Jonathan Make

DOJ may not get involved in a lawsuit to block T-Mobile from buying Sprint in a case involving states, as four more states joined 10 other states' suit against the deal, a court that will hear the case beginning Oct. 7 apparently was told Friday. That's according to an attendee and other stakeholders including a spokesperson for co-plaintiff New York. During a status-type hearing in New York, "a lawyer for T-Mobile noted that it was 'very unlikely' that the DOJ" will sue by participating in this case, recalled New Street Research's Vivek Stalam. That could also mean that Justice won't challenge the states' case. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero "seems open-minded," the analyst wrote investors. "Referring to the threshold questions of the case, Judge Marrero noted both traditional antitrust questions around market concentration, as well as the impact of 5G, and whether incremental competition in one market could offset anti-competitive effects in another." Four more Democratic AGs joined the suit, Stalam noted, as expected (see 1906140041). Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Nevada's addition was reflected in an amended complaint filed Friday, the New York AG's office announced. "State AGs are adamant about continuing with the litigation even if the merger were to receive DOJ and FCC approval prior to the trial date, surmising that any such approvals would require additional review and analysis to ensure compliance with the States’ antitrust concerns," wrote the Rural Wireless Association. RWA backs the suit. DOJ didn't respond to requests for comment and T-Mobile declined to comment. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said separately Friday that clearing T-Mobile/Sprint is “one of the most critical steps the agency can take” to promote mid-band 5G (see 1906210045).

The two FCC members who addressed the start of Consumer Advisory Committee meeting focused on combating illegal robocalls, with commissioners to vote Thursday on explicitly allowing technology to block such calls (see 1905310061) despite stakeholder requests for more time. "There has been some pushback on this, some folks asking the FCC to delay the vote, or asking the FCC to water down the decision," noted Commissioner Brendan Carr. "I’m absolutely opposed to those steps."

By a party-line FCC member vote, the regulator began asking about starting an overall USF budget cap, as expected (see 1905240064). "Mindful of our obligation to safeguard the USF funds ultimately paid by ratepayers," and to ensure the money is "spent prudently" and consistently, the NPRM asks a number of questions.

Frontier Communications agreed to sell its wireline operations in the northwest U.S. for $1.35 billion to investment firms, including one founded and run by a cable entrepreneur Steve Weed. It continues a trend of asset sales of around that size by telcos throughout the country. More wireline assets in other parts of the country may also be on the block, noted Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche. She and others noted that some of Frontier's assets now being sold were themselves previously acquired from others.

An FCC USF budget NPRM that stirred controversy over procedural and substantive issues is apparently being finalized and has been OK'd on a party-line vote. Some had been watching to see what Commissioner Brendan Carr would do, given that early on he hadn't commented publicly on the item. Last week, he broke that near-silence by signaling his support, during an episode of C-SPAN's The Communicators to have been televised this weekend and posted here.

Qualcomm will appeal a wireless modem intellectual property ruling in favor of the FTC and against the company. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose issued (in Pacer) a permanent injunction Tuesday night. The stock closed down 11 percent Wednesday at $69.31. Earlier this year, Koh held a 10-day bench trial in FTC v. Qualcomm.

As T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to concessions to get their deal OK'd, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he'd recommend approving the deal. He would suggest commissioners greenlight the transaction, with an FCC release saying that "in the coming weeks," he will "present his colleagues with a draft order that would resolve this matter."

AT&T's artificial intelligence "guiding principles" are human oversight; open source "communities whenever appropriate"; and "ethics, safety, and values" including "our privacy principles and security safeguards." The ISP/MVPD uses "varied, validated datasets and diverse human input," it said Wednesday. "We use a transparent approach to algorithms that includes safeguards." The company monitors "outcomes to ensure accuracy and help minimize biases." When "outcomes are owned by people, no one should be able to claim, 'The machine did it,'" blogged Chief Privacy Officer Tom Moore. "No organization will be perfect, but that’s what humans must try to anticipate, catch and repair." Even as many organizations have advanced their own AI and privacy principles, some widely endorsed ones exist, noted Electronic Privacy Information Center President Marc Rotenberg. The "benchmark for AI policy" are the EPIC-established Public Voice coalition's universal guidelines for artificial intelligence, or UGAI, he said in an interview. Possibly later this month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development may announce its 38 member countries endorsed OECD guidelines, "which reflect many of the principles contained in the UGAI," said Rotenberg, who has worked on the issue. The U.S. would be among the signers. The White House didn't comment. All OECD members and Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica "are due to formally endorse a new set of AI Principles designed by the OECD, next Wednesday" at the group’s annual ministerial meeting, a spokesperson emailed. AT&T meanwhile actively participates "in discussions with industry organizations, such as Linux Foundation, IEEE and Future of Privacy Forum, on a variety of AI topics," a company spokesperson emailed. That includes "AI and ethics, responsible development and deployment of AI" and machine learning, he added.

CenturyLink, which may sell its consumer business, is also looking with interest at the coming FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. It's "initiated a strategic alternatives process for its Consumer business and has engaged external advisors to assist in the review," the telco said Wednesday. "The Company does not plan to modify its normal operations or investment patterns in these businesses while it undertakes this review." The carrier is "comfortable operating this business for the long term, but the strategic review will help us better understand whether there are opportunities to better maximize the value of this asset," said CEO Jeff Storey.

The FCC's coming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, "a natural evolution" of the USF serving high-cost areas, is "promising," but more may be needed from stakeholders, an observer blogged for the American Enterprise Institute. It's good Chairman Ajit Pai would use "the reverse auction methodology that proved successful during Connect America Fund Phase II," wrote Boston College Law School professor Daniel Lyons, and it appears "technologically neutral." Lyons seeks "greater cooperation with state regulators." They "have valuable insight regarding the location and prioritization of broadband gaps," so the FCC "should leverage states’ expertise and interest by partnering with the states to deploy buildout funds," he said, as occurred with New York. Lyons' "biggest critique" is the plan "appears primarily to be repurposing existing High-Cost Fund dollars, rather than providing new sources of buildout funding." Congress could "replace the outdated surcharge-based universal service program with a more traditional program funded directly by an annual grant from the Treasury," Lyons said. The FCC and NARUC declined to comment. Lyons, who noted he's long been a USF contribution system critic, thinks the entire program "should be moved on-budget" and so funded by congressional appropriation, he emailed us. "The existing contribution mechanism is structurally flawed and unsustainable, and each part of the program would benefit from explicit congressional oversight. I don't have any recommendations for total dollars, though it seems the current amount is probably a good starting point for analysis." Lyons noted he has no business relationships with recipients of USF money. No imminent FCC action is seen on the fund (see 1905010188).