More “tit-for-tat tariff escalation” by a third tranche of proposed duties on $200 billion of Chinese imports would “expand the harm to more U.S. economic interests,” wrote CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, Internet Association, Telecommunications Industry Association and 146 other groups to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at Thursday's deadline in docket USTR-2018-0026. Holiday product disruptions are feared, said groups also including the Computer & Communications Industry Association, CompTIA, National Association of Music Merchants and Semiconductor Industry Association. The U.S. and China should “begin a comprehensive negotiation,” said the groups. "We have seen no indication of China changing course,” they said. “We request that every effort be undertaken now to initiate meaningful negotiations expeditiously. We recommend no further tariff actions be taken until those negotiations have a chance to produce significant and verifiable results, and the Administration can fully assess the impact." Lighthizer’s office didn’t comment.

As it looks to unload some mobile traffic carried via its mobile virtual network operator, Charter Communications is considering licensed as well as unlicensed spectrum and Wi-Fi, Chief Financial Officer Chris Winfrey told analysts Thursday. He said the company is doing tests to evaluate 3.5 GHz spectrum and hopes to do the same with 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum. Asked about 5G competition, he said it's unlikely to be direct competition for fixed line service, though Charter likely will employ 5G in some limited use cases or in partnership with other operators. He said Charter's footprint-wide rollout of its Spectrum Mobile service (see 1809040003) -- as well as other cable operators' own mobile offerings -- could help push broadband penetration broadly since customers could get web and mobile service at bundled pricing comparable to what many pay for mobile service alone. He said the Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks integration "has gone extremely well" and New Charter will operate as a single cable system by early next year. He said New Charter's conversion to all digital and all DOCSIS 3.1 will be done by year's end. Asked about declining video subscriptions, Winfrey said Charter is "becoming more and more indifferent" about small growth or losses of video customers, though having a video offering remains important to the connectivity business.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced an effort to work with stakeholders to develop a “voluntary privacy framework” for companies. To start collecting input, NIST will host an initial public workshop Oct. 16 in Austin during an International Association of Privacy Professionals’ conference. A series of public meetings will follow. The effort will run parallel with NTIA’s goal to develop a set of privacy principles (see 1808060035), the agency said Tuesday. NIST Director Walter Copan cited recent success with the agency’s Cybersecurity Framework. The purpose of developing the privacy framework is to “deliver practical tools that allow continued U.S. innovation, together with stronger privacy protections,” he said. Flexible privacy protections will allow consumers to “enjoy the benefits of innovative technologies with greater confidence and trust,” he said.

Mike Poth will step down as FirstNet CEO at the end of September for an unnamed private-sector job, NTIA said Wednesday. Also, Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross reappointed Edward Horowitz to the FirstNet board and named him chair for a two-year term, replacing Sue Swenson, the authority said. The board and the department plan to appoint an interim CEO as they search for a permanent executive, FirstNet said. Swenson and ex-Vice Chair Jeffrey Johnson announced their resignations last month (see 1808200050). Six board seats must be filled; to ensure a quorum and continuity, expired members Neil Cox, Kevin McGinnis and Annise Parker agreed to extend terms, FirstNet said. “Mike Poth took the helm at a critical time and has been a driving force behind FirstNet’s success,” said NTIA Administrator David Redl. Poth said he’s focused on a smooth transition. The board’s next quarterly meeting is in December. Also Wednesday, the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications System Authority board chose Corey Reynolds as BayRICS general manager, replacing Barry Fraser, who was in that role since May 2013. Reynolds, previously interoperable communications project manager at the Bay Area Urban Areas Security Initiative, blogged about his new role Wednesday.

President Donald Trump appeared to suggest Tuesday that NBC should lose its “license” over “FAKE NEWS” and “highly unethical” conduct. “I have long criticized NBC and their journalistic standards -- worse than even CNN. Look at their license?” said the tweet, which appeared to be a reaction to reports that NBC tried to block a story about movie producer Harvey Weinstein. As a network, NBC doesn’t operate under an FCC license, though parent Comcast and NBCUniversal own and operate individual stations that do. The FCC and Comcast didn’t comment. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted in response that “one more time . . . this is not how it works.” She had a similar response when Trump also tweeted against NBC’s “license” in October (see 1710110075). That tweet led lawmakers to question FCC Chairman Ajit Pai about whether the agency would take action against broadcasters over their content. “I have made clear that the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast,” Pai said in a letter in February to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. (see 1802210060).

A California man who threatened FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his family via email over Pai’s policies on net neutrality pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, Friday, said a DOJ release. Markara Man (see 1806290071) faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 7, though the release said actual penalties are typically less than the maximum. “I would like to thank the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, local law enforcement, and FCC security officials for their hard work protecting my family and me," said Pai Monday. “I am deeply grateful for all they have done to keep us safe.” Man allegedly sent Pai several threatening emails, one of which included the addresses of Arlington, Virginia, area preschools and "I will find your children and I will kill them.” One of Man’s emails allegedly accused Pai of being responsible for the suicide of a child and another contained photographs of Pai and his family gathered through Internet image searches. “The FBI traced the emails to Man’s residence in Norwalk, California, and when initially confronted in May 2018, Man admitted to the FBI that he sent the email threatening Chairman Pai’s family,” DOJ said. During an FBI search of his house, Man factory-reset his cellphone to wipe its records, Justice said. “When asked about the phone being in setup mode, Man lied to the FBI and claimed that he had received it a month earlier and not set it up yet.” Man sought bail pending sentencing. DOJ filed in opposition (URLs in Pacer).

