FCC staff denied 14 requests for review of Universal Service Administrative Co. Lifeline decisions on duplicative support in the low-income program. The Wireline Bureau upholds "USAC’s decision to combat program waste by recouping funds from eligible telecommunications carriers who impermissibly enrolled and then sought funding for the same customer more than once," said an order Monday in docket 11-42. Petitions were filed by Assist Wireless, Boomerang Wireless, Easy Wireless, Global Connection, Head Start Telecom, iWireless, Nexus Communications, Telrite and True Wireless. "Petitioners have not presented sufficient evidence indicating that the subscribers at issue were separate eligible Lifeline subscribers and not duplicates," said the bureau. "Nor have Petitioners presented any evidence that they investigated any of the nearly identical or substantially similar records flagged by USAC prior to seeking compensation or that they had in place internal procedures designed to flag such records for investigation." Representatives of some of the providers didn't comment Tuesday. Separately, the National Lifeline Association told bureau staffers of "the nearly complete lack of support in the record for [an NPRM] proposal to ban resellers from the Lifeline program," said an NaLA filing. NaLa cited other "troubling proposals in the NPRM that could effectively eviscerate the Lifeline program’s ability to address the affordability aspect of the digital divide," including to require resellers to pass through the full $9.25 monthly subscriber subsidy to underlying carriers. It said instead of "perpetuating the paternalistic mandatory family-sized service plans" and phasing out support for voice services, the FCC should allow consumers to choose among voice and data options, including bundles. NaLa said the new national verifier will help prevent program abuse but criticized the FCC's 2017 decision not to institute an application programming interface, which it said would force USAC to screen all applicants, wasting resources. Telrite, Boomerang and Global Connection petitioned to extend by 30 days a May 30 deadline for recertifying the Lifeline eligibility of certain subscribers in Puerto Rico.

Many IoT players are interested in an alliance on device security, Russ Gyurek, Cisco director-Innovation Labs, told a CTA event in Santa Clara, California, last week. “I’ve talked to dozens of companies. Nobody has said this is a bad idea. So I’ve got right now about 30 companies that are willing to be founders or start this. I don’t want it to be just another alliance. It needs to be very little cost and have a mission of driving this.” The proposal, which doesn’t yet have a name, is based heavily on manufacturer usage description specifications and bootstrapping remote secure key infrastructures protocol that is in the final stages of standards-setting at the Internet Engineering Task Force, said Gyurek. The alliance would promote self-certification. Cisco plans demonstrations at next month’s Cisco Live conference in Orlando, he said. “We’ve had a couple of discussions with service providers in that respect. They’re very interested in this, especially as 5G starts to become more online, because 5G promises massive IoT.”

Without FCC input and guidance on how it would view potential fixes to Dish Network de facto control issues, the court-ordered process giving the designated entities a chance to fix those control issues (see 1708290012) could end up "as nothing more than a 'gotcha' process" aimed at having Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless fail, the two say. In a Universal Licensing System filing Friday, they said the remand proceeding needs changing or it could result in further litigation and thus legal uncertainty about the AWS-3 licenses SNR and Northstar won but weren't granted. The two say they are in talks with investors about fixing the Dish control issues and plan to submit their cure filings to the FCC by June 8. They say FCC guidance "is appropriate and legally required" since the agency's 2015 order sets out its de facto control concerns but doesn't say how to address them. They said the FCC's not taking part in discussions on de facto control issues is contrary to agency precedent and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's decision. They contend the agency already has standards on good faith, character and candor and those provide benchmarks for assessing the conduct of parties in the negotiation process. SNR and Northstar say that they have made notable changes to their structures and agreements (see 1804040004) shows the are acting in good faith. They say if a DE applicant won't be allowed to engage with agency staff to cure de facto control issues after an auction, the agency needs to rule on the applicants' qualifications for bidding credits before the auction. The FCC didn't comment. A draft item on the DEs' applications for new AWS-3 licenses is on circulation (see 1804200058). The filing recapped a meeting of SNR and Northstar representatives with outgoing Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

AT&T is considering filing a petition seeking cert at the Supreme Court on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimous ruling that the FTC has jurisdiction over the non-common-carrier activities of common carriers, such as the company (see 1802260031). AT&T’s update came in a status report in case No. 14-cv-04785-EMC submitted to U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in the Northern District of California, who's presiding over an FTC lawsuit alleging AT&T promised millions of wireless customers unlimited data, then throttled the speeds they got. The company said it no longer throttles unlimited customers once they hit monthly data allotment. “AT&T intends to file a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court” by the May 29 deadline, said the update. AT&T and the FTC are “preparing to engage in direct settlement discussions,” the document said. “Though the parties share an interest in exploring whether the case can be resolved through settlement, they do not propose resuming [alternative dispute resolution] at this time.”

