FCC staff kept a Monday reply comment deadline for wireless and wireline infrastructure rulemakings. A Wireless and Wireline bureau order in Friday's Daily Digest denied the request of the National League of Cities and other local groups for a one-month reply extension in dockets 17-84 and 17-79 (see 1707070047). The groups cited the volume and complexity of initial comments and other reasons (see 1706160015 and 1706160041). Noting many commission rulemaking notices "raise complex issues involving a broad array of rules and attract large number of initial comments," the bureaus said to grant an extension on those grounds, absent other significant factors, would thwart the agency objective of conducting orderly proceedings and promptly resolving disputes.

The FCC and ILECs opposed a bid for a court stay of a business data service order that critics said unjustifiably deregulated monopoly ILEC services and will cause irreparable harm to BDS competitors and business consumers (see 1707050032). BT Americas, Incompas, Windstream and the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee "argue the Order 'removes price regulation,' 'abandon[s] rate regulation,' and 'almost totally deregulate[s] rates,' leaving them 'without remedy if BDS rates rise,'" said an FCC filing (in Pacer) Thursday opposing the parties' request for a stay by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Citizens Telecommunications v. FCC, No. 17-2296. "Those contentions are false. The Order only eliminates one form of regulation -- setting prices in advance through price cap tariffs. It leaves in place a robust regulatory regime that protects petitioners from unjust, unreasonable, or unlawfully discriminatory rates and terms." The decision to streamline BDS price regulation was based on a substantial record and reasonable analysis, said the FCC, which attached a July 10 Wireline Bureau denial of a request for an agency stay of the order (see 1707100028). AT&T, CenturyLink and USTelecom also opposed (in Pacer) the request for a court stay: The order "eliminates unnecessary regulatory burdens and spurs investment by modifying outmoded rules governing certain [BDS] offered by incumbent telephone companies over legacy technologies." The stay movants have asked the 8th Circuit to transfer the case to the D.C. Circuit, which the agency and some ILECs also opposed.

The radio industry needs to be “front and center” in connected cars, regardless of how consumers “get their information from the dashboard,” Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said on a Thursday earnings call, speaking of NextRadio’s FM smartphone app. “If they turn on their car and they see an embedded AM and FM radio with HD, that’s great,” he said. “If they turn on their car and they see what looks like an Android screen or an Apple screen, we’ve gotta be there.” Many Americans “are choosing to connect to their cars through their smartphones,” said Smulyan. “If you’ve got an Apple phone or you’ve got an Android phone and you plug them into your car, [NextRadio] seamlessly works in the dashboard and gives you a full interactive experience.” The radio broadcasting company in the next few weeks will launch “streaming-compatible versions” for Android and iOS devices, said Smulyan. NextRadio requires activation of the FM-reception chip embedded in virtually all smartphones. Activation is prevalent on many models of Android smartphones, not iPhones (see 1701060004). With international developments including FM chips in smartphones, the CEO said “we’re certainly still in the early stages of a very long process to make this a key component of the radio-listening experience." NextRadio FM-chip-activation agreements are in place with all major U.S. carriers, Smulyan said. “We’re now starting on manufacturer agreements.” Alcatel and BLU (Bold Like Us) “have been the first two,” he said.

Public Knowledge is asking the FCC to investigate the exposure of millions of Verizon customer records in a cloud server, discovered last month by a security researcher. PK Policy Fellow Yosef Getachew said Verizon failed to protect its customers' privacy, and also to notify them of the exposure. "The FCC is well within its authority to investigate Verizon’s data security breach and take appropriate enforcement action," he said. Neither the FCC nor a Verizon spokesman Thursday commented on PK's request for a probe. The Verizon spokesman said the investigation is ongoing and the company is working with the vendor "to make sure this never happens again." In a Wednesday news release, the telco said records of 6 million unique customers -- not 14 million as cybersecurity firm UpGuard initially blogged -- were exposed. "The overwhelming majority of information ... had no external value" and no Social Security numbers or Verizon voice recordings were exposed, said Verizon. There was "no loss or theft" of customer data, it added. UpGuard blogged Wednesday that its researcher Chris Vickery discovered the breach June 8 of the cloud server owned by Israel-based Nice Systems.

A draft order reshaping FCC Part 2 equipment authorization rules was approved by commissioners 3-0 Thursday, as expected (see 1707030014). They authorized labeling information to be provided to the consumer via a device’s electronic display. It's "an alternative to the requirement for etching or permanent labels on the exterior of devices, and manufacturers expect the use of electronic labeling rather than permanent physical labels to result in a measurable reduction in costs,” said a news release. Commissioners also eliminated a requirement that companies file with Customs and Border Protection FCC Form 740, the FCC’s unique import declaration form for RF devices. The FCC combined two separate self-approval procedures into one, “which will help reduce confusion as to which process applies to any given product,” the agency said. “The new combined process is called the Suppliers Declaration of Conformity and will allow device manufacturers to bring products to market in a more efficient manner while continuing to ensure compliance with the equipment authorization program.” Officials said the huge increase in wireless devices necessitated a rule change. Chairman Ajit Pai said the order was about modernization: “Our decades-old rules subject new technologies, like personal computers, to a more strenuous self-approval process than what is required for more established technologies. But PCs, of course, are no longer new and unfamiliar, and they have tried and true testing procedures, yet they are still subject to the stricter and costlier self-approval process.” Julius Knapp, Office of Engineering and Technology chief, said the commission’s authorization program is 50 years old: “It has been an instrument to ensure that radiofrequency devices comply with technical rules and share airwaves without causing harmful interference.” This is "significantly easing regulatory burdens, which will allow consumers to receive products in a more efficient and timely way,” said Julie Kearney, CTA vice president-regulatory affairs.

