FCC staff offered guidance on the Lifeline USF reimbursement process for eligible telecom carriers (ETCs), consistent with the direction the commission gave to the Universal Service Administrative Co. to devise a transition plan for phasing out Form 497. Starting "with the January 2018 data month, payment of Lifeline support for all ETCs in all states and territories (except for NLAD opt-out states) will be based on subscriber data contained in the National Lifeline Accountability Database," said a Wireline Bureau public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest. "Under the revised reimbursement process, payments will be made based on the number of subscribers enrolled with an ETC in the NLAD on the snapshot date for that month or, in NLAD opt-out states, based on data received either from the state or directly from the ETC. Further, beginning with data month January 2018, all ETCs must file their reimbursement request with USAC for subscribers being claimed for that month using USAC’s online E-File system." The PN provided further details on those filings and said the new process aligns with FCC plans to have a national entity verify consumer low-income eligibility for the program.
The FCC should remove wireless and wireline infrastructure barriers together in one order, Charter said. The company met Thursday with aides to all five commissioners and other FCC staff, said a Monday ex-parte letter in docket 17-79. The FCC should “enact its reforms holistically, in one combined proceeding, to avoid inadvertently exacerbating competitive disparities among different classes of providers in a way that adversely impacts the deployment of high speed broadband,” Charter said. Also, the FCC should consider how local right-of-way and franchise fees “impose significant burdens on a cable provider’s investment and ability to buildout its network,” Charter said. Meanwhile, San Jose urged appointment of more municipal members on the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee and market-based fees for right-of-way use. “Promote collaboration, not pre-emption,” the city said in Monday comments in docket 17-83. “Preemption should be a matter of last resort if the BDAC and Commission are committed to seeing equitable and safe deployment.” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is a BDAC member.
HP recalled 50,000 lithium-ion batteries for notebook computers and mobile workstations Thursday due to overheating, said the Consumer Product Safety Commission. HP received eight reports of battery packs overheating, melting or charring, including three reports of property damage totaling $4,500 and one report of a first-degree hand burn, said CPSC. HP said consumers should check its website for a list of products affected by the recall and for instructions on how to enable a battery safety mode. The batteries aren't replaceable by customers; HP will provide free battery replacement by an authorized technician, said CPSC. The batteries were shipped with or sold as accessories for HP ProBooks, HPx360 310 G2, HP Envy m6, HP Pavilion x360, HP 11, HP ZBook mobile workstations, and as replacement batteries for the HP ZBook Studio G4 mobile workstation, from December 2015 through December 2017.
Presentations to the Disability Advisory Committee are exempt from ex parte rules, said an FCC public notice. That’s potentially significant because DAC deals with issues that are important to various proceedings, the FCC said in Wednesday's Daily Digest. “The Commission will not rely in these proceedings on any information submitted to the DAC, or to any of its subcommittees, working groups, or sponsored roundtables, or on information conveyed by DAC members (including members of any subcommittees or working groups) to FCC staff or Commissioners, unless that information is first placed in the record of the relevant proceeding.”
A Utah woman allegedly involved in a bilking scheme is banned from telemarketing, processing payments and selling grant and business opportunities under a settlement order, the FTC said Tuesday. A commission complaint alleged that Jamie White "enabled telemarketing operations to sell a phony grants program and a worthless moneymaking opportunity purportedly involving customized websites linked to Amazon.com," said a release. "She supplied consumers with instructions on applying for grants that did not exist, and generic websites that could not generate enough web traffic to provide any of the promised income." The FTC also said she allegedly "provided the telemarketers with fraudulent merchant accounts to process consumer credit card payments." The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona entered the order Dec. 21, the FTC said. White couldn't be reached for comment.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected on procedural grounds Blanca Telephone’s pursuit of a stay of an FCC order that the company repay $6.75 million in USF support. The FCC asked the court to reject the petition on procedural ground (see 1712280029). “Because petitioner has not made showings sufficient to obtain a stay pending a ruling on the mandamus petition, we deny the stay motion,” said an order from the court. “The emergency motion for stay is denied, the motions to supplement are granted, and the mandamus petition remains under consideration.”
The FCC should refrain from auctioning trademark protected numbers in new toll-free codes and create a right of first refusal to “confusingly” similar numbers, said a lawyer for 1-800 CONTACTs in a filing at the FCC in docket 17-192. The Lanham Act, the primary federal trademark statute, prohibits bad actors from securing toll free numbers in the new 833 code that correspond to trademark protected numbers like “1-800 MATTRES, 1-800-FLOWERS and 1-800 CONTACTS and using them in a confusingly similar manner,” the filing said.
Comcast said it will provide “special” $1,000 bonuses to more than 100,000 of its “eligible frontline and non-executive” U.S. employees in response to Congress' passage of tax cut legislation and the FCC's vote earlier this month to rescind its 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1712140039 and 1712200030). Comcast's Wednesday announcement followed AT&T's announcement that it will provide $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 U.S. employees and increase its spending by $1 billion in 2018 in response to the tax cut. Comcast said it also plans to “spend well in excess of $50 billion over the next five years investing in infrastructure to radically improve and extend our broadband plant and capacity.”
Ex-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said large tech platforms and ISP "monopolies" are so dominant they're writing their own rules (see 1712200044 and 1712060013). "It is a stark repeat of the early industrial era when companies exploited technology to control the economy, squash competition, and dictate take-it-or-leave-it terms to consumers," he blogged Wednesday in the Biden Forum. "We are now at another make-or-break junction. Thus far, the government has stood frozen in awe as spunky young innovators built their businesses -- almost in fear of breaking the magic spell of innovation. These young companies, however, have grown into corporate behemoths," he said, noting high valuations of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. "At the same time, the current FCC has walked away from its responsibility to oversee the behavior of the monopolies of ISPs and companies that deliver internet services to consumers. Their justification is a specious assertion that regulation discourages these companies from investing to improve their connections." These "are not evil companies or malicious executives. In the absence of ground rules, however, human nature and economic incentive take over," he wrote. "The time has come once again for the people to stand up and shout 'Enough!'"
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will livestream oral argument upon request in individual cases, Chief Justice Merrick Garland announced Tuesday. "A panel may make an exception to this policy if it determines that one is required in light of case-specific confidentiality concerns," the D.C. Circuit said. "Requests for live streaming should be sent by email to liveaudiorequest@cadc.uscourts.gov." The court has made audio recordings of oral argument available since 2013, and they will continue to be posted by 2 p.m. on argument days, it said. It hears many FCC and other agency cases.