NTCA asked the FCC to give parties more time to review a proposed Telcordia contract to be next local number portability administrator (LNPA). The rural telco association became the latest group urging the FCC to hold off on approving the pending master services agreement (MSA) between Telcordia (iconectiv) and North American Portability Management (NAPM). "Unfortunately, the LNPA transition thus far has been marked by limited transparency and little opportunity for meaningful input from small and rural carriers," said an NTCA filing Thursday in docket 09-109. "This lack of opportunity for meaningful input in advance of decisions being made extends as well to the iconectiv MSA currently on circulation." NTCA said it may not ultimately have objections to the MSA, but is concerned key decisions are being made by "NAPM members only, in a closed process," with small rural carriers lacking the staff or resources to join NAPM. It lamented NAPM's call for quick FCC approval of the MSA. "NTCA therefore urges the Commission to 'pause' approval of the iconectiv MSA and allow additional time for small carriers and other stakeholders to review it and comment on its provisions," the RLEC group said. "A short window should not delay the process enough to matter in terms of the cost savings to which NAPM refers, as much of the work of preparing for the testing and other transition related activities can continue." In a filing on a meeting with FCC officials, the LNP Alliance and New America's Open Technology Institute voiced their "urgent concerns" with the NAPM call for quick FCC approval of the MSA "without allowing for time for smaller carriers and the public at large to review" the lengthy document. They also elaborated on various arguments they made recently in public comments criticizing NAPM (see 1605020039 and 1605030051). Some other parties also voiced concerns in the docket.

A report and order and Further NPRM on 911 outage reporting builds on a controversial March 2015 NPRM, FCC officials said Thursday. In potentially the biggest development, in an FNPRM, the FCC also is seeking comment on imposing Part 4 outage reporting requirements on broadband providers for the first time, officials said. Eighth-floor staff was just starting to take a close look at the item Thursday. In July 2015 comments, telecom carriers voiced concern about an FCC proposal to require reporting of “partial” 911 outages. CTIA said the FCC should refrain from requiring wireless carriers to report on network congestion problems tied to emergencies (see 1507170065). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post Wednesday that a storm that blew through the Washington area this week knocking out power for more than 10,000 homes and businesses shows the importance of outage reporting. Outage reports “provide the FCC with a unique industry-wide view into communications outages that enables us to help make networks more reliable,” Wheeler said. “This becomes even more important as critical infrastructure services rely increasingly on interconnected communications networks.” Wheeler noted providers currently report 911 outages that occur on legacy networks but not for next-generation IP networks. “That’s why I am circulating an item that would refine our network outage reporting requirements and propose common-sense updates to keep pace with technological change,” he said. “This proposal would initiate a dialogue and seek comment on ways to keep our reporting requirements current, whether for outages to emergency or non-emergency communications, so that we can continue to collectively safeguard the networks that American consumers and businesses rely upon.” The FCC estimated in the earlier NPRM that proposed tweaks to reporting rules “may result in the filing of a total of 339 additional reports industry-wide per year, representing a $54,240 cost increase.”

A new drone advisory committee will help the Federal Aviation Administration identify and prioritize challenges and improvements with the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles into the national airspace, the agency said in a Wednesday news release. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the formation of the Drone Advisory Council at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's annual conference in New Orleans, said the agency. The committee is an outgrowth of the drone registration task force (see 1602190012) and Micro Unmanned Aircraft Systems Aviation Rulemaking Committee (see 1604060069) processes, but "is intended to be a long-lasting group," FAA said. “We know that our policies and overall regulation of this segment of aviation will be more successful if we have the backing of a strong, diverse coalition," Huerta said in a statement. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and FAA Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker will lead the committee, which will be comprised of representatives from academia, airports, government agencies including DOD and NASA, drone makers, operators and service providers, and others. The committee's makeup is expected to be final by May 31, said FAA-chartered RTCA (Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics), which operates federal advisory committees.

