NARUC's board OK'd two resolutions asking the FCC delay telecom-related changes, meeting attendees told us. One resolution asked the agency to delay sharing 6 GHz frequencies with unlicensed devices including for Wi-Fi until automatic frequency coordination (AFC) can be proven to ward off interference. Critical Infrastructure Committee Chair Gladys Brown Dutrieuille and Telecom Committee Chair Karen Charles Peterson worked out an agreement about making a further change to the last sentence of the item before the board met, as some had expected (see 1911180050), said NARUC General Counsel Brad Ramsay in an interview Thursday. The sentence now says the association, referring to critical-infrastructure industries, recognizes "the criticality of utility and other CII communications in the 6 GHz spectrum band," and asks the FCC to "modify its proposal to not allow unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band unless and until such time that it has tested and proven that its AFC system works as intended to protect license holders, including utility and other CII systems, and it is demonstrated that unlicensed operations will not cause harmful interference to license holders as determined by the FCC." Utilities Technology Council CEO Joy Ditto said the item "sends a strong signal to the" FCC "it must first ensure it can protect the mission-critical communications networks located in the 6 GHz band before it allows unlicensed users access to the band. Ensuring that the numerous critical-infrastructure communications networks, including utilities, public safety, oil and gas, telecommunications companies, and many others, are protected from interference is absolutely essential if the FCC is to proceed with this plan.” NARUC's board also okayed asking the FCC to set automatic speech recognition standards for IP captioned telephone service before allowing ASR reimbursement, as expected (see 1911150011). The FCC declined to comment.

With implementation of secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) and secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) call authentication not where it should be, rules to require it could be coming, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Thursday at the Robocall Symposium of the New England States, per prepared remarks. He's "generally been pleased" with progress, but it's not enough. He said staff "is actively working on developing regulations to make this happen" and there could be a vote on the new rules if the deadline isn't met. Pai previously warned of a mandate in 2020 if Shaken/Stir deployment isn't voluntarily completed this year (see 1907110023).

Refusing to delay a Dec. 9 trial in states' lawsuit against T-Mobile's buying Sprint, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Lehrburger denied as “untimely” a DOJ motion to intervene so it can ask to disqualify the lead attorney for states, Munger Tolson's Glenn Pomerantz. The judge denied the motion from the bench at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City Thursday. Justice said there's a conflict of interest because Pomerantz represented the U.S. in litigation over the failed AT&T/T-Mobile. Lehrburger said DOJ knew about Pomerantz since April but didn’t come to court until Nov. 8. It “could have and should have moved earlier,” he said: If allowed to intervene two weeks before trial, and the attorney were disqualified, there would be “extreme prejudice” to plaintiffs because they would have to scramble to get a new representative up to speed. The department argued that since it settled with the carriers, DOJ's an adverse party to the states that its former attorney Pomerantz now represents. Lehrburger noted defendants say they don't object to Pomerantz because their priority is going to trial quickly, and he's "not sure there's taint if the defendants aren't challenging it." The U.S. didn't convince the judge the government would suffer much harm from Pomerantz's knowing possibly sensitive U.S. information, Lehrburger said.

AT&T was upfront about the risks of launching a new product and there's no proof it knew of any improper practices in selling DirecTV Now -- now AT&T TV Now -- subscriptions, it said in a motion to dismiss (in Pacer, docket 19-cv-02892) Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. It's challenging of a fraud suit by union pension fund investors claiming the company inflated its streaming service subscriber numbers (see 1909160026). Plaintiffs' outside counsel didn't comment Wednesday.

A full panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the FCC’s en banc appeal of the Prometheus IV ruling, which vacated and remanded many broadcast ownership regulations, said an order (in Pacer) released Wednesday (see 1911070067). “No judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing and a majority of the judges of the circuit in regular service not having voted for rehearing, the petitions for rehearing by the panel and the Court en banc are denied,” said Judge Thomas Ambro in the order. Ambro presided over the three-judge panel that ruled against the FCC and wrote the majority opinion. Attorneys and officials speculated the agency might seek U.S. Supreme Court review if the en banc appeal were rejected. “The rapid dismissal of the FCC and industry rehearing petitions is hardly surprising in light of the weakness of their positions,” said Benton Institute for Broadband and Society Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman, who represented public interest entities against the FCC in the case: “Chairman [Ajit] Pai should stop posturing and do what the court has told the FCC to do, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times.” The FCC didn’t comment.