FCC commissioners diverged on how to assess open internet public comments, and outside parties continued to disagree on the significance of Wednesday's net neutrality Day of Action (DOA) (see 1707120017). Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency will review all comments in the record and make a decision based on the law and other facts. The raw number of comments isn't as important as the substantive ones, he said at Thursday's news conference after the commission meeting. He declined to provide a timetable for action and said he didn't have any DOA conversations with participants. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said it would be "short-sighted" and "problematic" to ignore or discount individuals' comments. Docket 17-108 had 493,462 filings by late Thursday, bringing the cumulative total to 7,382,933 (after 797,577 were posted Wednesday, and over 400,000 both Monday and Tuesday). Pai said the agency's electronic comment filing system seemed to be holding up despite the crush of comments. Demand Progress, a DOA organizer, called the protest against FCC-proposed rollback of Title II net neutrality regulation a "historic day" that "broke records." It said Thursday that DOA sparked at least 2 million comments to the FCC (some of them apparently not yet posted) and over 5 million emails and phone calls to Congress, with "tens of millions" of people seeing protest messages online. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office joined the DOA "to sound the alarm about the FCC's attack on net neutrality" and ask for people's support. But FreedomWorks said: "The response, largely from companies greatly benefiting from so-called net neutrality, was unimpressive. The fundamental problem with their message is that it is laughable. The average user's Internet experience today is no different than in 2014. ... Net neutrality is a solution without a problem." NCTA CEO Michael Powell said in a piece also distributed on Medium, which took part in DOA, "the duplicity of big tech’s call to action is revealed by asking are they willing to subject themselves to government regulation to ensure the internet is neutral rather than skewed in favor of their pocketbooks." The Phoenix Center said broadband and telecom capital spending "is down significantly in 2016." Incompas unveiled a poll saying Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump back current net neutrality protections by a 3 to 1 margin.

Modern LCD TVs consume less energy, even as sets increase in size and resolution, CTA reported Wednesday. CTA commissioned Fraunhofer to study 9,000 models of TVs marketed between 2003 and 2015, it said. It said 2015 TVs consumed 76 percent less energy (per screen area) than in 2003, and it costs consumers on average 6 cents a day to power a TV. It’s “fundamental” that industry and government devise “a standardized way to measure energy use,” CTA said. “The consumer technology industry has initiated efforts at the domestic and international levels, with participation by governments and energy efficiency advocates, to update the current consensus measurement standard for TV energy use to reflect technology and market changes.” Lack of an updated test clip has been a sticking point of proceedings to draft Version 8.0 of EPA's Energy Star TV specification (see 1706280026). The Natural Resources Defense Fund agrees with the CTA study’s "core finding" that national TV energy use has gone down, Senior Scientist Noah Horowitz emailed us Wednesday. But TVs in some cases "use a lot more energy in a person’s home than the value reported by the industry," Horowitz said. "There are flaws in the test method specified by the government for measuring the energy use of new TVs and some manufacturers are exploiting them big time," he said, referencing NRDC's 2016 report accusing major TV makers of duping the public on TV energy use.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters Wednesday he's asking DOJ Antitrust Division head nominee Makan Delrahim to meet with him to discuss any contact Delrahim may have had with members of President Donald Trump's administration on AT&T's proposed buy of Time Warner. Blumenthal's request follows media reports that White House officials viewed DOJ's ongoing review of AT&T/TW as a potential way to address Trump's well-known frustrations with TW's CNN's coverage of his administration. Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., also warned DOJ on its interactions with the Trump administration over AT&T/TW (see 1707070054). Blumenthal and Klobuchar both raised concerns about AT&T/TW on antitrust grounds. The White House “is ethically and morally barred from intervening” in the merger review, Blumenthal said. “The mere threat of it is a very serious potential violation of ethics.” Delrahim has not yet responded to the request for a meeting, Blumenthal said. DOJ didn't comment.

FirstNet held in-person consultations with 36 states and territories after delivering AT&T state plans June 19, said FirstNet Director-Consultation David Buchanan Wednesday on an International Wireless Communications Expo webinar. Remaining meetings are scheduled before Aug. 4, he said. FirstNet met with state single points of contacts, with governors attending in a few states. FirstNet delivered plans to 53 of 56 states and territories, with Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa still to go, he said. Coverage has been a hot topic in the consultations, Buchanan said. Todd Early, Texas Department of Public Safety deputy assistant director, agreed coverage is a critical concern for his state, the second largest in the U.S. He said the state is reviewing the AT&T plan. Network uptime and resiliency is a big discussion point in talks with AT&T and California, said Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System Executive Director Scott Edson. “Public safety is making a demand to ensure that we do have that,” and states should insist the issue is fully addressed in final state plans, he said. Early opt-ins by Virginia and Wyoming (see 1707110059) excited FirstNet, which looks forward to continuing the dialog with the 54 other states and territories, Buchanan said. States have until Aug. 4 to provide feedback on initial plans, then FirstNet will provide final plans this fall, he said.

The Technological Advisory Council next meets Sept. 19, 12:30 p.m. at FCC headquarters, the agency said Tuesday. TAC “will discuss progress on work initiatives discussed at the previous meeting,” said a public notice. The meeting will be the second under Chairman Ajit Pai, after a session in June (see 1706080031).