Commenters offered mixed views on actions and proposals to fight unwanted robocalling, as comments were posted Friday and Monday in docket 17-59 on an FCC public notice soliciting input for an upcoming staff report in consultation with FTC. There is no "silver bullet," so "efforts continue to move forward across multiple fronts," including "increasing deployment of various tools to consumers, advancing efforts with respect to the deployment of SHAKEN [Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs] and STIR [Secure Telephone Identify Revisited], as well as the Commission’s expansion of carriers’ ability to block illegal robocalls," said USTelecom, citing "marked strides" in the areas. "Industry and the FCC are aggressively working to mitigate illegal robocalling," said CTIA: "Efforts are promising, but with so much going on, it is premature to try to measure the effectiveness." Comcast said "significant progress has been made on various fronts," with "further important efforts" ongoing. "Despite ongoing progress by industry in formulating best practices and bringing call blocking technologies to market, illegal robocalls remain a significant concern," said the Professional Association for Customer Engagement. PACE urged the FCC to continue to engage with "industry organizations, such as the Communication Protection Coalition, that seek to implement best practices" and to promote "implementation of the SHAKEN/STIR framework." It called on industry and the FCC to "ensure that the telephone network remains available to legal callers and that legal callers are provided an opportunity to challenge erroneous blocking/labeling." The American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management backed FCC efforts "to protect consumers from illegal robocalls by bad actors. Consumers Union, the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America warned "against narrowly focusing on scam robocalls exclusively," saying "the FCC and FTC should solicit data to assess the scope of the entire robocall problem, from phone companies, callers, and call-mitigation services." Others commenting: The American Cable Association, AmeriFactors Financial Group, AT&T, ATIS, First Orion, Neustar, Noble Systems, Sprint, TNS, TransNexus and Verizon.

The U.S. and nations throughout the Caribbean should work together on disaster response, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Sunday in a speech at CANTO 2018, a meeting of the trade association for telecom operators across the Caribbean region. Last year’s hurricanes hit that region hard, Pai said in the Panama City speech. “Disaster response strikes me as an obvious area where we should be working together,” Pai said. “We should learn from our experiences and develop best practices so that we’re all better prepared and more effective in responding to future disasters. We should all be looking at what worked in the past and where we can improve service availability and restoration.” Pai said the U.S. and others in the region also share in interest in bringing broadband to more areas. “What compels me most -- what inspires me -- are the people I’ve met who are trying to make their way in the digital age,” he said. “You may think that a country as large and resource-rich as the United States can’t possibly understand the connectivity challenges of countries in the Caribbean region. But what I’ve seen in traveling around my country, including to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, and hearing from regulators from all over the world is that we do share common challenges.” Pai said in a second speech to CANTO Monday the FCC didn’t wait for establishment of 5G standards “through a government-led process” to make more spectrum available for fifth-generation. “We put our faith in the power of market forces to develop standards through a private-sector led process, as we did with 4G,” he said. Pai also said the U.S. is committed to working with other countries “toward international radio spectrum allocation and harmonization for next-generation terrestrial mobile and satellite” services. “This will help ensure that emerging technologies are promptly introduced into the marketplace, to the benefit of all citizens in our region,” he said.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, Ore., and other committee GOP leaders sought an FCC update Monday on states’ 911 fee diversions and their impact. This follows months of FCC pressure on New Jersey, Rhode Island and other jurisdictions (see 1802200055, 1802230012, 1804230042, 1805070050 and 1806210026). Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., led last week's filing of the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424), which would bar states from doing 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on such “acceptable” uses (see 1807190038). “The amount of 9-1-1 funds that have been diverted for nearly a decade is troubling,” Walden and the other House Commerce Republicans said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai: “Diverting 9-1-1 fees may result in understaffed calling centers, training issues, longer wait times during an emergency, and inhibit the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 systems" so emergency call centers can pinpoint the location of mobile device users. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Gregg Harper, R-Miss., also signed the letter asking the FCC to schedule a briefing for committee staff. The agency didn’t comment.

The FCC will let the Federal Emergency Management Agency do the first nationwide test of wireless emergency alerts to wireless devices using the presidential level code on Sept. 20, with Oct. 3 a back-up date. FEMA requested a waiver (see 1807110033) so carriers would be able to participate in the test, to start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and be transmitted throughout the U.S. and its territories. The test “presents a unique circumstance that justifies a waiver of the Commission’s rules,” the Public Safety Bureau said. “We agree with FEMA, as noted in its letter, that it is important to ‘determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency.’”

