The FCC will host a summit July 11 to look at carrier progress implementing Secure Telephony Identity Revisited and Secure Handling of Asserted information Using Tokens caller ID authentication standards, it said Monday. Discussion items will include technical hurdles to deployment. The event will be in the Commission Meeting Room. Times, participants and other details will be announced later. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai "expects major phone companies to implement SHAKEN/STIR caller ID authentication standards this year," the agency noted.

An FCC webinar Wednesday will focus on consumer information for older adults, including on caller ID spoofing scams. Another topic in the 2 p.m. EDT program: "Keeping up with broadcast TV stations in transition." Outlets are moving channels in the post-incentive auction reshuffling.

DOJ, with concurrence of the Department of Homeland Security and DOD, asked the FCC to defer action on an application to transfer companies to Macquarie subsidiary MIP IV Midwest Fiber (see 1901150052). One of the deals would transfer fiber network PEG Bandwidth from Uniti Fiber to Midwest, which is contingent on a second transfer to Midwest of Missouri Network Alliance (dba Bluebird Network) from MNA Holdings. “The Agencies will review the petition and related materials for national-security, law-enforcement, and public-safety issues,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-49. “After the Agencies complete the review of the petition and related materials, the Agencies will notify the Commission and, based on the results of the review, request appropriate action by the Commission.”

Comments are due June 7, replies June 24 on the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology seeking comment on updating rules to reflect changes to ANSI C63.4a-2017 “American National Standard for Methods of Measurement of Radio-Noise Emissions from Low-Voltage Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the Range of 9 kHz to 40 GHz, Amendment 1: Test Site Validation” and ISO/IEC 17025:2017(E) “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories” (see 1904020052). So says a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register.

The FCC Wireline Bureau designated four providers eligible telecom carriers for last year’s Connect America Fund Phase II auction: Bloosurf, Hankins Information Technology, Wind River and Tombigbee. “Designation is conditioned upon and limited to petitioners’ authorization to receive Connect America support awarded through the … auction (Auction 903) and effective only upon such authorization,” the bureau said in docket 09-197.

The FCC's coming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, "a natural evolution" of the USF serving high-cost areas, is "promising," but more may be needed from stakeholders, an observer blogged for the American Enterprise Institute. It's good Chairman Ajit Pai would use "the reverse auction methodology that proved successful during Connect America Fund Phase II," wrote Boston College Law School professor Daniel Lyons, and it appears "technologically neutral." Lyons seeks "greater cooperation with state regulators." They "have valuable insight regarding the location and prioritization of broadband gaps," so the FCC "should leverage states’ expertise and interest by partnering with the states to deploy buildout funds," he said, as occurred with New York. Lyons' "biggest critique" is the plan "appears primarily to be repurposing existing High-Cost Fund dollars, rather than providing new sources of buildout funding." Congress could "replace the outdated surcharge-based universal service program with a more traditional program funded directly by an annual grant from the Treasury," Lyons said. The FCC and NARUC declined to comment. Lyons, who noted he's long been a USF contribution system critic, thinks the entire program "should be moved on-budget" and so funded by congressional appropriation, he emailed us. "The existing contribution mechanism is structurally flawed and unsustainable, and each part of the program would benefit from explicit congressional oversight. I don't have any recommendations for total dollars, though it seems the current amount is probably a good starting point for analysis." Lyons noted he has no business relationships with recipients of USF money. No imminent FCC action is seen on the fund (see 1905010188).

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou met with President Donald Trump Wednesday about Foxconn's plans to build an LCD fab in Wisconsin, said the White House Thursday. The company “is spending a lot of money in Wisconsin and soon will announce even more investment there,” it said. Gao and Trump didn’t discuss support for Gao’s campaign for the Taiwanese presidency, it said. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) said last month he wants to renegotiate Foxconn’s contract to build a downsized fab because the “deal that was struck” under then-Gov. Scott Walker (R) “is no longer in play” (see 1904190038). “In meetings today with state and local representatives," Gou "continued to build upon the relationships he feels are necessary to the company’s success in Wisconsin,” emailed Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary-CEO Mark Hogan Thursday when asked for comment about the White House reference to additional investments coming. Hogan's group negotiated the Foxconn contract on the state's behalf 17 months ago (see 1711130014).

Consumer groups for the hearing impaired repeated opposition to carriers listing telecom relay services along with other regulatory fees in a line item on customer bills. The groups, meeting Monday with staff from the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau’s front office and Consumer Policy Division Disability Rights Office, said TRS is an “accessibility mandate” and for carriers “should be a cost of doing business, not a separate fee,” said a posting Wednesday in docket 03-123. The National Association of the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and others responded to an ITTA petition seeking a declaratory ruling (see 1902210053).

AT&T officials said they discussed an NPRM on the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and the Connect U.S. Virgin Islands Fund proceeding in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau staff. AT&T described “the unique characteristics of the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands wireless market,” where subscriber mobile data use “has more than doubled since the 2017 hurricane season.” To address challenges “AT&T continues to allocate resources to restore and upgrade the network beyond its pre-hurricane capacity,” the carrier said Wednesday in docket 18-143. “AT&T is also heavily investing in hardening the network in preparation for future hurricane seasons.” Among AT&T’s recommendations is that the FCC allow recipients of Mobility Fund II money to “use this support for network restoration efforts and implementation of standard industry hardening practices where feasible.”

Global semiconductor sales in Q1 were $96.8 billion, a 15.5 percent sequential decline and 13 percent reduction from Q1 2018, said the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. Global sales for March were $32.3 billion, down 1.8 percent from February and 13 percent from March 2018. Declines were “consistent with the cyclical trend the global market has experienced recently,” it said.