The FCC proposed a Q1 USF contribution rate of 16.7 percent -- down from Q4's 17.4 percent -- of carriers' interstate and international telecom end-user revenue, said an Office of Managing Director public notice Friday in docket 96-45. The new rate, which industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg accurately projected (see 1612060019), will be deemed approved in 14 days absent further commission action.

FCC staff approved an AT&T request for a 30-day extension for filing compliance reports under a commission condition for approving its takeover of DirecTV. AT&T Thursday indicated the extra 30 days would give the telco "time to compile, process, review, analyze, and address any issues with its data, especially data regarding the millions of customer locations to which AT&T has deployed fiber-to-the premises," said Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero in a letter Friday in docket 14-90 responding to the company. "While the current semiannual compliance reports are due on January 24th and July 24th of each reporting year (for reporting periods that end December 31st and June 30th, respectively), for good cause shown and in reliance on the representations contained in your letter, the request is approved," he wrote. "Subsequent AT&T semiannual reports in this proceeding will be due on February 24th and August 24th for each year of the reporting condition (the end dates of the reporting periods will remain the same)."

CTIA questioned the need for new rules for wireless emergency alerts, as proposed in an FCC Further NPRM, in comments in docket 15-91. Some other comments posted earlier also sought changes (see 1612080017) or expressed concern. “The Commission is proposing a number of unnecessary and burdensome mandates that have not been studied, found to be feasible, or demonstrated to provide meaningful improvements to the functioning of the WEA,” CTIA said. “Should the Commission stray from the highly effective path it has employed for WEA and adopt infeasible and unnecessary requirements for CMS [commercial mobile service] providers to comply with as part of their participation, CMS participants may be forced to reconsider their support of the voluntary WEA system.” Carriers need flexibility or otherwise may be unwilling to voluntarily participate in the WEA program, CTIA said. “Adoption of aspirational proposals may force CMS Providers to opt out of participation in the WEA system.” San Francisco, meanwhile, said the FCC should reconsider whether subscribers can opt out of receiving all alerts. “While recognizing the desire of an individual to customize the type of notifications one receives, the City recommends Imminent Threat alerts be exempt from the opt-out option,” its Emergency Management Department commented. The city backed “the expedited processing of earthquake-related Imminent Threat Alerts as any delay limits the effectiveness of such an alert.” AT&T said the FCC should be mindful of the technical limitations of alerting technology. “In some instances, the FNPRM’s proposals could be categorized as ‘nice to have,’ others would require carriers to make significant capital investment for network structure that is, at least for the foreseeable future, usable by WEA only, and still others are simply not achievable with current technology or even within the design limits of the WEA system itself,” AT&T commented. The FCC proposes to abandon its technology-neutral approach by expanding the attestation requirements imposed on carriers, Verizon commented. “But existing requirements already inform consumers whether a carrier’s services and devices support alert capabilities, which is what Congress intended and what consumers want and need to know.” The agency should delay new requirements on the capability of alerts “pending stakeholder efforts to address the significant technical challenges,” the carrier said. The FCC should limit itself to new enhancements to alerts that are “realistic and achievable,” T-Mobile commented. “Unfortunately, however, several of the FNPRM’s proposals represent wishful thinking that could lead to unintended consequences, including endangering the smooth functioning of WEA. Unrealistic technology mandates, tight timeframes, and potentially high compliance costs run the risk of undermining the program.” New York City’s Emergency Management Department said carriers should be able to make alerts better if given enough time through further enhancements. “NYCEM strongly encourages the Commission to adopt rules that take a 'long view' of system improvements, even if the adopted implementation timeframe is several years,” the city said. Microsoft weighed in on several issues, including a proposal to require WEAs for tablets. “The Commission must define which mobile devices would be considered a tablet and thus subject to WEA requirements,” Microsoft said. “Although the Further Notice references the iPad, a wider variety of device form factors is currently available in the marketplace. It may be difficult to define a tablet by any singular feature.”

