T-Mobile and Sprint are expected to file their application to combine at the FCC Monday, industry officials said. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the application will receive careful review. “Once that application and any other necessary paperwork is submitted, Commission staff will thoroughly review the transaction to determine whether granting the application will comply with the requirements of the Communications Act and serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” Pai wrote. Meanwhile, T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted Friday he's headed east to spend time in Washington. T-Mobile didn't comment.

With the Lifeline national verifier not ready, Universal Service Administrative Co. will take over eligibility verification for Utah wireline service providers July 1 in a Utah-specific accommodation, USAC Communication Director Jaymie Gustafson said during a Utah Public Service Commission technical workshop Wednesday. “We’ll basically be running a mini national verifier operation.” The PSC’s state contract ends June 30, terminated in the belief the national verifier would be ready by then, and the commission at first planned to require eligible telecom service providers to self-certify (see 1806070022). The PSC has been in contact with USAC and senior FCC staffers, who say "they understand our concerns" and are committed to deploying the national verifier soon, but there’s no firm schedule, Utah PSC technical adviser John Harvey said. There’s no launch date announced for the national verifier, USAC’s Gustafson said. Starting July 1, USAC will accept paper applications for wireline consumers by mail directly from consumers. When the national verifier launches, service providers will also be able to check consumer eligibility, she said. Consumers must send forms to USAC’s Washington, D.C., address, not the Kentucky address listed in the form, and any applications sent to Kentucky will be destroyed, she said. Gustafson suggested providers attach a sticker to the form with the correct address. “We all want to see [the national verifier] move forward” quickly, Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a Thursday interview at the Above Ground Level Summit in Philadelphia (see 1806140057). He said the FCC is still taking feedback on Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to end Lifeline support to non-facilities-based carriers, a plan that state commissioners, FCC Democrats and others have protested (see 1806060031, 1806040030 and 1806010046).

Groups representing local and state governments complained to the FCC about the “lack of appropriate local government representation” on the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee. “Accelerating the expansion of high-speed Internet access has thus far proved to be no easy task, especially in our nation’s rural areas and urban broadband deserts,” the groups said. “Our respective constituencies say it is imperative for all levels of government to be equal partners in this conversation.” NATOA, the National League of Cities, National Association of Regional Councils, National Association of Counties and National Association of Towns and Townships signed the letter in docket 17-79. “Our respective members remain concerned about the composition of the BDAC, the presumption that local governments are a barrier to broadband deployment, and the overall impact these factors had on BDAC members as they were considering recommendations to address the fundamental issues with universal broadband deployment,” the groups said. The FCC is expected to take up its next major order on wireless infrastructure within the next few months (see 1805230073).

With "every week, there is some new technology that I am learning about," Chairman Ajit Pai is wondering "how can the FCC overall stay abreast of some of these new developments." One answer: Invite experts to discuss new tech. He will perhaps this year "start with a forum on" artificial intelligence and machine learning, "a huge area of innovation," Pai said in Q&A at an Axios event Thursday, asking what can this mean for communications businesses and consumers. "How will this affect how companies use spectrum more smartly?" Though he's "not sure there is a formal regulatory role" about tech's effects on kids, Pai identified pros and cons to screen use by his two children. "I do worry a little bit about the way it changes how they interact with the world," he said, wondering "are my kids’ cognitive processes changed" via looking at screens. "It’s a challenge for parents." With this busy time on mergers and acquisitions including a court clearing AT&T to buy Time Warner after DOJ tried to block it (see 1806120060 and 1806140041), Pai said his agency takes a case-by-case approach to reviewing M&A. "We don’t start with a premise that vertical integration is good or bad," he said. "We start from the ground up." A goal is to "make sure that there is a competitive marketplace" via a "holistic view" of market structure, the FCC chief said. "The marketplace is changing very, very quickly," he said, citing digital ads. As his agency's net neutrality deregulation took effect Monday (see 1806110054) and includes transparency rules, Pai noted the "FTC has broad authority … to take action" and its Chairman Joseph Simons has told Congress "he is willing and determined to do just that." There's a memo of understanding between the commissions, he noted. "Our agencies are going to work hand in glove to make sure consumers are protected." While "people are going to clash" on policies, Pai indicated one way he wants to be judged is by how much the commission closes the digital divide. "If we can make a dent in that problem, then I think our time will be viewed as a success," he said. "Where our mark is going to be made is helping to get people onto the internet."

