FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, on a trip this week to Montana and Wyoming, said his time on the road supports the conclusions in the 2018 broadband deployment report that the digital divide is narrowing (see 1905290017). “What I see on the road is the same thing that we found in our report, which is that we’re making tremendous progress, and that’s good news,” Carr told us. “Nobody is declaring mission accomplished. Anybody that spends time outside of D.C. can see the work that remains. We need to acknowledge reality.” Carr said “the digital divide is closing” and “more fiber is being built out than ever before.” But a “significant number of Americans, millions of Americans, still need connectivity,” Carr said. Congress doesn’t ask the FCC to look at in its Section 706 report whether 100 percent of Americans have broadband, he said: “That wouldn’t, frankly, be a very helpful report if that’s all we did.” Carr said he's still sorting through the next steps on wireless infrastructure rules: “I think there’s more to do.” Several ideas have made it in the record lately on “additional infrastructure reforms that I’m taking a close look at,” Carr said: “I’d like to make some more progress.”

FCC claims that its broadband job is done "shows a cruel disregard for so many communities the digital age has left behind," Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted Tuesday, citing the agency's revised broadband deployment draft report she said is to be released this week. Asked when the report will be released, the FCC didn't comment. The FCC early this month said the report -- revised due to "drastically overstated" deployment data from one company -- still shows a narrowing digital divide, with notable broadband deployments particularly in rural areas (see 1905010205).

Comments on FCC-proposed competitive bidding procedures to auction certain toll-free numbers in the 833 code are due June 3, replies June 10. In its notice in the Federal Register for Tuesday, the FCC says it plans to auction the more than 17,000 numbers in the 833 code that have received competing requests. Rules authorizing the auction took effect last fall (see 1811260030). The agency plans to offer online tutorials on the bidding procedures for bidders unfamiliar with its application process, it says. Citing antitrust concerns, the notice says bidding rules would prevent certain communications between competing bidders.

The C-Band Alliance plans for protecting fixed satellite service earth stations from 5G interference, while representing "a great deal of thoughtful effort," could be improved, AT&T said in an FCC docket 18-122 posting Friday. Its lengthy list included designating as unrestricted most of the spectrum reallocated for 5G use; letting terrestrial mobile licensees deploy facilities without any FSS coordination obligations; setting up "adjacent licenses" between unrestricted mobile terrestrial 5G and FSS where terrestrial users would have to use mitigation methods or coordinate with close earth stations; looking into less-restrictive alternatives for protection than 150-meter radiuses around registered earth stations; developing a better record on the satellite viewable arc required for FSS C-band operations after transition, including possible post-transition repacking of users; and developing better user device out-of-band-emissions limits than those proposed by the CBA. AT&T said its work with CommScope points to routes for better spectrum efficiency than what CBA has proposed by allowing some terrestrial use of all of the spectrum not retained for FSS use. It said the size of the adjacent licenses block -- which would replace the 20 MHz guard band CBA has proposed -- would depend on the out-of-band emissions protection levels adopted as well as filter performance. The CBA emailed that AT&T "certainly presents some interesting ideas that should be considered" and that it would analyze whether C-band services would be fully protected under the proposal.

U.S. broadband coverage maps are deeply flawed and cannot be used to "burn the bridge to broadband," Incompas CEO Chip Pickering blogged. The FCC uses broadband maps to help inform deployment and competition policy, he said, but its reliance on Census block data "has created an inaccurate fairy tale of broadband availability." Pickering argued Thursday "the FCC must immediately reject any proposals based on the current broadband maps' flawed data," starting with a USTelecom petition for forbearance from requirements that ILECs sell transport network services to competitive LECs as an unbundled network element (UNE). Incompas says competition in the business-to-business market would be especially threatened in rural markets without facilities-based competition (see 1905140012). A USTelecom spokesperson said that the 1996 unbundling rules are obsolete, noting the group and members "are leading the charge to help improve the FCC's Form 477 broadband data collection process, particularly for rural areas where current data can be upgraded." The telco group said in a recent filing that Form 477 census block data "is more than adequate for assessing the presence and feasibility of competition for last-mile facilities without reliance on UNEs" (see 1905220066). USTelecom said it has proposed limiting forbearance relief to census blocks that are less than a square mile on average, "where the so-called 'bridge to broadband' has already been built by facilities-based providers and/or our cable competitors."

