FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's business data services overhaul may be the subject of some negotiation over certain aspects of its rollout, House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., said in an interview Wednesday. “He and I have spoken personally,” said Doyle, who has fought for BDS overhaul for years and is unhappy with the overall direction of Pai’s draft item. “I’m still working with him on if this is to be on how it’s rolled out. We’re still sort of in negotiations on that.” The item was released in draft form last week and tentatively scheduled for consideration at the April 20 commission meeting (see 1703300052), with some expecting a 2-1 vote with the agency's sole Democratic member, Mignon Clyburn, opposed (see 1704050048 and 1704030050). “I think he’s going to move forward with the deregulation; the question is how quickly that takes place," Doyle told us of his understanding. "Is it like a flash cut or you have a break-in period where it’s done over a period of time so that people can adjust to the changes in the market? That’s not been determined yet; that’s what we were talking about. But I think he’s made it pretty clear he’ll move forward with deregulating most of the market.” Doyle sees bad consequences of such deregulation: “The end result is going to be increased prices on the backbone and on people that use business data services,” Doyle said. “We were hoping for him to continue the fact-finding that was started, but he’s made a decision to say, ‘Well, there’s competition in these markets and therefore we’re deregulating about three-quarters.’” Doyle cited the issue briefly during a Wednesday spectrum hearing when questioning witnesses. Doyle said he wanted to mention the issue “in light of when you talk about 5G deployment, one of the components of that is the cost of the backbone.” He backed former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's efforts on BDS: “We came so close to getting it done, and we just weren’t able to get that third vote.” Pai now is “moving forward to deregulate BDS prematurely, I believe." During the hearing, CTIA Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann didn’t comment on Pai’s item and noted CTIA members differ on how they think backhaul should be regulated. “We are always trying to find ways to drive down cost,” Bergmann said. An FCC spokesman declined comment on any talks with Doyle.

Various parts of Ligado's LTE plans face spectrum-related opposition, which raises the risk of financial challenges for the company, said satellite consultant Tim Farrar in a blog post Wednesday. Farrar said there are indications the Federal Aviation Administration will heavily limit power levels in the 1527-1537 MHz downlink band, and the Department of Transportation may put even tighter limits; and there are efforts by the earth science community to prohibit an auction of the 1675-1680 MHz spectrum used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Iridium is trying to block use of the 1627.5-1637.5 MHz uplink band, and the 1647-1657 MHz uplink band likely can be paired only with 1527-1537 MHz low-powered downlinks. He also cited a column Tuesday in The Hill by Robert McDowell of Cooley in which the former FCC commissioner said Ligado's LTE plan, like the one proposed in 2010 by its predecessor LightSquared, "still causes harmful interference to already-licensed neighbors such as satellite services providers, NOAA’s weather service and the aviation industry" and should be rejected by the FCC. Farrar said Ligado has the finances to last into next year and continue lobbying, but the FCC may come to a decision this month given Chairman Ajit Pai's indication the agency plans to answer petitions within one year and Ligado's application and petition were put on public notice April 22, 2016. The agency didn't comment. Ligado in a statement Wednesday said McDowell -- whose firm represents Iridium -- made an "outdated and inaccurate characterization" of its satellite/terrestrial network and noted that McDowell, when testifying in 2014 as an expert witness in LightSquared's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, indicated GPS coexistence with Ligado's LTE network was technically feasible. McDowell told us Wednesday his 2014 testimony was about FCC process and timing issues, not about out-of-band emissions concerns in the 1627.5-1637.5 MHz band, and that Ligado's LTE plans still haven't resolved those. Ligado outside counsel Gerard Waldron of Covington & Burling said DOD indicated at a DOT workshop last month on adjacent band compatibility that it was comfortable with Ligado's LTE plans. A final DOT report is due later this month, Waldron said.

