The FTC plans 15 to 20 public sessions on potential changes to competition and consumer protection policy from September to January in Washington and across the country, says a Federal Register notice set for Monday. It's accepting comment on the hearings until Aug. 20 and will solicit comments for each session. Topics include: the state of antitrust and consumer protection law, specifically on communication, information and media technology; market power analysis; the intersection of privacy, big data and competition; authority to “deter unfair and deceptive conduct in privacy and data security matters”; competitive impacts of acquisitions; monopsony power; the role of IP and competition policy in promoting innovation; consumer welfare concerns about algorithms, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics; and investigation, enforcement and remedial processes.

The Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy cited potential harms from a USTelecom forbearance petition seeking FCC relief for ILECs from wholesale unbundling discount and resale duties. The office said many CLECs are "very concerned" the FCC may grant nationwide relief. "A blanket grant of forbearance in every market could have a devastating impact on small businesses that rely on unbundled network element (UNEs) to serve customers," said SBA advocates' filing on meeting aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, posted Thursday in docket 18-141. Many CLECs heavily invested in deploying fiber networks using revenue from UNE-based services, and then moved customers to their own facilities over time, creating competitive pressures and incentives for incumbents to do likewise, the advocates said. They "urged the FCC to study the impact forbearance would have on small businesses, competition and the deployment of next generation networks." SBA also addressed robocalling, infrastructure deployment streamlining and 3550-3700 GHz band issues. On the citizens broadband radio service, SBA sided with advocates of census tracts for the priority access licenses that will be part of the band. SBA has concerns that adopting larger geographic licenses could “foreclose competition and result in decreased service in rural areas.” Uniti Fiber said UNEs "enable the company to expand its service offerings and network to new customers," and it "relies especially heavily on dry copper loops" and "dark fiber interoffice transport," regarding meetings with Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Brendan Carr, and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (here, here, here). It said "the loss (or increase in price) of these inputs will have a significant impact" on its ability to make new deployments and maintain existing services. Blackfoot Communications, an ILEC/CLEC leasing UNEs from CenturyLink, said eliminating its access to UNE loops or increasing their price "would have an immediate and direct adverse impact on businesses in Montana and Idaho," given lack of alternatives. UNEs support Blackfoot's fiber and fixed-wireless expansion, it told Wireline Bureau staffers. It urged the FCC to look at the UNE specifics of each regional Bell. CenturyLink, another ILEC/CLEC, "views purchasing UNEs as a short-term strategy which is part of a larger transitional process," said a filing on a meeting it and USTelecom had with bureau staffers.

The FCC should reconsider pre-emption decisions in a pole-attachment order it adopted Thursday (see 1808020034), said U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO Tom Cochran Friday. Mayors strongly oppose FCC actions that “subordinate local governments and their property rights to the benefit of the nation's communications providers,” he said. “With little advance notice or engagement with local and state governments, the FCC action -- which effectively prohibits local and state actions or policies having the effect of barring for some duration a private telecommunications company for accessing the public's rights-of-way -- immediately disrupts local management regimes for the sole purpose of granting one group special federal protections and rights. It also upends a key provision of federal law that was enacted overwhelmingly by Congress in 1996 to protect and respect local and state government property rights and their authority to manage these public assets.” The FCC late in the day released the text of the order and ruling adopting one-touch, make-ready and other pole-attachment changes, and also declaring that state and local moratoriums on network facility siting deployment would be pre-empted. Earlier, others concerned about the FCC's decisions were withholding judgment. “Cities are still deciding on their legal strategies, and we’re going to take the lead from our members,” said a National League of Cities spokesman. NATOA hasn’t decided next steps, said General Counsel Nancy Werner, saying she’s not aware of any decisions by other local government groups. Electric utilities also awaited the text and hope the FCC made changes in response to their concerns, said Aryeh Fishman, Edison Electric Institute associate general counsel. “It depends on what they actually put out," he told us. "We’ll be looking out for whether the FCC changed the draft’s proposal for self-help in the electric space because we see that as being a real risk to worker safety.” He shared the concerns of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who said the order's ambiguity could lead to further disputes. "They’re presenting electric companies with a very substantial compliance challenge," he said. Electric utilities agreed with the FCC's draft decision not to give ILECs pole-attachment rate relief beyond new agreements, he noted.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he circulated an order that would extend by 90 days the window to file challenges to the eligibility map for the upcoming Mobility Fund II auction. The fund will provide up to $4.53 billion to support 4G LTE in unserved areas and should meet a critical need, Pai said Friday. “It’s critical that we get it right.” Limited USF monies for mobile service “must be effectively and accurately targeted to areas that lack unsubsidized 4G LTE service,” he said: The extension "will ensure fulsome participation in the process. I’m urging my fellow commissioners to vote this item quickly, so we can proceed with a robust challenge process, and then move forward with this important auction.” Carri Bennet, counsel to the Rural Wireless Association, welcomed the order: “Our members have been working tirelessly and spending financial reserves that would be better put toward expanding service in unserved areas to deal with an overly burdensome challenge process that has been part brought on by overstated inaccurate coverage data. Due to the overstated coverage that has been filed, the additional time will allow our members to launch additional challenges. More is needed though -- the FCC needs to review Verizon’s overstated coverage data as it is causing rural carriers to launch challenges and expend resources to disprove what appears to be a deceptive coverage map. This is a waste of resources and could be avoided if the FCC would step in and question the data.” Verizon didn't comment. "Rural and regional carriers depend on USF, coupled with private investment, to deploy new services in the hardest to reach areas," said a spokesperson for the Competitive Carriers Association. "It’s critically important that the FCC help to produce maps that accurately depict the geographic areas not covered by unsubsidized 4G and therefore eligible for Mobility Fund II support. A successful challenge process is a key piece of the coverage puzzle and this extra time will help improve the current unreliable coverage maps."

