The FCC Disability Advisory Committee will meet June 16, starting at 9 a.m. in the Commission Meeting Room. The committee was established in December 2014 to make recommendations to the FCC “on a wide array of disability matters within the jurisdiction of the Commission, and to facilitate the participation of people with disabilities in proceedings before the Commission,” a public notice said. In February, the group approved a resolution (see 1602230066) calling on the FCC to issue a rulemaking on phasing out text technology in favor of real-time text, a step taken by the agency in April (see 1604280055).

Stakeholders in the planned FCC local number portability administrator (LNPA) transition from Neustar to Telcordia/iconectiv are invited to two outreach and education events scheduled by PwC, the transition oversight manager, said a Wireline Bureau notice in docket 09-109 listed in Friday's Daily Digest. PwC will hold an interactive webinar Wednesday 3-4 p.m. and will be available to meet with parties June 13 and 14 at the Marriott Indianapolis Downtown hotel adjacent to where a National Emergency Number Association meeting is being held. Parties should register for the webinar here. Parties don't have to register or schedule appointments for the in-person meetings but can express a time preference or ask questions here.

Opponents of extending comment dates in the business data service (BDS) proceeding "completely miss the mark," said an NCTA filing Friday in docket 05-25 urging an FCC extension. Suggestions there's a "high bar" to extensions are wrong, the cable group said, noting its finding that the commission granted 85 percent of recent extension requests. Sprint opposed NCTA's extension request Tuesday (see 1605180028) and joint opposition was filed Thursday by the Competitive Carriers Association, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Free Press, Incompas, New America's Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. NCTA disputed arguments that potential BDS regulation of cable has been within the scope of the proceeding since a 2012 Further NPRM. "The Commission captioned this proceeding 'Special Access for Price Cap Local Exchange Carriers' because it was considering changes to the rules that governed the rates for special access services provided by price cap local exchange carriers," NCTA said. It said the telco regulatory focus was consistent with FCC precedent under which new BDS entrants like cable are considered nondominant and generally aren't subject to rate regulation. FCC data collection from cable didn't mean cable was being targeted for regulation, but that the data could assist telco regulation, the group said. NCTA also disputed opposition to an extension based on industry having access to the data for months, which it called irrelevant to resolving many of the issues raised in the recent FNPRM (see Ref:1604280057]. It also said it was "disingenuous" for Sprint to argue that no other party was concerned about the proceeding's complexity, when even supportive FCC commissioners voiced such concerns. "It seems the only parties unwilling to acknowledge the complex nature of this proceeding are the CLECs, who apparently will continue pushing for as much rate regulation as possible, as quickly as possible, regardless of whether such regulation is warranted by the facts (like the fact that Sprint already has negotiated commercial Ethernet arrangements with cable operators and telephone companies that enable the company to cover 95 percent of the country)," NCTA said. Separately, CCA said that wireless industry ability to deploy 5G and IoT services depended on "fixing the broken BDS market" because of all the backhaul needed to connect tens of thousands of new cell sites.

The FCC cited practical, procedural and statutory arguments in defending its order allowing interconnected VoIP providers to obtain phone numbers directly from numbering administrators, which NARUC said the commission couldn't do without classifying VoIP as a telecom service under the Communications Act (see 1604050013). "The FCC took a common-sense approach to telephone numbering, allowing VoIP providers direct access to phone numbers, thus eliminating a needless middleman and helping to drive down costs, promote competition, and improve service," the agency told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a response brief Thursday in NARUC v. FCC, No. 15-1497. The decision also maintained VoIP and telecom provider duties to facilitate number portability, allowing customers to keep their numbers when they switch providers. "Because NARUC does not challenge the actual outcome of the proceeding, it is not injured and lacks Article III standing" under the Constitution, the FCC said. "Even if NARUC had standing, it could not show that the agency's interpretation of its authority under the Act is unreasonable." Phone numbers are essential to telephone service providers, and consumer ability to keep those numbers when switching providers is essential to competition, the commission said. Congress thus delegated "exclusive jurisdiction" over phone numbers to the FCC, which relied on this "plenary authority" to allow VoIP providers direct access to phone numbers while maintaining number portability duties, the agency said. Nothing in the law forbids providing nontelecom carriers direct numbering access, said the agency, which found its decision "would lead to increased competition, lower prices, and improved service." A brief from intervenor Vonage in support of the FCC order is due next Thursday; NARUC's reply brief is due June 9.

CTIA and member companies Friday offered the FCC a proposed framework for sharing the 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands between fixed satellite service licensees and new mobile broadband licensees. It "would allow the Commission to facilitate the rapid introduction of 5G services while also permitting the continued operation and expansion of satellite services,” CTIA said. “This framework will enable both terrestrial and satellite services to make intensive use of the 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands in a manner that fairly balances the rights of all affected stakeholders.” Broadband licensees would have primary status in the bands. FSS users would get “some protections without elevating their existing allocation rights,” CTIA said in the letter. In 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands, while there are international allocations for FSS, the agency has “consistently given priority to terrestrial uses of these bands,” CTIA said. “This prioritization should continue, especially in the most populated areas of the United States, to ensure that 5G mobile broadband services can be deployed.” The FCC is looking at the bands for sharing as part of its spectrum frontiers rulemaking (see 1603090057). Carriers see high-frequency spectrum as key to deploying new 5G services. Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup said satellite companies are working with the wireless industry “on a technical approach to provide true sharing on a co-primary basis” of the spectrum. “As has been noted repeatedly in these discussions, one of the major challenges is the introduction of mobility into the use of the bands currently shared by [local multipoint distribution service] and satellite operators,” Stroup said. “Since these bands are allocated for satellite use throughout most of the world, it is imperative that all involved address these tough technical issues to ensure continued growth of interference-free satellite services along with 5G technologies built for the U.S. market that are capable of operating globally. Only then can we ensure that the United States becomes the leader in 5G both domestically and abroad.”

