Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton campaigned on her broadband deployment plans again Thursday, speaking on the economy in Warren, Michigan. She said she wants to work with both parties starting on Day One of her administration on advancing an infrastructure investment package, a big-ticket item she floated last year that has increasingly dominated her speeches and campaign remarks in recent weeks. “I happen to think we should be ambitious,” Clinton said. “While we’re at it, let’s connect every household in America to broadband by the year 2020. It’s astonishing to me how many places in America -- not way, way far away from cities but in cities and near cities -- that don’t have access to broadband. And that disadvantages kids who are asked to do homework using the internet. Five million of them live in households without access to the internet. You talk about an achievement gap -- it starts right there.”

Any hike of direct broadcast satellite providers' annual per-subscriber regulatory fee will only be passed onto consumers, hurting them, Dish Network said in an ex parte filing Thursday in docket 16-166. The FCC also failed to say what regulatory developments in the past year justify hiking the fee from 12 cents to 27 cents per subscriber, Dish said. And the company said such a proposal is the kind of sudden large fee increase the agency has said it wants to avoid and "leaves the industry uncertain about what to expect in future years." The filing recapped a series of meetings between Dish Deputy General Counsel Jeffrey Blum and advisers for Commissioners Mike O'Rielly, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn and Chairman Tom Wheeler. Dish strongly opposed the fee increase (see 1607060023).

The FCC and DOJ asked a court to suspend review of an inmate calling service case, after the commission's recent reconsideration order to increase ICS rate caps (see 1608040037). The current ICS rate caps from a 2015 FCC order were challenged and stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the current litigation, which also addresses other issues (Global Tel*Link, et al., v. FCC, No. 15-1461 and consolidated cases). The FCC/DOJ said the court shouldn't bifurcate the litigation. "Given the Commission’s adoption of a new order that materially alters the order under review, this Court should grant the respondents’ motion to hold these cases in abeyance," they said in a response (in Pacer) Thursday to oppositions to their motion. "It does not make sense to litigate these cases independent of the challenges that several of the petitioners have already announced they will file to the Reconsideration Order. The Court should therefore place these consolidated cases in abeyance until ... challenges to the Reconsideration Order have been filed and consolidated with these cases. The Court could direct the parties, in the meantime, to confer and file a revised briefing schedule designed to minimize any delay in resolving these cases." Litigant Global Tel*Link said Thursday it would also challenge the new "piecemeal" FCC order. The ICS provider believes the order set rate caps below costs and exceeded the agency's jurisdiction through preemption of state and local decision making. "It is time for the FCC to stop changing the rules, to allow the courts to resolve these fundamental issues and end the uncertainty," said GTL President Brian Oliver in a release. The FCC/DOJ position was no surprise, emailed Brad Ramsay, general counsel of NARUC, a state litigant. "It will be interesting to see how the Court considers the agency’s arguments for more delay given the FCC refused to give affected parties in the appeal similar courtesy -- specifically rejecting arguments to delay the subject Order’s effectiveness until the time to file appeals has lapsed," he said.

FCC Incentive Auction Task Force leaders issued an update Wednesday on the forward auction set to start Tuesday. “Throughout the forward auction, the public will be able to obtain information about the results of bidding on our Public Reporting System (PRS),” said a blog post. “You can view the upcoming schedule of bidding rounds on the Dashboard of the PRS as well as track progress toward meeting the two prongs of the final stage rule that determines whether the auction will close at the current clearing target.” The FCC will provide a “product status screen that will offer details on bidding activity for each product,” the post said. It was by IATF Chairman Gary Epstein and Deputy Chairwoman Jean Kiddoo. A mock auction will be held Thursday and Friday, they noted. “Unlike the reverse auction, in which there is a limited number of possible rounds, forward auction bidding rounds for a stage can continue without limit so long as demand outpaces supply for any product,” they said. “We cannot predict when the forward auction will conclude. Until it does, we invite you to watch along with us as the forward auction clock phase bidding in the first-ever Incentive Auction gets underway.”

CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association jointly criticized the FCC Mobile Measuring Broadband America (MMBA) program. “There is continued concern regarding the breadth (specifically, fewer recorded tests in comparison to other sources) and quality of the data collected and, correspondingly, its accuracy and reliability,” they said in a filing Wednesday: The mobile speed tests also “duplicate far more robust efforts well underway by third parties, each of which gather detailed speed testing data that is more expansive and thorough than the MMBA’s results.” The FCC also hasn't given carriers information on the collection and filtering methods used to prepare speed test data, they said. “The Commission has not established a review process, prior to the anticipated release of the MMBA Report, with sufficient time for the carrier community to evaluate the data contained therein to ensure the results accurately reflect network performance,” CTIA and CCA said. Comments were filed in docket 12-264.

The FCC and supporters defended a 2015 pole-attachment order putting new downward pressure on rates that is being challenged in court by electric power companies, which own poles. In a joint reply brief to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals posted Tuesday, the FCC/DOJ said the commission has "broad authority" to regulate pole-attachment rates under Section 224(b) of the Communications Act (Ameren Corp., et al., v. FCC, No. 16-1683). They said that mandate was affirmed when the D.C. Circuit in 2013 upheld a 2011 FCC order that aimed to drive telecom rates down to lower cable rate levels in American Electric Power, which said the commission used its discretion reasonably to eliminate market distortions. After finding the rules weren't working as intended, the FCC in November adjusted cost allocators to bring the telecom and cable rates into closer parity at the lower levels (see 1511240071). "The rules, as amended, share the same structure and the same purpose as the 2011 rules. Accordingly, they are no less lawful than the rules at issue in American Electric Power, and this Court should follow the D.C. Circuit’s reasoning in that case to avoid a circuit split," said the FCC/DOJ, requesting an oral argument. Intervenors USTelecom plus NCTA, Incompas and Level 3 filed briefs backing the FCC actions (here and here in Pacer). The order "encourages broadband deployment, narrows the unjustified discrepancy that existed between the 'just and reasonable' rates that may be charged" competitors, and continues to fully compensate pole owners, USTelecom said. Both intervenor briefs said oral argument isn't necessary. "This challenge merely repackages the prior challenge rejected by the D.C. Circuit," USTelecom said. In their May brief (in Pacer), the power companies also said oral argument isn't necessary, "because the issues and relevant authority are clear." The commission's "conflation of the two cost formulas violates congressional intent and the canon against surplusage," said Ameren, American Electric Power Service, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric and Dominion Virginia Power. "The FCC's definition of 'cost' is also arbitrary and capricious because it gives an infinite number of meanings to the same term in the same subsection of the same statute." If the 8th Circuit orders oral argument, they said, 15 minutes will be sufficient for each side, the same as the FCC/DOJ requested.

Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president and the longtime top AT&T official on federal issues, will retire Sept. 30, to be replaced by Senior Vice President Bob Quinn, the carrier confirmed Wednesday. Emphasizing the growing importance of mobility to the company, Joan Marsh, vice president in charge of wireless issues, will take Quinn’s old job and become a senior vice president. Cicconi, like Quinn, was at the old AT&T when SBC acquired it in 2005. SBC then renamed itself AT&T. Cicconi worked in the White House for President Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, where he was deputy to the chief of staff. Cicconi “is respected by everyone, regardless of political party or viewpoint, as a big thinker, a master strategist and someone able to bridge divides to get things done," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO, in a written statement. "I greatly appreciate his leadership, wise counsel and countless contributions.” Cicconi is a “force of nature” in Washington, said Grant Seiffert, former president of the Telecommunications Industry Association. “Anything that has been big in telecom and internet policy, Jim has been a part of it,” Seiffert told us. While a longtime Republican, Cicconi recently said he was supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton for president (see 1607110047). In 2011, Cicconi was a leader of AT&T’s failed buy of T-Mobile and lambasted the FCC for effectively killing the deal (see 1112020064). More recently, the telco bought DirecTV.