Applications for Consumer Advisory Committee membership are due Sept. 14, the FCC said in a public notice Thursday. It said applicants should be ready for a two-year term and it wants representation of consumers, nonprofits, corporations and others.

Few companies are more “uniquely positioned” than CBS “to profit from the explosion of premium content” on over-the-top and direct-to-consumer services, said CEO Leslie Moonves on a Thursday afternoon earnings call. The call was his first since the CBS board voted the previous day to hire outside counsel to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Moonves (see the personals section of this publication). Adam Townsend, executive vice president-corporate finance, at the top of the call put off limits any discussion or Q&A about the allegations or investigation. “In light of any litigation and other matters, and on the advice of counsel,” said Townsend, “the scope of today’s call and any questions will be limited to the quarterly results of the company.” OTT services “are becoming mainstream,” and CBS has its “own, well-established platforms growing right along with consumer demand,” said Moonves. The network’s previous goal was by 2020 to have 8 million subscribers combined for its two “cornerstone” services, CBS All Access and Showtime OTT, he said. CBS is now on pace to reach that milestone in 2019, so the network is upping its forecast to 16 million subscribers by 2022, he said. “In other words, we plan to double our original goal in just two additional years, and that doesn’t even include the subs we’re just beginning to get internationally.”

“Charter will halt airing certain advertising," as an olive branch to the New York Public Service Commission, the company said Wednesday. “We look forward to resolving all matters currently disputed with the PSC in the not too distant future.” Charter didn't say which ads. In June, the agency asked it to halt ads claiming the company is exceeding broadband deployment targets (see 1806260055). The PSC didn't comment. The state commission’s punishment last week revoking OK of the Time Warner buy is expected to bring Charter to the table (see 1808010040). Raymond James analysts “remain confident” both sides can find resolution. “We do not believe that Charter will end up divesting the assets or ceasing operations, but will either prevail in court or find a settlement,” they wrote investors. “We are hard pressed to see where the company was actually required to build out in less dense areas and as such appears to have satisfied the PSC requests. Nevertheless, we suspect politics is playing a part and this will take some time to become final.” Settlement may be best, Stop the Cap tweeted: "We're pondering if New York should settle its dispute with Charter/Spectrum, but only with new deal conditions enforced by the courts. Keeping Comcast and data caps out is priority #1."

Babette Boliek is a good choice as FCC chief economist, to oversee opening the Office of Economics and Analytics, said Jeffrey Eisenach, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a job Boliek has also held. Eisenach noted some fear the new office will take the economists out of bureaus where they are “embedded” with the lawyers who “really” run the FCC. “While the ‘Siberia effect’ is a valid concern in theory, the FCC Order establishing the new office makes it unlikely by giving it real bureaucratic ‘throw weight,’ including specific responsibility for overseeing spectrum auctions and a requirement that the office review every rulemaking before it is released to the public and conduct a formal benefit-cost analysis of all major rules,” Eisenach blogged. It “has a fighting chance to ensure that future FCC decisions are made through multidisciplinary collaboration in which economic analysis plays a significant role,” he wrote. “That has often been the case at the Federal Trade Commission, whose Bureau of Economics dates to 1915.”

Despite some restructuring, the FCC remains tethered to a Communications Act that requires it "to regulate the various industry sectors differently," said a Congressional Research Service overview of the agency. "Some policymakers have been critical of the FCC and the manner in which it regulates various sectors of the telecommunications industry -- telephone, cable television, radio and television broadcasting, and some aspects of the Internet," CRS said. "These policymakers, including some in Congress, have long called for varying degrees and types of reform to the FCC. Most proposals fall into two categories: (1) procedural changes made within the FCC or through congressional action that would affect the agency’s operations or (2) substantive policy changes requiring congressional action that would affect how the agency regulates different services and industry sectors."

The FCC is committed to getting a better picture of who's using the C-band, Chairman Ajit Pai said in a letter to Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif. Commissioners approved 4-0 an order and NPRM in July (see 1807120037). “I agree with you that our ability to intensify the use of this band is closely linked to gathering an accurate picture of how this spectrum is currently being used by incumbent earth stations,” Pai said. “That is exactly why Commission staff established a filing freeze on new applications for earth stations on April 19, 2018, and why stations have a 180-day window to register with the Commission and provide certain needed information (such as their locations) for us to proceed with this rulemaking.” Pai sent the same letter to Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. The FCC also understands the importance of the 5 GHz band to unlicensed, Pai said in a second set of letters to the two members. “The most important way that the FCC facilitates innovation is by freeing up spectrum for wireless services and making it available for flexible use, and I appreciate your support for this concept," he said. Pai repeated in letters to Reps. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., and Billy Long, R-Mo., that the FCC is likely to address rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band in coming months (see 1807250055). All the letters were posted Tuesday.