An FCC proposal to target Lifeline support to facilities-based providers drew more fire in reply comments filed in docket 17-287. Industry parties, local and state entities, and others said resellers should continue to participate in the low-income USF subsidy program. Boston; Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; and Texas cities said: "Lifeline must continue to prioritize affordability, not infrastructure." NARUC said it could find only one initial commenter backing the FCC's facilities-based proposal. It did support FCC proposals to eliminate the federal "Lifeline Broadband Provider" designation process and restore state authority over eligible telecom carrier designations, though others voiced objections. Various parties also expressed concerns about FCC proposals to impose a hard cap on the Lifeline budget and limitations on individual subscriber support, and some backed continuing funding of voice-only services.

The FCC deactivated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for areas affected by Hurricane Maria, said a Public Safety Bureau public notice Friday. “Effective today, no further reports to DIRS are requested in connection with the status of communications infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.” DIRS has been active for Maria since Sept. 20, “an unprecedented 183 days,” the agency said. The FCC will instead “commence periodic individual conference calls with relevant communications providers” to discuss restoration efforts and preparations for the upcoming 2018 hurricane season, which starts June 1, the PN said. With DIRS no longer active, Network Outage Reporting System reporting obligations are again in effect for new network outages in that region, the notice said. “The FCC continues to be available to address emergency communications needs related to Hurricane Maria 24 hours per day, seven days per week through our 24-hour operations center.” The deactivation was coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security’s National Coordinating Center for Communications, the PN said.

AT&T has blocked 3.5 billion unwanted and illegal robocalls, said a company blog post (see 1803220028) ... Craig Albright's employer is the BSA|The Software Alliance (see 1803220057).

The FCC’s meeting Thursday had two incidents involving security. Guards removed an RF health protester who, after a vote on the wireless infrastructure order (see 1803220027), started to decry the effects of wireless radiation. Chairman Ajit Pai noted as the man spoke that he was out of order. A few minutes earlier, security officers surrounded a woman who applauded twice during remarks on the item by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who dissented on the order. The woman also stood up at one point. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who also dissented, looked up from her text to question why the woman was about to be removed. Why are you “removing someone who is behaving from the audience?” Rosenworcel asked. “There’s someone who is sitting here quietly and listening and I would just ask that we not remove people from the room who are quietly listening.” The man was removed from the meeting “because he was disrupting the vote by speaking loudly,” an FCC spokeswoman said Friday. “With respect to the woman in question, she was advised by security earlier in the meeting that members of the audience are not permitted to stand up and thus block the view of others in audience. Security approached her again because she disregarded that warning and stood up a second time. She was once again advised of the relevant policy.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai intends to “take proactive steps to help ensure the integrity of the communications supply chain in the United States in the near future,” he said in March 20 letters to 18 lawmakers released Friday. The proposal would reduce FCC subsidies to carriers that use Huawei equipment or products, including barring them from receiving USF funding, a communications sector lobbyist told us. The FCC didn’t comment on the contours of the plan. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and other lawmakers wrote Pai in December to raise concerns about reports Huawei was set to begin selling its consumer products in the U.S. as soon as this year “with little or no modifications" to address privacy and cybersecurity concerns. The lawmakers cited 2012 and 2013 House Intelligence Committee reports detailing Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government. The 2012 report recommended the U.S. “view with suspicion” any attempts by Hauwei to continue making inroads into the U.S. market (see 1210100053 or 1210100091). AT&T and Verizon “abandoned” plans to sell Huawei’s Mate 10 pro smartphone, but “I share your concerns about the security threat that Huawei and other Chinese technology companies pose to our communications networks,” Pai said in letters to the lawmakers. Best Buy has said it will also stop selling Huawei products. Pai said he's taking action on supply chain security after a recent “briefing on these issues from the Intelligence Community.” The FCC itself already doesn’t “purchase or use” Huawei or ZTE products or equipment “and I do not expect that would change if a major U.S. communications company partnered with Huawei,” Pai said. Huawei and ZTE didn’t comment.

The FCC shouldn’t eliminate requirements that broadcasters send hard copies of contract documents to the agency without also requiring that all such documents be posted in broadcasters’ online public files, commented the American Cable Association and said interest groups including Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America and Media Alliance. The comments in docket 18-4 responded to an NPRM (see Notebook at end of [Ref:1801300026]). The NPRM proposed allowing broadcasters to provide in their online public files lists of some contract documents that could be made available on request. ACA and the interest groups said that’s insufficient for documents on ownership. Eliminating the contract rule “without making certain corresponding changes to the public file rules will result in less transparency" on broadcasters’ ownership-related contracts, ACA said. The FCC should require copies of all such documents to be included in broadcaster public files within 30 days of their execution, the interest group filing said. ACA and the groups said broadcasters could redact sensitive data in such filings, but the FCC should allow only data that's confidential or proprietary to be redacted. The agency should allow interested parties to oppose specific redactions, ACA said. The only other comment, from America’s Public Television Stations, CPB and PBS, supported the FCC proposal: “Elimination of the paper copy filing requirement will reduce regulatory burdens on broadcasters (and save paper) without impact on the FCC’s or the public’s ability to review such documents.”

