The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled against the FCC landlord Parcel 49C in its protest of the General Service Administration's handling of bids for the commission's new headquarters, according to court documents (in Pacer). The court dismissed Republic Properties' affiliate Parcel 49C's allegations (see 1609280048) of conflicts of interest in the GSA's selection of a new FCC HQ site in the Trammell Crow owned-Sentinel Square, near North Capitol and L streets NE in Washington's NoMa section. Trammel Crow was an intervenor and defendant in the case. Parcel 49C bid to have the commission stay at its current home at The Portals and the landlord's allegations were based on GSA's having contracted CBRE to broker the FCC's search for a new home. CBRE owns Trammell Crow, the eventual winning bidder, and also represented Parcel 49C. This wasn't a conflict because the information and employees involved were kept separate at the intertwined companies, said Trammell Crow and the GSA. Parcel 49C also argued the FCC request for a higher first-floor ceiling and backup power supply were unreasonable. Parcel 49C filed a notice of appeal in the case. GSA, Parcel 49C and Trammel Crow didn't comment Monday.

Most of the FCC's broadband privacy rules will take effect Jan. 3, said a summary of the agency's order published in the Federal Register Friday. Not yet taking effect are four sections of the order that contain information collection requirements that haven't been approved by the Office of Management and Budget. Another section, 64.2005, takes effect March 2. The FCC adopted the broadband privacy order 3-2 (see 1610270036), but it's seen as likely to be reversed after the Republican election victory (see 1611090034). The privacy order was based on the commission's reclassification of broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, which itself is seen as highly vulnerable .

Although FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler didn't say he would step down, his speech at the FCBA Chairman's Dinner Thursday had a farewell atmosphere, as he heaped praise on and cracked jokes about FCC staff, and referred to himself as “the drum major in front of great band.” It is “the band that makes the music,” Wheeler said. The chairman's tributes to his staff were preceded by a joke-filled monologue that targeted numerous communications industry institutions, from the U.S. Copyright office (Wheeler said his set-top plan would be a “job-killer” there) to Communications Daily. “Facebook has been taking a lot of heat for fake news,” Wheeler quipped: “I don't think Comm Daily is that bad.” Wheeler also sprinkled in quips about the “set-top box regime,” which he noted outlasted both the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and the word “cable” in the name of cable's trade association NCTA. Many of Wheeler's jokes concerned the 2016 presidential election, which he referred to as “the elephant in the room ... and the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.” Wheeler called the dinner the “2016 Democratic Job Fair,” and took aim at himself, comparing his selection as chairman to President-elect Donald Trump's win by calling himself a 70-year-old man with no prior government experience and an “inflated sense of self” who is “provoked by criticism into overreacting,” and is known to use “foul language” and “bullying” to get what he wants. Midway through the speech, FCC General Counsel Howard Symons came onstage and spoke with Wheeler, and the chairman said he had been ordered to stick to “noncontroversial“ topics, which is when he switched to praising and joking about his staff. Wheeler called Chief of Staff Ruth Milkman “just the best,” and Senior Aide Phil Verveer “the ambassador of antitrust,” and needled FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp for approving the infamously incendiary Galaxy Note7 phone. He referenced his aide Gigi Sohn's “sharp elbows” and said Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc was the only person who had managed “to piss more people off than me.” Being chairman and working with his staff was “the greatest professional honor” of Wheeler's life, he said. At the end of his speech, Wheeler referenced a song from current Broadway hit musical Hamilton, comparing the current environment in the communications industry to a pivotal revolution. “How lucky we are to be alive right now,” Wheeler said, quoting lyrics from the song "The Schuyler Sisters."

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn kicked off a "12 Days of #PhoneInjustice" campaign Thursday with a series of tweets. "Today we launch the 12 days of #PhoneInjustice -- pointing out how high #inmatecalling rates tear families apart," she tweeted. "On the 1st day of #PhoneInjustice, no pear trees in #CowlitzCounty WA where inmates pay $13.69 for 15 min. call. That's almost a $1 per min!" She tweeted: the holidays "won't be cheery nor bright for nearly 3 million children w/ an incarcerated parent," and it's "Time to deliver the gift of #PhoneJustice," which "= reasonable phone rates. Proven to reduce poverty, recidivism, and generational incarceration." On Dec. 13, the campaign will shift to the "12 Days of #Phone Justice," to share stories of reforms helping combat inmate calling problems and their consequences, said an email from her office. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler noted Clyburn's efforts and tweeted, "Glad she keeps raising awareness of this crucial issue."

NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling plans to depart Jan. 20 at the end of the Obama administration, an agency spokeswoman said. Strickling has had the job since June 2009 and oversaw the agency’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Wednesday, in what Strickling said might be his last speech on broadband, he advised President-elect Donald Trump about possible broadband funding in the next administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan (see 1611300047).

The FCC's loss in a court case to AT&T on VoIP issues doesn't undercut the agency on net neutrality rules, the regulator told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The commission responded (in Pacer) Thursday to CTIA's telling (in Pacer) the D.C. Circuit Nov. 23 that the loss five days earlier in AT&T v. FCC (see 1611180063 and 1611180011) had bearing on the association's petition for the full court to reconsider the net neutrality case. AT&T shows the phone and internet networks are distinct, not as a three-judge D.C. Circuit panel found in a 2-1 USTelecom v. FCC net neutrality ruling for the agency that they are "an interconnected, single network," said CTIA, which also backed cases against net neutrality rules. Not so, said the commission, contending AT&T broke no new ground and the facts were understood before the net neutrality ruling. "AT&T confirms that the [USTelecom] panel properly upheld the agency’s classification of mobile broadband as a telecommunications service," said the FCC. "While AT&T largely hinged on exactly how a call is transferred between traditional telephone and VoIP providers, there is no dispute that such a call is in fact transferred, allowing traditional phone users and VoIP users to reach one another." CTIA didn't comment Thursday.

