The FCC and National Asian American Coalition are upping their partnership aimed at stopping unwanted robocalls and spoofing scams, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau said Tuesday. It said the NAAC -- which has staffed consumer education kiosks in Asian supermarkets in four California Bay Area locations since 2017 -- will expand to 15 locations across California and Las Vegas. The booths include FCC consumer tip cards on avoiding unwanted robocalls, robotexts and spoofing scams, printed in Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, it said. The bureau said it also provides training support to the NAAC program volunteer staff.

The FCC should stick with its July 2016 clarification the Telephone Consumer Protection Act doesn't apply to calls made by or on behalf of the federal government as part of official business, except for calls made by contractors that don’t comply with government instructions, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai partially dissented to that ruling and Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel also expressed concerns (see 1607060013). The 2016 ruling addressed petitions seeking clarification by Broadnet, the National Employment Network Association and RTI International. “Any reversal of this decision would adversely affect Federal agencies' ability to perform their critical missions and, in particular, will increase the cost of business to the Government and taxpayers, and could impair the Census Bureau's ability to reach every person as part of the upcoming 2020 Census as is constitutionally required,” Ross said in a letter posted Monday in docket 18-152. “Supreme Court precedent clearly stands for the proposition that Federal contractors are immune from TCPA liability when they comply with the Government's instructions.”

If the FCC backs its plan for freeing up C-band spectrum for 5G terrestrial use, 60 MHz along with a 20 MHz guard band could be freed up within 18 months of an order in 46 of top 50 partial economic areas, the C-Band Alliance said in a docket 18-122 filing Tuesday on how it would implement that transition. That spectrum would be at 3700-3780 MHz. The remaining spectrum in those PEAs -- 3760-3880 MHz -- and the full 180 MHz in all other PEAs would be freed up within 36 months, it said. CBA said it anticipates initially using two different types of filters on earth stations in that first wave of spectrum clearing -- one for those top 46 PEAs operating in 3900-4200 MHz and a separate one for those at 3780-3900 MHz. By the end of 36 months, everyone would have migrated to the type of filter used in the PEAs operating in the 3900-4200 MHz range. CBA repeated that all filter costs would be covered, as would repointing receive antennas or any equipment replacements needed because repointing can't be done. It said SES and Intelsat are talking with satellite manufacturers about trying to speed up building and launching the geostationary orbit satellites that would be required, discussing issues like increased commonality between satellite components and a parallel manufacturing process. Of the estimated eight satellites that would be needed, two would be ground spares, one would be an in-orbit spare and five would replace current satellites in orbit. CBA cited work it has done since late 2017, including a needs assessment of current satellite capacity and customer needs, earth station filter design and testing.

The California Emerging Technology Fund supported T-Mobile buying Sprint after reaching agreement on commitments, they said in docket A18-07-011. CETF and T-Mobile would partner post-deal to close the digital divide, promote digital inclusion and expand wireless broadband including in rural and remote areas, Monday's motion said. T-Mobile will provide federal Lifeline and California LifeLine services “indefinitely in California to both current and new LifeLine eligible customers for free (along with free handsets),” guaranteeing it “through the end of 2024 at a minimum,” it said. Within five years, the new carrier will add 332,500 new low-income households by spending at least $1 million a year, and add 52,000 low-income California families with children by providing $13.5 million for schools. T-Mobile would provide $4.5 million to community organizations, schools and libraries for digital literacy training for up to 75,000 new low-income households, $5 million for CETF grants to local governments for digital inclusion and $13 million to fund CETF operations. The combining firms committed to deploying 5G to 90 percent of California cellsites specified in T-Mobile’s network plan by 2025, prioritizing upgrades in 10 unserved and underserved areas selected by the company in consultation with CETF and the Rural Regional Consortia, it said. The carriers would expand by 50 percent cells on wheels and cells on light trucks they have for emergencies by 2021. The companies made 5G commitments last week in Hawaii (see 1904040005).

The FCC shouldn’t allow broadcasters to use vacant channel spectrum for the transition to ATSC 3.0, said the Open Technology Institute at New America in a meeting Tuesday with Media Bureau staff, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 16-142. The letter repeated many points from an earlier meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1904020063).

Officials from the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) said they met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and a pending petition for a declaratory ruling on automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS). ILR told Pai many of its members “face an increased amount of abusive TCPA litigation due to a lack of clarity around what constitutes an ATDS,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 02-278.

