V3.0 of the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) is open for testing and production use until March 2, the FCC Public Safety Bureau said in a public notice Monday. The testing period opened Feb. 2. The new version of NORS “will enhance the overall security and reliability of NORS and allow future evolutions to better support new communications technologies and analytic methods,” the PN said. The new version has four interfaces, all of which will be open for testing, the PN said. “During the testing phase, companies will continue to file their official NORS reports in the NORS 2.0 system,” the PN said. “Upon successful completion of testing, the Commission will migrate all filings to the new NORS 3.0 production system at the beginning of March.”

NAB opposes aspects of the FCC draft notice on ATSC 3.0, said Vice President-Spectrum Policy Alison Neplokh in a blog post. “The draft asks a lot of questions about a tuner mandate, something we and our co-petitioners agree would be counter-productive to the goal of a market-based transition,” Neplokh said. CTA, one of NAB's co-petitioners on ATSC 3.0, similarly voiced concerns recently with “troubling language" in the draft notice about a TV tuner mandate (see 1702030075). Neplokh also criticized questions in the draft on retransmission consent. The retrans portions “have no bearing on enabling innovation in broadcast services, other than to stifle them,” Neplokh said. But she praised Chairman Ajit Pai's recent changes to FCC processes to make circulating items publicly available. The changes are good for commission staff and the agency itself, along with stakeholder groups, said Neplokh, a former FCC deputy chief technologist. “As a former Commission staffer, I often longed for feedback from stakeholders on the feasibility of the rules we were preparing to adopt.” Pai's rule change allows a more open feedback between staffers and stakeholders, Neplokh said. That clearer exchange of ideas will have “tangible benefits” for rules once they're passed, because rules created through a more open process are less likely to lead to petitions for reconsideration and long appeal processes, she said.

Despite the "rocky start" between President Donald Trump and Silicon Valley on the immigration order, the new administration's focus on policy, regulatory and tax changes can be "especially good" for the technology industry, said American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow Bret Swanson in a Friday blog post. He said "long overdue tax reform" will allow big tech companies to "redeploy hundreds of billions of dollars of capital" held overseas into R&D and other investments in the U.S. He said "a return to sanity" at the FCC would spur network infrastructure investment into 5G technology and help boost broadband and support future innovation like self-driving cars and digital health. The tech industry can "enthusiastically" support most of these policy changes, but Swanson said the administration can also learn a lot. "If it listens to technology firms, it will likely gain a deeper appreciation for the contributions of immigrant technologists and entrepreneurs," he wrote. "It might also pick up on a cultural strength of many technology firms, where collaboration, instead of all-out confrontation, is rewarded with positive-sum growth." He said the two sides are "unlikely to succeed without each other." Swanson didn't outright criticize Trump's executive order on the travel ban, but said the administration has shown an ability to "correct mistakes." A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday unanimously upheld a district judge's suspension of that travel ban (see 1702100042).

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly sought Universal Service Administrative Co. help in "identifying and eradicating potential waste in the E-rate program" for schools and libraries due to applicants seeking subsidy funding to overbuild existing broadband networks. O'Rielly noted he dissented from a 2014 order that allowed E-rate discounts for "self-construction" but rejected recommendations to prohibit funding such projects in areas that already had broadband. He said he continues to hear concerns that USF support is "being wasted by E-rate applicants" on overbuilds, which he said is "especially problematic" when the existing networks are being subsidized, including by the high-cost USF program. "In those instances, ratepayer dollars are being used to support artificial competition potentially jeopardizing service to the broader community," he wrote in a letter posted Friday to USAC CEO Chris Henderson. O'Rielly said he was particularly troubled by a recent news article in which the school system in Arlington County, Virginia, discussed plans to seek E-rate funding to pay for a backup fiber network. He said he doesn't believe that's permitted under the FCC's rules, and regardless, he saw no policy justification to support such projects. O'Rielly sought answers from Henderson by Feb. 17 to a series of questions to better understand the scope of overbuilding under the program. USAC and Arlington County Schools didn't comment.

The Wall Street Journal credited FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with "restoring bipartisanship and political accountability to an agency that desperately needs it," after the "Obama administration ran the FCC as an extension of the White House." Pai has made various process changes that create greater transparency, including the move to circulate with commissioners and then release to the public the draft text of meeting agenda items, said an editorial. It dismissed criticisms of Pai actions "reconsidering marginal changes" to Lifeline and closing an investigation of "popular" free-data plans. "For all the invented panic over Republican rule in Washington, note that Mr. Pai is divesting himself of authority and making the agency more responsive to the consumers who pay his salary," the newspaper said. In a blog post Friday, telco consultant Jonathan Lee defended the Pai FCC's revocation of nine Lifeline broadband provider designations approved in the final two months under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler. Lee noted the FCC hadn't approved any Lifeline applications for years and had been told by Republican lawmakers after the election to act "only on matters that require attention under the law." Lee took issue with a previous blog post from former Wheeler counselor Gigi Sohn that hailed pushback against the Lifeline decision. She also criticized a Pai explanation "setting the record straight" (see 1702090073 and 1702070062). "Perhaps if Sohn took less 'surprise and delight' in someone else having to defend themselves against misinformation, then she could have advised Chairman Wheeler to take an interest in Lifeline competition before being asked by Congress to focus only on matters 'that require attention under the law' prior to the change in presidential administrations," Lee wrote. In another Friday blog post, CCMI telecom consultant Andrew Regitsky also defended Pai's Lifeline actions: "While it is certainly fair to criticize Pai and the FCC, consumer advocates and their media allies would be better served to wait for a significant Commission action that actually hurts consumers rather than becoming outraged over everything."

