The FCC's net neutrality repeal will be published in Thursday's Federal Register, triggering timelines for challenges. The "internet freedom" declaratory ruling and orders will take effect when the FCC publishes a new document in the FR, contingent on Office of Management and Budget approval of modified information collection requirements, said the FR. A few nominal parts take effect April 23, but no substantive decisions do until after OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, said a commission spokesman. That process is expected to take months. After Thursday, litigants will have 10 days (possibly until March 5 because March 4 is a Sunday) to file petitions for review if they want to be included in a court lottery to determine the venue for consolidating challenges expected to be filed in different circuits. The FCC made a conforming change under FR rules and a correction, in an erratum in docket 17-108 in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The Computer & Communications Industry Association will seek to intervene in the case against the repeal. CCIA said Wednesday FCC reversal “would give a couple of big internet service providers too much power over any US business or consumers that rely on internet access.” Industry lobbyists said they're watching closely for clues on timing of expected filing of Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval in the House and Senate aimed at undoing FCC rescission of the 2015 rules. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., are leading the CRA effort (see 1712110050 and 1712120037). It was unclear if they will file their resolutions Thursday or wait until Congress returns next week from its weeklong recess. Their offices didn’t comment. Meanwhile, the man who threatened Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., in October over his stance on net neutrality has pleaded guilty. Syracuse, New York, resident Patrick Angelo, 28, pleaded guilty to a count of interstate communication of a threat for leaving a threatening voicemail at Katko’s Capitol Hill office, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. He's eligible to be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau denied National Hispanic Media Coalition’s request for extension of Wednesday’s reply deadline for responses to the bureau’s public notice on the 2017 hurricane season, said an order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest. NHMC sought an eight-week extension to allow participation by storm-damaged communities. “Granting the lengthy extension of time that NHMC requests would unduly limit the Bureau’s ability to assess the record, develop lessons learned and implement enhancements prior to the June 1 commencement of the 2018 hurricane season,” the bureau said. Stakeholders affected by the storms have filed comments, the order said.

The date of the next Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee meeting is April 25: communicationsdaily.com/calendar?y=2018&m=4

A federal court rejected AT&T's request for White House-DOJ communications about its proposed buy of Time Warner. In a docket 17-2511 order (in Pacer) Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington said AT&T fell "far short" of showing the DOJ lawsuit seeking to block AT&T/TW was selective. He said precedent established there's a bar to be met before obtaining discovery on a selective enforcement defense, and it's difficult to imagine a selective enforcement defense in an antitrust context since deals have to be viewed in the context of a particular industry and the transaction's size and structure. Leon said AT&T's use of Comcast/NBCUniversal as comparison for its selective enforcement claim is "unavailing" since Justice filed an enforcement action to enjoin the deal. Leon said "history belies the notion" regulators never before found antitrust problems with proposed vertical deals or insisted on structural remedies as a settlement condition. "So while it may, indeed, be a rare breed of horse, it is not exactly a unicorn," he said. In a statement, AT&T/TW outside counsel Dan Petrocelli of O'Melveny said, "We respect the judge’s decision and look forward to the upcoming trial." The trial is to begin March 19 (see 1712070067).

The FCC wants to help electric utilities participate in the broadband market, said Jay Schwarz, wireline aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, in remarks Tuesday to a Utilities Technology Council meeting in New Orleans. He noted the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee is making recommendations to remove regulatory barriers to network deployment. "Our focus is on speeding up processes and cutting red tape," he said. "We respect the property owned by utilities, and we will not forget the safety concerns you have raised. ... [W]e expect that this working group will generate reforms that will make it easier for all broadband providers to expand their networks." Schwarz urged utilities to be "creative" in a Connect America Fund Phase II broadband subsidy auction: "Talk to leaders in your state about how they can make your bids more competitive. For example, a state could offer matching funds for the auction, which would enable more competitive bids for federal support. Or a state could offer 'sweeteners' to auction winners for accelerated buildout schedules or faster than required bandwidth. ... Or consider collaborating with a local telephone company in making a bid. And please think about edging out -- there may be areas near your current service area that need broadband."

