute for originating 8YY tandem switching and transport access charges effective July 1, and cuts database query charges to .0002 cent per query over three phases ending July 1, 2023. The order also bars carriers from charging for more than one query per call.