Stage 4 of the reverse auction will start Tuesday with a clearing target of 84 MHz, as expected (see 1612050062), said the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau in a public notice Friday. Bidding will start at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday, and proceed in one-hour blocks, the PN said. “Bidding will be suspended after the second round (1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET) on Friday, December 23, 2016, and there will be no bidding from Monday, December 26, 2016, through Monday, January 2, 2017, in observance of the holiday period.” To satisfy the final stage rule and end the auction in Stage 4, as many analysts have predicted, the average price per MHz-POP for the most in-demand spectrum must reach $1.25, the PN said. At the start of Stage 4, the price will be 3 cents short, at $1.22 per MHz-POP, the PN said. That means even if the forward auction generates enough money to cover the reverse auction clearing cost in Stage 4, the final stage rule won't be satisfied unless the MHz-POP price rises, said a broadcast attorney following the auction. That price would rise only if the forward auction bidders bid on licenses in the top partial economic areas, which they haven't done for the past two auction stages, the lawyer noted.

NCTA Senior Director-Digital Strategy John Solit said the DVRs that were among connected devices used as vehicles for the October distributed denial-of-service attacks against DynDNS “were particularly insecure. The DVR that your TV provider gives you is vastly more safe and protected.” The Dyn DDoS attacks caused outages and latency for multiple major U.S. websites, including Netflix and Twitter (see 1610210056). The attacks led to increased congressional scrutiny of IoT cybersecurity, including a November joint House Commerce Communications/Trade Subcommittee hearing (see 1610260067 and 1611150059). “There’s no way to 100 percent guarantee any device connected to the internet is secure or that it can’t be used in a DDoS attack,” Solit said in a Thursday blog post. “There’s more work to be done to make sure DVRs and all web-connected devices, including those provided by TV and internet companies, are as secure as possible.” Solit noted a recent Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group report that included guidelines and recommendations aimed at helping consumer IoT manufacturers and other providers improve device privacy and security (see 1611220030). “While standards are getting sorted out and agreed upon, there are basic precautions everyone can take to better protect their homes and devices,” Solit said. “At a minimum, change the default password on all of your internet connected devices and make sure your home network firewalls are up and running.”

APCO supported a proposal to require wireless carriers to disclose to potential customers at the point of sale whether they provide wireless emergency alerts, while public broadcaster representatives worried about costs. The FCC sought comment on additional changes as part of an NPRM approved in September, which accompanied an order making changes to the rules (see 1609290060). “Promoting consumer choice and providing better notice regarding WEA at the point of sale could lead to increased use of the system, which would benefit public safety,” APCO commented in docket 15-91. “Point of sale disclosures should include information such as how WEA capabilities vary by device, network technology, or geographic area. This is especially important for providers who elect to participate ‘in part.’” APCO also supported in general an FCC proposal to require carriers to file annual WEA performance reports. They would address geo-targeting, latency, availability and reliability. “Testing is fundamental to public safety communications, and the annual performance reports will increase transparency and improve the system’s trustworthiness and effectiveness,” APCO said. “For similar reasons, APCO supports the creation of a uniform format for alert logging and the collection of more detailed system integrity data.” Noncommercial broadcast stations can require updated or new equipment to continue receiving WEA messages if specifications change, said from PBS, CPB and America's Public Television Stations. The FCC should work to make sure federal funding remains available to cover "any reasonable costs" that public TV stations incur "to accommodate further changes to the specifications for WEA messages," the comments said. "PTV stations depend on funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce to cover the costs of updating their equipment or software to implement new capabilities required by the Commission with respect to the processing and transmission of WEA messages." Without the updates and the funding to make them, the public stations could be unable to receive WEA messages, they said.

