Charter Communications’ purchase of Bright House and Time Warner Cable would give Charter the power to “squelch” content creators and hurt competition, said Free Press, the Future of Music Coalition, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and 19 other public interest groups in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler posted Monday in docket 15-149. “We are dismayed by rumors and reports that the FCC is considering an order to approve this disastrous deal,” the letter said. “This merger serves no one but the companies backing it and should be blocked.” A Charter spokesman told us the cable company has continued “to demonstrate the significant benefits that put these transactions squarely in the public interest.” Charter looks forward to “receiving regulatory approval and bringing these benefits to consumers,“ the spokesman said. If the deal is OK’d, approval should include conditions prohibiting Charter from “continuing to restrict, degrade, and interfere with the use of NVIDIA’s SHIELD TV device and other lawful, non-harmful devices,” Nvidia told an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a meeting Thursday, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday.

The FCC and others opposed inmate calling service provider motions to revise a previous court stay order so that the commission's 2013 interim price caps can't be applied to intrastate ICS rates, pending further judicial review of underlying challenges to a 2015 agency order (Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-461). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed FCC 2015 rate caps of 11 to 22 cents per minute for interstate and intrastate ICS rates (see 1603070055). But the D.C. Circuit didn't stay the 2013 interim caps of 21 and 25 cents/minute on interstate ICS rates nor a 2015 FCC change removing the "interstate" designation from the ICS definition, the FCC said Tuesday. It opposed a motion from Securus (see 1603170040) and subsequently filed motions from Global Tel*Link and Telmate. "Granting such relief would require this Court to expand the limited stay it only recently -- and carefully -- crafted. There is no cause to do so," the FCC said in its opposition. "The Commission’s new rules, by their terms, extended the interim rate caps to intrastate inmate calls in the event the permanent rate caps (but not the amended definition of inmate calling services) were stayed. See 47 C.F.R. §§ 64.6000(j); 64.6030. Two parties sought a stay of the interim rate caps; no party requested a stay of the amended definition. Because the Court declined to stay the interim rate caps, they now apply to intrastate (as well as interstate) calls. That result is entirely reasonable." The Wright Petitioners, which advocate for the phone rights of inmates and their families, filed in support of the FCC. CenturyLink backed the other ICS providers Monday.

The Consumer Video Choice Coalition launched a website to “drive action” on the FCC proposal to change set-top box rules, the CVCC said in a news release Monday. Unlockthebox.com asks readers to contact Congress and the FCC, and outlines the CVCC ‘s arguments in favor of the FCC proposal. “The FCC has the opportunity to let competition unleash innovation in hardware, software and new streaming content,” said Chip Pickering, CEO of Incompas, in the release.

Correction: The date of the FCBA rescheduled CLE on spectrum is March 22.

As speculation mounts that Charter's deals may be OK'd, CEO Tom Rutledge met with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler about what the cable ISP said are "public interest benefits" of its buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable. At the Wednesday meeting, which also included FCC General Counsel Jonathan Sallet and Charter Communications Executive Vice President-Government Affairs Catherine Bohigian, the would-be buyer said it "discussed significant expansion of its residential network to increase broadband and video competition, $2.5 billion investment in building out its network to increase competition in the enterprise market, and the deployment of more than 300,000 out-of-home Wi-Fi access points to increase wireless competition." The filing on the meeting was posted Monday in docket 15-149, where another filing said Bohigian, colleagues at Charter, and representatives of BHN and TWC met Thursday with Owen Kendler, who has been heading the FCC working team overseeing the deals. New Charter’s commitments on broadband service for low-income households, settlement-free interconnection and broadband without usage-based pricing or data caps was discussed, Charter said. Wheeler is reportedly close to circulating an order to OK Charter/TWC/BHN (see 1603160056). A commission spokesman declined to comment Monday.

