A draft NPRM on repacking reimbursement for FM stations, low-power TV stations and translators appears to “penalize T-Mobile for taking a proactive approach” to funding LPTV relocation (see 1707170043), said the carrier in meetings with the Media Bureau, Incentive Auction Task Force, and aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, it recounted in docket 18-214, which also had other filings posted Thursday, a week before commissioners vote. The company was represented by former IATF Vice Chairman Howard Symons, now of Jenner & Block. T-Mobile “was willing to step in at a time when Congress had not funded the post-auction relocation of LPTV stations,” but Congress’ authorization of reimbursement funds for LPTV and translators “has materially altered the post-auction landscape for these stations,” T-Mobile said. The draft suggests T-Mobile could remain responsible for funding LPTV repacking despite the new reimbursement fund, and proposes precluding stations that received funding from the company, even for future expenses, it said. Stations that received money from T-Mobile should be able to use the fund “provided that they demonstrate that funds received from the third party have been returned or have not been used to fund the same eligible expenses” and likewise for the future, T-Mobile said. Microsoft also met with the IATF and Office of Engineering and Technology on the draft reimbursement NPRM. It should include questions about letting LPTV, translators and FM stations be reimbursed for transmit filters that will promote “greater overall band utilization,” wrote Microsoft, hoping “the NPRM ask whether the Commission could promote greater use of the television band by reimbursing full-service filters for all low-power broadcasters, rather than stringent or simple masks.” The draft misinterprets legislation authorizing the additional reimbursement, NAB continued to say (see 1807240061) in meetings and calls with Pai Chief of Staff Matthew Berry, Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey, and aides to Pai, Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr, it said (and filings). The draft operates from the premise the legislation lets the FCC draw FY 2018 funds only to reimburse LPTV, FM stations and translators, but NAB argued that’s a “phantom reading.” That led the NPRM to propose graduated payments for FMs based on how they are disrupted by the repacking, NAB said. “Congress specified funding levels from Fiscal Year 2018 funds, but also provided the FCC with discretion as to how to allocate Fiscal 2019 funds.”

Qualcomm will terminate its agreement to buy NXP Semiconductors when the deal expires at the end Wednesday, CEO Steve Mollenkopf said, accompanying release of results for the quarter ended June 24. Qualcomm will buy back up to $30 billion worth of stock, he said. Buying NXP would have created “the semiconductor engine for the connected world,” said Mollenkopf announcing the $38 billion deal in October 2016 (see 1610270028).

T-Mobile asked the FCC to clarify that it can bid in spectrum auctions independent of Sprint, despite its proposed purchase of the smaller carrier. T-Mobile said “pending merger agreements” with Sprint aren't a joint-bidding arrangement under FCC rules. T-Mobile said executives spoke with Commissioner Brendan Carr, aides to the other commissioners, Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale and others. “The Commission intended for the joint-bidding prohibition to be narrow in scope,” the carrier said in docket 18-85. “Over-broad interpretation of the term ‘post-auction market structure’ would create uncertainty over the permissibility of nearly any business decision with the potential to alter the wireless communications sector, in any way or degree. For example, a nationwide provider’s decision to cooperate with another nationwide provider on infrastructure deployment could be said to alter the ‘post-auction market structure’ of the existing wireless sector.”

Political considerations shouldn't drive antitrust enforcement actions at DOJ, and there's no evidence they have, former FTC Commissioner and Global Antitrust Institute Director Joshua Wright tweeted Tuesday. "Claims that a tweet or congressional hearing shake agency staff from their enforcement mission reveal ignorance of how FTC and DOJ work," he said. "Tweets and politics ... are not helpful" but claiming appointees and staff "are so easily swayed from their mission is inappropriate & inconsistent w my experience," he said. DOJ didn't comment.

The FCC unanimously voted to move its equal employment opportunity enforcement and auditing from the Media to the Enforcement bureau, said an order issued Tuesday. “We take this action in recognition of the important role our EEO rules play in encouraging a diverse and multi-talented workforce and at the request of [the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council] and other civil rights organizations.” The order was circulated earlier this month, timed with the 50th anniversary of FCC EEO rules (see 1807030048). The order will move Media Bureau Policy Division staffers who handle EEO audits and enforcement to the Enforcement Bureau’s Investigation and Hearings Division, the order said. EEO staff will continue to perform “periodic random audits, review of filings that broadcasters must submit to the Commission at the same time as their license renewal applications, and mid-term reviews,” the order said. “Rulemaking proceedings pertaining to EEO issues will continue to be conducted by the Media Bureau.”