Federal code prohibiting racial discrimination in contracts requires showing only that race played a motivating factor in conduct, and that Entertainment Studios Networks was told Comcast wouldn't carry it because it "was not trying to create any more [BET founder] Bob Johnsons" is direct evidence of that, ESN and the National Association of African American Owned Media said Monday in a filing (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The 22-page filing was in opposition to Comcast's motion to dismiss the amended ESN/NAAAOM lawsuit against it alleging racially motivated carriage discrimination (see 1607120051). ESN/NAAAOM said Comcast claimed it lacked bandwidth to carry ESN channels but then launched "lesser-known, white-owned" networks such as Fit TV and Inspirational Network. ESN/NAAAOM also said Comcast's argument that it had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for not opting for carriage is suited for summary judgment or trial. ESN/NAAAOM also challenged Comcast's cited court decisions that support its affirmative defense that the First Amendment protects its decisions on what channels to carry, saying one of those decisions -- 2013's Comcast v. FCC by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit -- didn't reach Comcast's First Amendment defense and reversed the administrative decision on the grounds the FCC didn't meet its evidentiary burden. In its opposition, ESN/NAAAOM also claimed evidence of racial bias in that Comcast's Universal Studios reduced the number of ESN invites to press events for movies predominantly cast with African-Americans such as Get on Up and Straight Outta Compton. Comcast didn't comment Tuesday.

Two Democratic lawmakers touted New Mexico broadband connectivity Tuesday after a Monday roundtable in Albuquerque with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “If we can have internet access at 30,000 feet in an airplane, we should be able to have internet access on tribal land and throughout rural New Mexico,” said House Communications Subcommittee member Ben Ray Lujan. Lack of broadband access “puts too many New Mexicans at a disadvantage,” Sen. Tom Udall said. “As a member of the Senate Appropriations and Commerce committees, I'm fighting to ensure that no matter where you live, all New Mexicans can access reliable high speed broadband for business, health care, education and everyday communication.” Udall, Lujan and Clyburn “joined approximately 50 representatives from New Mexico telecommunications companies and rural telephone cooperatives to discuss efforts and challenges to expanding broadband access in rural communities and tribal lands across New Mexico,” a news release from the lawmakers said. It said after the roundtable, Luján and Clyburn traveled to Torreon, New Mexico, to "highlight the importance of the Lifeline program and efforts to modernize it to support broadband," and then to Crownpoint to visit Navajo Technical University to discuss the need to expand broadband access in tribal communities. Clyburn said the visit is part of her Connecting Communities tour: “We must be ever-vigilant in our attempts to close the digital and opportunities divide. With 21st century communications technologies, we can, with more ease and precision, greatly improve health outcomes for those currently without ready access to healthcare facilities; provide more immersive and comprehensive learning experiences for children and adults alike; increase civic engagement; and open up new avenues for people to find the jobs and acquire the skills needed to work in an internet economy.”

Comcast should drop its Xfinity-related advertising claims that it "delivers the fastest internet in America" and the "fastest, most reliable in-home WiFi," said the National Advertising Division (NAD), the investigative unit of the ad industry’s self-regulation system. NAD said in a news release Tuesday that Verizon challenged the Comcast broadband ad claims, plus others by the cable ISP about the telco's phone service. NAD said the Comcast ads don't limit their claims to a particular tier, though Xfinity offers various speeds in different tiers, and relying on Ookla's Speedtest application data for substantiating its claims isn't a good means of substantiating overall superior speed performance assertions. NAD also said Comcast should end or modify its direct-mail campaign about Verizon's phone service because it's potentially confusing to consumers. NAD said Comcast indicated it plans to appeal the findings to the National Advertising Review Board. Comcast didn't comment Tuesday.