Sunday’s local number portability administrator transition succeeded in the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, North American Portability Management (NAPM) and observers said Monday. “The NPAC maintenance window has closed, and NPAC users in the Southeast, Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic regions may now submit porting transactions to the iconectiv NPAC,” NAPM said Sunday. An iconectiv spokesman emailed: “All went well.” Neustar isn't aware of any big problems from the cutover but is monitoring "as it appears from our vantage point that activity remains lower than usual," a spokesman emailed. NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay said he understands it was a smooth process with only some minor issues. Multiple state utility commissions we contacted in affected regions reported no problems. The first regional NPAC migration from incumbent Neustar to iconectiv succeeded April 8, and the final three regions (Southwest, Western and West Coast) will be cut over May 20, with final acceptance for the new LNPA set for May 25 (see 1805020018).

The USF contribution factor could drop in Q3 from 18.4 percent to 17.3 percent of carriers' U.S. interstate and international (long-distance) telecom end user revenue, if revenue holds steady and there aren't demand adjustments, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg's quarterly email update Thursday. He based his estimate on the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s projection that Q3 USF demand would be $1.86 billion, $103.3 million less than in Q2, and $31.4 million less than in Q3 2017. If the industry revenue base stays constant, that will produce a contribution factor of 17.3 percent, he said, but that base has been trending down and a new decline would produce a higher factor. Projected revenue in Q2 was $12.81 billion, the lowest ever, and USAC's Q3 projected revenue is due out by month's end, he said. In addition, if projected Q3 high-cost fund demand is subsequently adjusted upward by $125 million to comply with an FCC budgeting mandate in a March rural telco support order, the USF contribution factor will be 1.1 percent higher than currently projected, he said.

Approving AT&T's buy of Time Warner by requiring divestiture of Turner or DirecTV, as proposed by DOJ (see 1804300020), "would destroy the very consumer value this merger is designed to unlock," AT&T/TW said in a docket 17-2511 trial brief (in Pacer) Thursday. Thursday was the deadline for the sides to file findings of fact and law. Justice filed a series of sealed documents. AT&T/TW said taking DirecTV out of the deal would eliminate the price decreases predicted for DirecTV subscribers. and divesting Turner would eliminate the content innovations and advertising benefits that will put downward pressure on Turner's prices. The companies said the record doesn't support imposing any remedies. Arguing DOJ hadn't met its burden of proof, the companies said "the government’s theories disintegrated upon first contact with real-world events, testimony, and data" in large part because it's difficult to prove any vertical merger is a harm to competition. They said given the increased competition from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Netflix, combining with AT&T will give TW a route to what those entities have -- direct customer relationships and customer data. The companies said they "have not abandoned" a selective enforcement defense, and said trial evidence pointed to different government treatment of comparable vertical mergers. They said "it was impractical" without discovery to press the issue at trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington earlier rejected an AT&T request for White House-DOJ communications about AT&T/TW (see 1802200040).