The reverse auction portion of Stage 3 of the FCC incentive auction concluded Thursday, as expected (see 1611280055), at a clearing cost of $40.3 billion to clear 108 MHz, said the Public Reporting System. That’s within the range expected (see 1610250060), and a further stage is considered likely, said Justin Nielson, senior researcher for S&P Global Market Intelligence, in an interview. The Stage 2 reverse auction clearing cost was $56.5 billion, and Neilson said a reduction into the $30 billion range for Stage 4 likely will bring the spectrum on auction into line with what forward auction bidders are looking to pay. Stage 4 is expected to have a clearing cost of 84 MHz, according to the FCC's band plan. The forward auction generated $20.9 billion in Stage 2, and closed in a single day. That’s not likely to occur this time because the prices are likely low enough for some bidders to make a serious grab for spectrum, Nielson said. Stage 3 of the forward auction is expected to start Monday.

CES for the second straight year will use “advanced security measures” at the January show, including bag restrictions and the use of metal detectors at show entrances, CTA announced Wednesday. As show organizers, CTA has a “primary goal” of “maximizing the safety of all of our guests,” said President Gary Shapiro in a statement. “Our security efforts are designed to provide a safe and secure environment while ensuring our attendees have an efficient and productive experience." CTA again will bar CES attendees from bringing luggage onto the show floor, and rolling bags of any kind also will be prohibited to minimize bottlenecks at show entrances, CTA said. “While all attendees will be subject to metal detector screening upon entering show premises, CTA will conduct searches at specific points to ensure quick and easy access to exhibit halls and reduce the number of times attendees have to go through security.” On CES security, “we’re at the point where we have to do what’s right for the show,” while still having the ability to loosen or tighten restrictions to suit security needs, Karen Chupka, CTA senior vice president-CES and corporate business strategy, told us at the recent CES Unveiled New York event (see 1611150050). CES opens in Las Vegas Jan. 5 for a four-day 50th anniversary run.

North American Portability Management blamed Neustar for the lack of information sharing on the local number portability administrator (LNPA) transition from that company to Telcordia/iconectiv. IT experts helping Neustar recently said NAPM and its transition oversight manager, PwC, aren't sharing information on transition governance, risk and scheduling, and, consequently, a May 2018 target date for completing the LNPA shift could be delayed into 2019 (see 1611210039). "Because the authors have not received this information, they claim that it is 'reasonable to conclude that the transition will not be completed until sometime in 2019,'" said an NAPM filing answering the IT experts Tuesday in docket 09-109. "It is not reasonable for Neustar to file a report concluding that the transition will not be completed until sometime in 2019 based on the fact that Neustar has not received certain information, particularly because Neustar itself is solely to blame for its lack of access to that information." NAPM said the company has been claiming a right to disclose confidential information it's receiving as the incumbent LNPA. "Having announced this position, it should be of no surprise to anyone that the other parties participating in the transition meetings have refused to share confidential information with Neustar, or sought to limit the sharing of confidential information with Neustar to the greatest extent possible, until Neustar agrees to an appropriate multi-party non-disclosure agreement ('NDA') that protects all parties’ interests, including Neustar’s," said NAPM. "It would be irresponsible to share confidential information about critical national infrastructure with any entity that refuses to recognize its legal and ethical obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the information." Neustar's unwillingness to protect confidential information and execute a "reasonable NDA" has prevented joint transition meetings, said NAPM, which added that it continues to seek to negotiate an NDA with Neustar. A Neustar spokesman said NAPM "fails to respond on the merits to the serious concerns of Neustar’s experts, with decades of IT transition experience, set forth in their status report regarding transition governance, risks and schedules." Instead, he emailed, NAPM "cites as an excuse a series of false and misleading statements about the negotiations of a non-disclosure agreement, when in reality, the NAPM can safely deliver confidential information to Neustar today under the protection of an existing confidentiality agreement between the parties, as they have done for years. Neustar suggests the NAPM carefully evaluate the merits of the report.”

With the nominations of businessmen Wilbur Ross as Commerce secretary and Todd Ricketts as deputy secretary, President-elect Donald Trump is building "a cabinet of winners," transition spokesman Jason Miller said Wednesday. Ross is head of investment firm WL Ross & Co. and formerly head of investment bank Rothschild. He was Trump's economic adviser on trade policy. Rickets is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs. They -- along with Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin, who previously was Goldman Sachs chief information officer -- were selected because of their firsthand knowledge of issues like tax codes and trade policies, Miller said. "When we talk about 'the art of the deal,' someone who has made good deals, that's someone like Wilbur Ross," he said. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said Ross "will bring exceptional real-world business experience to the Department of Commerce as part of an administration that emphasizes job creation and the economy. I ... expect the Senate Commerce Committee will expeditiously consider this nomination once the new Congress begins in January. There will be strong support for keeping a successful entrepreneur at the helm of an agency charged with keeping our nation competitive.” Thune also issued a statement backing Trump's nomination of Elaine Chao -- who was Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and deputy Transportation secretary under President George H.W. Bush -- as Transportation secretary. "Chao has a distinguished record of serving the nation, and has already shown she can work effectively with members on both sides of the aisle," Thune said. "Her leadership will benefit the Department of Transportation in guiding investment in our infrastructure and making transportation safer and better for the public.”