Nominations are due Dec. 3 for membership in four working groups of the FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force, set to meet Dec. 9 (see 1911180009), said a public notice Tuesday in docket 19-329. The four groups are: (1) Mapping and analyzing connectivity on agricultural lands, (2) examining current and future connectivity demand for precision agriculture, (3) encouraging adoption of precision agriculture and availability of high-quality jobs on connected farms, and (4) accelerating broadband deployment on unserved agricultural lands. The FCC also announced Tuesday (see Personals section, this issue) Land O'Lakes Chief Technology Officer Teddy Bekele as task force chair and Pioneer Communications CEO Catherine Moyer as vice chair.

The leaders of the Senate Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Homeland Security and Intelligence committees urged President Donald Trump's administration Tuesday to “designate a dedicated, senior individual focused solely on coordinating and leading” U.S. 5G deployments and development. Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said at a recent hearing he believes the Trump administration and FCC are finally unified on 5G strategy and related spectrum issues (see 1910310067). “While we appreciate the progress being made within and across departments and agencies, we are concerned that their respective approaches are not informed by a coherent national strategy,” Johnson and other committees' leaders wrote White House national security affairs assistant Robert O'Brien. “In our view, the current national level approach to 5G comprises of a dispersed coalition of common concern, rather than a coordinated, interagency activity.” Others signing the letter are: Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C.; Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.; Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Senate Homeland Security ranking member Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Foreign Relations Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho; and Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va. “Without a national strategy, facilitated by a common understanding of the geopolitical and technical impact of 5G and future telecommunications advancements, we expect each agency will continue to operate within its own mandate, rather than identifying national authority and policy deficiencies that do not neatly fall into a single department or agency,” the senators said. “This fractured approach will not be sufficient to rise to the challenge the country faces.” Having “a senior leader would position the United States to lead on telecommunications advancements, ensure the United States is appropriately postured against this strategic threat, and demonstrate to our allies the seriousness with which the nation considers the issue,” they said.

T-Mobile/Sprint deal sweeteners including free 5G for first responders and a homework-gap program aren’t enough for New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), she said Tuesday during a webcast news conference on vaping. “Providing public benefits are good, but it does not address the antitrust violations,” said James. Trial starts Dec. 9 in the New York and other state AGs' lawsuit against the deal at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A status conference scheduled for Thursday is expected to be a mostly routine pretrial preparation, though the court might also address DOJ's Nov. 8 objection (in Pacer) to Munger Tolles attorney Glenn Pomerantz representing New York and California. DOJ objected because Pomerantz was lead trial counsel for the U.S. in its lawsuit to block AT&T's buy of T-Mobile and "had access to confidential government information that creates a conflict." Pomerantz's legal representative replied (in Pacer) Thursday that DOJ's letter is "untimely, misapplies the relevant ethical rules, ignores the governing 'trial taint' standard for disqualification in this Circuit, and disregards that the Defendants have acknowledged that they have no issue with Mr. Pomerantz and the Firm’s representation of Plaintiff States."

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said rural telecom providers should become active participants in challenging the accuracy of broadband maps as the FCC upgrades location data reporting in its USF programs. "You can provide a public service," she said Monday at an NTCA telecom policy summit. She wants the broadband mapping program to aim for both speed and accuracy. "Fast and right are not alternatives," she said. "We just have to do both." Rosenworcel also joked she's not "all in" with the RDOF label for the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund that would allocate up to $20 billion to deploy broadband in unserved and underserved rural markets. Applause broke out in the room when Rosenworcel asked providers to focus on audacious goals and think beyond their current plans so rural broadband customers don't fall behind during the course of the 10-year RDOF program. She asked providers to remember how fast change comes and how often they would need to rebuild their networks.

Minimizing confusion for E-rate applications among participants can reduce administrative burdens on the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative Co., said NCTA in reply comments posted to docket 13-184 through Monday. That's because applicants will be less likely to make the kinds of mistakes that lead to funding denials and appeals that could be prevented if drop-down menus on form 470s were clearer, it said. The group asked the FCC to change the description of minimum and maximum service levels to minimum needs to allow growth over the full term of the form 470 funding. NTCA endorsed a proposal to create a tab for selecting specific entities and locations where service is requested (see 1911010024). CenturyLink asked the FCC to ensure the form 470 provides "appropriate specificity" about the level of bandwidth that individual institutions need to enable interested providers to "submit responsive bids." AT&T said it "agrees that applicants need to account for growth in their form 470 to avoid funding denials in the future, but the growth estimates cannot be limitless." That's because "E-rate rules do not permit service providers to submit an 'estimated' bid for service," AT&T said. The American Library Association said schools and libraries that already have fiber connectivity should be able to indicate that in the application process, so they don't later waste the time of non-fiber service providers that put in competitive bids. ALA said "leased lit fiber and non-fiber services should be two separate transport service drop-down options."