FCC commissioners should declare their support for a rulemaking seeking comment on extending the procurement rules for cable to all FCC entities in their signing statements on the upcoming quadrennial review order, said Multicultural Media Telecom and Internet Council Senior Adviser David Honig in an ex parte filing posted in docket 14-50 Monday. Honig called aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel, Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly to ask them to back the rule change in their signing statements. Cable procurement rules require carriers to widely advertise procurement opportunities in an effort to encourage diversity. If commissioners express support for the NPRM in their signing statements, it's more likely the commission will pursue the matter, Honig told us. The procurement rules are part of a "diversity docket" of items that MMTC had been seeking to have included in the media ownership order. Four former chairmen -- Julius Genachowski, Bill Kennard, Reed Hundt and Michael Copps -- sent a letter to the FCC endorsing the proposal to extend in the draft order now on circulation (see 1608050058).

The FCC likely will appeal its court setback on municipal broadband regulation, said CCMI consultant Andrew Regitsky Friday in a blog post. He noted the commission could ask the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for en banc rehearing of a three-judge panel's decision reversing the agency's pre-emption of two state laws blocking municipal broadband providers from expanding into nearby communities in State of Tennessee, State of North Carolina v. FCC, Nos. 15-3291/3555 (see 1608100049). Such requests "are rarely granted and since the Court primarily consists of Republicans, the Commission is likely to lose even if the request is granted," he said. Regitsky said the FCC is "more likely" to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. "The Sixth Circuit Court has had more of its decisions overturned by the High Court than any other appeals court," he said. "If Hillary Clinton becomes president, she will most probably appoint a left-leaning justice likely to side with the Commission. That would provide a 5-4 majority at the Supreme Court for justices appointed by Democratic presidents and increas[e] substantially the chance the decision is overturned." Most attorneys we talked to recently said FCC appellate prospects are dim (see 1608110014).

Correction: LabMD is still an active company with an office and Michael Daugherty remains CEO and its sole employee, though the company no longer tests specimens (see 1608120002).

A federal court rejected an FCC request to hold up inmate calling service litigation after the commission Aug. 4 approved an order to increase ICS rate caps currently under judicial review (see 1608110020 and 1608040037). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit also revised the remaining briefing schedule in an order Friday by Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and Cornelia Pillard, a motion panel in the case (Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461). ICS provider, state and sheriff petitioners challenging the commission's previous ICS orders filed their opening briefs earlier this summer (see 1606070030). Response briefs are now due from the FCC and DOJ Sept. 12, and from Network Communications International and other intervenors supporting the FCC Sept. 29. Reply briefs from petitioners and supporting intervenors are due Oct. 31. The parties were directed to file motions governing further proceedings within seven days of the deadline for challenging the FCC's Aug. 4 order. "I expect new petitions for review, new stay motions and new briefs. I imagine the new cases will catch up to the old ones," emailed Andrew Schwartzman, Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation senior counselor, who represents intervenors supporting the FCC. GlobalTel*Link already said it intends to challenge the Aug. 4 order. “GTL applauds the action of the court, which offers all parties the shortest timeline to resolve the central issues of this proceeding -- rates below costs and whether the FCC has jurisdiction to control security policy in state, county and municipal corrections facilities,” emailed a GTL spokesman. “After years of discussion and debate, GTL looks forward to the definitive resolution of these questions and the end of uncertainty in the market.” The FCC didn't comment.