A working paper by the FCC, its first since 2012, looks at the organization of economists in a regulatory agency and concludes that structure does make a difference. The paper builds on a working group report that led to the creation of the new Office of Economics and Analytics, the FCC said. “The way professionals are organized does indeed affect the quality of their intellectual output,” the paper concludes: “As prior case study research suggests, functional organization of economists is associated with higher-quality economic analysis of regulations.” The paper also said that functional organization “does not necessarily diminish the influence of specialists on decisions by allowing others to ignore the information they produce, and it may even augment their influence.” The paper says the questions raised are a “topic ripe for further research.” The paper was written by Jerry Ellig, former chief economist at the FCC, now at George Washington University, and Catherine Konieczny, an economist at the Coast Guard Standards Evaluation and Analysis Division and a former FCC intern. Economic studies at the FCC should be subject to peer review, tweeted Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “This is what good government requires. But it is not what the agency is doing today.” Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted that the office “was to encourage economists and other specialists to think big (and write accordingly).”

More team-ups with other federal agencies going after robocallers and requiring phone companies to implement caller ID authentication tech were among suggestions on the FCC rulemaking on curbing spoofed robocalls. The NPRM was adopted in February (see 1902140039). Beyond requiring implementation of caller ID authentication technology, set guidelines for its implementation and ensure consumers are represented on the Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs/Secure Telephony Identity Revisited (Shaken/Stir) governance board, said Consumer Reports, the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America in docket 18-335, which got comments through Thursday. They said spoofed calls need to be blocked or diverted, not just identified, and Shaken/Stir as conceptualized now wouldn't address situations where robocallers buy phone numbers and use those to mask identity. They said the FCC should consider requiring phone companies vet subscribers, monitoring for numbers making inordinate amounts of calls. CTIA said the FCC and other agencies such as the FTC and DOJ, plus states attorneys general and international counterparts, ought to "take even more steps to deter bad actors." It suggested the FCC define the scope of its expanded anti-spoofing rules to include short message service and multimedia message service text messages. The FCC needs to be sure it's "hewing closely" to the updates Congress made to caller ID issues in Ray Baum's Act and not expand the scope of those rules past congressional intent or change the established regulatory framework in other areas, Twilio said. It said the FCC should be careful applying spoofing rules to messages sent using common short code, and not include rich communications services in the definition of text message. Comcast suggested the FCC clarify that a provider originating an IP call has to transmit the calling party name alongside the calling party number. It also recapped meeting with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, saying the order creating a comprehensive number database, while not specifically a fraudulent spoofing issue, also will help cut volume of unwanted calls.

The FCC's blogs can be useful in such areas as explaining new rules or providing advice, but industry should rely on commission rules and orders for definitive word, General Counsel Tom Johnson and Office of General Counsel lawyer Michael Carlson blogged Thursday in what they said was a return of the OGC blog after an eight-year hiatus. Blog posts don't "carry the same force of law" as rules and orders, and "cannot serve as a sword or a shield in litigation [or] supersede or alter the laws it is attempting to explain," it said. That a blog carries a byline makes clear it doesn't bind the agency and isn't an authoritative pronouncement, even if it comes from the bureau chief or chairman, the OGC officials said. They said there hasn't been case law specifically about whether blog posts are binding on an agency, but "ample authority" makes clear informal staff advice isn't, such as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's 1991 Malkan FM Associates case about what an official mentioned at an FCC-sponsored seminar.

The FCC restarted the 180-day informal shot clock on its review of T-Mobile buying Sprint Thursday, at day 122. It paused the shot clock in early March, seeking additional comment on new data from the companies (see 1903070045). The 4Competition Coalition said none of the late data submissions by the two carriers makes a bad deal better. The group said: “The evidence in the record is clear: None of these submissions change the reality that this merger would mean more concentration, less competition, and higher prices for millions of American consumers. As the shot clock resumes, we look forward to the completion of the thorough review process and, ultimately, the rejection of this merger.” Completion of the deal would mean more jobs, from the beginning, T-Mobile CEO John Legere blogged Thursday. “This merger is all about creating new, high-quality, high-paying jobs, and the New T-Mobile will be jobs-positive from Day One and every day thereafter. That’s not just a promise. That’s not just a commitment.” The combined company will create nearly 5,600 new American customer care jobs by 2021, he said: “New T-Mobile will employ 7,500+ more care professionals by 2024 than the standalone companies would have.” A top T-Mobile official expressed optimism Thursday. “We are very optimistic about the combination and its approval,” T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray said at the CTIA 5G summit (see 1904040048). The two companies are “moving the ball up the field,” he said. “We are scoring big points.” T-Mobile and Sprint reached agreement with Hawaii’s consumer advocate to clear the path to state OK, the carriers and advocate told the Public Utilities Commission. In a letter posted Thursday, they urged the PUC to adopt parties’ stipulation and OK the deal before June 1, the expected end date of the FCC’s review. The carriers agreed to “strive to deliver” 5G coverage to 90 percent of its Hawaii points of presence within three to five years of the deal closing, and annually meet with the consumer advocate and PUC to review T-Mobile Form 477 data through 2024. The carriers also need state OKs from California and Pennsylvania.