FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wants to open a rulemaking on the contribution methodology for telecom relay services (TRS). At a House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee hearing (at about 56:00) Thursday (see 1804260068), Pai said he hopes to circulate a draft NPRM on the matter in the next couple of weeks. He was responding to Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., who asked for an update on a letter exchange he and Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., co-chairs of the Congressional Deaf Caucus, had with Pai last year. They had asked Pai to act on a petition for rulemaking to revise the TRS contribution methodology, which was supported by deaf and hard-of-hearing advocates; and Pai answered that the commission "was making every effort to conclude its review of this matter as quickly and equitably as possible" (see 1711220017). IDT petitioned in 2015 to include intrastate telecom revenue in the TRS contribution base, which currently assesses a percentage of interstate and international telecom revenue. Deaf groups and others backed the petition, the VON Coalition opposed it and USTelecom was wary (see 1602050058). Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Inc. (TDI), one of the supportive groups, "will be thrilled to see" an NPRM, emailed Executive Director Claude Stout Friday. "It is very important that we keep the Fund sufficient to meet the annual costs of the relay services for calls we make to our hearing contacts or vice versa. Relay services have been 'an equalizer' for us to function in a more level playing field." The FCC, IDT Telecom, USTelecom and VON didn't comment Friday.

NAB and members of the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) disagreed in filings posted Thursday to docket 17-289 about the best way to do a broadcast incubator program. The FCC should institute a program that doesn’t depend on congressionally authorized tax credits and avoids limiting joint sales and shared services agreements, NAB told Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey in a Monday meeting, said a filing. NAB “supports the FCC’s adoption of a fully-formed incubator program at this time, rather than one that is contingent on future Congressional action that may or may not occur,” said the filing. Incentivizing incubators with ownership rule waivers would “plunge” the program “into the politics of broadcasting’s ‘100 Years War’” over media ownership, said late replies by 22 individual members of the ACDDE, the body’s Broadcast Development Working Group. Limitations on sharing arrangements between incubator participants would prevent abuse, the committee members said. Since rules don’t limit broadcasters not involved in incubator programs from such relationships, harsher rules shouldn’t be imposed on incubator participants, NAB said. It favors a “new entrant” standard in deciding who would be eligible to be incubated, but the committee members said the FCC should use the “Overcoming Disadvantages Preference,” a mechanism for designating eligible entities that could survive constitutional challenges. The committees and NAB also had some agreements, with the association agreeing “Native Nations” is a possible race neutral standard that could be used by the agency, and the committee members agreeing with several NAB suggestions about how an incubator program could be operated.

Tech and utility interests said the FCC should retain census-tract-sized licenses for priority access licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. They countered arguments by AT&T and T-Mobile (see 1804240067) that the FCC should adopt larger sizes to make PALs more viable. “The Commission has previously and rightly concluded that its rules should ensure that the 3.5 GHz band remains compatible with the full range of users and business models that the CBRS rules were intended to support in urban areas,” said a filing in docket 17-258. Among those signing were the American Petroleum Institute, Edison Electric Institute, Enterprise Wireless Alliance, Exelon, General Electric, Google, Motorola Solutions, pdvWireless, the Port of Los Angeles, Southern Linc, Union Pacific and the Utilities Technology Council. “To support their claims, AT&T and T-Mobile highlight a single implausible scenario in an attempt to show that the existing rules do not easily support large-carrier business models,” the filing said. “The Commission should recognize this example as only one of many possible deployment scenarios for major carriers, which is not demonstrative of the utility of the band for all carriers’ deployments over multiple contiguous census tracts, much less those of other potential innovative users.” The two carriers didn't comment Thursday. NCTA said it supports a proposal on the PALs by Charter Communications, which offers an alternative to CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association's plan (see 1804230064). The operator wants the 3.5 GHz band licensed in the top 10 percent of metropolitan statistical area cellular market areas on a county basis, the next 275 largest CMAs licensed by MSA and the remaining CMAs by county. NCTA has before advocated 3.5 GHz priority access licenses should be granted on a county basis (see 1708090058). The cable group said, posted Thursday, that county-sized licenses in rural and urban markets "could make all the difference" in helping attract different investors with different models and maximizing participation. T-Mobile said in a filing the use of census tracts would create problems, especially in cities. “Licensing PALs by census tracts in urban areas will not expand the pool of providers meaningfully able to participate in an auction -- it means that any auction winner in an urban area will secure an authorization that will be significantly impaired and may be unable to be practically used,” T-Mobile said.

The Senate confirmed all five of President Donald Trump's FTC nominees Thursday evening under unanimous consent. The confirmed nominees include antitrust lawyer Joseph Simons, whom Trump plans to designate chairman (see 1802280044). The other confirmed nominees are former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Rohit Chopra; Noah Phillips, aide to Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas; Rebecca Slaughter, former chief counsel to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Delta Air Lines' Christine Wilson (see 1801250055, 1801250066 and 1803260049). The confirmations followed negotiations that lasted through our deadline Thursday. All five nominees had “cleared the hotline” on the Senate Republican side by Thursday afternoon, but the Democrats were “trying to reach an understanding” with the White House, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told us ahead of the deal (see 1804260050). "We'd like to get them cleared if we can" because the FTC is “a big agency with a big mission,” he said. Democratic FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny is to depart the commission Friday.

