Facebook was the top lobbying spender from tech and telecom in Q3, supplanting Amazon, the leader in recent quarters (see 2107210049). NCTA and Comcast again rounded out the top four. Most major tech and telecom companies' lobbying spending rose in Q3 compared with the same period in 2020; Huawei, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, IBM and Dell had the largest percentage increases. Apple, Broadcom and T-Mobile outlays dropped.
The FCC has the “clearest legal authority and expertise” to “fully oversee” ISPs, Chair Lina Khan said during an FTC meeting Thursday. Trade commissioners voted unanimously to release a staff report on ISP privacy practices (see 2110180046), with all four agreeing it revealed important findings about data collection.
VoIP providers said a Further NPRM on imposing more requirements for those seeking direct numbering resources would harm members of their industry compared with traditional carriers, This came in comments posted Friday in docket 13-97. Others said additional requirements are necessary to curb illegal robocalls and spoofing. The NPRM would require that VoIP certify compliance with anti-robocalling obligations (see 2108050038).
Industry disagrees if the FCC should preempt rights-of-way fees charged Columbia, Missouri, as a violation of Communications Act Section 253, in replies posted Wednesday in docket 21-323 (see 2109230078). Bluebird asked to defer action on its petition "until the legal status of House Bill 271 is settled," which would ban local jurisdictions from charging per linear foot fees, or preempt the city's linear ROW fee if it decides to act. The fees are "excessive, unreasonable, and discriminatory," said Frontier. Granting the petition "will send a strong message to other municipalities," the telco said. Bluebird’s petition is “not a new or novel issue, and the facts as presented, clearly violate Section 253,” said Incompas, saying its members face similar obstacles. The Wireless Infrastructure Association agreed. Commenters showed the monetary amount "is not an isolated problem," said USTelecom, noting the city didn't file an opposition. Localities in Oregon, Washington and California, the League of Minnesota Cities, Metropolitan Area Communications Commission, and ROW Consultants disagreed, saying Congress "did not intend Section 253(d) to authorize the commission to decide local rights of way disputes." The coalition said a public comment process "does not provide an adversarial fact-finding process through which factual issues might be resolved." Localities "should not be forced to come to the FCC to litigate uniquely local issues," said the Communications Workers of America.
Commissioner Rohit Chopra’s last day at FTC was Friday; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says his first day at CFPB was Monday ... Womble Bond adds to Communications, Technology and Media team with hiring of Jeff Lanning from Lumen as of counsel ... Software & Information Industry Association adds to Policy team Divya Sridhar, ex-ExcelinEd, as senior director-data policy ... CTIA hires Trevor Jones from USTelecom as assistant vice president-government affairs ... Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission elects Commissioner John Coleman as vice chairman through 2022, succeeding ex-Vice Chairman David Sweet, whose term as commissioner ended Sept. 30.
AT&T hires Lin Whitehouse, ex-office of House Majority Whip; Jeremy Pederson, ex-USTelecom; Marc Gonzales, also ex-USTelecom; and James Robertson, ex-CTIA, all as assistant vice presidents-federal relations ... Goodwin adds Omer Tene, ex-International Association of Privacy Professionals, and Lore Leitner to Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity practice as partners, joined by associates Josephine Jay and Annabel Loose; the associates and Leitner join from Wilson Sonsini ... Covington promotes Jonathan Wakely to partner in practice advising clients on foreign investment and national security; he has worked on semiconductor, telecom, software, IT and other areas.
Don’t adopt session initiation protocol code 603 as the industry standard for call blocking notifications, said the Voice on the Net Coalition in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 17-59 (see 2108270070). That code that USTelecom seeks “would be clumsy, at best,” VON said. It recommended the FCC require industry and standards organizations to resolve all technical issues for using SIP codes 607 and 608 by a specific deadline.
Industry and consumer groups asked the FCC to deny Perdue for Senate's petition for declaratory ruling that voicemails delivered through ringless voicemail technology are exempt from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, in comments posted through Tuesday in docket 02-278 (see 2109070062). There are "no technological or legal reason for them not to be covered," said the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Privacy Information Center, National Association of Consumer Advocates, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Consumer Reports agreed and said ringless voicemails "can fill up limited capacity" in a phone's mailbox or cause consumers to exhaust their monthly data. CR included more than 90,000 consumer signatures. Deny the petition "absent further articulation of the specifics of the RVM technology at issue" so commenters can assess how TCPA rules apply to it, said USTelecom.
The FCC notice of inquiry on future spectrum needs of the IoT was changed from the draft to ask whether rules or standards were slowing progress. Our review is based on a side-by-side comparison of the NOI's final and draft versions. The disaster preparedness NPRM also saw changes, as discussed by FCC officials Thursday (see 2109300069). Both were posted in Friday's Daily Digest.
FCC commissioners approved an NPRM on making networks more resilient during disasters 4-0 Thursday, as expected (see 2109280051). Commissioners said more mandates could come as a result of the investigation. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC plans a virtual field hearing as part of the Oct. 26 meeting on Hurricane Ida. Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr traveled to Louisiana this week to tour areas hit by the latest storm. Commissioners also unanimously adopted an order on foreign ownership and an NPRM about closing two methods for scammers taking control of victims' mobile phones, SIM swapping and port-out fraud. Such actions were as expected (see 2109280009).