Raymond James' Frank Louthan said a business data service order likely will be approved 2-1 by FCC commissioners, agreeing with other observers (see 1704030050). The analyst told us Wednesday he hopes Chairman Ajit Pai can get Commissioner Mignon Clyburn "to agree to some aspect it, somehow bridge the divide there ideologically," but said he's "not confident that will happen." Louthan called the previous FCC's approach to competition flawed. "They did not look at cable impact enough, and I think that there were some other artificial bright lines on what defined competition that were unnecessary," he said. "The overall cost savings to the companies that were pushing for it appeared small to me as well, once they actually disclosed it." A deregulatory-oriented draft BDS order is tentatively scheduled for an April 20 vote (see 1703300052). Incumbent telcos are the traditional providers of BDS to competitors on a wholesale basis and businesses on a retail basis, but they face new competition. Laurence Glass, founder of Lariat, a Wyoming fixed wireless ISP, said wholesale special access services (the traditional term he prefers to BDS) "are especially important to broadband deployment" and are "perhaps the only services of this type" the FCC needs to regulate. "If wholesale services are readily available and fairly priced, multiple competitors will use them to create services at the retail level," he said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 05-25 on a phone call he had with a Pai aide. To deploy in unserved areas, WISPs need "middle mile" special access services to establish a "beach head" in a nearby town to achieve economies of scale, Glass wrote, but incumbent telco and cable providers can thwart competition through wholesale pricing above retail pricing or refusing to make the service available. "Unfortunately" he wrote, the draft order "declines to address the anti-competitive practices of pricing wholesale services above retail" and also of refusing to deal.

Representatives of T-Mobile asked officials from the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force to follow its schedule as planned with the transition about to begin. T-Mobile met with numerous IATF staffers, including head Gary Epstein, said a Monday filing in docket 12-268. “Representatives from T-Mobile discussed the status of broadcaster and vendor preparations for the Post-Auction Transition and T-Mobile’s engagement with various stakeholders to help identify and resolve transition hurdles,” the carrier said. “Based on transition data assembled by T-Mobile for more than 1,000 stations obtained from direct outreach to broadcasters and publicly-available sources, the IATF staff’s efforts to optimize the repack will exceed most expectations and minimize disruption to television broadcasters and their viewers.” The company said it discussed several potential issues and how to address them, including: “collocated FM stations, the desire of many relinquishing stations to be able to turn in their licenses early, the likelihood of applications to seek expanded facilities in the second application window, and the anticipated increase in mergers and acquisitions among broadcasters.” NAB sought a do-over on key aspects of the plan (see 1703170055).

Sprint and Windstream highlighted their business data service concerns at the FCC, as commissioners consider a draft BDS order tentatively scheduled for an April 20 vote (see 1703300052). Officials of both companies "discussed the importance of providing BDS customers with sufficient time to adapt to a radically altered BDS framework, and ensuring that incumbent local exchange carriers do not increase DS1 and DS3 rates in response to deregulation," said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 05-25 on a meeting they had with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Thursday. That day, Chairman Ajit Pai released the BDS draft to create "a new framework that minimizes unnecessary government intervention" and relies more on market forces. A day earlier, Granite Telecommunications officials had met with Pai and an aide and separately with a Clyburn aide on BDS-related technology transition issues. "Granite discussed the importance of maintaining a reasonable transition timeframe for the interim rule that incumbent LECs seeking [Communications Act] Section 214 authority to discontinue a TDM-based commercial wholesale platform voice service that is currently used as a wholesale input by competitive carriers must provide competitive carriers with reasonably comparable access on reasonably comparable rates, terms, and conditions," said a filing posted Monday. "Granite asked that the Commission set a concrete end date to the interim rule rather than tie the end date to actions in other proceedings." Pai Thursday also circulated a draft NPRM and notice of inquiry on wireline infrastructure deployment aimed at expediting the copper retirement process, streamlining the Section 214 discontinuance process, and improving pole-attachment conditions through process and rate changes. The American Cable Association met with Pai aides and Wireline Bureau and Wireless Bureau officials Thursday about actions to accelerate broadband deployment, with a focus on problems its members encountered on pole attachments. Member representatives said state and local governments often were helping providers "tear down the barriers to deployment, which can be especially fruitful in making the difference about whether to deploy to more rural areas," said an ACA filing posted Tuesday. "They recommended the Commission collect examples of these 'positive models' to provide a roadmap for regulatory action or development of model local codes."

