A coalition of advocacy and consumer groups for deaf and blind persons opposed multiple provisions of the FCC’s June order that would institute changes to the Video Relay Service (VRS) program, saying in comments released Tuesday that the order “may cause harm to the quality of VRS” (http://bit.ly/12mKIrd). The VRS order would reduce compensation rates to various-sized providers and created interoperability provisions to give users power to more easily choose providers and equipment (CD June 11 p1). The groups said they believe there has been “no effort on the part of the Commission to compensate or reward providers for improving functional equivalency in VRS calls. The Commission needs to reward such competition-driven innovation even during any efforts to improve the efficiency of the VRS system.”

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., asked the telecom industry for advice on how to crack down on fraudulent robocalls. In a letter to CTIA and USTelecom late Friday (http://1.usa.gov/13MyVjD) she asked for comment on implementing technology that would filter out unwanted calls. She asked for further comment on eliminating the FTC Act’s common carrier exemption, on changes to FCC enforcement authorities regarding robocalls, and on revisions to the 2010 Truth in Caller ID Act. She set a deadline of Oct. 15 for responses. Both groups participated in a July 10 hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, which McCaskill chairs, on the subject of fraudulent robocalls. The Justice Department has estimated consumers lose $40 billion per year to fraudulent telemarketers, she said.

Carriers that filed supported for the most part some form of additional identification requirements as proposed in June by the Lifeline Reform 2.0 Coalition, but raised some questions with other proposals from the group. USTelecom questioned whether the proposals made by the coalition would do any good. Comments were due Wednesday on a Wireline Bureau public notice (http://bit.ly/18h9p9K) as the FCC continues its examination of curbing Lifeline fraud.

The FCC took the “first step” toward comprehensive overhaul of its full-time employee (FTE) fee system, said an order released Monday (http://bit.ly/16GB8PD). In a series of “interim measures,” the commission revised its calculation of the number of FTEs working on the regulation of interstate telecommunications service providers (ITSPs), and the number of direct FTEs in the International Bureau. Fees won’t go up more than 7.5 percent as a result of the agency’s FTE reallocations, it said. The agency is also changing how certain broadcast licensees that simulcast in analog and digital pay their regulatory fees. The agency declined to act on some big proposals, including combining the ITSP and wireless categories.

Copyright Office promotes Jacqueline Charlesworth to general counsel and associate register of copyrights … German Foreign Ministry hires Dirk Brengelmann, ex-NATO, as cyberpolicy officer … AVG Technologies, provider of Internet, mobile security and privacy products, hires Gary Kovacs, ex-Mozilla, as CEO and managing director … Entravision hires Angelica Balderas, ex-Adelante Media Group, as senior vice president-integrated marketing solutions for Sacramento, Calif., market.

Response to Verizon’s petition to discontinue copper service on Fire Island, N.Y., highlighted a longstanding divide between incumbents and competitive providers. ILECs unanimously supported the request, which they said was a reasonable and cost-effective way to replace an obsolete technology damaged by Superstorm Sandy. CLECs worried that if the FCC grants the request, it could prejudge issues involved in the overall IP transition and put the competitive providers at a disadvantage. State public utility commissions and consumer advocates raised questions about the suitability of Verizon’s planned Voice Link fixed wireless service as a replacement for its traditional copper landline.

USTelecom “generally supports adjustments” to the Connect America Cost Model to “better reflect the special characteristics of particular insular areas,” the association told the FCC Friday (http://bit.ly/13aJ2Sq). The letter was in response to Alaska Communications Systems proposals of several Alaska-specific adjustments to the model, currently under development by the FCC Wireline Bureau. “USTelecom agrees with ACS that the CAM [cost model] currently does not fully reflect Alaska-specific cost inputs, and produces an unreasonably low amount of support for the ACS price cap LECs, which provide service only in Alaska,” the association said. “Adjustments to the areas of the CAM that ACS proposes to modify, together with an extension of the CAF Phase II build-out period, are necessary to bring the results of the CAM more closely in line with a sufficient level of support to provide broadband to locations in its service territory that qualify for support under CAF Phase II.” USTelecom also expressed its opposition to a “hold-harmless” approach that would give certain insular carriers model-based support while others receive frozen support. “Such an approach raises the concern that some support levels would not be fully justified by the cost characteristics of the recipient carrier’s service area,” it said.

Some Senate Republicans questioned the need for new regulations to govern telecom providers as they increasingly transition from copper wireline connections to IP-based connections, at a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Thursday. Meanwhile, panel Democrats focused on what they called the persistent problems with call completion issues in rural areas. Next week, the Commerce Committee plans to mark up S.Res. 157 expressing the sense of the Senate that telephone service must be improved in rural areas and that no entity may unreasonably discriminate against telephone users in those areas. A committee spokesman did not confirm the date or timing of the markup.

Federal policymakers must act to ensure that the IP transition and USF programs operate smoothly and help citizens increase their connectivity, according to witness testimony that circulated Wednesday. The remarks from executives representing wireline carriers, a public advocacy official and a technology analyst came ahead of Thursday’s Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on the state of the wireline marketplace. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

If the FCC’s quantile regression analysis (QRA) caps were in place from 2006-2012, they would have caused “tremendous financial uncertainty” that could have prevented carriers from investing in broadband, said industry-sponsored research. The study (http://bit.ly/1bhvQAv), by former FCC Chief Economist Simon Wilkie, examined the effects of the FCC’s 2011 modifications to the USF’s high-cost loop support mechanism. A better implementation would be to use the caps not as an immediate limit on support, but as a “trigger” for further individualized attention from the agency, Wilkie said. An FCC spokesman said the reforms “provide much-needed fiscal discipline” on the fund.