The FCC Consumer Advisory Committee will meet June 10, said a Thursday public notice. The meeting will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at FCC headquarters in the Commission Meeting Room. On the agenda: a recommendation on robocalling and federal debt collection, recommendations on the IP transition and a recommendation on set-top boxes and alternative navigation technology or devices used by consumers.

The FCC issued "guidance regarding acceptable methodologies for disclosure of network performance to satisfy the enhanced transparency requirements" in the 2015 net neutrality and broadband reclassification order. Guidance also was provided on "compliance with the point of sale disclosure requirement" in the order, said a public notice in docket 14-28 from the chief technologist, Office of General Counsel and Enforcement Bureau .

A new voluntary privacy best practices guide for commercial and private drone operators, agreed to by some participants Wednesday through a collaborative NTIA-driven process, is being praised by some organizations (see 1605180044). "This forward-thinking approach facilitates the development of well-informed and thoughtful standards that balance privacy rights with the need to protect US innovation and economic competitiveness," said the Small UAV Coalition in a statement issued after Wednesday's meeting. Chris Calabrese, Center for Democracy and Technology vice president-policy, said in a statement the document has several important elements such as restricting "persistent and continuous" data collection of people and a detailed data collection policy, saying operators can't retain data longer than "reasonably necessary," and requiring drone operators to "minimize operations" over private property without consent of the property owner or legal authority. Participants began meeting in August. While many representatives appeared to support the document, several drone industry, insurance and privacy representatives said Wednesday they didn't for various reasons, saying further meetings wouldn't be productive. “Drones are already being used for search and rescue and to assist farmers, home contractors, photographers, newsgatherers, and may soon be used for wireless internet and delivery. These standards will help ensure these technologies are deployed with privacy in mind," said Future of Privacy Forum CEO Jules Polonetsky in a statement in support. Brian Wynne, CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, said in a statement that the document will help "facilitate the safe and responsible use" of drones. "Rather than create a complicated patchwork of new laws to address privacy, AUVSI encourages states and municipalities to allow commercial operators to adopt these uniform, federal privacy best practices," he said. Angela Simpson, NTIA deputy assistant secretary for communications and information, said in a blog post the voluntary guide will help build consumer trust, give users tools to innovate while respecting privacy and also provide accountability and transparency. NTIA will work with stakeholders to disseminate and promote the practices widely, she said.

The FCC is seeking comment on its proposed 2016 regulatory fees, including an increase for direct broadcast satellite from 12 cents per subscriber per year to 27 cents, said a commissioner-approved NPRM issued Thursday. The proposed fees also include a new higher population row in the table for AM and FM broadcasters, “to divide broadcasters that serve 3,000,001-6,000,000 from those that have a higher population coverage,” the NPRM said. “We now tentatively conclude adopting these proposals will make the regulatory fees for AM and FM radio more rational.” The NPRM also tentatively concludes that the top-10 market TV stations should pay “about twice” what stations in markets 26 to 50 pay. The NPRM doesn't complicate any changes to TV regulatory fees based on the incentive auction because it's still too early to determine the auction's effects. “We intend to consider any changed circumstances due to the incentive auction as part of the FY 2017 regulatory fee proceeding,” the NPRM said. The FCC proposes to collect $384 million in regulatory fees in 2016. Comments are due June 20, replies July 5.

CTIA urged caution as the FCC moves forward on an order and Further NPRM on 911 outage reporting, slated for a vote at Wednesday’s meeting (see 1605050053). 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. CTIA and representatives of member companies met with Daudeline Meme, an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a filing in docket 15-80 said. “CTIA reiterated its support for targeted revisions to the Part 4 requirements that can provide meaningful and reasonable improvements to outage reporting, including standardized and simplified methods for calculating the number of users potentially affected by a wireless network outage and for reporting a wireless network outage to a Public Safety Answering Points [sic],” CTIA said in a filing at the commission. “CTIA also encouraged the Commission to refrain from subjecting wireless providers to unworkable rules, including those pertaining to required reporting of congestion in the radio access network, partial loss of communications to a PSAP, and sharing of [Network Outage Reporting System] data lacking effective, meaningful safeguards designed to protect such data from unauthorized disclosure.” USTelecom reported on meetings with aides to all five commissioners. “In each of these meetings, USTelecom emphasized that the Report and Order contained provisions that would increase the costs for companies to comply with new obligations without clear corresponding benefits for consumers or improvements in infrastructure reliability or resiliency,” the group said. “We noted that resources that would now have to be redirected towards implementation and subsequent reporting efforts would detract from other initiatives with clear consumer benefits such as upgrading or expanding facilities that would increase broadband availability.”