Big-tech acquisitions of startup competitors are harmful because startups usually deliver the “paradigm shifting innovations,” FTC staffer Lina Khan said at Wednesday’s competition policy hearing (see 1810160062). Antitrust enforcers should be wary of seemingly harmless acquisitions like Facebook’s 2013 buy of VPN provider Onavo, argued Khan, a staffer for Commissioner Rohit Chopra and fellow at Columbia University Law School. Onavo grants users heightened security, but it allows the social network to track in “extremely close detail” which rival apps are diverting attention from Facebook, she said. This allows the platform to detect which startups are the biggest competitive threat, shaping acquisition strategy and leading to purchases of apps like tbh and Moves, Khan said. These types of acquisition might not directly affect competition in the digital market, but they improve Facebook’s position and strengthen its leverage as incumbent, she said. It’s unclear how much competition is the right amount to produce a healthy amount of innovation, argued University of California-Berkeley economist Steven Tadelis. Companies need market power to reap the benefits of innovation, he said. Tadelis is convinced current antitrust tools guided by solid economic thinking are adequate, and each case should be evaluated on its own merits. Former FTC General Counsel Willard Tom, now at Morgan Lewis, agreed existing antitrust tools are adequate. Early stage entry is now extremely cheap and easy, given cost reductions with cloud computing, Tadelis said.

The FCC International Bureau is extending to Oct. 31 registration of 3.7-4.2 GHz earth stations, said a public notice Wednesday. It said "intermittent difficulties" with the International Bureau filing system because of a wave of applications coming in close to Wednesday's deadline prevented some applicants from filing. April 1-Wednesday, 13,445 registrations were filed, according to IBFS.

Treatment of VoIP and the transition from incumbent telcos are among issues to be ironed out after the FCC Connect America Fund Phase II subsidy auction, a National Regulatory Research Institute webinar heard Wednesday. Winning CAF II bidders are to receive $1.49 billion cumulatively over 10 years to provide broadband and voice service in areas traditionally served by price-cap telcos (see 1808280035). "You have a whole new cast of characters," said consultant Carol Mattey, citing fixed-wireless, electric utilities and ViaSat. The $23 million OzarksGo will receive is a "drop in the bucket" of a $180 million fiber project offering gigabit speed, said General Manager Randy Klindt, whose company will lease capacity from parent Ozarks Electric Cooperative. To become a CAF eligible telecom carrier, winning bidders must provide a telecom service, said Mike Romano, NTCA senior vice president. He said ETC aspirants should familiarize themselves with common carrier requirements, given uncertainties. He noted an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that interconnected VoIP is an information service and FCC reluctance to decide the matter. Romano said rate-of-return rural telcos see the CAF II support as a way to "edge out" service areas. USTelecom Vice President Mike Saperstein cited a "halo effect" where ILEC winning bidders provide service above minimum speeds in areas adjacent to their territories. Romano said CAF II winners won't technically be carriers of last resort, but "practically speaking" will be, replacing price-cap telcos no longer being subsidized. He and Mattey said that raised questions about the transition as CAF II winners build out over six years. Mattey said the FCC will have to issue a new NPRM on Remote Areas Fund details, including any change to a 2011 plan for a $100 million annual budget. She thinks that amount would be enough if the FCC confined the RAF to CAF II areas that didn't receive winning bids, but not enough if it broadens coverage. She said ViaSat, a CAF II auction winner, and Hughes, a New York State broadband auction winner, essentially revealed what they need to provide satellite broadband in high-cost areas: "a very low number." Asked if the U.S. would ever get to 100 percent broadband coverage, Mattey quipped, "We're just going to move the goal posts." She expects the FCC to increase the 10/1 Mbps standard for new CAF phases within three years. Romano agreed, saying 25/3 Mbps is likely. USF contributions must become more sustainable, said speakers. Nobody was optimistic.

Filings that were due at the FCC Monday when it was closed because of water damage from fire sprinklers (see 1810150023) were instead due Tuesday, said a public notice. The new date applies to all paper and electronic filings “with the exception of (1) Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) notifications and reports and (2) filings that are subject to statutory deadlines,” the PN said.