NTIA sought comment Thursday on factors influencing industry adoption of IPv6, amid the near-complete exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. Though adoption of IPv6 is increasing, only 32 percent of U.S. internet services are IPv6-capable, said NTIA Office of International Affairs Telecom Policy Specialist Ashley Heineman in a blog post. “As IPv4 addresses become more scarce, companies and other organizations that have yet to transition to IPv6 may find it difficult to expand their Internet presence.” NTIA said in a Federal Register notice it's particularly interested in feedback from firms that have adopted IPv6 on the “benefits, costs and challenges they have experienced, as well as any insight into additional incentives that could aid future adoption, implementation, and support of IPv6.” The Department of Commerce intends to use the comments to “inform” its work to promote IPv6, including a planned IPv6 best practices forum set to be held during the Internet Governance Forum's December meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, NTIA said. Comments are due Oct. 3.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will be at the FCC Friday to chair the first meeting (see 1608120032) of the industry-led Robocall Strike Force, the agency said Thursday. Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will join him to make opening remarks during the public part of the meeting, the agency said. AT&T volunteered to lead the group, the FCC said. Meanwhile, lawyers at Kelley Drye said many questions remain about the task force. “Notably, this group is not a formal federal advisory committee, and does not have the process or procedural requirements that would accompany such a group,” Steve Augustino and Jennifer Rodden Wainwright wrote in a blog post. “It is not clear what the group will address, or how it will operate going forward. To us, the primary take-away from the existence of the group is the FCC’s high-profile involvement in it.” They also said Wheeler appears intent on “driving the introduction of blocking techniques in the wireless industry” while he's still chairman.

Cable companies lobbied the FCC against regulating business data service rates offered by new entrants. Comcast officials believe "the marketplace is increasingly competitive, and that the strong evidence of continuing investment by new entrants, expanding output, and declining prices militates heavily against the imposition of wide-scale rate regulation," said a filing posted Thursday in docket 16-143 summarizing meetings with FCC commissioner aides, General Counsel Howard Symons, Wireline Bureau Chief Matt DelNero and other staffers. "In light of the Commission’s goal of promoting facilities-based competitive entry, it would be especially counterproductive to subject new entrants in the BDS marketplace to rate regulation. We noted that even parties like Level 3 and Public Knowledge -- both of which favor a significant expansion of rate regulation for incumbents -- recognize that such measures should apply only to providers with market power, and that Verizon and INCOMPAS recently appear to have acknowledged that competitive providers should be exempt (at least for some period of time) from rate regulation." Cox Communications also urged FCC officials not to impose rate regulation on new entrants. AT&T, CenturyLink and Windstream made additional filings in the docket on recent lobbying visits.

Sharpening proposed copper abandonment rules in the District of Columbia would make a bad idea worse, Verizon said. The Public Service Commission proposed rules requiring notification by any telco planning to abandon its copper facilities (docket RM27-2016). In comments last month, the Office of the People's Counsel and the Communications Workers of America suggested tweaks to strengthen the rules (see 1607260027). In replies Monday, Verizon said the recommendations of the OPC and CWA "could turn the copper retirement process into a lengthy approval proceeding for the District alone, negating federal and District policies encouraging fiber deployment.” The PSC “should reject these recommendations and not move forward with the proposed copper retirement rules,” it said. The Fiber-to-the-Home Council, with members including network equipment vendors, supported the telco. FCC rules mandating battery backup power and requiring retail customer notification for planned copper retirement ensure that a uniform set of rules applies to all providers, it said. "A state-by-state approach will only serve to confuse customers, be duplicative, and create a patchwork of rules."

Sprint said its cellular 911 service was back to normal in the Washington, D.C., area after being degraded Tuesday by a fire and power outages near a company switching site (see 1608160060). "All Sprint service has now been fully restored, including 911 service which was restored late yesterday. The safety and security of our customers is a top priority and we apologize to our customers," emailed a spokeswoman Wednesday morning. "The impact was across regions encompassing the DC metro area. And the impact to wireless/cellular service was with 911 calls only. Specifically, some callers might have received a busy signal if they called 911."

Paul de Sa is returning to the FCC as chief of the Office of Strategic Planning (OSP) and Policy Analysis starting later this month, the FCC said Tuesday. De Sa was chief of the office from 2009 to 2012, but was criticized, particularly by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, for championing a proposal under which LightSquared spectrum would be reallocated for terrestrial use (see 1201260051). LightSquared subsequently became Ligado. De Sa “has a rare combination of business insight, technical expertise, and policy experience that will make him an invaluable addition to our team,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a news release. “Paul is the ideal person to lead OSP as we pursue our agenda of promoting innovation and competition and protecting consumers.” From 2012 until earlier this year, de Sa was a senior analyst covering telecom for Bernstein Research.