The FCC Enforcement Bureau plans to “develop and publish performance goals and measures for enforcement practices” to implement GAO recommendations for improving the bureau, Chief Rosemary Harold said in a letter responding to the recommendations that went public last week. House Commerce Committee Republicans sought the GAO audit in 2015 (see 1510230068). The GAO found the FCC had improved the bureau’s efficiency over the past five years but that there needed to be clear “performance indicators, targets, and timeframes” to effectively measure that progress. Lack of metrics also makes it hard for Congress to do effective oversight, the GAO said. This week, the regulator issued an NPRM OK'd by commissioners to harmonize certain bureau complaint procedural rules (see 1709180055).

Digital Realty completed a takeover worth about $7.8 billion of data center owner DuPont Fabros, as expected (see 1706090025), the buyer announced Thursday. The acquirer is adding two of the acquiree's directors to its board (see personals section in this issue).

The FCC-proposed USF contribution factor for Q4 is 18.8 percent of net carrier revenue from interstate and international telecom service end users, said an Office of Managing Director public notice in docket 96-45 in Wednesday's Daily Digest, as expected (see 1709050050). Up from Q3's 17.1 percent factor, it takes effect in 14 days absent further action.

Neustar demonstrated to the FCC existing and forthcoming products that could combat illegal robocalling, during a meeting with Wireline and Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureau staffers, including CGB acting Chief Patrick Webre. A docket 17-97 filing posted Tuesday said the agency should expedite implementation of the Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs (Shaken) and Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (Stir) framework by having the North American Numbering Council create a working group to act as the secure telephone identity-governance authority and using the pooling administrator as a route for quickly establishing a security telephone identity-policy administrator. Commercial solutions now use calling name infrastructure to warn consumers of suspect calls and apply call pattern and behavior analysis to detect unwanted robocalling and suspicious activity, and let verified owners specify which phone numbers don't originate calls, to create an authoritative do-not-originate blacklist. Commissioners adopted a call authentication notice of inquiry in July (see 1707130054).

The U.S. telecom sector remains weak, at least in investors' view, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said in a Thursday research note. “Almost as quickly as it started, the short-lived Telecom rally of mid-summer already seems to be fading,” Moffett wrote. “Second quarter earnings reports were initially greeted with relief, and for a hot minute the Telecom sector seemed to have gotten its mojo back. But, in retrospect, the market’s reaction to Q2 results said more about how low expectations had gotten than it did about any real improvement in fundamentals. Industry growth metrics in Q2, it should be noted, were in fact the worst the industry has ever seen. Now, whatever meager enthusiasm there was for the sector has seemingly already faded.” T-Mobile’s Netflix promotion (see 1709060040) seems little more than a “giveaway of $10 per month,” but evaluations for Verizon and AT&T remain “enticingly low” and there's investor interest in a Sprint/T-Mobile deal, Moffett wrote: “And sentiment is still, well … awful.”

The registration period for the January CES opened Wednesday and for the first time requires attendees to furnish head shots that will be printed directly on the front of badges, amid other security steps added in past years. “It was something we needed to prep to do,” so that’s why the new procedure is being implemented for the first time, said Karen Chupka, CTA senior vice president-events and conferences. Registrants can link their CES applications to photos stored in their LinkedIn profiles, or they may upload JPEG files to complete their registrations, or they may snap their own head shots using the cameras on their laptops, through the app built into the registration website, she said.

Citing Hurricane Irma, the FCC quickly granted Telrite a temporary Lifeline wavier from the USF program's nonusage and recertification rules for low-income consumers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which felt the effects of the storm this week. Waived for 90 days are sections 54.405(e)(3), 54.405(e)(4), 54.407(c)(2), and 54.410(f) of rules for eligible telecom carriers serving Lifeline subscribers in those areas, said a Wireline Bureau order Thursday in docket 11-42 that partially granted Telrite's emergency petition Wednesday. "Strict compliance with these rules would be impracticable and would risk de-enrollment of Lifeline subscribers in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma." The bureau declined Telrite's request for an indefinite waiver, absent further commission action. On its own motion, the bureau temporarily granted a waiver of number-assignment rules to allow service providers in Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI and any states where states of emergency are declared due to Irma, said an order in docket 95-116 in Thursday's Daily Digest. Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler tweeted, "Hurricane Harvey shows it is time for FCC to improve emergency alerts http://brook.gs/2gKlnYi," linking to a Brookings Institution piece he wrote.

There’s “lots more work to do” at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, “and I actually am not going anywhere,” said CEO Meg Whitman on a Tuesday earnings call when asked about her long-term commitment in light of her recent interest in the Uber CEO opening that ultimately went to Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (see the personals section of the Sept. 1 issue of this publication). Whitman was “called in very late in the Uber search and I thought it was a very interesting business model,” she said. Uber is “actually quite similar to eBay in many ways” in that “it’s very disruptive,” she said. Uber “relies on a community of drivers just like eBay relies on a community of sellers,” and its “growth prospects reminded me of eBay in its early days,” said Whitman, who owns stock in the ride-hailing service. “In the end,” Whitman decided the Uber CEO job “wasn’t the right thing” for her, she said. HPE “is quite special in its own right and we have a very focused strategy and a path forward to build a very big business on what I think is a quite compelling strategy,” she said. “I have dedicated the last six years of my life to this company and there is more work to do and I am here to help make this company successful.”

USF contributions are projected to spike in Q4, from 17.1 percent to 18.8 percent -- a new high -- of carriers' U.S. interstate and international telecom end-user revenue, said industry consultant Billy Jack Gregg in a Friday email. He said the contribution factor hike is due to Universal Service Administrative Co.'s projected drop in the USF revenue base to $13.02 billion -- down $85 million from Q3 and the lowest ever -- combined with a previous projection that USF quarterly demand will be $2.04 billion. The USF revenue base for all of 2017 is projected to be $53.7 billion, down 30 percent since its 2008 peak, and annual USF demand is projected to be $7.9 billion, $848 million lower than in 2016, Gregg wrote. The contribution factor has been trending higher over time.

Most consumers seem uninterested in wireless service from cable providers, bolstering the idea that a cable-wireless deal, such as cable/Verizon or cable/Sprint/T-Mobile, is likely someday, Macquarie analyst Amy Yong emailed investors Wednesday. Pointing to its survey of 100 consumers, Macquarie said 74 percent say the most they would pay for cable-branded wireless service is less than their current wireless bill, and 77 percent said they wouldn't switch from their current provider for either Xfinity's unlimited data or usage-based plan. Macquarie said 10 percent spend upward of $100 a month on wireless service, down sizably from its February survey, reflecting unlimited data plans becoming the norm. It said 64 percent said they value Wi-Fi more than mobile, down from 77 percent, raising the likelihood of wireless substitution.