The FCC and the FTC said they plan a policy forum March 23 and a technology expo April 23 on efforts to curb illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai views blocking unwanted calls as a top priority (see 1802210032). “They are the number one consumer complaint at the FCC,” Pai said Wednesday. “We’re committed to confronting this problem using every tool.” The workshop starts at 9:30 a.m. at FCC headquarters, the expo 10 a.m. at Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 702 8th St. NW in Washington.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai met with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello (New Progressive Party) and other officials Wednesday, his first day of a four-day visit to the commonwealth and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They discussed Puerto Rico's telecom infrastructure and Pai's proposal to provide Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with $954 million in USF support to help restore and upgrade hurricane-damaged communications networks, according to Spanish-language tweets by Rossello and others that Pai retweeted (here, here, here, here). Pai also met with the CEO of Claro, Puerto Rico's largest telecom carrier, a company spokeswoman emailed. Pai's broadband plan would add $256 million in new USF support and repurpose existing funding currently directed at the islands, mostly to expand fixed broadband connectivity over the long term and 4G mobile broadband connectivity in the medium term (see 1803060039). Asked about the repurposed funding, an FCC spokesman emailed that "among other differences, the new program would include buildout obligations as well as a competitive process for awarding support for fixed broadband." Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who arrived in Puerto Rico Monday, tweeted Wednesday about conditions and recovery efforts in the Villa Cama neighborhood (here) and at a school in rural Toa Baja (here). Pai was to have met with broadcasters in the evening, said Jean Paul Vissepo, legal adviser with Puerto Rico’s International Broadcasting Corp. Broadcasters are hoping for FCC assistance with restoring service to the island. Broadcasting was the communications service used to disseminate emergency information on Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and the extensive damage to broadcast facilities has been under-assessed, Vissepo said.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn pushed for a "broadband health safety net" for underserved groups, again highlighting "double burden" counties with higher disease rates and lower connectivity levels (see 1802080057). She thanked Chairman Ajit Pai for his continued commitment to a Connect2HealthFCC task force but said more should be done. "We should stop shaking our heads and conceding that some people will always fall through the cracks," she said in prepared remarks at a conference Wednesday. "Let’s aim higher, by intentionally meeting the health needs of every single American ... and let’s leverage broadband technology." She cited efforts to use broadband to address health needs, including in Appalachia, "where the cancer picture is bleaker than in other rural" areas.

The FCC's daily roundup of regulatory actions wasn't emailed to all recipients for a second (see 1803050059) and perhaps third business day Tuesday, based on some experiences including our own and those of communications lawyers and stakeholders we queried. The Daily Digest remains available on the agency's website, and a fix may be at hand. Tuesday had a change from recent days, in that some users mid-afternoon received the email versions of Friday's and Monday's issues. Tuesday's wasn't yet spotted via email. The list used for such emails appears to have been fixed, releasing the two previous issues that "had been stuck," said a spokesman, noting Tuesday's issue remains available online. "We are waiting on confirmation that today's email made it through as well." Wednesday's digest may be emailed as normal, the representative said.

Cable executives presented an "Accelerated and Safe Access to Poles" plan to FCC staffers last week. "ASAP is a comprehensive, balanced proposal to accelerate new broadband deployment while protecting the safety and reliability of existing network facilities," said a filing Monday in docket 17-84 on meetings representatives of NCTA, Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications had with Wireline Bureau staffers and an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. The key elements are "speed and certainty," "expedited make-ready," "pre-selected contractors" and "indemnification," NCTA said, and all industry parties would have to compromise to make the plan work. "The proposal requires pole owners to process applications much more quickly than they have advocated; it limits existing attachers, including NCTA’s members, to a much narrower opportunity to perform their own make-ready work than exists today; and it requires new attachers, which also include NCTA members, to use only contractors approved by existing attachers when moving facilities on the pole," the association said. "Because the ASAP Proposal is predicated on this balancing of interests, the Commission can, and should, adopt it in its entirety." Google Fiber discussed the record in the wireline infrastructure proceeding and provided an update on the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee's report "recommending one-touch, make ready," said a filing on meetings with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly. There were no details.

The FCC is expected to trigger a court lottery soon to pick the venue for challenges to its "internet freedom" order rolling back net neutrality regulation. "The certification and selection should happen quite quickly (unless the FCC decides to sit on it for some reason)," emailed Matt Wood, policy director at Free Press, one of the petitioners, Tuesday. "I would normally expect an answer this week," said a former FCC attorney, who saw no reason for a significant delay. Parties are supposed to notify the FCC about petitions. An FCC spokesman didn't comment but noted information about the judicial lottery process. By our count, at least 15 petitions for review were filed in at least two U.S. circuit courts of appeal by Monday, the lottery deadline in the net neutrality repeal case (petitions can still be filed through April 23). Thirteen were filed in the D.C. Circuit: by Mozilla, Vimeo, Public Knowledge, New America's Open Technology Institute, 23 state attorneys general, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, NTCH, Benton Foundation, Free Press, Etsy, Coalition for Internet Openness (Etsy and five other companies), Center for Democracy & Technology and Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee. Two were filed in the 9th Circuit: by the California Public Utilities Commission and Santa Clara County.

The FCC changed its July commissioners' meeting from July 10 to July 12, it said Monday.

Kent Bressie remains at Harris Wiltshire in addition to being named international cable law adviser for the International Cable Protection Committee (see 1803020034).

The FCC and a staffer suing it over hostile work environment claims (see 1609300016) are in settlement talks, plaintiff Sharon Stewart and the agency said in an docket 15-57 report (in Pacer) filed Friday with U.S. District Court in Washington. The status report said the two sides took part in mediation Feb. 21 and haven't agreed to settle but are continuing talks with a mediator.

The FCC's daily roundup of new regulatory items wasn't emailed to all usual recipients Monday, based on some experiences including our own and those of communications lawyers and stakeholders we queried. The Daily Digest was available on the agency's website. The agency is "aware of an issue with the email version and we are looking into it," said a spokesman, noting the Daily Digest was released and is publicly available on FCC.gov.