Telecom opponents of the FCC net neutrality order asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to let them weigh in together, at greater length, in the main challenge to the rules, as they seek a partial stay of the order. CTIA, USTelecom, the Wireless ISP Association, AT&T and CenturyLink asked Thursday that they be allowed to file a single 35-page motion, plus an additional 15 pages at the court’s discretion, rather than separate 20-page motions. Earlier, the five asked the FCC for a partial stay of the order, though industry observers say that request will likely be denied (see 1505010059).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler may use an NPRM the agency must begin by Sept. 4 on retransmission consent as a way to crack down on what some see as abuses in deals for TV stations to be carried by multichannel video programming distributors, lawyers on all sides of the issue said in interviews Thursday. A day before and toward the end of his speech at INTX, Wheeler mentioned the upcoming proceeding. Some read that as signaling he's open to changing retrans rules, after a previous look at the rules under then-Chairman Julius Genachowski didn't advance past an NPRM. Others noted that, given the partisanship seen on retrans, where some Republicans have been hesitant to regulate, Wheeler may not try to change rules and if he did would have to rely on both of the FCC's other Democratic members agreeing.

Comcast names Ana Salas Siegel, ex-21st Century Fox, general counsel, NBCUniversal’s Hispanic Enterprises and Content, effective June 1 ... National Emergency Number Association hires Christopher Blake Carver, ex-New York City Fire Department, as PSAP (public safety answering point) operations director ... Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy hires Ralph Everett, ex-Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, as senior industry and innovation fellow working on USF, broadband and other technology issues ... F5 Networks hires Kristen Roby Dimlow, ex-Microsoft, to lead global human resources organization as executive vice president ... LogRhythm, cybersecurity company, hires James Carder, ex-Mayo Clinic, as chief information security officer and vice president, LogRhythm Labs ... USTelecom names Robert Hunt, GVTC, board chairman, succeeding CenturyLink Executive Vice President Steve Davis, who retired and is being succeeded on the board by the telco's John Jones, who succeeded Davis at the company (see 1504020030).

The EU released its 16-step digital single market (DSM) strategy designed to promote e-commerce across Europe. The EU concurrently launched an antitrust competition inquiry Wednesday that will look at whether and how companies are impeding cross-border online trade. The European Commission had launched an investigation of Google's comparison shopping service and its Android mobile operating system (see 1504150002).

Public Knowledge and other consumer advocates filed in opposition to an April 27 request by Daniel Berninger, founder of the Voice Communications Exchange Committee, that the FCC stay its order imposing net neutrality rules and reclassifying broadband Internet access as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act. A stay of the order would deny consumers open Internet guarantees and cause uncertainty for consumers and companies, the groups said. Berninger failed to show that his petition met any of the four factors considered in stay requests: likelihood of succeeding on the merits, suffering irreparable harm, harm to other parties, and public-interest considerations. “Mr. Berninger argues that protecting consumer access to the Open Internet should wait while telephone and cable companies fight these protections in the courts," said Harold Feld, Public Knowledge senior vice president, in a release that has a link to the opposition filing. "Mr. Berninger thinks it would be better for himself and his business if broadband companies could prioritize his services over those of rivals, and claims to suffer irreparable harm from his inability to negotiate such business arrangements. ... It might benefit Mr. Berninger and a few privileged others for telephone and cable companies to pick winners and losers on the Internet. But a universe that allows AT&T or Comcast to pick Berninger as the winner is a world where all the rest of us lose.” AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA, USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association filed Friday for a partial stay (see 1505010059). The American Cable Association and the NCTA also filed for a stay of the order pending judicial review. Telecom industry officials have said they doubt the FCC will stay its order, though the petitioners can also seek a court stay.

CTIA and USTelecom filed to intervene in support of the FCC order that aims to shift the contract for local number portability administration from Neustar to Telcordia. The associations said if Neustar is successful in its court challenge to the FCC order, it would harm their members "by eliminating 'significant cost savings over the existing contract'" with Neustar that the FCC determined will result from giving the LNP administrator contract to Telcordia. The groups cited comments by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The joint motion was filed April 27 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA, USTelecom and the Wireless ISP Association jointly sought a partial stay of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, approved by a divided commission Feb. 26 (see 1502260043). The Friday request targets the parts of the order reclassifying broadband as a common carrier service, but not the meat of the rules. But industry officials acknowledge it's unlikely the FCC will stay the highly contested order, which dominated debate at the FCC for the better part of a year. Verizon, which successfully challenged the FCC's 2010 net neutrality order, didn't sign onto the petition.

Windstream joined other telcos offered as much as $10.1 billion total over six years from the FCC to deploy broadband to rural areas in saying it's analyzing the USF offers (see 1504290066). "In the coming days and months Windstream will be busy analyzing the statewide offers to determine where its own investment combined with the offered support is sufficient to meet the program’s obligations or where Windstream instead will be compelled by economics to move to the competitive bidding stage," said Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Eric Einhorn in a statement Wednesday. The telcos have until Aug. 27 to decide whether to accept the money state by state, and where they decline, subsidies will be offered on what the agency called a competitive basis. "The task of extending broadband networks to these remote areas will take some years," said USTelecom President Walter McCormick.

USTelecom urged the FCC to reconsider parts of its December E-rate order, particularly rules allowing self-provisioning by schools and libraries and the need for additional safeguards to ensure efficient spending in the USF program. USTelecom said it agrees with many of the questions raised about the order by Cox Communications in a March petition for reconsideration. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition defended the order, saying allowing schools and libraries to receive money to lease dark fiber or build their own facilities was a badly needed innovation. The filings were posted in docket 13-184.

European regulators seem to be moving toward lighter-handed regulation and net neutrality rules, while the U.S. has moved in the opposite direction, said Peter Davidson, Verizon senior vice president-federal government relations, at a symposium Tuesday. The session was sponsored by USTelecom and the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO). “American leadership in this sector is at stake,” Davidson said.