Consumer groups are heading to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday in Seattle to challenge a 2017 FCC order that relaxed regulations on how telcos retire copper phone lines and how they notify customers (see 1906170005). Appellants said in recent interviews they like their odds, while the government and its allies in the case weren't talking. Last September, The Greenlining Institute, Public Knowledge, The Utility Reform Network and National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates petitioned the 9th Circuit to challenge the order, claiming the agency hid intentions during a comment period and predetermined the outcome in striking down the functional test standard in service discontinuances (see 1809270036). The California Public Utilities Commission later added its support to the petition (see 1810040059).

All state-level attorneys general and a dozen major telecom companies announced an agreement Thursday to improve their ability to combat illegal robocalls, saying action was needed as they wait for Capitol Hill to negotiate a compromise bill. The FCC earlier this month updated anti-spoofing rules 5-0 (see 1908010062) as part of implementation of anti-robocalls language in the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act. Further FCC action on the issue may take time (see 1908220053).

FCC use of census block and Form 477 data designating which households are served "misses many unserved tribal homes in its calculation of broadband support needed," said Sacred Wind Communications, posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. "A major part of the undercounting of tribal homes is the failure to recognize certain structures as domiciles, inhabitable by Western standards." Tuesday, a participant in a USTelecom location fabric broadband mapping pilot recommended the FCC better define serviceable locations for broadband mapping (see 1908200055). Sacred Wind identified all structures within a service area eligible for alternative Connect America cost model (A-CAM) support "and found that the FCC undercounted the locations in those census blocks by over 4,000 locations." It said undercounting those homes would have meant "a loss of nearly $4 million annually in funding needed to provide broadband to those locations" if Sacred Wind had accepted A-CAM support: Undercounted households are rendered "invisible to the Commission for purposes of bridging the digital divide in rural and Tribal areas." Comments on broadband mapping are due to FCC Sept. 23 (see 1908210008).

USTelecom and its partners are hoping the results of the four-month location fabric broadband mapping pilot project it recently concluded in two states will be promising enough to convince the FCC to move forward with and pay for similar efforts nationwide, executives said during a webinar Tuesday on its findings. The nationwide initiative could take 12-15 months to complete and cost upward of $8.5 million to $11 million depending on the types of datasets used, said Jim Stegeman, CEO of CostQuest Associates, during Q&A after the presentation. He recommended the maps be updated once or twice a year thereafter to take into account new construction or structures that are torn down. USTelecom estimates annual costs of $3 million to $4 million for updates.

A tech-communications industry coalition plans to publish a white paper this quarter proposing baseline IoT security standards, said CTA Vice President-Technology and Standards Michael Bergman Tuesday. The document for the so-called C2 Consensus on IoT Device Security will parallel similar IoT baseline setting efforts (see 1908010054) from NIST, he said during a workshop at agency headquarters.

USTelecom wants the FCC to adopt the group's broadband serviceable location fabric mapping proposal "simultaneously as it moves forward with the establishment of the new shapefile broadband availability reporting capability." CEO Jonathan Spalter and Senior Vice President-Policy and Advocacy Patrick Halley met last week with Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Jessica Rosenworcel to share preliminary findings from the Broadband Mapping Consortium Pilot Program. "Preliminary analysis indicates that structure counts per census block in the pilot states versus 2011 census housing structure data is both over inclusive and under inclusive," the group filed, posted Monday in docket 19-195. USTelecom and NCTA have different proposals for improving broadband mapping data (see 1907260039).

The FCC is eliminating ex ante regulation for lower-speed TDM transport services rates offered by price cap regulated carriers, having found widespread competition in the marketplace for business data service TDM transport (see 1902110027), says a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register and in docket 16-143. The rule is effective Sept. 6, it says. The ruling was sought as part of a larger USTelecom petition for forbearance from regulations related to price protections to competitive LECs (see 1908050009).

The FCC granted forbearance from unbundled network element (UNE) analog loop obligations for incumbent LECs to help encourage the continued move away from legacy TDM voice service and to spur further development of next-generation facilities-based networks, it said in an order issued Friday in docket 18-141. The forbearance is conditioned on a two-part transition. Competitive LECs are allowed to order new UNE analog loops for six months after the order's effective date and will grandfather any existing customer relationships for three years. An exception was made for Puerto Rico, where market transition was extended to five years.

The FCC late Friday issued an order of forbearance in a USTelecom petition on accelerating investment in broadband and next-generation networks, posted in docket 18-141.

U.S. broadband providers invested about $80 billion in network infrastructure in 2018, according to research and analysis published by USTelecom Wednesday. Since 1996, the industry, including wireline, cable and wireless providers, made capital investments totaling more than $1.7 trillion, it said. The trade group also said Wednesday that USTelecom, ITTA and Wireless ISP Association completed the initial phase of their broadband mapping initiative showing "serious discrepancies" with a current data collection approach "that relies on existing census block level data" to determine which areas of the country are unserved with high-speed broadband. The FCC is to address broadband mapping and a proposed $20.4 million Rural Digital Opportunity Fund at Thursday's meeting.