Industry lawyers are watching a pledge by FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly to develop rules to prevent new E-rate-subsidized fiber networks from overbuilding existing USF-funded broadband providers and "stealing" their prime customers, such as schools. Kelley Drye said in a Thursday email blast that "one of the most significant things to watch may be Commissioner O'Rielly's questioning of USAC [Universal Service Administrative Co.] over possible use of USF money to overbuild existing broadband networks." Joel Miller, O'Rielly's chief of staff, emailed us that "Commissioner O'Rielly has made fixing the problem of overbuilding a high priority." Several Texas telcos this week offered suggestions for an FCC rulemaking to oversee the matter (see 1905230005). O'Rielly also calls for legislative fixes to prevent duplicative spending on broadband across federal agencies, and if other agencies and departments become involved, to ensure proper coordination.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee the agency spent more than $27,300 on business-class airline travel from FY 2017 through the first two quarters of FY 2019 but is fully compliant with federal travel regulations. Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., asked for details May 1 amid concerns about “frivolous and wasteful spending on premium-class airline tickets for government employees.” The FCC posted both letters Thursday. “The FCC’s travel policies are documented in a travel manual as well as travel bulletins that are issued periodically for specific issues,” Pai said: “These documents are available to all FCC employees. In addition, the FCC’s Travel and Operations Group has its own set of internal policies and procedures for the functions it performs related to the FCC’s travel processes as part of the FCC’s financial operations team.” Pai also said that “all travel documents … must be approved by a designated approving official (who must be someone other than the traveler). The approving official’s name and title, the date of the approval, and an original signature must be recorded in order for the travel documents to be processed.” The FCC's spending on business-class flights included $12,650 for an Oct. 25 flight to Dubai and more than $14,700 for two 2018 flights to Buenos Aires, Pai said. The FCC authorized spending for all of those flights under federal statute that allows an agency to “authorize business class accommodations when the use of other than coach-class is necessary to accommodate a medical disability or other special need,” he wrote. “In each of the three instances … the authorization was given because of a medical disability of a career staff member.” Kennedy told us Thursday he still needs to review responses from the FCC and other agencies but said he understood extenuating circumstances necessitating an official's use of first-class and business-class seats on a flight, including “health reasons or if there are no other seats available” for flights to a location.

Rumors swirl that DOJ could part ways with the FCC and end up blocking T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint (see 1905210038). Lawyers involved in the proceeding said reports about DOJ concerns could be real or just Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim adding to his leverage in negotiations with the two companies. DOJ didn't comment Wednesday. Approval is now a “coin toss,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors Wednesday after a colleague earlier gave it an 80 percent likelihood. “DOJ could take two paths: they could sue to block the deal, or they could seek additional conditions to those agreed between the parties and the FCC,” Chaplin said. In the midst of uncertainty, he downgraded Sprint to neutral. That company is “precarious, with upside to $10 [share] if the deal is approved and downside to $2, and ultimately to $0, if blocked,” Chaplin said. T-Mobile revealed Wednesday that CEO John Legere spoke with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Sunday, the day before the release of his statement endorsing the deal. Legere spoke with Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O’Rielly on Monday, said a filing in docket 18-197. The FCC has “done the heavy lifting” on conditions and support in Congress is bipartisan, said a lawyer working for the deal: “Now, it is a short putt to get the ball into the 18th hole." Others were heartened by reports that DOJ might say no. “The public record is clear that permitting T-Mobile to acquire Sprint will harm consumers and substantially reduce competition and innovation in the wireless market,” said Phillip Berenbroick, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge: “This transaction is not even a close call under the DOJ’s prior precedents and Section 7 of the Sherman Act, and the Department of Justice should file suit to block the deal.” Sprint shares closed down 7.6 percent at $6.67 on Wednesday. That's a wider discount to the per-share takeover price than earlier this week when Pai announced he would vote "yes" on the deal.

Microsoft worries how Secure Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens (Shaken) technology will be implemented. Commissioners take up a rulemaking asking questions about giving carriers more tools to block robocalls at their June 6 meeting (see 1905150041). Microsoft representatives met with aides to all five FCC members, said a filing in docket 17-59 posted Tuesday. “We raised concerns about the possibility that voice providers may implement SHAKEN in a non-uniform manner,” the company said, giving as an example, "if the same call is treated significantly differently depending on which provider’s network is terminating the call.” Nonuniform rollout “could significantly increase the difficulty for calling service providers to build originating calling services that comply with each provider's differing approach to SHAKEN and to ensure, ultimately, that their outbound calls receive the proper designation and termination,” the company said.

Online video watching is skyrocketing, NTIA said Tuesday, citing its latest internet-use survey results. Seventy percent of internet users watched video online in 2017, up from 45 percent in 2013. That viewing rate varies with age, it said, with 86 percent of internet users between the ages of 15 and 24 watching, compared with 40 percent of users 65 and older. It added questions to the 2017 survey about pay-TV consumption and of the 27 percent of U.S. households that lack an MVPD subscription, 60 percent never had one and 40 percent were cord cutters. "Cord never" households tended to be younger, lower income and less likely to be non-Hispanic white than those with cable. Cable-subscribing households typically are over 50 and less likely to have children in the household than cord cutters.