Requiring Charter Communications to build out its broadband network into competitors' footprints likely would prompt it to overbuild where competition is weakest, rather than in unserved communities, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said in a statement Monday, concurring with Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly on the order eliminating the overbuild condition (see 1704030039). The overbuild requirement -- 1 million new broadband internet access service deployments in locations where another BIAS provider operates within five years of closing on the buys of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks -- doesn't fix a transaction-specific harm and isn't in the public interest, the FCC said in its order, agreeing with petitions for reconsideration filed by American Cable Association and NTCA (see 1606100043). In a statement, O'Rielly said the item "rightfully opens the door to the Commission scrutinizing other objectionable or questionable conditions in this transaction and others." O'Rielly said the FCC's review of Charter/TWC/BHN "did not comport with an acceptable mechanism to consider a merger transaction." Clyburn said she's "concerned" New Charter would end up the sole BIAS provider in those overbuild markets: "By removing the overbuild condition, we at least give New Charter the freedom to serve more unserved communities." Charter didn't comment on whether it had begun its BIAS buildout. The FCC decision to undo the overbuild condition of Charter Communications is “a big step toward restoring faith in the merger review process,” said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., in a statement. “Merger conditions should not be used to make an end run around the rule-making process to achieve unrelated policy goals.” In pushing for broadband deployment, “we should focus on targeting service to areas that are truly unserved, not attempting to manufacture competition through government mandated buildout,” she said. In a tweet Monday, House Commerce member Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said the order was a "common-sense decision ... to advance broadband policy that prioritizes Americans w/ no access." Still pending before the FCC are petitions for reconsideration by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Zoom Telephonics (see 1606100043).

President Donald Trump’s signature Monday enacting the Congressional Review Act measure ending FCC ISP privacy rules immediately drew a flurry of responses that included outcry from defenders of the rules and praise from ISP industry officials. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly lauded the new law. “To deliver that consistent and comprehensive protection, the [FCC] will be working with the [FTC] to restore the FTC’s authority to police Internet service providers’ privacy practices,” Pai said. “We need to put America’s most experienced and expert privacy cop back on the beat. And we need to end the uncertainty and confusion that was created in 2015 when the FCC intruded in this space.” Such a transition could involve undoing FCC Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband. “The parade of horribles trotted out to scare the American people about its passage are completely fictitious, especially since parts of the rules never even went into effect,” said O’Rielly. Consumers “should feel confident,” said USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter. American Cable Association President Matt Polka said “nothing changes” in protecting consumer privacy. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn tweeted that she awoke “from what I hoped was a bad dream.” FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny also tweeted her opposition. “The Republicans thought they could jam through this harmful law without anyone noticing,” said House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Despite their effort to hide this latest corporate giveaway, Americans of all political stripes spoke out loud and clear to say that they wanted to keep their personal information private and secure.” Trump “made a grave mistake by signing this disastrous legislation,” said Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., calling the measure “as anti-consumer as it gets.” Consumer Federation of America Director-Consumer Protection and Privacy Susan Grant said “the fight is not over” and the groups “will continue to push for real privacy protections for Americans." She was echoed by Public Knowledge. "We've raised $23,000 to put up billboards exposing the lawmakers that voted to gut Internet privacy," Fight for the Future tweeted Tuesday. Richard Bennett, network architect and free-market blogger, lamented in a blog post about the “firestorm of delusion” about the issue. “The FCC will now draft a replacement regulation only constrained by the law and the requirement that it’s not substantially similar to the old regulation,” he said. “The new rules will harmonize the FCC’s approach to privacy with the FTC privacy framework.” Since the House passage of the CRA resolution, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has "received so many calls" on the issue, she said in a video, explaining her reasoning for the resolution: "This resolution does not make you less safe on the internet."

