Comments are due Dec. 27, replies Jan. 26 on FCC nationwide number portability proposals (NNP) in a combined NPRM and notice of inquiry item in docket 17-244 adopted unanimously Oct. 24 (see 1710240062). Comments on proposed information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act are due Jan. 26 at the Office of Management and Budget, said the NNP proposed rule published Monday in the Federal Register. Comments are due Dec. 27 on an Agriculture Department Rural Utilities Service rule to streamline and update a Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program, when the rule takes effect, said an item in the FR, which said a subsequent rule would be issued after public comment.

A local number portability administrator transition session is set for Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST to discuss "contingency rollback planning focused on small service providers," said an FCC Wireline Bureau public notice in docket 09-109. It said transition oversight manager PwC will facilitate the discussions. Parties can register for the event here.

Broadcom completed its buy of Brocade Communications Systems, the acquirer announced Friday, along with an executive move (see the personals section of this issue of this publication). In August, the FTC 2-0 approved the deal worth about $5.9 billion on condition Broadcom prevents release of its partner Cisco's confidential business information (see 1708170052 and 1707030030).

Twenty-nine percent of U.S. consumers plan to buy electronics for holiday gifts, down a point from last year, reported the National Retail Federation Thursday on surveying 7,400 in early November. Hot toys include Apple, Disney and Microsoft products.

The National Hispanic Media Coalition asked for FCC Office of General Counsel review of a Sept. 14 letter from Associate General Counsel Elizabeth Lyle citing "final production of documents" in response to NHMC Freedom of Information Act requests for open internet complaint materials. NHMC said it flagged "missing documents" but its concerns "were not addressed and at times ignored." The documents "remain critical evidence in the Net Neutrality proceeding," said Carmen Scurato, director-policy and legal affairs, in a release Tuesday on an application for review in docket 17-108. "Failure to provide the complete set of documents" is "a clear violation" of FOIA obligations, and illustrates agency "refusal to acknowledge the importance and relevance of over 55,000 consumer complaints and 18,000 carrier responses," she said: "The FCC's stubborn stance may well violate the Administrative Procedure Act requirements and fatally impact the validity of any FCC final Order that eliminates the Net Neutrality rules." NHMC said it received only 823 pages of carrier responses, and didn't receive rebuttals to those responses, attachments to consumer complaints, certain complaint-resolution data and FCC ombudsperson emails and attachments, and other documents. The FCC declined comment Wednesday. Meanwhile, CTIA said if the FCC reclassifies broadband access as an integrated information service under Communications Act Title I, it should rule that "state and local broadband-specific regulation is incompatible with, and thus preempted by, the federal policy established by Congress favoring nonregulation of such offerings," in a filing on a meeting with OGC staff including General Counsel Tom Johnson.

Equipment maker Radwin agreed to pay a $95,000 fine for selling noncompliant U-NII devices, which allowed users to modify settings in a way that could cause harmful interference to terminal Doppler weather radar (TDWR) systems the FAA uses to detect potentially hazardous weather conditions for aircraft. “The Commission’s requirements ensure that devices that emit radio frequency radiation comply with the Commission’s technical requirements and do not cause harmful interference to Federal agency public safety systems, such as TDWR, or to other authorized Federal and non-Federal communications systems, once the devices are marketed to the public,” said an order and consent decree by the FCC Enforcement Bureau. “To settle this matter, Radwin admits that it violated the Commission’s equipment authorization and marketing rules with respect to these noncompliant U-NII devices.” The closely held firm "manufactures and distributes broadband wireless systems," the bureau said. Radwin fully cooperated with an investigation, the bureau said.

CES will have a few firsts in Las Vegas in January, including new exhibit space for artificial intelligence, a high-tech retail conference and exhibit area, and a design and source marketplace and conference program, said CEO Gary Shapiro at a CES Unveiled news conference (see 1711100003) in New York Thursday. The “booming” sports technology industry will have its own zone, reflecting growth projected to reach $76 billion by 2020, said Karen Chupka, CTA senior vice president-CES and corporate business strategy. Turner Sports is sponsoring that area. Responding to a question on possible security procedure changes at CES hotels, after last month’s mass shooting at a concert outside the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Chupka said the Las Vegas community is studying whether there are other measures organizers can take, with security measures already in place such as cameras in the casinos. She said the city has one of the few fusion centers that Department of Homeland Security describes as where many agencies including state and local ones trade threat-related information.

Liberty Interactive's buy of General Communications Inc. can go through without conditions, the FCC International, Media, Wireless and Wireline bureaus said in a docket 17-114 order Wednesday evening. They saw no potential harms with the deal, calls for conditions (see 1706200044) were speculative and the proposed conditions were unrelated to the transaction. The bureaus said GCI Liberty will be more diversified, helping insulate GCI from any Alaska-specific economic events. The FTC gave its nod in June (see 1706080024).

The FCC posted its 2018 calendar of monthly commissioners' meetings, it said Wednesday The biggest change from 2017 is the June meeting, which in 2018 will be held two weeks earlier, June 7, than it was this year.

ATIS President Susan Miller and others met with aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on efforts to counteract unwanted robocalls. ATIS discussed the signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) framework, said a filing in docket 17-59. “Tackling the challenge of illegal robocalls will require a structure that can be established quickly and that can evolve as necessary,” ATIS said. “It is equally important that the industry be able to gain operational experience in the near future to be fully prepared for wide scale SHAKEN deployment. ATIS is prepared to serve as the SHAKEN Governance Authority.”