The FCC is poised to modernize the Lifeline program for the broadband era later this month, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said last week at a CUE16 meeting in Palm Springs, California, according to a written remarks posted on the agency's website Monday. "When we do, we need to make sure that the program is updated to support broadband -- and allow participants to choose between applying support to either voice or broadband service," she said. "This simple change would both update the program and help bring more broadband to low-income households with school-aged children. But if we care about narrowing the Homework Gap, we can’t stop there. Our Lifeline modernization must make sure that the devices used for Lifeline services are able to access Wi-Fi signals and that those devices can even be turned into Wi-Fi hotspots. Moreover, as we update Lifeline, we should make sure that we are doing everything that we can to make eligible families with school-aged children aware of the program." Rosenworcel also backed taking steps in other proceedings to create more Wi-Fi capacity. Meanwhile, parties continued to lobby the FCC in the Lifeline proceeding in docket 11-42. "Minimum standards should not inadvertently force low-income consumers to choose between a broadband service that is unaffordable despite the program discount or no broadband at all," said a filing posted Monday by NTCA and WTA on their meeting with FCC staffers, including aides to Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Such an issue could arise to the extent that low-income consumers are precluded from choosing to purchase a broadband speed offered by their provider that is more in line with their personal budget. As merely one example, a 10/1 Mbps speed standard -- should one be adopted -- should not preclude a Lifeline subscriber from making the affirmative choice to purchase a 4/1 Mbps broadband service that costs less and is more affordable for that individual low-income consumer," the rural telco groups said. In a letter, Consumer Action said it has concerns about completely phasing out Lifeline support for standalone wireless voice service, preferring to create tiered subsidies with lower amounts for standalone voice and higher amounts for bundled voice/broadband.

The FCC Media Bureau extended the deadline for comments on proposed changes to set-top box rules by seven days, to April 22, said an order and public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. Replies are now due May 23. The American Cable Association had requested a 30-day extension. The seven-day extension will “ensure that parties have enough time to file comments” and takes into account NCTA’s mid-May INTX trade show, the bureau said. “We are committed to resolving the issues raised in the Navigation Choice NPRM in a timely manner and do not believe that a 30-day extension is necessary to give interested parties sufficient opportunity to submit their view.” The bureau said it set aside a specific period for ex parte meetings on the matter with its staff, from June 6 to June 10, “given the interest in the proceeding.”

Correction: The group that recently lobbied the FCC on next-generation 911 has changed its name to America's Public Television Stations (see 1603150054).

NTIA plans a March 29 multistakeholder meeting -- the first since summer -- to continue work on a government-driven process to develop a facial recognition code of conduct to protect consumers' privacy, a Federal Register notice said Thursday. Participants last met in July, after several consumer privacy groups and advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Democracy and Technology, abandoned the process, irked by industry's refusal to make opt-in the default condition for facial recognition (see 1507270044). The process began in 2014 with 10 meetings held that year, but only two last year. At the last meeting, participants were discussing two draft guides, one developed by the International Biometrics Industry Association and the other by NetChoice (see 1507270044). No agenda was posted for the next meeting, which will be 1-5 p.m. in the boardroom of the American Institute of Architects.

CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association were joined by the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Incompas in a joint letter to the FCC raising concerns about the wireless implications of the agency’s proposed Lifeline rules (see 1603170044). Parts of the proposed order “appear to ignore technological and market characteristics of providing mobile wireless voice and broadband service to low-income consumers,” the groups told the FCC. “If adopted, these proposals will disrupt successful aspects of the Lifeline program, hinder the ability of mobile wireless providers to offer services, and harm millions of low-income consumers who depend on Lifeline support.” By requiring that only mobile Lifeline plans offer unlimited voice minutes by December, “the Commission will substantially increase the prices that eligible low-income consumers must pay to connect with educational, health, occupational and public safety services, including 9-1-1, through mobile wireless voice services,” the groups said. No wireless carrier offers unlimited voice minutes for the $9.25 per month in support from the Lifeline program, they said. The FCC “will effectively reverse a long-standing policy against requiring co-payments and put Lifeline service out of reach from low- income consumers that lack the disposable income or banking capabilities to make a monthly payment,” the groups said. The FCC has tried to avoid flash cuts and disruption in reforming other parts of USF, the groups said. In contrast, “the Commission’s Lifeline reform approach will impose significant changes on low-income consumers by December of this year, with more significant changes each year for three years,” the groups said. An FCC spokesman earlier defended the agency’s approach. He said proposed minimum standards “are not phasing out voice from the Lifeline program, but rather are phasing in broadband as an essential element of any Lifeline service.”