The Government Printing Office and the FCC should cease printing hardbound compilations of documents issued by the FCC, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly wrote in a blog post Friday about The FCC Record. “It makes little sense to continue to publish paper copies when other mechanisms are more consumer friendly, cost-efficient, and easier to access,” he said. The FCC Record collections of FCC documents printed by GPO cost $813 for a yearly subscription, and the 2016 version ran to 17 volumes with more than 14,000 pages, O’Rielly said. The FCC bought 80 copies of The FCC Record in 2016, he said. The FCC “certainly has the capability to publish the FCC Record electronically as a PDF on our website” instead, O’Rielly said. “In fact, the Commission compiles the current FCC Record, not the GPO or its contractor.” The agency could “just as easily compile the PDF and just put it online, saving the costs of purchasing paper copies for its own use,” O’Rielly said. “To aid in consumer functionality, the Commission could also establish a separate web page that consisted of only PDF Record compilations.”

Two former deputy assistant attorneys general for economic analysis at DOJ's Antitrust Division will be lead economics expert witnesses, on opposing sides, for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia trial on the agency's attempt to block AT&T buying Time Warner. DOJ counsel Craig Conrath told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon Friday during a biweekly status hearing on the impending trial that University of California, Berkeley economics professor Carl Shapiro will be lead economics expert witness for DOJ. Conrath said Justice potentially had two other expert witnesses to testify about regulatory issues. AT&T outside counsel Daniel Petrocelli of O'Melveny said the lead economics expert for the defense will be University of Chicago economics professor Dennis Carlton, and it has potentially three other expert witnesses to discuss advertising, media and entertainment and business efficiency issues. Petrocelli said there's a cap of 30 fact witnesses each for the two sides, but it's unlikely either side will call more than half that. Leon urged the two sides to give him a heads up about potential conflicts over evidence admissibility, so as to avoid numerous or protracted objections that could make the trial disjointed or delay a final ruling. The trial -- expected to run two to three weeks -- is to start March 19 (see 1712070067).

Universal Service Administrative Co. issued its updated Lifeline national verifier plan for the FCC low-income broadband and voice subsidy program. A 2016 commission order authorized creation of a Lifeline national entity to standardize verification of consumer Lifeline eligibility, and required USAC to report on implementation progress every six months. The plan noted the FCC delayed the national verifier's (NV) Dec. 5, 2017, soft launch and March 13, 2018, hard launch target dates in six initial states to address issues about Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance (see 1712010042). "Functional development of the service provider portal is complete and the FISMA security validation is the final step before the soft launch can occur," said the plan posted Thursday in docket 11-42. "At soft launch, service providers in the six states will be able, but not required, to use the NV system. At hard launch, service providers in the six states will be required to use the NV. Consumers in the six states will also be able to use the system at this time." The six states are Colorado, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The plan also noted USAC and the FCC are implementing tribal Lifeline USF changes adopted in December that affect NV systems.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the name of the group that welcomed a proposal by FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly to specify rate-of-return telco expenses that couldn't be reimbursed through USF support or the rate base (see 1801310057).

The USF contribution factor could drop in Q2 from 19.5 percent to 18.3 percent of carriers' U.S. interstate and international (long-distance) telecom end-user revenue, if the revenue holds steady, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg's quarterly email update Wednesday. He based his estimate on the Universal Service Administrative Co.'s projection that adjusted Q2 USF demand would be $1.97 billion, $113.4 million less than Q1. "Out of period adjustments," primarily in the high-cost and school and library funds, are "the primary cause of the decrease in quarter-to-quarter USF demand," he said. If the industry revenue base stays constant, that will produce a contribution factor of 18.3 percent, but he noted that base has been trending down and a new decline would produce a higher factor. USAC's revenue base is due out by month's end, he said.

Competition law enforcement worldwide needs to pay less attention to short-term pricing issues and more to innovation and growth that deliver long-term value to consumers, DOJ antitrust head Makan Delrahim said Thursday at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, according to prepared remarks. He said remedies to antitrust violations must be approached cautiously, calling himself "generally skeptical" of behavioral remedies "and even more so" of licensing requirements that could disincent technological developments. Innovation "can be unsettling and disruptive," but ultimately it will result in the most consumer benefit, he said: But there can be situations where the exercise of patent rights "should attract antitrust scrutiny," and patent holders aren't immune from antitrust laws. He said China's establishment of dedicated IP courts is "a very positive step" toward engendering faith in the patent system, and such changes likely are connected Chinese companies moving from implementers of IP rights to innovators and holders of them. As China increasingly becomes an innovation economy, its progress "can be amplified -- and its prosperity increased" via promotion and protection of IP rights, he said. The Antitrust Division head's general skepticism of behavioral remedies makes it less likely to settle so AT&T can buy Time Warner (see 1801260002).