The Internet Association moved to intervene in the case against the FCC net neutrality repeal in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "The internet industry will continue to fight for net neutrality protections that help consumers, foster innovation, and promote competition for the entire online ecosystem,” said CEO Michael Beckerman Thursday. "Without these legal protections, internet companies and consumers will have no effective legal recourse against broadband providers that distort competition and impede communication by preventing or discouraging consumers from reaching the online content of their choice," said IA's court motion (in Pacer) in County of Santa Clara v. FCC, No. 18-70506 (in Pacer) and consolidated cases. San Francisco's motion to intervene in support of a California Public Utilities Commission petition was granted, and NARUC's motion to intervene in support of petitioners is pending. The American Cable Association, CTIA, NCTA, USTelecom and Leonid Goldstein have pending motions to intervene in support of the FCC. Also pending is a request from Mozilla and other petitioners to transfer the case to the D.C. Circuit (see 1803190042).

Broadcasters “have made no substantive case” that letting them use vacant channels for the ATSC 3.0 transition would benefit the public interest, Microsoft replied Wednesday in docket 16-142. Broadcaster arguments that unlicensed uses don’t have guaranteed access to spectrum are “a distraction,” Microsoft said. “No prospective user is entitled to use spectrum for which it does not yet hold a license.” The FCC isn’t being asked to give white space users interference protection from broadcasters, Microsoft said. “It is being asked to grant new spectrum to companies that have said they don’t need it,” the company said, referring to the broadcasters. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance agreed, saying allowing broadcasters to use vacant channels would “diminish” prospects for white space devices “as the uncertainty over the ‘temporary’ nature of the dedicated transition channels will chill large-scale investments.” The FCC should “hold the line” on simulcast rules, NCTA said. With 3.0 authorized, broadcasters “insist on generous waivers of the requirements codifying their promises,” NCTA said. “The simulcasting rules are already excessively generous to broadcasters at viewers’ expense.” NCTA took aim at noncommercial stations’ request for a blanket simulcasting waiver, urging the FCC to deny it. PBS, America’s Public Television Stations and the CPB said the agency shouldn’t delay granting the blanket waiver because NCEs aren’t often located near prospective simulcasting partners. “It is precisely in those areas with few over-the-air options that it makes sense to preserve, not reduce, the number of viewable -- i.e., ATSC 1.0 -- signals,” NCTA said. NAB, One Media, the American Cable Association and interest groups including Public Knowledge also commented (see 1803210025).

House members said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai should abandon his Lifeline plan "to drastically cut back the congressionally-mandated" USF program subsidizing phone and internet services to low-income people. "The FCC recently proposed to exclude the majority of carriers from participating in the program and to arbitrarily cap the fund," said a letter Wednesday to Pai in docket 17-287 from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and 67 colleagues. "While you have stated that you are aiming to curb waste, fraud, and abuse, experts have repeatedly testified that the sorts of measures you are proposing do not have a successful track record. These approaches merely force millions of otherwise qualified people to lose service. These measures could be especially brutal during periods of economic downturn when people need the most help. ... Remarkably, among the comments filed by key stakeholders [in] the docket, we are not aware of any that fully embrace the Chairman's proposal, and most urge substantial revision if not outright abandonment of the proceeding." They urged Pai to focus on implementing a national verifier of consumer eligibility for the program. The FCC declined comment.

Broadcasters seeking to use vacant channels for the ATSC 3.0 transition are attempting to “squat” on free spectrum, said Consumers Union, Public Knowledge and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute in replies in FCC docket 16-142 Tuesday on a Further NPRM on the new standard (see 1802210064). Allowing temporary use of the vacant channels “will trigger a lobbying frenzy to make the giveaway permanent,” the groups said. That claim is “nonsense,” said One Media. “The use would be temporary in the same way the second simulcast digital channel provided to broadcasters during the analog-to-digital conversion was temporary.” Special temporary authority process would govern channel provision, ensuring temporary use, Pearl said. Mutually exclusive applications for vacant channels during the switch will be unlikely because broadcasters will coordinate with each other, but would be resolved with auctions as the rules require, NAB said. Giving broadcasters access to vacant channels “is not necessary at this time to protect consumers and it comes at a high cost,” said the interest groups. The vacant channels will let stations maintain signal quality during the transition, NAB said. “Any party claiming to be concerned about consumer protection during the Next Gen deployment should support the use of vacant channels as a concrete step that may help to minimize disruption of service.” Granting broadcasters' vacant channel request will impose costs on MVPDs, the interest groups said. “If the broadcaster‘s 1.0 signal is transferred to a transmitter other than one that is already transmitting a broadcast signal being carried by the cable system, the cable operator would need to purchase and install new receiving equipment.” The broadcaster entities also said the FCC should be flexible in granting waivers of the 3.0 simulcast requirements, and Pearl said the agency should grant blanket waivers for noncommercial and Class A stations. “Implementing this exemption would show the Commission’s support for deployment of ATSC 3.0 across the country, particularly in more remote or rural areas,” said Pearl.