T-Mobile and Sprint representatives said they met with various FCC officials on their proposed deal. Among those in the meeting were David Lawrence, director of the T-Mobile/Sprint Transaction Team, and deputy directors Kate Matraves and Charles Mathias. Executives also met with General Counsel Tom Johnson and Wireless Bureau Chief Don Stockdale. The companies asked for expeditious review, said a filing Thursday in docket 18-197. “The parties mostly discussed process and timing issues, but did touch on a few substantive matters in response to questions from FCC staff,” the filing said. “Applicants reviewed some of the major benefits of the transaction as set forth in the Executive Summary of their Public Interest Statement. ... T-Mobile noted that it has a stellar track record in achieving transaction benefits, having met or exceeded projections it made in its applications to acquire MetroPCS.”

NTIA welcomed FCC efforts to spur the IP transition but noted continuing concern about the impact on federal entities of some copper retirements and telecom service discontinuances. Network modernization can "significantly reduce carriers' operating and maintenance costs and enable carriers to expand and enhance the services," said its filing Thursday in docket 17-84: But "streamlined regulatory requirements may place federal departments and agencies that rely on services subject to discontinuance in the untenable position of losing access to critical national security and public safety communications functionality." It noted many federal agencies have offices and installation in remote or less-populated areas -- or receive services outside of certain contract structures -- from carriers not facing competitive pressures. Often, such carriers "lack the incentives that exist in more populated areas and, thus, negotiation alone may not produce the contractual provisions that adequately serve federal users' needs," it said. NTIA is encouraged by FCC statements expecting continued industry collaboration with customers, "especially utilities, and public safety and other government customers, to ensure that they are given sufficient time to accommodate the transition" to next-generation services with key functionalities intact. It construed certain FCC order language "as a commitment to sanction conduct impinging on ... critical functions when it occurs." It wants copper retirement held in abeyance "if a federal user credibly alleges that the carrier's proposed retirement due date does not give the user 'sufficient time to accommodate the transition to new network facilities such that key functionalities are not lost.'"

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., led filing of the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424), which would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money. House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Leonard Lance, R-N.J., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., co-sponsor the measure. HR-6424's introduction follows months of FCC pressure on New Jersey, Rhode Island and other jurisdictions to end their fee diversion activities (see 1802200055, 1802230012, 1804230042, 1805070050 and 1806210026). “It is completely unacceptable that we have seen states diverting fees meant to make important and necessary improvements to emergency response systems,” Collins said. “Diverting these important fees puts lives in danger, especially in rural areas.” FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, who has agitated against fee diversion, lauded HR-6424: “States like Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey, and territories like Puerto Rico and Guam, have passed statutes over the years actually requiring the diversion of 9-1-1 funds for non-public safety related purposes. In the case of New Jersey, lawmakers have claimed it will take a constitutional amendment to end the practice. This is absurd and highlights the importance of further Congressional action to bring consistency and clarity to this matter.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit signed off on DOJ's proposed expedited briefing schedule in the appeal of the AT&T/Time Warner deal approval, said a docket 18-5214 clerk's order (in Pacer) Thursday. Appellant DOJ's brief is due Aug. 3, with appellee AT&T's due Sept. 20. The court said the sides will be notified later of the date of oral argument and the makeup of the judges' panel. In a note to investors Thursday, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said the basis for the DOJ appeal -- that U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrongly rejected the idea New AT&T would negotiate deals for Turner programming differently than TW would have by itself -- faces a tough road because it contests a finding of fact, not an error in how the law was applied, and the appeal has a low probability of success.

The FCC released an order harmonizing Enforcement Bureau formal complaint processes and making tweaks to informal complaint procedures that caused a heated dispute between the Republican majority and dissenting Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel when the item was adopted July 12 (see 1807120033). The informal complaint procedures in the order released Wednesday in docket 17-245 were the same as those in a draft order, as expected.

The FCC announced a $2.33 billion Lifeline budget for 2019 and updated minimum standards for fixed and mobile broadband services supported by the USF low-income subsidy program, said a Wireline Bureau public notice Wednesday in docket 11-42. Indexing for inflation, the budget for next calendar year was increased from 2018's $2.28 billion. The minimum fixed broadband standards, based on Form 477 and urban rate survey data, take effect Dec. 1. The minimum speed will be 18/2 Mbps, with an exception for providers that don't offer that capability in any generally available residential package to a subscriber's residence (they could offer the highest speed they can, and at least 4/1 Mbps). The minimum fixed broadband data usage will be 1,000 GB per month. Under a 2016 order schedule, the mobile broadband data usage standard was increased to 2 GB per month, while the minimum mobile speed remains at 3G level. Under the 2016 order, the minimum mobile voice service standard will increase to 1,000 minutes per month.