Expect four big areas of change in telecom policy under the Trump administration and Republican-run Washington, said Brookings Institution fellow Blair Levin in a blog post. He said the administration and FCC "are likely to view the wireless market as very competitive and the wired market as sufficiently competitive," benefiting AT&T and Verizon against smaller wireless players, CLECs and over-the-top edge providers. He expects a rollback of net neutrality and broadband regulatory oversight through "multidimensional chess" involving the FCC, Congress and the courts. "Rules will be rewritten around the principles of 'no blocking and no throttling,' with some forms of paid prioritization" and/or zero rating allowed, and interconnection regulation unlikely, he wrote. "The result is likely to be increased leverage in business negotiations for those with broadband distribution assets." Levin also expects "the center of gravity" to shift more toward Congress. He highlighted a potential tax bill, but noted companies could use extra after-tax income for various purposes, including broadband investment, acquisitions and rewarding investors. Lawmakers will look at a potential infrastructure bill, largely through investment tax breaks, and telecom policy legislation that could constrain regulation. Levin expects "a wave of mergers" and doesn't expect President Donald Trump to follow through on campaign threats to break up Comcast/NBC Universal and pursue Amazon on antitrust grounds. He's skeptical Trump will seek to block AT&T/Time Warner despite his campaign opposition, though he could try to influence the review. The problem is interference at the DOJ is politically dangerous and the transaction may avoid FCC jurisdiction, Levin said. "Trump may think he is going to negotiate the deal, but the way things are going, he’ll more likely end up sitting at a poker table with no cards, no chips, and no cash."

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) terminated contract discussions on a $50 million communications infrastructure lease agreement announced last year by former governor and now-Vice President Mike Pence. Holcomb ended talks between Agile Networks and the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) after state telecom associations protested the process that led to the agreement to lease the state’s cell towers and other communications infrastructure to Ohio-based Agile (see 1610140040). IFA and Agile Networks couldn't reach agreement on the terms of the contract, Holcomb said. “I have asked the Office of Management and Budget to assess how best to move forward and to develop alternatives we might pursue,” the governor said in a news release Thursday. “Enhancing broadband availability in rural parts of our state will be an important part of my consideration.” State industry groups applauded Holcomb. “Indiana’s broadband industry appreciates the thorough review of this proposal and upholding Indiana’s commitment to market based solutions,” emailed Indiana Cable Telecommunications Association Executive Director Joni Hart. The Agile deal was anticompetitive and poorly conceived, Indiana Broadband and Technology Association President John Koppin emailed. “We continue to work to expand the reach of broadband into unserved areas and will participate in all discussions at the federal, state and local levels to pursue this effort in productive and reasonable ways.” Agile and the IFA didn’t comment.

Gigi Sohn trumpeted the backlash against FCC revocation of Lifeline broadband provider designations. "To my great surprise and delight, the recent move by the [FCC's] new majority to revoke the designations of nine companies as Lifeline providers has provoked a firestorm in the press, on social media, and on the Hill," wrote Sohn, a counselor to previous FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, in a commentary circulated by the Benton Foundation Thursday. "The furor has been so intense that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai felt moved to defend the decision on Medium this week. But the Chairman doth protest too much. His thin arguments fail to mask two clear truths: (1) His actions will make the market for Lifeline broadband services less competitive, limiting choice and keeping prices high. As a result, fewer low income Americans will be able to afford broadband; and (2) He, and fellow FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, fundamentally disagree with the structure and goals of the Lifeline program and will seek to undermine it in word and deed." She provided rebuttals to Pai's arguments (see 1702070062), and called it ironic "that a Chairman, who highlighted in his very first speech that closing the digital divide would be one of his core goals, would so quickly act to widen it." Pai's office didn't comment.

AT&T said the FCC could act on business data service regulation, given the "fully developed" record in the BDS proceeding. "If it so chose, based on the existing record, the Commission could come to a final resolution on BDS that is just, reasonable, and grounded in the evidence," said a filing posted Thursday in docket 16-143 on discussions company officials had with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai. They also briefly discussed the FCC's recent motion for a federal court to hold in abeyance AT&T's appeal of a 2016 BDS tariff investigation order (see 1702060060).

NCTA objected to a telco proposal to use generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), instead of traditional Part 32 uniform system of accounts data, for calculating pole-attachment rates (see 1701300036). "There are two substantial concerns that warrant rejection" of the proposal of AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon, NCTA said in a filing posted Thursday in FCC docket 14-130 on meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. The ILEC plan "would undermine broadband deployment by increasing pole attachment rates," and it doesn't rely on "publicly available or verifiable information," NCTA said. "On the current record, the Commission has no idea whether a transition to GAAP principles will result in a rate increase of 5 percent or 50 percent or 500 percent." It said increased pole-attachment rates run directly counter to FCC policy that seeks low rates to promote broadband deployment. Commissioners tentatively plan to vote Feb. 23 on an order to cut "outdated accounting rules" and minimize compliance burdens of one industry segment (see 1702020051). "To the extent the Commission grants the requested relief, we proposed that it be conditioned on freezing incumbent LEC pole attachment rates at current levels," NCTA said. "Freezing rates would avoid pole rent disputes and increases, save the costs of Part 32 accounting, and avoid the need for the detailed investigations, guidance, or rulemaking that would otherwise be required to develop a GAAP-based pole rate methodology." A CenturyLink official said the company expects to respond to the criticisms in an upcoming filing. AT&T and Verizon didn't comment.