DOJ scheduled a Feb. 19 workshop on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (see 1912190079). Proponents say 230 allowed the internet to flourish; others fear associated immunity is interpreted too broadly, Justice said Thursday: It “intends to examine these issues and identify and discuss potential solutions.”

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance's FCC comment on Lifeline was incorrectly attributed to a different group (see here and 2001280005).

AT&T reported mixed results Wednesday for Q4, with growth in wireless and declines elsewhere. There were 229,000 postpaid phone net adds. Entertainment reported 945,000 premium TV-subscriber cancellations, an improvement over a nearly 1.2 million loss the same quarter last year. Communications Workers of America slammed AT&T for cutting almost 38,000 jobs since 2018. “AT&T continues to cut jobs and reduce capital expenditures even as the company announced record operating and free cash flow for 2019 and more than $5 billion in stock buybacks in the past four months,” the union said. The telco didn’t comment. Executives stressed overall economics, on a call with analysts, saying the company cut net debt by $20.3 billion throughout 2019. “We'll continue to invest aggressively and at top-tier levels into our core businesses,” CEO Randall Stephenson said: “We expect to invest $20 billion in 2020. Leading in 5G is critical for AT&T, and we're not slowing down. We're more than 75 percent complete on our FirstNet build.” The company has plenty of spectrum to deploy 5G, said President John Stankey. “Our strong spectrum position gives us a leg up and allows us to execute a different 5G deployment strategy than our competitors,” he said: “We have the low and mid-band spectrum to deploy 5G nationwide. We cover 50 million people today and expect to be nationwide" in Q2. Revenue was $46.8 billion, down from $48 billion a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA declined to $14.4 billion, from $15 billion. The quarter ended Dec. 31. “Wireless subscriber growth improved, though not as a result of improved churn as we expected,” NewStreet’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors: “Pay-TV trends were quite a bit worse than we expected, and the path to stabilization in 2020 appears more tenuous. Everything else was a little worse than we expected too.” MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett said as AT&T sheds costs, it’s up against two clocks. “One clock is counting down to the next recession,” Moffett told investors: “We don’t know when a recession will come, of course, but when it does, AT&T will have to have reduced its leverage to a sustainable level.” The second “is counting down to the obsolescence of at least two of AT&T’s most important businesses,” WarnerMedia and DirecTV, he said. The stock closed down 4 percent Wednesday at $37.05.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said lawmakers should amend Communications Act Section 706 to prevent potential future abuse of World War II-era language that “allows the president to shut down or take control of ‘any facility or station for wire communication’ if he proclaims ‘that there exists a state or threat of war involving the United States.’” Current law allows suspension of wireless service “not only in a ‘war or threat of war’ but merely if there is a presidential proclamation of a ‘state of public peril’ or simply a ‘disaster or other national emergency,’” Rosenworcel said during a Tuesday speech at the State of the Net conference. “There is no requirement in the law for the president to provide any advance notice to Congress.” The Section 706 language “is undeniably broad,” she said. “If a sitting president wants to shut down the internet or selectively cut off a service, all it takes is an opinion from his attorney general that Section 706 gives him the authority to do so. That’s alarming. Because if you believe there are unspoken norms that would prevent us from using Section 706 this way, let me submit to you that past practice may no longer be the best guide for future behavior. Norms are being broken all the time in Washington and relying on them … is not the best way to go.” DOJ didn't immediately comment.

Dish Network won’t sign any strategic partnerships for its potential wireless business until after a decision by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on states' challenge of T-Mobile's Sprint buy, said Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen in closed-door testimony Dec. 18. Dish had been talking to some of the potential partners for several years, but the deal was “a catalyst for them to engage in more serious and timely discussions,” he testified, according to a redacted transcript (in Pacer) released Tuesday. Dish expects to be "a little larger than Sprint” by 2025, including prepaid and postpaid subscribers but not wholesale customers, he said. Dish’s model shows it could be competitive and generate enough profit and cash flow to grow the business, he said. Plaintiff states in Jan. 15 closing arguments sought to cast doubt on Ergen's "rosy" predictions in the business model he presented in the closed-door testimony (see 2001150077).

An advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing "very much" supports a draft item up for an FCC vote Thursday that would make permanent a pilot allowing at-home call handling for video relay services (see 2001090025). Claude Stout, executive director for Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, told us the trial went well, and the FCC had the needed safeguards. TDI isn't seeking changes to the item's language: "We think it's fine as written," Stout said. The draft order in dockets 03-123 and 10-51 simplifies safeguards, but Stout said it retains important ones, such as requirements that home workstations have locked doors so children can't interrupt a call. Proposed requirements also include sound proofing to protect callers' confidentiality, and a virtual private network connection to a provider's system. Proposed rules don't require a separate home broadband connection dedicated solely to VRS call handling. Home communications assistants would be subject to unannounced home inspections, the draft said. The pilot began in 2017 (see 1711010015), and participants ZVRS and Purple Communications received extensions (see 1910310034). Stout said he expects additional VRS providers to participate in the at-home calling program. The program benefits all, Stout suggested: The FCC's telecommunication relay services fund should have reduced outlays because interpreters would spend less time at call centers and thus be subject to less reimbursement; VRS providers wouldn't need to expand call center operations as often if more employees worked from home; and part-time workers experienced in American Sign Language wouldn't need to commute to call centers, freeing up time to use their signing skills elsewhere in the community such as at schools or churches. Allowing VRS calling assistants to work from home also offers much-needed network redundancy during power outages or other emergencies at a VRS call center, Stout said. Workers at home could take overflow calls if events caused unexpected demand for VRS calls, he added. The program also allows VRS providers to attract skilled interpreters for whom working at a call center isn't a practical option, Stout said.