A court affirmed an FCC video relay service order that updated rate tiers for VRS provider compensation. A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a petition from Sorenson Communications and dismissed a Video Relay Services Consumer Association petition. The panel found the commission's justifications reasonable under Chevron deference and said VRSCA lacked standing. The FCC interprets an "efficiency mandate to permit consideration of both short- and long-term efficiency, including efficiency-promoting objectives other than the lowest possible price, such as service competition," said the opinion of Judge Thomas Griffith, backed by Judges Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard, in Sorenson v. FCC, No. 17-1198. "To promote the efficiency of the VRS market, the agency retained its tiered-rate system to prevent the market from devolving into a monopoly." The panel noted Sorenson controls 80 percent of the VRS market and the agency had concerns that a single rate tier could hurt smaller providers. Oral argument was May 7 (see 1805070045). Last July, a commission order set a four-tier VRS compensation structure for 2017-21 that cut the rate covering some calling minutes of Sorenson, the largest provider (see 1707060062). Sorenson unsuccessfully argued the tiered rates are incompatible with a Communications Act efficiency mandate. The panel said VRSCA failed to show it had standing, including by not disclosing it's fully funded by Sorenson. Representatives of Sorenson and VRSCA didn't comment.

Commenters offered mixed views on actions and proposals to fight unwanted robocalling, as comments were posted Friday and Monday in docket 17-59 on an FCC public notice soliciting input for an upcoming staff report in consultation with FTC. There is no "silver bullet," so "efforts continue to move forward across multiple fronts," including "increasing deployment of various tools to consumers, advancing efforts with respect to the deployment of SHAKEN [Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs] and STIR [Secure Telephone Identify Revisited], as well as the Commission’s expansion of carriers’ ability to block illegal robocalls," said USTelecom, citing "marked strides" in the areas. "Industry and the FCC are aggressively working to mitigate illegal robocalling," said CTIA: "Efforts are promising, but with so much going on, it is premature to try to measure the effectiveness." Comcast said "significant progress has been made on various fronts," with "further important efforts" ongoing. "Despite ongoing progress by industry in formulating best practices and bringing call blocking technologies to market, illegal robocalls remain a significant concern," said the Professional Association for Customer Engagement. PACE urged the FCC to continue to engage with "industry organizations, such as the Communication Protection Coalition, that seek to implement best practices" and to promote "implementation of the SHAKEN/STIR framework." It called on industry and the FCC to "ensure that the telephone network remains available to legal callers and that legal callers are provided an opportunity to challenge erroneous blocking/labeling." The American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management backed FCC efforts "to protect consumers from illegal robocalls by bad actors. Consumers Union, the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America warned "against narrowly focusing on scam robocalls exclusively," saying "the FCC and FTC should solicit data to assess the scope of the entire robocall problem, from phone companies, callers, and call-mitigation services." Others commenting: The American Cable Association, AmeriFactors Financial Group, AT&T, ATIS, First Orion, Neustar, Noble Systems, Sprint, TNS, TransNexus and Verizon.

The U.S. and nations throughout the Caribbean should work together on disaster response, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Sunday in a speech at CANTO 2018, a meeting of the trade association for telecom operators across the Caribbean region. Last year’s hurricanes hit that region hard, Pai said in the Panama City speech. “Disaster response strikes me as an obvious area where we should be working together,” Pai said. “We should learn from our experiences and develop best practices so that we’re all better prepared and more effective in responding to future disasters. We should all be looking at what worked in the past and where we can improve service availability and restoration.” Pai said the U.S. and others in the region also share in interest in bringing broadband to more areas. “What compels me most -- what inspires me -- are the people I’ve met who are trying to make their way in the digital age,” he said. “You may think that a country as large and resource-rich as the United States can’t possibly understand the connectivity challenges of countries in the Caribbean region. But what I’ve seen in traveling around my country, including to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, and hearing from regulators from all over the world is that we do share common challenges.” Pai said in a second speech to CANTO Monday the FCC didn’t wait for establishment of 5G standards “through a government-led process” to make more spectrum available for fifth-generation. “We put our faith in the power of market forces to develop standards through a private-sector led process, as we did with 4G,” he said. Pai also said the U.S. is committed to working with other countries “toward international radio spectrum allocation and harmonization for next-generation terrestrial mobile and satellite” services. “This will help ensure that emerging technologies are promptly introduced into the marketplace, to the benefit of all citizens in our region,” he said.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, Ore., and other committee GOP leaders sought an FCC update Monday on states’ 911 fee diversions and their impact. This follows months of FCC pressure on New Jersey, Rhode Island and other jurisdictions (see 1802200055, 1802230012, 1804230042, 1805070050 and 1806210026). Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., led last week's filing of the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424), which would bar states from doing 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on such “acceptable” uses (see 1807190038). “The amount of 9-1-1 funds that have been diverted for nearly a decade is troubling,” Walden and the other House Commerce Republicans said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: “Diverting 9-1-1 fees may result in understaffed calling centers, training issues, longer wait times during an emergency, and inhibit the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 systems" so emergency call centers can pinpoint the location of mobile device users. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Gregg Harper, R-Miss., also signed the letter asking the FCC to schedule a briefing for committee staff. The agency didn’t comment.

The FCC will let the Federal Emergency Management Agency do the first nationwide test of wireless emergency alerts to wireless devices using the presidential level code on Sept. 20, with Oct. 3 a back-up date. FEMA requested a waiver (see 1807110033) so carriers would be able to participate in the test, to start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and be transmitted throughout the U.S. and its territories. The test “presents a unique circumstance that justifies a waiver of the Commission’s rules,” the Public Safety Bureau said. “We agree with FEMA, as noted in its letter, that it is important to ‘determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency.’”