The Department of Commerce released an agenda for the Monday roundtable that kicks off a larger initiative to identify gaps in cross-border data flows and measure the economic impact of restricting the free flow of data (see 1604220016). The goal is to get input on what additional data and analysis are needed on cross-border data flows, which are increasingly important for international trade and communications between and among individuals and businesses, the agenda said. Alan Davidson, Commerce's digital economy director, and Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, the department's chief economist, will open the event. The open meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Bureau of Labor Statistics Conference Center, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE.

The FCC will consider a Connect America Fund reverse auction order, a communications network outage reporting order and Further NPRM, and a public inspection file NPRM at its May 25 meeting, according to the tentative agenda released Wednesday. The planned reverse auction is intended to allow parties to bid for broadband-oriented subsidies in areas that have been served by large and midsize price-cap telcos where those carriers didn't accept CAF Phase II support. A lengthy draft order has been pending since September (see 1509250057), but the commission has struggled to agree on the specifics. Under reverse auctions, the party entering the lowest subsidy bid in an area generally would receive the support, but there are potential wrinkles on broadband speeds and service quality that industry parties have disputed. The second item is aimed at updating Part 4 communications network outage reporting requirements, the tentative agenda said. The final NPRM would seek comment on "proposals to eliminate the requirement that commercial broadcast stations retain copies of letters and emails from the public in their public inspection file and the requirement that cable operators reveal the location of the cable system’s principal headend," it said.

Cisco, CNN and drone companies said they formed an alliance to tout the benefits of the commercial unmanned aircraft industry in an effort to counter a negative public perception and actions by state and local lawmakers to curb drone use, in part due to privacy concerns. The Commercial Drone Alliance said in a Tuesday news release it will focus on educating lawmakers, fostering a positive view of the industry, and helping develop consensus-based standards, among other activities. While the Federal Aviation Administration predicted drone sales for commercial purposes will grow to 2.7 million by 2020, from 600,000 this year, "skepticism and fundamental misunderstandings have to led to efforts to stunt the growth of this industry," the release said. Diverse stakeholders in an NTIA-led initiative are expected to agree on voluntary drone privacy recommendations in two weeks (see 1604280066). The new alliance will be led by co-Executive Directors Lisa Ellman and Gretchen West, both of Hogan Lovells. West was previously executive vice president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, and Ellman is a former White House adviser who led an initiative to develop drone policy within DOJ. Other group members include Aerialtronics, AirMap, DataWing, Lift, Measure, Nightingale Intelligent Systems, SkySpecs and Talon Aerolytics.

An industry group objected to DOJ's proposal to alter the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 to expand federal judges’ ability to issue warrants for remote searches of computers outside their jurisdictions, which has drawn privacy advocates' concerns. Congress has until Dec. 1 to take action on the Supreme Court-cleared proposal or it automatically takes effect (see 1604290057). "This so-called procedural update raises complex technical, Constitutional, and geopolitical concerns,” said Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black in a Monday evening news release. “A substantive expansion of government hacking powers should not be done as a behind-the-scenes rule change -- its merits and drawbacks should be openly debated.” The revision “would grant legitimacy to practices that have yet to be found constitutional under the requirements of the Fourth Amendment,” said Black, whose group has members including Amazon, Dish Network, Google, Microsoft and Sprint according to its website. “A key requirement of a constitutional search is that it is focused on a known location with particularity. One problem is that a remote search inherently lacks those elements.” CCIA is “further concerned that by using hacking tools and remotely searching computers in unknown locations, it would be all too easy to search, intrude upon and even damage the security of foreign computers, which could violate international sovereignty and is currently the subject of robust Congressional debate,” Black said.