The FCC's Office of Inspector General suspects widespread noncompliance regarding the Lifeline service's eligible telecom carriers usage rule, said an advisory Tuesday. Lifeline ETCs "shall only receive universal service support reimbursement for Lifeline service provided to subscribers who have used the service within the last 30 days, or who have cured their non-usage in accordance with the commission's rules," it said. OIG said it's investigating large and small ETCs for significant potential violations. "Neither willful violations nor failed management practices are acceptable," it said. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced last year that Sprint "sought tens of millions of dollars in Lifeline subsidies for consumers who should have been de-enrolled from the program for non-usage," OIG said (see 1909240023). FCC posted comments on Lifeline program waste, fraud and abuse proposals through Tuesday in docket 17-287 (see 2001280005).

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted summary judgment to Hilton in Glasser v. Hilton Grand Vacations, case no. 18-14499 (in Pacer), involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. A device used to call Melanie Glasser didn't qualify as an autodialer, said Circuit Judge Beverly Martin. But she dissented from the majority's reversal of the grant of summary judgment to Tabitha Evans because Martin said the system used by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency to make 35 calls to Evans qualified as an automatic telephone dialing system. A year ago, consumer groups said Hilton's use of "human clicking agents" shouldn't protect the company from TCPA prohibitions (see 1901250002).

The FCC certified the first four spectrum access system administrators for full-scale commercial launch of unlicensed use of the citizens broadband radio service band. The four are CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Sony. The development was expected as a critical next step for the band (see 1912260040). The four, plus Amdocs, were cleared last year to start initial commercial deployment in the 3.5 GHz spectrum. “The FCC has made it a priority to free up mid-band spectrum for advanced wireless services like 5G” and this is “the latest step to achieve that priority,” said Chairman Ajit Pai. Priority access licensees and general authorized access (GAA) users will share the band, with the administrators managing use of the band. Its first commercial use is in the GAA tier, with the FCC auction of PALs to start June 25. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology issued the approvals Monday. “With more than 25 customers offering commercial services and another 50 in development, Federated Wireless is extremely pleased with the momentum the market has achieved since[initial launch] in September, and we are eager to continue driving the next wave of services including private 5G,” said Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi: “2020 will be an extremely active year for all of us who have worked so hard to bring the promise of CBRS to reality, and we are fully committed to working closely with all of the customer segments that stand to benefit from the new business and service models being developed and deployed today.” After years of work, "full commercial deployment of CBRS shared spectrum is a real thing, not a dream,” emailed Louis Peraertz, Wireless ISP Association vice president-policy: “If it works in this complex band, other forms of sharing -- such as in the C-Band, 5.9 GHz and 6 GHz bands -- can and should go forward. We cannot wait to see what it will do for the band and for other spectrum.” Full commercial deployment “is the final stage in the commercialization process that started in 2013 when the FCC began pursuing an innovative shared spectrum model in the 3.5 GHz band,” the CBRS Alliance said: “The success of this initiative is the result of unprecedented public-private partnerships between industry and government organizations.”

NTIA released a report Monday calling for further study but saying federal agencies may be able to share the 3450-3550 MHz band, which is directly below the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service spectrum (see 2001270025). DOD assisted in preparing the report. Federal operations in the band “include shipborne, airborne, and land-based systems -- primarily radars,” blogged Charles Cooper, associate administrator of the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management: “Our report points to a clear possibility for real time spectrum sharing that would protect these critical missions, while providing attractive opportunities for commercial business.” The next step is studying how often each of the federal systems is used, and then developing “mechanisms for reliably informing commercial operations when federal systems are operating nearby,” Cooper said: "This 100 MHz of spectrum should be well suited for realizing 5G’s promise of higher throughput and lower latency operations." The report says the band gets significant federal use, with shipborne radars operating at more than 20 ports along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. Some airborne systems operate nationwide; other systems are limited, the report said: “The ground-based radars operate at over one hundred locations, including many near high-population areas. In addition, DOD continues to deploy systems at additional locations and to develop new systems for operation in the band.” Some aspects “of the systems are classified, which reduced the ability for the report to be as transparent regarding the analysis as otherwise possible,” the document says. Frequency- or geographic-based sharing approaches “would result in significant restrictions on commercial services, in terms of emitter power limits and exclusion zones, making sufficient access for viable commercial applications unlikely,” the report found: “A dynamic, time-based sharing mechanism could present a potentially attractive approach to both protecting federal systems and providing viable commercial operations. Commercial operations would be contingent on spectrum availability, which will depend on the frequency, time, and location of federal system operations.” It’s no surprise NTIA found “extensive” military use of the band requiring protection, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “The good news is that the report’s technical findings suggest the spectrum could be shared nationwide by low-power, indoor operations, as well as outdoors away from the coasts,” he told us: “It appears that shared use could be supported by expanding on the database coordination approach that manages sharing with the Navy in the adjacent band under the new CBRS framework that became fully open for effectively unlicensed use today. Adding this band to CBRS looks like it will be the fastest and most efficient way to put it to use for 5G-quality connectivity.”