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposed rural healthcare USF hike got majority support from Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly. "The Rural Health Care program is running into a funding shortfall, ... creating uncertainty for participating providers and patients alike," Carr said Wednesday. He said Pai's draft order "would address the shortfall and provide longer-term certainty by adjusting the annual funding cap for inflation. This decision has my support, and I have voted to approve the item.” He said the extra funding would help increase access to telemedicine, including through a South Dakota skilled nursing facility he toured recently that uses broadband connections. O'Rielly also voted to approve the item, an aide told us Thursday. An FCC release trumpeted the majority in favor of the item and the backing of lawmakers and others. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel's office is reviewing the item, an aide told us: "We expect to vote soon when our review is complete.” Pai said his draft order would immediately increase the RHC annual budget cap 43 percent to $571 million to reflect inflation since 1997, and going forward would index the program for inflation and allow unused funds from prior years to be carried forward to future years (see 1806060057). The chairman's plan will boost rural healthcare provider connectivity, even "more so in Alaska given the extreme conditions of distance and isolation" the state's rural communities face, Alaska Communications CEO Anand Vadapalli wrote Pai this week in docket 17-310.

CTIA is hosting a two-day meeting in Arlington, Virginia, which started Wednesday, looking at technical solutions for curbing contraband cellphones in prisons, industry officials said. Engineering professor Charles Clancy of Virginia Tech is leading the discussion, which includes vendors, officials said. The Association of State Correctional Administrators is working with CTIA on its efforts (see 1804270062). CTIA and ASCA didn’t comment Wednesday. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has expressed continuing concerns about the danger of contraband devices (see 1604060058).

PBS and America's Public Television Stations support improvements to the wireless emergency alert system that would allow delivery of multimedia content, but are concerned about increases to bandwidth requirements, they replied at the FCC in docket 15-91. Since public TV stations are using their spectrum to aid in public safety communications, they “must carefully guard bandwidth to ensure that these vital services remain available to communities and first responders,” APTS and PBS said. Multimedia content should be incorporated into WEA messages to “improve life-saving capability,” the National Weather Service said. Digital Broadcasting Technologies rejected arguments from CTIA (see 1806120043) that adding multimedia content would endanger the text portion of WEA alerts. Such alerts can be fully delivered using DBT's technology even if the packets in the messages are received out of order, DBT said. “The packets in DBT’s messages do not have to be received in sequential order, nor do they have to be contiguous.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought broad comment on rules for ensuring the reliability of U.S. 911 networks, including notification to public safety answering points of network outages affecting service. When the FCC adopted its initial rules, “it committed to review them in five years to determine whether they remain technologically appropriate, and both adequate and necessary to ensure the reliability and resiliency of 911 networks,” Wednesday's public notice said. It asked for comments on "how effective these provisions have been in practice, and whether these provisions should be modified to adapt to advancements in technology or other changes." It said it will use the comments "to recommend next steps, if any, for the Commission’s consideration.” Comments are due July 16, replies Aug. 13, in docket 13-75.

The Senate Commerce Committee set a June 20 confirmation hearing for FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, as expected (see 1806120047). President Donald Trump nominated Starks, Enforcement Bureau assistant chief, this month to succeed now-former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending June 30, 2022 (see 1806010072). The panel will also include Consumer Product Safety Commission nominee Peter Feldman, Senate Commerce said at our deadline Wednesday. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

Microsoft responded to NAB’s complaint about the tech company's recent filing on TV white spaces (see 1806110027) that it agrees "this is a challenging issue to resolve and recognize[s] that the FCC has been looking into it since 2014. ... We look forward to working with the FCC, NAB, and others on a technical solution that will meet the needs of all parties.”