The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set April 19 for oral argument in Howard Stirk Holdings v. FCC, which incorporates the several challenges against the agency's handling of the 2010 quadrennnial review of broadcast ownership rules and its changes to joint sales agreement attribution rules. Each side will have 20 minutes of oral argument time, said a letter Tuesday from the 3rd Circuit clerk's office.

Anyone with ideas how to best test whether moving more data traffic to LTE-unlicensed will interfere with Wi-Fi should speak up now, wrote wireless lawyer Mitchell Lazarus on Fletcher Heald's blog. Qualcomm's special temporary authority to test coexistence between LTE-U and Wi-Fi in Oklahoma and North Carolina (see 1601290064), rather than settle the issue, will likely "lead to fresh controversy over whether the test conditions were realistic and what the results mean," he said. The move by carriers to push more data into LTE-U "puts the FCC in a bind" because it doesn't have legal authority to stop that, he said. "But from a practical standpoint, Wi-Fi has become so important to the economy, and such a major convenience in people's lives, that to let LTE-U degrade it would be unthinkable." Lazarus provided links for contacting Qualcomm and the Wi-Fi Alliance, which is helping develop the Qualcomm test plan, and for filing comments in docket 15-105.

Sprint and CLECs said telco special access pricing practices lock up competition and should be effectively undone by the FCC, which is investigating the matter. The criticism came in oppositions and other comments posted Monday in docket 15-247 in response to the cases made by AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier Communications and Verizon in defending their practices, which often contain discounts in exchange for volume or term commitments (see 1601110066). "Because incumbent LEC loyalty schemes are designed to restrict competition, and the incumbents have failed to offer any reasonable alternative explanation for their anticompetitive behavior, the Commission should immediately conclude that the practices at issue in this investigation are unjust and unreasonable," Sprint said. "Based on this finding, the Commission should declare that incumbent LECs cannot enforce their punitive penalties against purchasers who terminate loyalty plans or whose TDM purchases fall below their commitment levels. At minimum, the Commission should give purchasers a 'fresh look' until the Commission can implement comprehensive special access reform.”

Reports certifying customer proprietary network information compliance are due March 1 from telecom carriers and interconnected VoIP providers subject to CPNI rules, the FCC Enforcement Bureau reminded parties in an advisory Friday in docket 06-36. "The protection of CPNI is of paramount importance, as CPNI includes some of the most sensitive personal information that carriers have about their customers as a result of their business relationship (e.g., phone numbers of calls made and received; the frequency, duration, and timing of such calls; and any services purchased by the consumer, such as call waiting and voicemail)," the bureau said. "In prior years, many companies have either failed to file certifications entirely or filed certifications that violate our rules in material respects. Failure to file a timely and complete certification calls into question whether a company has complied with the rules requiring it to protect the privacy and security of its customers’ sensitive information."

Petitions for reconsideration are due Feb. 29 on an Oct. 22 order clarifying when operations are deemed to commence for companies that buy spectrum in the TV incentive auction, the FCC Wireless Bureau said Friday in a public notice. CTIA and NAB approved of the FCC's approach last year, calling it balanced (see 1510230045). The agency decided a provider “commences operations” when it conducts site commissioning tests.

NTIA will attempt to resolve issues raised in draft language of voluntary best practices for drone use (see 1512240007) -- developed through an ongoing multistakeholder process -- during a meeting later this month. The drone multistakeholder meeting will take place Feb. 24, 1 to 5 p.m. EST, and discussion will focus on identifying "a path toward consensus on any remaining issues," John Verdi, NTIA privacy initiatives director, said in an email to stakeholders Friday. The meeting will be held at the American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave. NW.

