The first meeting for 2018 of the FCC Technological Advisory Council will be April 12 rather than March 7, as originally scheduled, said a notice, citing scheduling conflicts. The main topic will be the workload for the rest of 2018, the agency said. The meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly called Tom Wheeler's cybersecurity regulation views unhinged from the law. O'Rielly said he had ignored Wheeler's "musings, despite their inaccuracies and overall misguided perspectives," but felt compelled to call out the former chairman for "gibberish" he had "pontificated" (here) on the commission's lack of action on internet network security. "Wheeler's views reaffirm that he is unwilling to read the law and follow basic principles of statutory construction," O'Rielly blogged Wednesday. He said Wheeler is "abusing" Communications Act Section 1 (which explained the purposes for creating the FCC) by arguing it gives the commission direct "authority over all communications activity, especially cybersecurity." That reading would constitute a "massive" expansion of jurisdiction, giving the FCC "authority over 'communications by wire or radio' ... without bounds," O'Rielly said. He said the plain reading of Section 1 is as a preamble, offering a "policy statement, not actual authority." If the section gave the FCC direct authority, he said, it wouldn't need "ancillary authority" or the rest of the Act. O'Rielly said U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rulings support his view, including Comcast v. FCC (2010) on net neutrality. While respecting O'Rielly "as a patriot," Wheeler said Thursday the blog post "seems to be in keeping with Donald Trump's refusal to respond to Russia's attack on our system. Networks have always been attack vectors; that a new network has opened up a new means of attack is no surprise. What is surprising is that when our nation is under attack we decide to have law-school quibbles about language instead of stepping up and protecting the nation."

More parties opposed an FCC plan to exclude resellers from Lifeline USF participation and voiced a mix of concerns and some support for other proposals, as dozens of additional comments posted in docket 17-287 Wednesday and Thursday. Major industry players joined consumer advocates, state regulators and others in objecting to an FCC proposal to shift Lifeline low-income support to facilities-based service. CTIA, ITTA, Mobile Future, Sprint, USTelecom and Verizon voiced resistance to the proposed exclusion of resellers. The commission should "reject proposals to condition receipt of federal Lifeline support on network build-out," said Sprint: "The modest per-subscriber subsidy, whose receipt is not guaranteed, makes the Lifeline program ill-suited as a direct mechanism to spur capital-intensive broadband deployment." USTelecom "strongly supports policies that encourage investment in broadband-capable networks," saying "the Commission should not utilize the Lifeline program to achieve a goal for which it is not designed. Instead, the Commission should focus its efforts on ensuring the successful implementation of the National Verifier, which will cure the clear majority of the issues raised in the Notice." Among others objecting to the facilities-based proposal were: NARUC; some state regulatory commissions; National Grange; NATOA and National League of Cities (here); National Urban League and others (here); New York City; Boston, Los Angeles and other cities (here); the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and others (here); Rainbow Push Coalition's Jesse Jackson Sr. and former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. ATN International backed the FCC proposal to dedicate support to facilities-based carriers, as did District of Columbia Public Service Commission Chairman Betty Ann Kane, with a caveat. Various parties opposed capping the Lifeline budget and argued for continuing to support voice-only services. There were mixed views on whether a federal Lifeline broadband provider designation should be eliminated.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Republican Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Brendan Carr are scheduled to speak Friday at the American Conservative Union's Conservative Political Action Conference. Pai is to speak at 12:30 p.m., followed at 12:40 by the three on a panel on the agency and innovation, said the CPAC agenda. The event will be at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, Maryland.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai touted a draft order to give rural telcos more than $500 million in new USF support, "including those participating in the Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) plan" (see 1801170048). He responded similarly this month to over 20 lawmakers who urged him to consider additional A-CAM funding, in numerous exchanges posted in docket 18-5. The draft, which includes an NPRM, "seeks public input on both further increasing support to current A-CAM recipients and on giving legacy rate-of-return carriers a new chance to elect model-based support," Pai wrote. The draft would provide about $180 million in high-cost funding to rate-of-return carriers by June 30, and up to $360 million over the next decade to A-CAM recipients (see 1801160040). Pai also cited the rural USF proposal in responding (here) to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and (here) to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md. They had voiced concern about a Telecom Act Section 706 FCC inquiry; Pai noted the agency kept a 25/3 fixed broadband benchmark and found mobile wasn't a full substitute for fixed service. Pai cited his efforts to "shut the door on waste, fraud, and abuse" in USF programs, in an exchange with Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., ranking Commerce Committee member who expressed concern about high-cost abuses. Pai also cited the backing of some Native American groups for his efforts to target higher per-subscriber tribal Lifeline support to "incentivize providers to deploy networks on rural Tribal lands and direct support to areas where it is needed most," in an exchange with Rep. Tom O'Halleran, D-Ariz., who objected to a November order "taken without any consultation with the affected tribes." Responding to other USF queries, Pai added handwritten notes to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, saying, "I love your Twitter feed! Even with the stiff competition from Senator [Orrin] Hatch [R-Utah], you're holding your own," and sending Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., his "condolences in advance on the [Kentucky] Wildcats impending loss to the Kansas Jayhawks during March Madness!"