California’s net neutrality bill is headed to the governor’s desk, as expected (see 1808310042), after the Senate voted 27-12 Friday to concur with Assembly amendments to SB-822. The dozen nays came from the GOP, though one Republican voted yes and one didn’t vote. Companion SB-460 to restrict state procurement with ISPs that don’t follow open-internet rules died in the Assembly 28-37. Democrats recorded all the yes votes, but 13 said no and 14 didn’t vote. There were 24 GOP no votes; one Republican didn’t vote. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler cheered SB-822 passage in a tweet. In a livestreamed news conference, Sen. Scott Wiener (D) said he worked with Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) to ensure his bill is defensible. The AG was “very conscious of the fact that we are going to get sued,” since ISPs said from beginning they would challenge such law, Wiener said. “When you're in government, you get sued.” USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter, who earlier threatened to challenge state open-internet efforts (see 1803260024), Friday evening urged Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to veto the bill and Congress to make national rules. A trade association or small ISP is likely to be the primary challenger, with the FCC likely to weigh in once the suit is filed, said American Legislative Exchange Council Communications and Technology Task Force Director Jonathon Hauenschild. Challengers may want to take on several different state laws at about the same time, and the California bill taking effect -- this January if Brown signs -- could be the “tipping point” for action, he emailed Tuesday. “This way, the courts hear both the similarities in the bills and the differences and render a more complete verdict.” SB-460 failing wasn’t a big deal, said Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon. “The problem had nothing to do with telecom policy and more with internal political issues within the Democratic caucus,” he emailed. “They made their mark with 822." Also Friday, a privacy bill passed (see 1809040053).

Tess Caroline O’Rielly was born to FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and his wife, Sarah, in Washington, D.C., at 10:24 a.m. Wednesday, according to his office. The child, the couple's second, was 20.75 inches and weighed an even 8 lbs.

The USF contribution rate will increase from Q3's 17.9 percent to 20.1 percent in Q4, exceeding 20 percent of carriers' U.S. interstate and international telecom end-user revenue for the first time in USF history, industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg emailed Friday. Universal Service Administrative Co. projects USF-applicable telecom revenue for Q4 to be $12.41 billion, down $545 million from Q3 and the lowest USF quarterly revenue base ever, he said. That lower revenue base, plus the previously announced USF quarterly demand of $2.06 billion, is what's driving the high USF contribution factor, he said. Total USF demand for 2018 will be $8.065 billion, up $147 million from 2017 but $1.47 billion less than the peak annual USF demand during 2012, he said. USF demand has hovered between $8 billion and $9 billion annually since then because of a 50 percent decline in low-income fund demand, a 48 percent decline in schools and libraries fund demand, and use since 2015 of unused schools and libraries fund to offset annual demand for that fund, Gregg said. Total USF revenue for 2018 will be $51 billion, also the lowest in USF history, and down $25.2 billion from the 2008 peak, he said.

With FCC Chairman Ajit Pai expected to circulate the next round of wireless infrastructure rule modifications Wednesday for the Sept. 26 commissioners’ meeting (see 1808220051), CTIA and Nokia said last week changes are critical. “Although some states and municipalities have taken actions to create a more favorable environment for deployment, many delays continue,” CTIA said in docket 17-79. “Despite the shot clocks the Commission adopted that were intended to streamline action, providers report that they have had to wait many months and sometimes years for action by a locality on a siting request.” Some "localities have imposed ‘pre-application’ requirements that must be satisfied before the locality will accept individual site applications,” the group said. Nokia officials met with Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, and aides to the other commissioners, on the importance of spectrum and infrastructure to 5G. “Of particular concern to Nokia are the recent tariffs imposed on trade with China, which specifically target a wide range of components that are critical to 5G," Nokia said. “Unless exemptions are provided for these products, these latest duties threaten to raise the cost of 5G infrastructure in the U.S. by hundreds of millions of dollars. This is an important context that further emphasizes the need for the Commission to lower barriers to deployment where it can.” Lincoln, Nebraska, disputed AT&T claims (see 1808130041) it's “high fees have delayed its residents the benefits of AT&T’s small cell deployments.” AT&T didn’t, as it claims, pause a deployment of small cells there, the city said. “A review of our records fails to reveal any permit applications filed by AT&T for such as deployment,” the city said. “That means that AT&T either deployed without permission and unknown to the city, or AT&T provided misleading statements to the Commission.” Lincoln said, contrary to the carrier's claims, recurring attachment fees it imposes aren't a barrier: “Lincoln has researched our rates, submitted them to national companies for evaluation, and as a result has signed small cell agreements with three different companies.” Lincoln said its rates are “right in the middle” of fees assessed across the U.S. for small-cell attachments. AT&T didn't comment.