The forward part of the FCC incentive auction starts Tuesday and one wild card is whether Dish Network will come in in a big way, Citi Research said in a Thursday note to investors. Investors are questioning whether the auction “will be tepid or robust,” wrote Citi analyst Michael Rollins. “DISH has a bigger war chest than expected, and we now see bidding capacity up to $47.5bn,” the note said. “We estimate economic value for the spectrum at $1.99/MHz-POP and believe the auction can reach $37-48bn using 60-80 MHz sold.” Citi expects the auction to close in early 2017, the note said. Citi still likes “Buy-rated T-Mobile given its strategic optionality and bidding flexibility,” the firm said. “DISH retains valuable spectrum that we believe Verizon should pursue after the auction ends.” Dish said recently it had raised a few billion dollars and could use it for spectrum (see 1608030045).

The FCC will host the first meeting of a new Robocall Strike Force, an industry-led group formed to develop comprehensive solutions to prevent, detect and filter unwanted robocalls, the agency said in a public notice. The meeting is to start at 10 a.m. at headquarters. “Robocalls and telemarketing calls are the number one source of consumer complaints received by the FCC,” the PN said. “Following a call to action by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, industry leaders moved to form the Strike Force to expeditiously address consumer concerns with robocalls and deploy anti-robocall solutions.” Only the first 30 minutes of the session are open to the public, with Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn scheduled to speak, the PN said. Wheeler has been outspoken in pushing industry to do more to help consumers block unwanted robocalls (see 1509160016).

A methodology to measure AT&T's performance at internet interconnection points was approved by the FCC Office of General Counsel, said an agency public notice Friday in docket 14-90, the proceeding on the telco's 2015 takeover of DirecTV. Pursuant to a condition for the deal's approval, the commission selected the Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) to create a schedule and methodology for AT&T to report on performance of traffic exchanged at internet interconnection points, the PN said. It said CAIDA worked with AT&T and the FCC "to develop an acceptable measurement methodology," which is described in a first amended report approved by the OGC, in consultation with the Wireline Bureau and the FCC's chief technologist.

The Submarine Cable Coalition asked the FCC to revisit a recent order imposing undersea cable outage reporting requirements on industry (see 1606240040). The commission's "outage" definition is "too broad" and will spark hundreds of additional reports that provide little, if any, useful information, said a petition for reconsideration filed by the coalition Friday in docket 15-206. A 30-minute standard for connectivity loss "inevitably will capture a substantial amount of outages that are normally resolved quickly (e.g., shunt faults), but now will require burdensome and costly reports," it said. Reporting also will be required where traffic is rerouted and there's no service disruption, it said. The petition said the FCC didn't do a "fulsome cost-benefit analysis" to ensure its rules are the least-burdensome needed to meet its goals, as "required by Executive Order 13563 and the Paperwork Reduction Act." It also asked the FCC to give submarine cable operators 12-15 months for implementation, rather than six months -- after Office of Management and Budget review (see 1607120084).

Warring parties might be able to compromise on special access and Ethernet regulation, an industry consultant speculated Friday. There are rumors "ILECs and CLECs are negotiating an agreement to settle the bitter dispute over the FCC’s proposed regulations for the business data services (BDS) market," said a blog post by CCMI consultant Andy Regitsky, with clients in both camps. CenturyLink suggested an industry compromise would be desirable, but said it needed broad stakeholder participation. Others didn't comment. Major ILECs and cable companies have "in public been adamantly opposed" to an Incompas/Verizon BDS proposal (see 1608050055), "but we know that there have been discussions on whether this framework could actually be the basis for an industry-wide agreement," wrote Regitsky. With special access revenue "significantly declining each year," if ILECs determine it's not "worth fighting over a rapidly diminished special access pie they could support a deal, especially if the annual forced price reduction through a productivity factor is low enough to have a de minimis impact on their overall revenues," he said. "ILECs would much rather concentrate on their Ethernet offerings where they face much more competition than for special access. If as part of the deal their cable competitors face price regulation for the first time, so much the better." It's "a lot harder to see what benefits, if any a proposed deal would have for cable companies," wrote Regitsky. CenturyLink emailed: “In years past, the industry has had some remarkable successes in working out reasonable solutions for some highly complex regulatory issues. CenturyLink has played an active role in many of those discussions. We agree with the concept of negotiating to achieve a common goal. However, in the case of special access, to be truly representative and thorough, it is best that as many stakeholders as possible participate in those discussions to achieve a balanced outcome.” NCTA agrees with Regitsky's "assessment that it makes no economic sense to regulate cable operators," said a spokesman.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton campaigned on her broadband deployment plans again Thursday, speaking on the economy in Warren, Michigan. She said she wants to work with both parties starting on Day One of her administration on advancing an infrastructure investment package, a big-ticket item she floated last year that has increasingly dominated her speeches and campaign remarks in recent weeks. “I happen to think we should be ambitious,” Clinton said. “While we’re at it, let’s connect every household in America to broadband by the year 2020. It’s astonishing to me how many places in America -- not way, way far away from cities but in cities and near cities -- that don’t have access to broadband. And that disadvantages kids who are asked to do homework using the internet. Five million of them live in households without access to the internet. You talk about an achievement gap -- it starts right there.”