The White House touted its ConnectED progress Tuesday, outlining in both a fact sheet and a report how the broadband initiative has done. “Through two separate orders adopted in 2014, and, as a result of the President’s urging, the FCC committed $5 billion over five years specifically for expanding access to high-speed wireless Internet and boosted the amount of funding available annually to schools and libraries through E-Rate from $2.4 billion to $3.9 billion,” said a 60-page report jointly released Tuesday by the White House and Department of Education. “All told, this amounts to an additional $8 billion of federal support over five years. Through these efforts, we have been able to cut the connectivity gap by more than half and are on-track to meet the President’s goal. In 2013, only 30 percent of school districts had access to high-speed broadband, leaving 40 million students without access to that connectivity.” In 2013, President Barack Obama “launched his ConnectED initiative with the goal of unleashing education technology in schools and connecting 99 percent of America’s students to high-speed broadband in their schools and libraries by 2018,” said an administration fact sheet released Tuesday. “We are on track to meet that goal -- 77 percent of school districts and an additional 20 million students now have access to high-speed broadband.” The report also recaps Obama’s attention to E-rate. “The Connectivity Divide in Schools Was Cut in Half,” reads the text accompanying one graphic in the report. It cited “dramatic” results. “In his final year in office, President Obama continues his work to ensure that all students have access to the fast broadband connections, modern devices, and new digital teaching tools they need to ensure they can thrive at school, at home, in college, and in the workplace,” the report said. “The administration continues to work with public and private organizations to build capacity among leaders and educators across the country so they are able to confidently lead the transition to transformative learning experiences powered by technology for all students.” Obama gathered with teachers at the White House Tuesday and mentioned the broadband initiative. "By 2018, we're going to make sure we reach the goal I set," Obama told the crowd of the 99 percent connectivity goal.

Union workers and consumer groups claimed Verizon deceived customers under a policy known as “Fiber is the Only Fix.” Verizon engaged in unjust and unreasonable practices related to its copper facilities in violation of Section 201(b) of the Communications Act, and is failing to give sufficient advance notice of copper retirement actions in violation of Section 51.325(a)(4) for FCC rules, said an informal complaint at the agency signed by Communications Workers of America, Common Cause, Public Knowledge and others. Under the alleged Verizon policy, when a customer calls in about a copper-related complaint, the company creates a “ghost” service order to transfer the customer to fiber, without the customer's knowledge, the complainants said. Then, Verizon technicians inform customers with copper-related complaints that the company no longer repairs copper lines and the customer must upgrade to fiber; if the customer refuses to upgrade, Verizon cuts the line, they said. A company spokesman described the process differently. “When a copper customer with chronic service issues calls for a repair, we create two tickets in parallel -- a repair ticket, and the ghost service order. When the technician is dispatched, if he finds there’s a simple fix for the copper, we fix the copper. If not and we determine fiber is the only fix, we already have the parallel service order in place. The technician then explains to the customer why we need to upgrade them to fiber and no work is performed without the customer’s consent.” The Verizon spokesman dismissed the complaint as another bargaining chip in its standoff with union workers in the East Coast strike (see 1605030050). “There is nothing at all deceptive about this practice and the fact that we’ve never heard a peep from the unions about it until now -- in the middle of a work stoppage -- tells you everything you need to know about what their real motivation is with this complaint.” The complaint is the first alleging a violation of FCC copper retirement rules, which took effect on March 24, and covers seven states served by Verizon: Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia. Regulators in New York (see 1604250046) and Pennsylvania (see 1604210047) have investigated Verizon service quality, while CWA has a request for investigation pending in Maryland. "Copper still has plenty to offer, so an orderly transition to new platforms, with adequate notice and respect for the rules is essential,” said ex-FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, special adviser to Common Cause. “We expect the FCC to take prompt action to protect consumer rights and keep all Americans connected.”

FCC staff OK’d Altice’s roughly $18 billion purchase of Cablevision, as was expected (see 1512230046), with national security conditions sought by other agencies (see 1604210031). “Although we find that the public interest benefits are limited, the scales tilt in favor of granting the Applications because of the absence of harms,” said a Tuesday order from the International, Media, Wireless and Wireline bureaus. A union and some others had concerns about the deal. “Based on the record evidence, we find the transaction is unlikely to have adverse competitive effects,” the order said. Per last month’s letter from DOJ, the FBI and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security that they were OK with the takeover as long as it was conditioned on the companies following a national security agreement, the bureaus made that agreement a condition of OK'ing Altice/Cablevision. The order also noted that Altice had told New York regulators it would provide 300 Mbps service to all Cablevision customers.