The FCC E-rate USF annual budget cap will be $4.06 billion for funding year 2018 starting July 1, a 1.8 percent inflation-based increase over the $3.99 billion FY 2017 cap, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 02-6. It said the school and library discount program has been indexed for inflation since 2010. A bureau PN in docket 11-42 provided guidance on three new "universal forms" to be used for verifying and recertifying consumer eligibility for the Lifeline low-income subsidy program. The forms are intended to be used in all states and territories regardless of whether a national verifier, which is being rolled out in phases, is operational in a particular state or territory, the PN said, but if state law requires carriers to use pre-existing forms, they may use those instead of the new FCC universal forms. TracFone Wireless criticized Universal Service Administrative Co.'s updated Lifeline national verifier plan (see 1802010033) as including "processes that are unnecessarily inefficient and burdensome and that contradict" FCC goals. The plan "fails to require the use of an Automated Programming Interface to facilitate the efficient delivery of Lifeline applicant eligibility information from Lifeline service providers to the National Verifier," TracFone said. "Certain aspects of the application process ... will limit the channels through which consumers can apply for Lifeline service."

The FCC's net neutrality repeal will be published in Thursday's Federal Register, triggering timelines for challenges. The "internet freedom" declaratory ruling and orders will take effect when the FCC publishes a new document in the FR, contingent on Office of Management and Budget approval of modified information collection requirements, said the FR. A few nominal parts take effect April 23, but no substantive decisions do until after OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, said a commission spokesman. That process is expected to take months. After Thursday, litigants will have 10 days (possibly until March 5 because March 4 is a Sunday) to file petitions for review if they want to be included in a court lottery to determine the venue for consolidating challenges expected to be filed in different circuits. The FCC made a conforming change under FR rules and a correction, in an erratum in docket 17-108 in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The Computer & Communications Industry Association will seek to intervene in the case against the repeal. CCIA said Wednesday FCC reversal “would give a couple of big internet service providers too much power over any US business or consumers that rely on internet access.” Industry lobbyists said they're watching closely for clues on timing of expected filing of Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval in the House and Senate aimed at undoing FCC rescission of the 2015 rules. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., are leading the CRA effort (see 1712110050 and 1712120037). It was unclear if they will file their resolutions Thursday or wait until Congress returns next week from its weeklong recess. Their offices didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the man who threatened Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., in October over his stance on net neutrality has pleaded guilty. Syracuse, New York, resident Patrick Angelo, 28, pleaded guilty to a count of interstate communication of a threat for leaving a threatening voicemail at Katko’s Capitol Hill office, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. He's eligible to be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau denied National Hispanic Media Coalition’s request for extension of Wednesday’s reply deadline for responses to the bureau’s public notice on the 2017 hurricane season, said an order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. NHMC sought an eight-week extension to allow participation by storm-damaged communities. “Granting the lengthy extension of time that NHMC requests would unduly limit the Bureau’s ability to assess the record, develop lessons learned and implement enhancements prior to the June 1 commencement of the 2018 hurricane season,” the bureau said. Stakeholders affected by the storms have filed comments, the order said.

The date of the next Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee meeting is April 25: communicationsdaily.com/calendar?y=2018&m=4

A federal court rejected AT&T's request for White House-DOJ communications about its proposed buy of Time Warner. In a docket 17-2511 order (in Pacer) Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington said AT&T fell "far short" of showing the DOJ lawsuit seeking to block AT&T/TW was selective. He said precedent established there's a bar to be met before obtaining discovery on a selective enforcement defense, and it's difficult to imagine a selective enforcement defense in an antitrust context since deals have to be viewed in the context of a particular industry and the transaction's size and structure. Leon said AT&T's use of Comcast/NBCUniversal as comparison for its selective enforcement claim is "unavailing" since Justice filed an enforcement action to enjoin the deal. Leon said "history belies the notion" regulators never before found antitrust problems with proposed vertical deals or insisted on structural remedies as a settlement condition. "So while it may, indeed, be a rare breed of horse, it is not exactly a unicorn," he said. In a statement, AT&T/TW outside counsel Dan Petrocelli of O'Melveny said, "We respect the judge’s decision and look forward to the upcoming trial." The trial is to begin March 19 (see 1712070067).