Any hike of direct broadcast satellite providers' annual per-subscriber regulatory fee will only be passed onto consumers, hurting them, Dish Network said in an ex parte filing Thursday in docket 16-166. The FCC also failed to say what regulatory developments in the past year justify hiking the fee from 12 cents to 27 cents per subscriber, Dish said. And the company said such a proposal is the kind of sudden large fee increase the agency has said it wants to avoid and "leaves the industry uncertain about what to expect in future years." The filing recapped a series of meetings between Dish Deputy General Counsel Jeffrey Blum and advisers for Commissioners Mike O'Rielly, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn and Chairman Tom Wheeler. Dish strongly opposed the fee increase (see 1607060023).

The FCC and DOJ asked a court to suspend review of an inmate calling service case, after the commission's recent reconsideration order to increase ICS rate caps (see 1608040037). The current ICS rate caps from a 2015 FCC order were challenged and stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the current litigation, which also addresses other issues (Global Tel*Link, et al., v. FCC, No. 15-1461 and consolidated cases). The FCC/DOJ said the court shouldn't bifurcate the litigation. "Given the Commission’s adoption of a new order that materially alters the order under review, this Court should grant the respondents’ motion to hold these cases in abeyance," they said in a response (in Pacer) Thursday to oppositions to their motion. "It does not make sense to litigate these cases independent of the challenges that several of the petitioners have already announced they will file to the Reconsideration Order. The Court should therefore place these consolidated cases in abeyance until ... challenges to the Reconsideration Order have been filed and consolidated with these cases. The Court could direct the parties, in the meantime, to confer and file a revised briefing schedule designed to minimize any delay in resolving these cases." Litigant Global Tel*Link said Thursday it would also challenge the new "piecemeal" FCC order. The ICS provider believes the order set rate caps below costs and exceeded the agency's jurisdiction through preemption of state and local decision making. "It is time for the FCC to stop changing the rules, to allow the courts to resolve these fundamental issues and end the uncertainty," said GTL President Brian Oliver in a release. The FCC/DOJ position was no surprise, emailed Brad Ramsay, general counsel of NARUC, a state litigant. "It will be interesting to see how the Court considers the agency’s arguments for more delay given the FCC refused to give affected parties in the appeal similar courtesy -- specifically rejecting arguments to delay the subject Order’s effectiveness until the time to file appeals has lapsed," he said.

FCC Incentive Auction Task Force leaders issued an update Wednesday on the forward auction set to start Tuesday. “Throughout the forward auction, the public will be able to obtain information about the results of bidding on our Public Reporting System (PRS),” said a blog post. “You can view the upcoming schedule of bidding rounds on the Dashboard of the PRS as well as track progress toward meeting the two prongs of the final stage rule that determines whether the auction will close at the current clearing target.” The FCC will provide a “product status screen that will offer details on bidding activity for each product,” the post said. It was by IATF Chairman Gary Epstein and Deputy Chairwoman Jean Kiddoo. A mock auction will be held Thursday and Friday, they noted. “Unlike the reverse auction, in which there is a limited number of possible rounds, forward auction bidding rounds for a stage can continue without limit so long as demand outpaces supply for any product,” they said. “We cannot predict when the forward auction will conclude. Until it does, we invite you to watch along with us as the forward auction clock phase bidding in the first-ever Incentive Auction gets underway.”

CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association jointly criticized the FCC Mobile Measuring Broadband America (MMBA) program. “There is continued concern regarding the breadth (specifically, fewer recorded tests in comparison to other sources) and quality of the data collected and, correspondingly, its accuracy and reliability,” they said in a filing Wednesday: The mobile speed tests also “duplicate far more robust efforts well underway by third parties, each of which gather detailed speed testing data that is more expansive and thorough than the MMBA’s results.” The FCC also hasn't given carriers information on the collection and filtering methods used to prepare speed test data, they said. “The Commission has not established a review process, prior to the anticipated release of the MMBA Report, with sufficient time for the carrier community to evaluate the data contained therein to ensure the results accurately reflect network performance,” CTIA and CCA said. Comments were filed in docket 12-264.