Commissioner Mike O’Rielly admonished states that didn't tell the FCC if they diverted state 911 fee revenue for unrelated purposes. The FCC released its latest 911 fee report earlier this month (see 1802080062). “Failure by a state or territory to appropriately respond forces the Commission to provide an incomplete picture of 9-1-1 diversion activities,” O’Rielly said in a Tuesday letter to governors of Guam, Missouri, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. Officials from those states and territories failed to respond to the FCC’s request, he said. O’Rielly asked the governors to explain their lack of response, say if they diverted fees and describe how much money was diverted and for what purpose. “At the very least … you should have been aware of the impending failure to respond,” the commissioner wrote. “This suggests that addressing your 9-1-1 system or NG 9-1-1 capabilities is not as high of a priority for your state or territory as it should be.” That’s “beyond disappointing,” with lack of response suggesting that fee diversion occurred, he said. The states and territories didn't comment right away.

Qualcomm’s board rejected Broadcom’s “best and final offer” of $121 billion (see 1802050042), saying in an open letter Friday that it “materially undervalues Qualcomm and has an unacceptably high level of risk, and therefore is not in the best interests of Qualcomm stockholders.” It left open the possibility of additional negotiations, calling a Wednesday meeting at which Broadcom repeated its $82 per share offer “constructive,” with Broadcom representatives expressing a willingness to agree to “certain potential antitrust-related divestitures beyond those contained in your publicly filed merger agreement.” Broadcom continued to resist agreeing to other commitments that could be required by regulatory bodies, including the FTC, the European Commission and China’s Ministry of Commerce, the Qualcomm board said. It also said Broadcom declined to respond to questions about its intentions for Qualcomm’s licensing business, “which makes it very difficult to predict the antitrust-related remedies that might be required.” Broadcom has insisted on controlling material decisions for Qualcomm’s licensing business during the period between signing and a potential closing, “which would be problematic and not permitted under antitrust laws,” it said. The board is open to further discussions with Broadcom “to see if a proposal that appropriately reflects the true value of Qualcomm shares, and ensures an appropriate level of deal certainty, can be obtained.”

President Donald Trump signed the Kari's Law Act (HR-582) Friday amid commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. 911 call, the White House said. The bill, which the House gave final approval to earlier this month (see 1802080050 and 1802090050), mandates direct 911 dialing in U.S. hotels and other multiline telephone systems. “Today, 9-1-1 services are available to roughly 97 percent of the geographic United States,” Trump said in a statement. “Advances in technology have made this system more widespread, precise, and efficient -- enabling dispatchers to provide rapid response and timely assistance when the difference between life and death can be only a matter of seconds.” House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., lauded HR-582's enactment. “In the heat of a crisis, Kari’s Law ensures that dialing 9-1-1 means your call will go through, no matter what kind of phone you’re using,” Walden and Blackburn said in a statement. “With this bill now the law of the land, the tragedy that took Kari Hunt's life in 2013 has become a source for positive change, making emergency communications faster and more reliable for every American.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also praised the bill: “An access code should not stand between people who call 911 in need of help and emergency responders who can provide assistance.” Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus co-Chairwoman Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., touted the Next Generation 9-1-1 Act (HR-4672/S-2061), which aims to bolster state and local governments’ transition to the technology (see 1702280062 and 1712180066). She tweeted that 911 has become “the first point of contact for Americans in an emergency situation, but we’re still relying on technology that’s fifty years old ... In life-threatening situations seconds matter, and this enhanced information will be a game changer for first responders and the public safety community.”

FCC commissioners will hear a presentation on a new national broadband map at their meeting Thursday, said the agenda, which otherwise is the same as a Feb. 1 tentative agenda. To be considered are draft items on proposals and actions for using spectrum above 95 MHz, setting Section 7 rules for timely processing of applications for new technologies or services, resolving USF mobility fund Phase II reconsideration petitions, and eliminating certain broadcast and media paperwork rules and payphone provider audit and reporting duties (see 1802010042).

Expanding the end goals with which antitrust enforcement concerns itself to include social or political aims like lower unemployment or higher wages could easily lead to problems like false convictions or false acquittals, said DOJ Antitrust Deputy Assistant Attorney General-Economics Luke Froeb at the George Mason Law Review annual Antitrust Symposium Friday. He said pursuing those aims works only if those aims also align with the consumer surplus standard. Froeb said populist critiques of antitrust enforcement -- that it has been too lax, leading to too much industry consolidation and thus higher prices, higher company profits and increased inequality -- aren't supported by data. He said those critiques, which often look at industry consolidation by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, miss that economists don't believe such industry groupings represent markets, and industry concentration isn't necessarily associated with market concentration. He said the vast majority of markets in merger cases that DOJ challenged were smaller than NAICS industry categories. But he said economics-based criticisms of antitrust enforcement could lead to better tools guiding investigations and more precise targeting of the anticompetitive practices that most harm consumers.