The power and out-of-band emissions limits in FCC rules for the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band are a nonstarter, representatives of the Wireless Innovation Forum’s Spectrum Sharing Committee told officials of the Office of Engineering and Technology in a meeting, said a filing posted Monday in docket 12-354. A wide group of industry companies was represented, including Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Federated Wireless, Google, Motorola Solutions, Nokia Networks, Qualcomm and Verizon. Among the FCC officials at the meeting was OET Chief Julius Knapp. Achieving the power and emissions limits in the rules “will require so much power back off as to render the devices virtually unusable,” the filing said. “After additional review, the diverse set of organizations participating in this filing agree that the required measurement procedure is a major impediment to fulfilling the promise of Part 96.” The companies also said no other licensed mobile broadband service is subject to similar requirements and the rules “do not properly reflect the impact of aggregate interference.” It's likely other wideband systems, including Wi-Fi and WiMAX, will be unable to meet the emissions limits, the companies said. The commission approved creating the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) in the 3550-3700 MHz band at its April meeting, after years of debate (see 1504170055). CTIA earlier sought changes to the power and emissions limits in the rules (see 1510210020). The Satellite Industry Association opposed many of the changes sought by CTIA and others, saying they're an interference risk to fixed satellite service earth station use of the spectrum (see 1510200061).

Correction: What CTA Government Affairs Director Jamie Boone said on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2015 (S-356) was that the Consumer Technology Association supports the bill, but hasn't taken a position on the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act (S-512) (see 1512030036).

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion upheld the dismissal of a second amended complaint from a Virginia-based locksmith, which alleged that Google, SuperMedia Sales, Yellowbook and Ziplocal "knowingly published the names, addresses and phone numbers of unlicensed locksmiths on their websites in order to gain advertising revenue." Baldino's Lock & Key Service had appealed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia's dismissal. That court said Baldino's hadn't proved that the defendants made "a false or misleading description or representation of fact." The court also said that Baldino's had "failed to state a claim under the Lanham Act," which is a federal statute that prohibits false advertising and trademark violations, among other things. "Rather, the locksmiths who generated the information that appeared on defendants' websites are solely responsible for making any faulty or misleading representations or descriptions of fact. Accordingly, the district court did not err in dismissing Baldino's Lanham Act claim," the 4th Circuit opinion said Friday.

The USF contribution factor will jump to 18.2 percent in Q1, from this quarter's 16.7 percent, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg in an update Thursday. He said the Universal Service Administrative Co. projected industry long-distance telecom revenue for Q1 at $14.93 billion, about $72 million less than in the current quarter. Combined with projected USF demand of $2.277 billion, the revenue decline caused the industry contribution (assessment) factor to spike, he said. "The drop in first quarter 2016 revenues continues the downward trend in the USF contribution base, which places upward pressure on the USF assessment factor." Gregg recently said the contribution factor could top 18 percent for the first time, depending on the projected revenue (see 1511030037).

Three petitions for reconsideration of the incentive auction Application Procedures public notice were filed and assigned a pleading cycle, the FCC said in a public notice issued Thursday. The petitions were filed by the cellular carriers that make up PBP Group, T-Mobile and Walker Broadcasting. Oppositions to the petitions must be filed within 15 days of Thursday’s PN being published in the Federal Register, and replies 10 days later, the FCC said.