DOJ is proposing eliminating 26 antitrust judgments entered by U.S. District courts in Washington and Alexandria, Virginia, as the first step to get rid of some of the 1,300 legacy antitrust judgments that contain no termination date (see 1804110056), the agency said Wednesday. Many "do little more than clog court dockets, create unnecessary uncertainty for businesses or ... actually elicit anticompetitive market conditions," said Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim. Justice said they generally date from the passage of the Sherman Act through the late 1970s, with the division in 1979 adopting the practice of including sunset provisions. The first judgments it proposes axing it posted on a DOJ website and the agency said it will take comments on those for 30 days. The agency said if after the comment period, it believes the termination is appropriate, it will file a motion with the appropriate court. The judgments DOJ is starting with include a 1957 order enjoining the National Audio-Visual Association from fixing or establishing prices and trade-in allowances for sale or rental of audio-visual equipment such as 16 mm film projectors and tape recorders.

What the FCC freeze on new or modifications of fixed satellite service licenses in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1804200003) could help open the door to is fixed wireless use of C-band, said Claude Aiken, Wireless ISP Association president.

Satellite company Globalstar and fiber company FiberLight -- both headed by the same person -- will combine in a $1.65 billion Globalstar stock deal, Globalstar said Wednesday. Globalstar CEO and Chairman Jay Monroe -- also founder and controlling shareholder of holding company Thermo Acquisitions, which includes FiberLight among its holdings -- said the deal combines "strategic assets that are critical" to next-generation networks. Thermo Cos. will be formed combining Globalstar with Thermo Acquisitions assets FiberLight, 15.5 million shares of CenturyLink common stock, $100 million in cash and minority investments and $25 million in other assets. Globalstar said the deal is expected to close in Q3 and has been OK'd by its board. It said Thermo Cos. revenue will come from sources including satellite and FiberLight operations and "leasing or other monetization" of spectrum. It said the combination will better enable it to monetize its 2.4 GHz of terrestrial spectrum and to take part in terrestrial deployments of its bands. Monroe would have 83 to 87 percent of the new company, up from 58 percent of Globalstar today. The deal requires approval by Globalstar and FiberLight lenders and by Globalstar shareholders, it said. FiberLight and Globalstar have FCC licenses, according to the commission. The agency didn't comment on a possible merger review. In an investor presentation filed with the SEC, Globalstar said a sister company under New Thermo, Global SpectrumCo., will focus on residential, industrial and enterprise offerings employing the S-band, and also look into 5G opportunities for its spectrum holdings in the L- and C-bands.

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly will support FCC orders to change the national TV ownership cap or alter the UHF discount, his office told us Wednesday. O'Rielly will vote in favor of any item supported by the record to change the cap, an aide said. Though broadcast attorneys and opponents of media consolidation had said O'Rielly might not support changes to the cap (see 1804240072), the aide said the FCC has the votes to alter the cap. Echoing the statement O'Rielly made before voting in support of the national cap NPRM, the aide said O'Rielly wants to vote for an item on the national cap and see it litigated in court (see 1712140054).

Staffer Sharon Stewart and the FCC continue settlement discussions on her hostile work environment lawsuit (see 1803260002) though they haven't reached a pact, the sides said in a docket 15-57 status report (in Pacer) filed Monday with U.S. District Court in Washington. A federal judge handling an unrelated discrimination complaint brought last year by a now-retired FCC employee gave that plaintiff, Alexander Chan, leave to file oppositions to the agency's motion to dismiss that claim. In his docket 17-921 oppositions (see here and here both in Pacer) filed last week in the court, Chan said that under the Civil Rights Act, he doesn't need to exhaust administrative remedies and thus it's irrelevant he didn't first file a formal complaint. Judge Timothy Kelly in March granted the commission's motion to dismiss, citing Chan not responding to the motion but declined to dismiss the claim with prejudice as the agency had sought.

NTIA said FirstNet Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson resigned from Sonim Technologies, a maker of rugged mobile phones and other "mission-critical smart phone based solutions" that last week named him to the board. "While he consulted with ethics officials before joining the board of Sonim, and received guidance on the proper recusals, Mr. Johnson determined that FirstNet’s mission would best be served by his resignation in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest," NTIA said through a spokeswoman Tuesday. A former fire chief, Johnson joined the Western Fire Chiefs Association in 2010 as CEO. Before he joined the board, Sonim and Johnson "extensively checked with the Department of Commerce legal staff to ensure both parties were clear of any conflicts of interest," and Commerce said it was OK, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday evening. "Last week, after we issued our press release, we were notified that the situation had changed since we talked to the Department of Commerce. It was clear to them that Sonim was the leader in the FirstNet handset space and as such given our trajectory, Jeff would need to resign from our board." Johnson didn't comment Tuesday.