Telecom groups said the FCC should narrow its definition of "continuing violations" of rules to exclude four types of infractions. Noting a petition to reconsider a decision setting treble damages for rule violations on payments to USF and other funding programs, CTIA, Incompas, NCTA and USTelecom said the agency's definition "is inconsistent with the one-year statute of limitations for non-broadcast Notices of Apparent Liability ('NALs') contained in the Communications Act" and with court precedent. The one-year statute of limitations "is intended to create 'repose' and does not continue because the violation either has not been 'cured' or has continuing effects," said their filing Wednesday in docket 16-330 on a meeting with Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold and other staffers. They said continuing violations shouldn't include: "(1) failure to make (or timely make) a required regulatory filing; (2) the inclusion of incorrect information in a regulatory filing; (3) failure to make (or timely make) a required [USF] or other regulatory payment; and (4) failure to return improperly received funds to the USF or other FCC funds." They noted then-Commissioner Ajit Pai voiced views "consistent with our position" in NAL dissents after their petition.

Telcordia (iconectiv) opposed Neustar's request the FCC remove confidentiality protections for Article 19 of a "Master Services Agreement" covering iconectiv as the incoming local number portability administrator, replacing Neustar. "Article 19 contains provisions regarding delays, damages, performance credits, and default," said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 09-109. Citing its opposition to a previous, unsuccessful Neustar appeal to the FCC for disclosure, Telcordia said knowing such details "could enable Neustar to undermine the transition by strategically withholding its cooperation in ways calculated to cause delay." Telcordia said Neustar's new request (see 1801250037) "presented no changed circumstances" justifying a change in the agency's analysis: "Indeed, Neustar’s actions to date give every reason for concern that it will attempt to delay or undermine the transition. Neustar claims that circumstances have changed because the D.C. Circuit has now rejected its appeal of the [LNPA] Selection Order. But the fact that the court cannot now order a rebid does not change the fact that release of Article 19 would enable Neustar to undermine the transition, potentially costing the industry millions of dollars and generating millions of dollars of undeserved profit for Neustar."

The number of staffers the new FCC Office of Economics and Analytics will have is just under 100 (see 1801300026).

AT&T remains focused on completing its buy of Time Warner and will fight to defend the deal in court against DOJ's lawsuit, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said Wednesday during a call on Q4 results. He called closing the transaction AT&T’s top priority in 2018, saying it was surprised by the government’s actions. “It is a classic vertical merger between two companies that don’t even compete with one another,” he said, and it’s the type of deal the government “consistently approved with appropriate conditions.” Last year was a good for the telco-service provider with policy overall that will expand U.S. investment, jobs and wages, Stephenson said. “All of this began early in 2017 as regulations across all industries were being rationalized,” he said. “The FCC returned us to a light-touch regulation of the internet. … This was a step in the right direction.” Stability will come only if Congress approves net neutrality law, he said. “We need clarity,” he said. “We need a long-term predictability of the rules on the internet and on customer privacy.” AT&T recently backed an “Internet Bill of Rights” (see 1801240047). Even bigger was tax change, the chief said: “Our public policymakers pulled the greatest lever they had available to them to stimulate" growth. AT&T’s FirstNet contract will be the foundation for the carrier’s 5G network, Stephenson said. “We’re well underway with the build, including new sites in unserved or underserved rural parts.” AT&T’s acquisition of millimeter wave licenses from FiberTower is significant, he said, and “going to give us a quantum leap in both capacity and performance.” The FCC order giving AT&T control of most of the licenses (see 1801290055) gives the carrier an average of nearly 360 MHz of high-frequency spectrum nationwide, he said. “It’s critical for our 5G strategy and we’ll be putting this spectrum to work later this year.” AT&T reported some 2.8 million U.S. wireless net adds, driven by connected devices. AT&T had 329,000 postpaid phone net adds and added nearly 700,000 branded smartphones. It had 161,000 U.S. total video net adds.