The FCC Wireline Bureau admonished the Alabama Public Service Commission and a PSC staffer who the bureau said violated a protective order in the inmate calling service proceeding. In an order in docket 12-375 and in Friday's Daily Digest, the bureau said the remedies already undertaken by the PSC (see 1509300023 and 1510080015) were sufficient to preserve the integrity of FCC processes, so it imposed no additional penalties. "We continue to prohibit Darrell A. Baker from reviewing confidential documents submitted in this proceeding, or any other proceeding before the Commission, however, and also exclude him from participating further in this proceeding for at least one year," Bureau Chief Matt DelNero wrote. Global Tel*Link had said the FCC should impose further sanctions on the Alabama PSC and Baker (see 1510050034), who acknowledged he inadvertently submitted a filing with confidential information from Global Tel*Link and other ICS providers (see 1509280034).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler took several shots at ISPs Thursday during the FCBA annual dinner speech at the Washington Hilton, speaking hours before Friday’s net neutrality challenge oral argument (see 1512040058) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He joked that the “light of my life” and the “person who inspires me every day to get up” is Judge David Tatel, seen as a key judge in that case (see 1510280052). Wheeler called the dinner the “pre-argument tailgate” for the telecom lawyers in the room. He referred to Uber surge pricing likely that evening, and said NCTA Chairman Michael Powell “blames it on Title II,” the part of the Communications Act that Wheeler reclassified broadband under in the net neutrality order, which is under legal challenge. Title II was a running joke of Wheeler’s through the night. He singled out Comcast attendees within the first five minutes of a 38-minute speech. “If they want more wine, it’s $35 a bottle,” Wheeler declared. “And don’t consider it a wine cap. Just think of it as a wine usage plan.” He mocked ISPs again on the FCC’s order to pre-empt state laws limiting municipal broadband networks, saying ISPs opposed the order in the “hotly debated” issue. “And on the other side, you had elected officials, small business owners, innovators, entrepreneurs, policy experts, competition advocates, teachers, doctors, parents, social workers, nuns, puppies, kittens and the original Broadway cast of Hamilton.” He tallied off different industry consolidation proposals under consideration, rejected and approved from the past year. “I just worry that if Time Warner gets hurt again, they could just lock themselves in their room, listen to Adele, eat ice cream straight out of the carton and read John Malone’s old love letters,” Wheeler said of Charter Communications’ proposed buy of TWC after a failed bid by Comcast. Malone is Charter’s largest shareholder. Wheeler joked that Dish Network Board Chairman Charlie Ergen was a victim of the extramarital dating website Ashley Madison hack: “Poor Charlie Ergen … no one responded.” Wheeler judged “hilarious” Verizon suing to overturn the FCC’s old net neutrality order only to return and advocate for the very proposal when confronted later with the Title II possibility. He also alluded to the FCC’s forthcoming website electronic comment filing system: “It’s the finest ECFS in the world,” he said, assuming the bombastic rhetoric of GOP presidential contender Donald Trump. “It’s huge! We’re going to make ECFS great again.” He ribbed FanDuel and DraftKings, saying they sponsored the evening, and showed a video of “a new business venture” called “Fanta-CBA,” an imagined fantasy league showing telecom lawyers. The video featured cameos from NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, Wheeler Chief of Staff Ruth Milkman, CTIA President Meredith Baker, Powell and Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor at the Georgetown Institute for Public Representation. “No more guard bands to cut down interference,” Wheeler said of Trump’s imagined spectrum plan. “Instead he’s gonna build a wall. Mexico will pay for it.” He said Trump was “a very big proponent of white spaces.” Other Wheeler bits included playing Drake’s “Hotline Bling” alongside a video clip of Wheeler’s hand gestures on repeat from a congressional hearing -- he accused Drake of picking up the gestures as dance moves. He donned a smoking jacket in front of an imaginary fire at one point to tell a bedtime story: “'Twas the night before argument, and back at his home, my poor general counsel sits fretting, alone … .”

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) outlined strategies agreed to by its member companies to address and respond to climate change, ITI said in a statement Thursday. The statement highlights three main commitments -- reducing the carbon footprint of operations, reducing the carbon footprint of products over their lifecycles and delivering ongoing innovations to transition to a "sustainable low-carbon global economy" -- to be undertaken by members. The statement also identified a commitment to supporting government policies "with the intent of both mitigating and adapting to climate change." The efforts to support certain public policies related to climate change will be done with increased public-private partnership, the statement said. "We are not an industry that is fond of the status quo, and when it comes to climate change the status quo is unacceptable," ITI CEO Dean Garfield said in a blog post. "We are determined to use our innovative minds to find solutions to these challenges and to identify the opportunities that lie ahead to reduce carbon emissions."

With the window for reverse auction applications opening next week, the Incentive Auction Task Force is stepping up educational efforts, said IATF Chairman Gary Epstein and Vice Chairman Howard Symons in a blog post Thursday. An online tutorial on the reverse auction is already available and will be upgraded in 2016 “to walk prospective broadcast bidders through the bidding system and post-auction procedures,” they said. An application process workshop is scheduled for Tuesday that will cover the pre-auction process, they said. “Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of FCC staff following the presentation, and staff contacts are listed in the forms and materials for any follow-up questions.” Next month, the IATF will release the file formats for reverse auction round results data, wrote Epstein and Symons. “The file formats will be of interest to broadcasters that may wish to download the results of each round for each of their participating stations, but all bidders will be able to view their own round results information on the FCC’s online auction portal during the auction.” The file formats for forward auction round results will be available before the end of the year. An interactive tutorial for the forward auction application process will be released in January, the blog said.

The FCC is again delaying the U-NII-3 deadline for certifying broadband equipment. The Dec. 2 deadline for National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices to meet revised Section 15.407 rules in order to be certified is being pushed to March 2, the full commission said in an order Thursday. That three-month delay in implementation follows comments by the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association and others (see 1511250037) requesting that extension as part of broader review of out-of-band-emission rules adopted for the U-NII-3 band, the agency said. The deadline initially was to be June 1 (see 1507010044). The FCC said it will continue to follow the previous Section 15.247 guidelines through March 2 when certifying U-NII-3 band devices.