Three small video relay service providers pushed the FCC to raise and freeze their VRS compensation rate, which would otherwise drop further from its current $4.82 per minute under ongoing agency rate cuts. ASL Services Holdings, Convo Communications and Hancock Jahn asked for the relief in recent meetings or calls with commission officials, according to filings they posted Thursday in docket 10-51. In a Further NPRM, the FCC proposed a 16-month freeze, partially retroactive, from July 1, 2015, to Oct. 31, 2016, at a previous $5.29 per minute rate for small (“Tier I,” with fewer than 500,000 calling minutes per month) VRS providers (see 1511030064). The small VRS providers said the relief was justified by their costs, and the matter was urgent. Smaller providers face various financial and operational challenges that prevent them from gaining market share, much less becoming profitable, and don't have the same economies of scale as larger incumbents, ASL Services said. Its officials "concluded that unless the Commission can affirmatively compensate smaller providers in accordance with their service costs and implement other needed reforms to enable smaller providers to meaningfully compete, that the smaller providers will be forced to exit the provision of VRS, resulting in a severe limitation on consumer choice and services to underserved communities." The FCC should immediately "stabilize Tier I Providers and move toward a more appropriate rate-setting and transparency methodology," Hancock Jahn said. Convo believes the FCC has all the information it needs to freeze the Tier I rate, including that the company "began and ended 2015 with a total allowable costs per-minute which was higher than the applicable compensation rate." The commission should act "in the next few days," given the providers' need for lead time in planning operations, particularly given the "significant differential" between their allowable costs and the lower rate that took effect on Jan. 1, Convo said.

Great Lakes Comnet told a federal court it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief, which it said triggered an automatic stay of separate judicial proceedings and other actions against the company, absent approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan (Great Lakes Comnet, Inc. et al, No. 16-00290). The automatic stay covers the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's review of GLC’s challenge to an FCC order siding with AT&T on an intercarrier compensation dispute, GLC said in a notice filed Thursday in that court (Great Lakes Comnet v. FCC, No. 15-1064). Neither the bankruptcy court nor the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan has issued an order lifting the stay that would allow the FCC case to proceed, said GLC, which was joined in the case by its subsidiary Westphalia Telephone Co. (WTC). GLC said it wouldn't take part in any proceedings on its FCC case while the stay is in effect but reserved the right to move to vacate any related judgments that violate the stay. In a recent sworn declaration in support of its Chapter 11 petition, GLC CEO John Summersett said AT&T “resorted to self-help to collect on the judgment it hopes to attain in the future” even though the FCC hadn't resolved damages issues. “To date, GLC estimates that AT&T has taken by way of setoff or withheld payment on invoices totaling over $24,000,000,” he said. “Some of this was billed under the disputed tariff, but AT&T continues, without explanation, to withhold amounts billed by GLC and WTC under the new, undisputed tariff.” AT&T and the FCC had no comment. In briefs to the D.C. Circuit last year, GLC said the FCC erred in finding the company was a CLEC, among other arguments (see 1508190065 and 1511050035). In response, the commission said it reasonably determined that GLC met the definition of a CLEC and that its tariffed rates violated a CLEC benchmark rule (see 1510060033).

Verizon asked the FCC for "prompt assistance" after Florida Power & Light threatened to disrupt service to Verizon's customers by terminating its pole-attachment rights over a payment dispute, the telco said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-73 that included a Jan. 29 letter from FPL. Verizon said FPL also notified Frontier Communications of its "service disruption plan in yet another transparent attempt to use the pending transaction as leverage in this ongoing rate dispute." (Frontier's buy of Verizon's wireline systems in Florida and two other states awaits final approval.) In its letter, FPL said Verizon has been paying the electric utility only 25 percent of a rate agreed upon in a contract. "If Verizon wishes to continue to enjoy the benefits of access to FPL's poles, Verizon must comply with the contract," FPL said. Unless Verizon makes full payment within 60 days, it will be in default and FPL will terminate the telco's "rights to attach to any of its poles," the utility said. Verizon said it was not in default because it's appealing a Florida state court order on the contract dispute. "Verizon cannot be in default until this proceeding is resolved," it said. Verizon said FPL is trying to delay FCC action on a Verizon pole-attachment complaint, and it urged the commission to resolve the matter as soon as possible. FPL didn't comment.

The FCC Consumer Advisory Committee is to hear from Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn at a Friday meeting of the committee, according to an agenda. Other scheduled speakers include Alison Kutler, acting chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, and three of her deputy chiefs. Among the topics of later staff presentations are "Robocalls and Federal Debt Collection: New TCPA Amendment," a "CGB Outreach and Consumer Update," an "Incentive Auction Update," and sessions on a Lifeline USF recommendation and the new fcc.gov site.