Almost all unique net neutrality comments to the FCC favored retaining regulations from a 2015 order, said Ryan Singel, a fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Attempting to filter out fake and form comments from 22 million submitted in a 2017 proceeding, he focused on "semantic outliers" and matched 646,041 unique comments to addresses in particular congressional districts. "A manual analysis of 1,000 of these comments showed that 99.7% of the comments opposed the repeal," said Singel's 44-page report Monday. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise that nearly every single one of those comments that wasn’t written by a telecom lobbyist opposed the repeal," said Evan Greer, Fight for the Future deputy director. Noting the study's findings, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted that the FCC "rolled back the rules anyway. Washington is not listening to the American public. It’s not right -- and we need to keep up the fight." FCC spokespersons didn't comment Tuesday. CIS "is pretty much a wholly-owned subsidiary of Google, one of net neutrality’s largest supporters. So, the study is corporate PR," emailed Peter Flaherty, National Legal and Policy Center chairman: "The whole public comment process was hopelessly debased. I'm not sure what the Big Tech firms are now trying to prove. I think the Commissioners had enough input -- both fake and real -- to understand the arguments." Singel responded: "None of the work that CIS does on net neutrality is funded by corporate donations, and this study was not commissioned by anyone, let alone Google." CIS discloses that Google is one of several donors but "does not accept corporate funding for its network neutrality-related work." Singel says his funding comes from Stanford Law School, as disclosed here. "The report I released relies on a publicly available dataset which was analyzed with disclosed methods (including code) that make it easy for anyone to replicate the results or criticize its methodology," Singel emailed. "As a former journalist who once wrote an analysis piece for Wired called 'Why Google Became a Carrier-Humping Net Neutrality Surrender Monkey,' I find the accusation that my work is controlled by Google both hilarious and desperate." New York State's attorney general Tuesday vowed to investigate fake comments (see 1810160071).

Expect an even more-heated battle over spectrum between satellite and wireless interests at next year's World Radiocommunication Conference than at past WRCs, said former Global VSAT Forum (GVF) Secretary General David Hartshorn Tuesday at the VSAT Congress. Now head of Geeks Without Frontiers, Hartshorn said 4G has been a successful technology, but satellite services are starting to complain about 4G interference in the C-band, raising questions about what effects might come from 5G. He said the C-band is interesting to wireless, but so too is the Ka-band "and watch Q and V." GVF Secretary General David Meltzer said it remains to be seen at WRC-19 what kind of ripple effect the C-band proceeding before the FCC has on other countries.

Somos will become North American numbering plan administrator and pooling administrator under separate one-year bridge contracts, said the FCC Tuesday. That confirmed a Somos announcement Monday (see 1810150057). Some will take over from Neustar, while the commission works to consolidate functions under a new, competitively bid, long-term contract aimed at a "more cost-efficient and effective operation," said the agency. It said NANPA administers phone numbers for member countries and the PA administers number pooling functions in the U.S., including as the routing number administrator for non-dialable numbers on emergency calls. Neustar declined to comment.

The FCC awarded Somos contracts to be the North American numbering plan and pooling administrator, including routing number administrator, the company said Monday. "Somos will work for a successful transition with [incumbent] Neustar, in a manner that provides the least external impact," said toll-free numbering administrator Somos' CEO Gina Perini. The FCC and Neustar didn't immediately comment.

Wireless service continues to return to storm-ravaged parts of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, the FCC reported Monday, but Verizon Wireless said continuing fiber cuts are slowing efforts in the Florida Panhandle. As of 11 a.m., providers reported 5.2 percent of cellsites were out in 110 counties, said the commission's Hurricane Michael impact update. That was down from 6.2 percent Sunday, 11.5 percent Friday (see 1810120054) and 18.8 percent Thursday (see 1810110060). Verizon Wireless said it's working "round the clock" to restore service and has seen "positive movement," as 99 percent of its network is in service in Georgia and 98 percent in Florida, with the Panama City and Panama City Beach areas experiencing the most problems. Fiber connections -- "needed for cell sites and some mobile assets to work" -- are "a significant challenge," it said. "As soon as we have fiber repaired and start to see sites come back on air, we experience new cuts resulting from other restoration efforts happening in the community such as clearing roads, residential property clearing, and replacing electric poles." The FCC reported 157,371 cable and wireline subscribers without service in Florida, 61,991 in Georgia and 3,445 in Alabama, down from 252,748, 103,775 and 18,244, respectively on Friday. Two TV stations, 13 FMs and two AMs were off-air, respectively, down from three, unchanged and down from three, Sunday. No public safety answer points were reported down.

FCC headquarters reopen Tuesday after being closed Monday due to water damage, it said. "Early today, sprinklers were activated to put out a small fire on the west side of the 5th floor, and the water caused localized damage on that floor as well as several floors below where the sprinklers went off," said an email to staff Sunday. "The closure will allow remediation teams and relevant staff to ensure that the facility is fully functional before staff returns." Employees were teleworking Monday as damage was being assessed, emailed a spokesperson. Filings were posted Monday in the electronic comment filing system. The fire started in a small refrigerator and was detected by the system, activating the sprinklers, which put out the fire before a fire engine and truck arrived, said a D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department spokesman. He said the department received a call at 8:42 a.m. Sunday and its personnel arrived in four minutes.