NCTA joined the ranks of those telling the FCC they have no problems with Globalstar's revised broadband terrestrial low-power service plans (TLPS). In a filing Thursday in docket 13-213, the association said the company's change to having it operating entirely in 2483.5-2485 MHz, and not in unlicensed spectrum at 2400-2483.5 MHz, satisfies the technical concerns it and CableLabs had cited (see 1607130062). The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, Sprint and Wireless Communications Association International earlier backed the revised plans (see 1611230016). Globalstar submitted suggested rules for the revised proposal, saying those changes should tackle any remaining concerns of Wi-Fi Alliance and others. Those proposed rules include language saying a licensee at 2483.5-2500 MHz or a TLPS system operator in the 2483.5-2495 MHz band that wants to deploy or certify equipment operating in 2400-2483.5 MHz would have to follow Part 15 emissions limits. Globalstar proposed that no licensee at 2483.5-2500 MHz or TLPS operator at 2483.5-2495 MHz could consent to receive emissions above 248.3.5 MHz from equipment operating in unlicensed spectrum in excess of Part 15 rules.

The FCC added five items to the agenda for the Dec. 15 commissioners' meeting to go along with orders and Further NPRMs on both real-time texting (RTT) and the emergency alert system (EAS). The latter two were on a Nov. 22 tentative agenda, which said the other five were also possibilities if not approved on circulation (see 1611220064). The five new items on the agenda issued Thursday are: an NPRM to update rules to ease the deployment of recently proposed nongeostationary-satellite orbit and fixed-satellite service orbit systems; an order evaluating a "Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework" submitted by wireless industry members; an order updating Freedom of Information Act regulations under a 2016 FOIA law; an order addressing a petition of reconsideration of a slamming and deceptive marketing fine of Long-Distance Inc.; and an item combining two orders regarding the assignment of licenses held by Maritime Communications/Land Mobile. The items that already were on the agenda before Thursday, on EAS and RTT, could be controversial (see 1612080054 and 1612070065).

Verizon's planned sale of 24 data center sites to Equinix for $3.6 billion is part of the carrier's "three-pronged strategy for connectivity, platforms, and solutions" that could include additional mergers and acquisitions, Macquarie Capital's Amy Yong wrote investors. "Replenishing its cash keeps it on track to reach pre-Vodafone leverage and leaves dry powder for eventual M&A, which we believe could involve Dish" Network, said the analyst. Dish's 80 MHz "could bolster Verizon’s capacity, allowing it to offer unlimited data plans without straining its network," Yong emailed Tuesday evening, after the Equinix/Verizon transaction was disclosed (see 1612060036). Verizon retains 27 other data centers, including a few in Canada and the U.S. and the rest in Europe and Asia-Pacific, a telco spokeswoman said Wednesday. With Stage 3 of the FCC broadcast incentive auction ended after one round and Verizon's down payment in the auction appearing lower than rivals, if the auction is unsuccessful, Dish spectrum could be more valuable, Yong said. Dish declined to comment on the report and Verizon didn't comment. "AT&T’s push into mobile video vis-à-vis DirecTV Now/the pending Time Warner deal could push Verizon to explore more aggressive options. Sling TV could be Verizon’s 'DirecTV Now,' or a way to gain additional scale in mobile video," Yong said: "Similar to AT&T-DirecTV, Sling TV could be offered under zero-rating conditions enhancing its Freebee data offering and as a retention tool" for subscribers.

The Competitive Carriers Association, American Cable Association, NTCA and the Wireless ISP Association encouraged the FCC to extend the exemption for small broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers from the enhanced transparency requirements established by the 2015 net neutrality order, said a Wednesday CCA news release. “The FCC should grant small BIAS providers serving 250,000 subscribers or less a waiver from the enhanced transparency rules before the December 15, 2016 expiration date, to remain in effect until the small provider exemption is addressed through a notice and comment proceeding,” it said. “This important exemption expires next week,” said CCA President Steve Berry. “Even in this time of transition, the Commission needs to reach consensus and protect small providers from the prospect of facing substantial compliance burdens simply because the Commission failed to act as planned.”