Telcordia/iconectiv and FP Investors asked the FCC to approve modifications to a local number portability administrator code of conduct and a trust holding the voting stock in iconectiv owned by its only shareholder, Ericsson Holdings II. The code and voting trust were established to ensure Ericsson wouldn't exert undue influence on iconectiv -- which is taking over LNPA duties from Neustar -- in favor of any telecom service provider, said the request posted Monday in docket 09-109: "The requested Modifications are to be made in connection with an investment in iconectiv by FP Investors ... that, if approved and upon closing, will result in FP Investors owning an approximately 16.7 percent equity interest in iconectiv and being represented on iconectiv’s Board of Directors. To the extent that the Commission must also consent to FP Investors participating in the control of iconectiv, iconectiv and FP Investors hereby request such consent." Telcordia and FP Investors said the transaction will strengthen "iconectiv's neutrality" as LNPA and "moot" any dispute over whether Delaware corporate law would have permitted Ericsson to direct iconectiv's board to act contrary to its neutrality obligations. FP Investors' presence as a minority shareholder "will prevent iconectiv from taking any action that would be harmful to iconectiv and thus to FP Investors," they wrote. A Telcordia March 16 letter (in Pacer) made the mootness argument to a court (see 1609130031) reviewing Neustar's challenge to an FCC order selecting Telcordia/iconectiv as LNPA. A Neustar March 20 letter (in Pacer) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which heard oral argument in September (see 1703160050), said Telcordia's letter "essentially concedes" the FCC order was fatally flawed. "The Commission’s erroneous determination that Telcordia is an impartial entity ... even though Ericsson is not, was predicated on the incorrect belief that the fiduciary duties of Telcordia’s directors run to Telcordia and not to Ericsson," Neustar wrote. "Telcordia’s letter does not ask this Court to take any specific action. Telcordia may be implying that the Court should remand without vacatur, on the theory that the proposed future investment in Telcordia will somehow correct the Commission’s legal error. But if the Court concludes that the Commission erred, it should vacate the selection order, leaving it to the Commission to decide how to proceed in the first instance." Meanwhile, North American Portability Management monthly LNPA transition update was posted Monday.

AT&T should have notified 911 centers sooner about the wireless carrier’s 911 outage on March 8, said the District of Columbia Office of Unified Communications. The FCC should set a standard for carrier notifications to public safety answering points (PSAPs), OUC Director Karima Holmes said in a letter to the FCC posted Friday in docket 17-68. “The biggest concern for our agency was the lack of initial notification from the carrier to the affected area PSAPs,” Holmes wrote. “We believe this would have been easily responded to had the centers been notified earlier in the ordeal. Most agencies were notified by other agencies and ‘word of mouth’. Although this proved helpful, it should not have been the foremost route of notification during this severe impediment of emergency services.” FCC staff gave an update last month on its investigation into the AT&T outage (see 1703230075)

The FCC's planned review of the national TV ownership cap could influence how broadcasters react to the expected restoration of the UHF discount, said Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker at a Media Institute lunch Monday. Commissioners tentatively are to vote April 20 on bringing back the discount (see 1703300066), Though analysts initially thought the ownership cap could be pushed high enough to make some very large combinations possible, Ryvicker said she no longer believes that's likely. Companies could begin announcing deals the day after the FCC’s April 20 meeting, Ryvicker said. Numerous large broadcast entities are expected to seek acquisitions, she said, including Cox, Tegna and Scripps. “Everybody’s a buyer,” Ryvicker said, though she said Tribune is an exception, and is seen as looking to sell. With the NAB Show the week after the April FCC meeting, more dealmaking than usual could happen there, she said. Though investors see ATSC 3.0 as a positive concept, there’s too much uncertainty about the future of the new standard for it to do much to move the needle on broadcast investment, Ryvicker told us. It’s not clear if plans for broadcasters to begin offering up wireless spectrum will materialize, she said. Though Ryvicker said the Wall Street view of broadcast regulation under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been “positive,” she said unrealistic expectations for the Trump administration's pro-business policies and the recent failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act made investors leery. Investors are anxious about the growth of streaming media hurting broadcasting, and about ratings showing general decline in TV viewership and increased time shifted viewing, she said. Broadcasting is considered dependent on live viewership, she said: “That’s why there’s a perception that broadcast is dying.” Though spending on political advertisements during the presidential campaign was down, Ryvicker expects those numbers to rebound in 2018, saying the low spending in 2016 was a onetime fluke. Recent negative attention about the placement of online ads could be a boon to broadcast advertising, she said. Total audience measurement for broadcast would help compete with pay-TV and online, Ryvicker said.