The Satellite Industry Association said the FCC should protect satellite operations in spectrum above 95 GHz, in comments on the FCC’s spectrum horizons NPRM. Wireless and high-tech commenters see potential in the high-band spectrum (see 1805030037). “Given the substantial opportunities that would be available for [fixed service] in this initial 36 GHz of spectrum, no reason exists to adopt service rules or introduce FS in the 66.2 GHz of spectrum above 95 GHz that is shared between FS and either the fixed satellite service or the mobile satellite service,” SIA said in comments in docket 18-21. “FS operators clearly do not require access to these frequency resources and considerations for sharing this spectrum should be addressed at a later date.” The Millimeter Wave Coalition urged the FCC to address some technical issues that could impede use of the spectrum. The group wants safeguards to protect experimental licenses from being too easily canceled by the FCC: “While experimental licenses will no doubt remain ‘experimental’ without the expectations of regular FCC licenses, there should nevertheless be a procedural safeguard to protect experimental licensees who invest significant sums of money in developing technologies under an experimental license. The cancellation provisions … should only apply in cases of actual interference with some safeguards to allow appeal of interference determinations.” The coalition also said the FCC should extend RF safety limits above 100 GHz and provide “regulatory certainty” for industrial, scientific and medical equipment operating in the above-95 GHz band. The coalition cited as an example terahertz spectroscopy, which the FCC’s NPRM mentions as “a technology that is well-suited for the above-95 GHz frequencies given the shorter wavelengths and that has garnered interest for these frequencies.” The group warned “the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States has deterred companies from investing in this technology domestically.” Other commenters urged the FCC to open the bands for wireless. “The pressure on existing licensed mobile and unlicensed spectrum bands will continue to grow, and the bands identified in this docket can play an important role augmenting the spectrum used to support America’s wireless connectivity needs over the long term,” Qualcomm said. The Wi-Fi Alliance said the FCC mustn’t cut off unlicensed use of the spectrum. The FCC should make “few, if any” allocations now, the alliance said. “Any allocations it makes should allow the necessary flexibility to permit not only Wi-Fi and other existing unlicensed technologies, but also future not-yet envisioned unlicensed uses,” the alliance said. “Any rules adopted today should not inadvertently preclude future technologies.”

USTelecom asked the FCC to relieve incumbent telcos of "outdated" wholesale duties in the 1996 Telecommunications Act that "distort competition and investment decisions." The association asked the commission to forbear from applying "unbundling obligations, which require some ILECs ... to sell access to parts of their networks to certain competitors at extremely low rates set by regulators," blogged CEO Jonathan Spalter Friday: "Once the FCC forbears from these rules, consumers and the economy overall will benefit. A market analysis shows that consumer savings could reach $1 billion over the next ten years, and removing these regulatory handicaps could lead to more than $1.8 billion in new investment over the same timeframe, creating more than 6,000 jobs." Since the 1996 mandates were adopted, "there has been a staggering decline in ILEC switched access voice subscriptions, from 186 million in 2000 to a projected 35 million this year," said the petition. "In residential markets, only 11 percent of U.S. households are projected to have an ILEC switched voice line by the end of this year. Indeed, 60 percent of Americans will have abandoned wireline voice service entirely in favor of wireless alternatives. Of the remaining 40 percent, a majority will obtain service from a non-ILEC -- often a cable company or other provider of [VoIP]. There is also intense competition in the business data services marketplace. ... A regime that imposes special burdens on providers that hold a small and shrinking share of the market distorts competition, harms consumers, and simply makes no sense." USTelecom member Windstream is strongly opposed to the petition, said Kristi Moody, general counsel. “This is an attempt by large incumbent providers to improperly use their market position in an anti-competitive way, especially in light of their proposal for a mere 18-month period for competitive carriers to transition away from these crucial facilities," Moody said. “To be clear, if this petition is granted, less competition will result, and schools, hospitals, libraries, nonprofit organizations and small and medium-sized businesses will see their rates go up.” Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said in a statement: “Big telecom’s 'competition cut off' will freeze broadband deployment and burn consumers and small businesses with higher bills. Cutting off access and kicking the little guy where it hurts is a brazen move, and we urge the FCC to reject the measure outright. The facts are clear, where smaller competitors have access and are deploying new networks, big telecom incumbents are forced to upgrade their service and lower prices. USTA’s petition delays the future and will incentivize large incumbent telecom providers to raise rates on older, slower lines for much longer." The FCC didn't comment.

The Supreme Court again gave the government more time to respond to petitions appealing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that upheld the FCC's 2015 net neutrality order. The high court approved the solicitor general's latest request to extend the response deadline, from Friday to June 4, said a note posted this week in its docket on Daniel Berninger v. FCC, et al., No. 17-498. Some parties believe the government is waiting for the FCC's recent net neutrality repeal order to take effect so it can seek to dismiss the 2015 order case (see 1803050039). The repeal order won't take effect until after the Office of Management and Budget clears FCC broadband transparency rule ISP disclosure requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act.